About this episode
This episode explores the experiments backed by tech billionaires to create private cities and colonies beyond traditional laws and borders.
Starbase. Prospera. California Forever. Mars. From private cities to interstellar colonies, tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel have backed experiments designed to operate beyond the borders — and laws — most of us live by. So we wondered: has this happened before? In this episode, we visit an Arctic archipelago, homesteads floating in the ocean, and a startup city in Honduras to explore where places built with the ultra-rich in mind leave all the rest of us. Guests: Atossa Araxia Abrahamian , author of The Cosmopolites and The Hidden Globe: How Wealth Hacks the World Wayne Gramlich , retired computer engineer Dan Girma , producer on NPR's Embedded podcast Jacob Silverman , author of Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free, subscribe to Throughline+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/throughline . See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy
People in this episode
Guests: Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, Wayne Gramlich, Dan Girma, Jacob Silverman
Topics covered
- private cities
- interstellar colonies
- tech billionaires
- wealth inequality
Keywords
- Elon Musk
- Peter Thiel
- homesteads
- startup city
- Honduras
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: The Cosmopolites and The Hidden Globe: How Wealth Hacks the World, Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley
Places: California, Mars, Arctic, Honduras
More episodes of Throughline
- The shifting line between free speech and a criminal threat · June 11, 2026 · 36 min
- The uncensored war · June 9, 2026 · 18 min
- The World Cup was supposed to bring world peace · June 4, 2026 · 52 min
- Bayard Rustin and the March on Washington · June 2, 2026 · 23 min
- History's playbook for taming the beast of inflation · May 28, 2026 · 47 min
- Yuri Kochiyamas’s lifetime of activism · May 26, 2026 · 21 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Throughline podcast page.