Episode 324: Elon Musk, Twitter, and the History of Media Oligarchs

In this episode, Neil, Natalia, and Niki discuss Elon Musk’s bid to buy Twitter.

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Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• Billionaire Elon Musk made a successful $44 billion bid to acquire Twitter. Niki referred to this Los Angeles Times article about the limits of Elon Musk’s “free speech absolutism.” Natalia referenced this New York Times article about billionaire investors in the press. We all drew on this Psyche piece on the history of media ownership and its perils.

In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia recommended Kendall Taggart, John Templon, Anthony Cormier, and Jason Leopold’s Buzzfeed News investigative report, “Profit, Pain, and Private Equity.”
• Neil shared the launch of the anti-racism publication, The Emancipator.
• Niki discussed James Pogue’s Vanity Fair article, “Inside the New Right, Where Peter Thiel is Placing His Biggest Bets,” and this edition of John Ganz’ Substack, Unpopular Front.