How Tech's San Francisco Values Gave Way to the Right
From Newcomer Pod by Eric Newcomer | newcomer.co
May 29, 2026 · 1h 7m
About this episode
The episode explores the transformation of San Francisco's tech culture from idealism to right-wing influence and its implications for society.
How San Francisco's tech culture went from countercultural idealism to right-wing power, and what it means for the rest of us. Jonathan Weber, editor at large at The New Yorker and author of City on the Edge, joins Eric Newcomer to trace the 30-year arc of how San Francisco became the center of the tech universe, and how the industry that once promised to change the world ended up changing politics instead. From the early commercial internet to the rise of OpenAI and Anthropic, Weber connects the dots between Silicon Valley's cultural roots and its dramatic political shift toward the right. The conversation covers the dot-com boom and bust, the sharing economy's broken promises, why tech executives became dismissive of public concerns, how AI is accelerating the disconnect between the industry and everyday Americans, and what history tells us about where this all goes next. City on the Edge is available now wherever books are sold.Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the tech industry.
People in this episode
Host: Eric Newcomer
Guest: Jonathan Weber
Topics covered
- San Francisco tech culture
- political shift
- Silicon Valley
- AI impact
- cultural roots
- dot-com boom
- sharing economy
Keywords
- tech culture
- right-wing politics
- Silicon Valley
- AI
- cultural shift
- dot-com boom
- public concerns
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The New Yorker, OpenAI, Anthropic
Books & works: City on the Edge
Places: San Francisco
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