Marc Andreessen, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) returns to Moment of Zen to discuss Trump's new administration, the political vibe shift for Silicon Valley, why San Francisco may be the cultural center of the universe, and what comes after wokeness. —

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— RECOMMENDED PODCAST: Check out Modern Relationships, where Erik Torenberg interviews tech power couples and leading thinkers to explore how ambitious people actually make partnerships work. Founders Fund's Delian Asparouhov and researcher Nadia Asparouhova kick off the series with an unfiltered conversation about their relationship evolution. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1786227593 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5hJzs0gDg6lRT6r10mdpVg YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModernRelationshipsPod  — X / TWITTER: @pmarca (Marc) @eriktorenberg (Erik) @turpentinemedia @MOZ_Podcast — HIGHLIGHTS

The Unraveling of Preference Falsification

Opening discussion about “winning”

Examples of preference falsification unwinding

Commerce Secretary’s comments on innovation

Democrats shifting positions

The Brendan Eich Case Study and Origins of Cancel Culture

Mozilla controversy as inflection point

Historical context of 2008 politics

Impact on tech industry

Personal reflection on not speaking up

The Future of “Soft Authoritarianism”

Discussion of whether wokeness is truly ending

Role of bureaucracies and institutions

Legal embedding of policies

Cultural vanguard vs institutional power

The Corporate Dismount from DEI

Legal challenges to DEI policies

Role of Civil Rights Division

Corporate strategies for policy changes

Supreme Court impact

Culture Wars and Comedy

Evolution of counterculture to culture

Role of humor in cultural power

Late night comedy’s transformation

Discussion of “laughter vs. claptor”

Changes in entertainment industry

The Secret Networks and Information Flow

Role of WhatsApp groups and Signal

Modern samizdat comparison

Evolution of private communication networks

Impact on preference falsification

Elon Musk’s role in cultural shift

Hollywood and Entertainment Transformation

Dad shows phenomenon

Top Gun success as cultural indicator

Bob Iger and Disney’s pivot

Entertainment industry adaptation

San Francisco as cultural bellwether

Technology and Political Engagement

Silicon Valley’s political evolution

Software vs. hardware innovation

Regulatory challenges to tech

Response to criticism of tech involvement

“Politics is interested in you”

The New Administration’s Team

Quality of appointments

Comparison to historical administrations

Getting to Mars

Marc's thoughts on the appointments

BOOKS MENTIONED:

"Private Truth, Public Lies" by Timur Kuran: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674707580

"The Power of the Powerless" by Václav Havel: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Powerless-Vaclav-Havel/dp/178487504X

"Why are Jews Liberal" by Norman Podhoretz: https://www.amazon.com/Why-Jews-Liberals-Norman-Podhoretz/dp/0307456250

"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand: https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451191145

Pew Research Survey: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2023/03/15/americans-feel-more-positive-than-negative-about-jews-mainline-protestants-catholics/