Jill Lepore on Elon Musk's imaginary world

Sean Illing talks with historian Jill Lepore about her new podcast: The Evening Rocket explores Elon Musk and the new form of extravagant, extreme capitalism — which Lepore dubs "Muskism" — that he has ushered in. They discuss the formative role played by science fiction stories, why the super-wealthy are drawn to space travel, and why, according to Lepore, Elon Musk is not much of a futurist after all.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), Interviews Writer, Vox

Guest: Jill Lepore, podcast host; professor, Harvard University

References: 

• Elon Musk: The Evening Rocket by Jill Lepore (Pushkin/BBC; Nov. 2021)

• Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World, dir. Werner Herzog (2016)

• The Mars Trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars) by Kim Stanley Robinson (Del Ray; 1992, 1993, 1996; re-issue 2021)

• Technocracy Digest issues on the Internet Archive

• "Science Fiction and Mrs. Brown" by Ursula K. Le Guin (1976)

• Elon Musk on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (Sept. 10, 2015)

• Elon Musk's Neuralink demonstration (Aug. 28, 2020)

• "Newt Gingrich trying to sell Trump on a cheap moon plan" by Bryan Bender (Politico; Aug. 19, 2019)

Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations  and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app.

Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts

This episode was made by: 

• Producer: Erikk Geannikis

• Editor: Amy Drozdowska

• Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey

• Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall

• Vox Audio Fellow: Victoria Dominguez

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices