Gilded Rage Audiobook By Jacob Silverman cover art

Gilded Rage

Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley

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Gilded Rage

By: Jacob Silverman
Narrated by: Jacob Silverman
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Bloomsbury presents Gilded Rage written and read by Jacob Silverman

A searing insight into the political radicalization of Silicon Valley, from Elon Musk to Peter Thiel, JD Vance and Donald Trump, and how it will affect the future of all our lives.

From the pursuit of potentially apocalyptic artificial intelligence to life-extension start-ups that promise billionaires eternal youth and those who encourage the political far right around the world, the Silicon Valley techno-utopian dream has curdled. The global innovator class has the world in their hands, but they can't stand the touch.

In Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley, New York Times bestselling author Jacob Silverman leads us on a critical investigation into the radicalization of Silicon Valley and the billionaires that increasingly run our lives, shape the global economy, and support Donald Trump.

At the center of this book lies Elon Musk, but this is about more than just one man and his obsession with the "woke mind virus", as Silverman reveals a network of tech and finance oligarchs, emboldened by the zero-interest rate years, now using their wealth to exert an increasingly radical political program.

Transiting San Francisco and Silicon Valley, Austin and Miami, New York, Washington DC, and various global capitals of tech, finance, and political power, Silverman talks to the people who are already living with the real-life consequences of the political revolution underway. It's a bizarre, sometimes frightening, darkly humorous world where moguls preach populist revolt while dismantling the few remaining checks on their influence.

Gilded Rage offers essential reporting and insight for anyone who wants to know what's happening to Silicon Valley. As the erratic influence of tech elites continues to spread around the world, the story that Jacob has to tell will have a profound relevance for us all.©2025 Jacob Silverman (P)2025 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Ideologies & Doctrines Politics & Government Public Policy Science & Technology Witty Silicon Valley

Critic reviews

Jacob Silverman is one of the sharpest and most plugged-in tech commentators working today. He understands subcultures, politics and the internet. He can tell you what's in the black box, and what it's doing to our society. Gilded Rage is unmissable. (Hari Kunzru, Writer and Journalist, author of 'Gods without Men', 'White Tears' and 'Red Pill')
In Gilded Rage, Jacob Silverman delivers a clear-eyed anatomy of tech-addled delusion that has stubbornly eluded our media and political establishment for more than thirty years. Along the way, he recounts how the libertarian ethos of Silicon Valley has curdled into a frontal assault on our democracy. (Chris Lehmann, DC Bureau Chief of The Nation and the author of 'The Money Cult')
A book that should trouble your dreams. (Kirkus Reviews)
All stars
Most relevant
To all the haters who still bought this book. Sam talked about freedom of speech, about how Besos silenced his Washington Post editorial board. Many many times this book repeats the contradictions to be aware of, the freedom of speech absolutists who kick you off their platforms and sue their former advertisers over a difference of opinion. Truly only a few have freedom of speech.

The 1st amendment

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What a sorry state we are in now and hope things will improve soon for our children

Corruption

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Deeply reported, intelligent, and full of Silverman’s dry wit, Gilded Rage is essential reading for anyone who wants to better understand the corrupt and astonishingly petty tech oligarchs who control our world.

Essential

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One of my top 5 favorite books. Wonderful, it helps you understand what's going on.

Absolutely gorgeous!!!

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I was looking for a critical analysis of Musk and other influential tech billionaires. I was drawn in by the clever title and description, but I couldn't make it through this book. The author's smug far left perspective takes the power out of his arguments. Musk and the other tech billionaires are portrayed as cartoon villains and their previous Democratic affiliations are dismissed with a hand wave. Introducing some complexity in the analysis and even a little self-awareness of issues with left wing ideology would have gone a long way to make it listenable. The tech billionaire elites live in their own world of privilege, but so do the left wing authors and journalists from their privileged upbringing and education. Both are detached from the lives of most people and bear some responsibility for the rise of Trump.

Clever title

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