{"podcast":{"title":"Equity","slug":"equity-55848","podcast_index_feed_id":55848,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/YFL6537156961","website_url":"https://techcrunch.com/","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/7f647576-b0d4-11ef-ad77-1356cd002e92/image/c517eaa8f9b86d18ff98a18dec7a5178.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"TechCrunch","episode_count":791,"summary":"The intersection of technology, startups, and venture capital touches everything now. That’s why Equity, TechCrunch's flagship podcast, digs into the business of startups for entrepreneurs and enthusiasts alike. Every Wednesday and Friday, TechCrunch reporters keep you up-to-date on the world of business, technology, and venture capital. Equity is ranked the No.2 podcast in the Top 100 Venture Capital All time leaderboard on Goodpods—As well as No.17 for the Top 100 Finance All time chart and No.32 for the Top 100 Business News All time chart.","last_synced_at":"2026-09-17T06:20:32.412004+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/equity-55848"},"episode":{"title":"Jill Lepore on the ‘Artificial State’ and why Silicon Valley's leaders are bad sci-fi readers","slug":"jill-lepore-on-the-artificial-state-and-why-silicon-valley-s-leaders-are-bad-sci-fi-readers","published_at":"2026-08-07T15:24:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/equity-55848/jill-lepore-on-the-artificial-state-and-why-silicon-valley-s-leaders-are-bad-sci-fi-readers","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/equity-55848","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/TCML2451150002.mp3","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/TCML2451150002.mp3","summary":"Historian Jill Lepore has a theory about why tech companies often use soaring language to describe their products — almost as if they're forming a new government. And whether you're thinking of Twitter's old “town hall in your pocket” or Anthropic's Claude constitution, it's a theory that doesn't paint Silicon Valley in a very flattering light.   In Lepore's upcoming book, The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Harvard historian and New Yorker writer argues that tech companies are gradually taking on the functions of democratic government — whether that’s Twitter giving a distorted picture of the electorate or Facebook displacing local news. In her view, these leaders often mistake technological advancement for political progress, all while outright declaring their intention to replace the nation-state.    On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Anthony Ha talks with Lepore about her book and why she thinks today's AI leaders — who promise a future where AI makes government more efficient, more responsive, and maybe even unnecessary — are selling an old fantasy in new packaging.    Listen to the full episode to hear more about:  Why Lepore sees a straight line from the classic 1984 Macintosh ad to Anthropic's AI constitution and Sam Altman's comments about an “AI president”  How E.M. Forster’s 1909 sci-fi story “The Machine Stops” provides a blueprint for the artificial state, and why Lepore says it now reads like “the diary of a very unhappy YouTuber…","meta_description":"Historian Jill Lepore has a theory about why tech companies often use soaring language to describe their products — almost as if they're&nb…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1730,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/equity-55848/episodes/jill-lepore-on-the-artificial-state-and-why-silicon-valley-s-leaders-are-bad-sci-fi-readers/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/equity-55848/jill-lepore-on-the-artificial-state-and-why-silicon-valley-s-leaders-are-bad-sci-fi-readers.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}