In October of 2022, we released this episode on Peter Thiel. The last line of the story is that he’s a monster. At the time, we were focused on his personal selections and funding of Congressional candidates, one of whom was none other than JD Vance. Far from his purported hillbilly roots, the country quickly came to know that JD is little more than a huckster who grew up pretty well and became a go-to hedge fund guy for Peter Thiel. Amazingly, Thiel is still on the backburner of people’s awareness and given Vance’s sudden rise to VP prominence, it’s important we continue to bring him forward.

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I’m not a doctor. But even I can certainly see that Peter Thiel is a sick, sick person. Bright, awkward and successful, Peter Thiel has risen to prominence in American society on the gamble that he can break it. The product of an elitist system who wants to take it down. A gay man who backs candidates that would degrade his civil rights. A hedge fund tech investor who thinks Silicon Valley hasn’t done anything innovative in 50 years. A Trump backer and advisor who walked away when he got what he wanted. Peter Thiel is known as a contrarian, but it may be simpler than that. He might just be a nihilistic asshole.

Chapters

2024 Update: 00:00:00

Intro: 00:01:18

Chapter One: So who the fuck is this guy? 00:05:21

Chapter Two: Where did all his money come from and can I have some? 00:14:26

Chapter Three: We’re all just pawns on Peter’s board 00:22:11

Chapter Four: Bring it home, Max. 00:33:11

Post Show Musings: 00:39:09

Outro: 00:46:56

Resources

The Atlantic: Peter Thiel Hates a Copycat

ProPublica: Lord of the Roths: How Tech Mogul Peter Thiel Turned a Retirement Account for the Middle Class Into a $5 Billion Tax-Free Piggy Bank

Founders Fund: Portfolio

The Intercept: How Peter Thiel’s Palantir Helped The Nsa Spy On The Whole World

The Wall Street Journal: Tech Tycoon Peter Thiel Shies From Trump Re-Election Campaign

SEC: Palantir Technologies Inc.

Cato Unbound: The Education of a Libertarian

The Intercept: The New New Right Was Forged in Greed and White Backlash

Daily Beast: Blake Masters’ Views on Gay Marriage May Surprise His Political Master Peter Thiel

Book Love

Max Chafkin: The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley’s Pursuit of Power

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Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is hosted by Max and distributed by 99.

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