The Making of Musk: Understood

CBC News & Politics

Understood takes you deep inside the seismic shifts reshaping our world right now. From online porn and crypto chaos to the rise of tech oligarchs, deepfake AI, and the broken promises of the internet — we explore the stories that define our digital age with hosts and characters embedded in the heart of the action. We value your input! Fill out our listener survey here. Season 1 - The Naked Emperor: the rise and fall of bitcoin king Sam Bankman-Fried. Season 2 - The Pornhub Empire: the story of how a Montreal-founded company came to dominate the adult industry. Season 3 - Modi’s India: how one man rose from poverty to the peak of political power. Season 4 - Céline: the surprising cultural, political and business alchemy that created a superstar. Season 5 - Who Broke the Internet? The internet sucks now, and it happened on purpose.

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  1. EPISODE 1

    E1: Escape from Pretoria

    Where did Elon Musk’s epic ambitions begin? In search of clues we return to his sheltered youth in apartheid South Africa, a world engineered for white supremacy. Along the way, we connect the dots between a bizarre White House ambush of South African president Cyril Ramaphosa to teenage Elon’s ego-powered quests in video games. Finally, was his “draft dodge” from military service a moral act or an opportunist’s exit? Guests in this episode include: Rudolph Pienaar, childhood friend of Elon MuskWill Shoki, South African journalist and writer Topics in this episode include: Donald Trump’s Oval Office ambush of President Cyril Ramaphosa with conspiracy theories about an anti-white Afrikaaner farmer genocide, or “white genocide” in South AfricaElon Musk's South African childhood, including his time at Pretoria Boys High School and his approach to fantasy role playing video gamesApartheid and structural white privilege/supremacy The South African Border War, conscription and draft-dodging

    39 min

  2. SEASON 6 TRAILER

    Introducing Understood: The Making of Elon Musk

    What explains Elon Musk? Could his most outlandish ambitions and most toxic qualities trace back to his youth in Apartheid South Africa? Understood: The Making of Musk explores his seemingly insatiable drive for dominance, which connects everything from his birthrate obsession (and fourteen children) to his fixation with colonizing Mars.   This four-part series, hosted by Jacob Silverman, reveals a little known side of the polarizing billionaire. Silverman tells the vital beginnings of this story — because the Elon era is far from over. New episodes drop weekly, starting October 7, wherever you get your podcasts.

    3 min
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Understood takes you deep inside the seismic shifts reshaping our world right now. From online porn and crypto chaos to the rise of tech oligarchs, deepfake AI, and the broken promises of the internet — we explore the stories that define our digital age with hosts and characters embedded in the heart of the action. We value your input! Fill out our listener survey here. Season 1 - The Naked Emperor: the rise and fall of bitcoin king Sam Bankman-Fried. Season 2 - The Pornhub Empire: the story of how a Montreal-founded company came to dominate the adult industry. Season 3 - Modi’s India: how one man rose from poverty to the peak of political power. Season 4 - Céline: the surprising cultural, political and business alchemy that created a superstar. Season 5 - Who Broke the Internet? The internet sucks now, and it happened on purpose.

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