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The rise (and rise) of the nerd reich

The rise (and rise) of the nerd reich, via @sf.gazetteer.co: ‘The Nerd Reich’ author Gil Durán connected the dots from Silicon Valley to the White House to the possible end of the world. He may take on Gavin Newsom next 😈 sf.gazetteer.co/the-rise-and...

sf.gazetteer.co

‘The Nerd Reich’ author Gil Durán connected the dots from Silicon Valley to the White House to the possible end of the world. He may take on Gavin Newsom next

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Reposted by Gil Durán

The Onion @theonion.com · 29/09/2026

Creatively Tapped-Out Peter Thiel Launches Startup Called ‘Frodo, But Evil’ theonion.com/creatively-tapped-out-…

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What’s Up With Peter Thiel’s Obsession With the Antichrist?

The 1st installment of Thiel's Nashville Antichrist lecture mirrored his previous lectures. But he launched aggressive attacks on Pope Leo, AI critics, & the Effective Altruist movement (that he funded). From 2025: What's up with Peter Thiel's Antichrist Obsession? newrepublic.com/article/2004...

newrepublic.com

The tech mogul is amping up his apocalyptic rhetoric—and adding a dangerous dose of extremism into the already-fraught culture war.

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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I obtained a recording of Peter Thiel's Nashville Antichrist lecture. He was asked to respond to something I wrote in @newrepublic.com epublic (below). He evaded the question, but responded: "I don't think I'm the Antichrist, [maybe I'm] lacking in self-awareness...You shouldn't trust me."

quote from Gil Duran story on Thiel and the Antichrist: Thiel co-founded Palantir, a software company literally named after an all-seeing orb controlled by an evil wizard in The Lord of the Rings. Palantir is partnering with the Trump administration to supercharge government surveillance at a moment when the president openly embraces authoritarianism. The irony is so striking it almost seems like a confession.

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Reposted by Gil Durán

Karl Rove warns that the Texas GOP is being taken over by Nazis. “In the last 48 hours, Ted Cruz has reached out to me and says, ‘We’re losing,’ Ken Paxton has sent me several emails saying, ‘I’m losing, I need your help. Even the Republicans are admitting that they’re behind.”

sacurrent.com

Karl Rove says Republican Party is being taken over by 'Nazis'

The Bush-era GOP political operative also said Republicans would be winning the battle for Texas' U.S. Senate seat if John Cornyn was the nominee.

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Crystal Fleming is on sabbatical @alwaystheself.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

thank you! I appreciate it.

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Reposted by Gil Durán

Finally got my copy of THE NERD REICH! Excited, daunted, but also grateful to @gilduran.com for his important work 🙏🏽

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Reposted by Gil Durán

Nashville Scene @nashvillescene.com · 28/09/2026

Scene staff reporter Eli Motycka was removed from the guest list for Peter Thiel's Nashville Antichrist lectures — and he's not the only journalist who was. 🧵

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San Francisco's wealthiest have unprecedented control of city politics

“We have a cult of radicalized billionaires who believe it is their destiny to rule the 21st century…They know our system is for sale…not only in San Francisco but in Washington.” Read @esksf.bsky.social on how tech oligarchs bought San Francisco. missionlocal.org/2026/09/san-...

missionlocal.org

Our city fathers (if you like them) or oligarchs (if you don’t) have never been richer, more brazen or faced weaker opposition

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Reposted by Gil Durán

Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Gil Durán says his book "The Nerd Reich" is about "a cult of apocalyptic billionaires who believe it is their destiny to end democracy." He joined Data & Society research director Alice Marwick and me to discuss the book last week at Betaworks. Listen: www.techpolicy.press/gil-durn-map...

techpolicy.press

Gil Durán Maps the Rise of the 'Nerd Reich'

Justin Hendrix and Alice Marwick in conversation with Gil Durán, author of the new book The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy.

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$100 for four four-hour sessions.

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About what? His bromance with the very creeps about whom I write?

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What a shock…I have been barred from Peter Thiel’s Nashville Antichrist lectures despite buying a ticket. Was it something I said? As the world’s foremost expert on Thiel’s Antichrist obsession, I take great umbrage. This aggression will be answered.

The Nashville Antichrist
Lectures
Marked as Not Going
The host of the event marked you as not going. We hope you can join next time.
Your ticket has been refunded, and you have been removed from the guest list. Thank you.

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It's so important to give credit where credit is due, and we are strengthened when we acknowledge the crucial work of others. So, our joint event in San Francisco is a real full-circle moment. Already 200 RSVPs! Grab tix while you still can.

text from nerd reich book: Outside the strangest circles of the tech world, few people paid attention to the 2023 Network State Conference, which was livestreamed on social media. In San Francisco, however, a local activist named Emily Mills watched the entire conference and raised the alarm on Tan’s affiliation with e/acc and Network State. “Garry Tan is an Effective Accelerationist who wants to take over the nation and the world with that ideology utilizing Network State style strategies,” wrote Mills in November 2023. “This needs more reporting.” Where others might have seen Silicon Valley eccentricity, Mills saw proof of an ideological infrastructure being built in real time, complete with real estate projects and political strategies

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Emily did a lot of work but doesn't seek any credit. But my work would not have existed with hers. And it led me to the important work of many others. My book has 48 pages of citations, but it all started with her. "This needs more reporting," she wrote in 2023. I listened.

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This stuff all sounded very kooky at first. I knew it was factual, but I didn't fully grasp its relevance at first. But Emily's long social media threads led me to other writers and researchers, and I realized it needed to be taken seriously. I credit Emily in my book and in interviews.

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THE TELEGRAPH HILL DWELLERS PRESENTS: GIL DURAN with Emily Mills

Some of us in San Francisco first heard of the Network State and related tech cults from Emily Mills. She documented how these ideas had infused our local politics. It sounded odd at first, but her work sparked mine. On Tuesday, we're onstage together in SF. Tix here: semaphore.thd.org/954-2/

semaphore.thd.org

Join Telegraph Hill Dwellers for an evening with journalist and author Gil Duran, in conversation with Emily Mills, discussing his new book, The

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Reposted by Gil Durán

Dan O’Sullivan @osullyville.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Today I saw the new 4 hour documentary Musk, directed by Alex Gibney. There were too many times to count that a sold out theater burst out laughing at Elon Musk, something he said or did, even sometimes just how he looked. I believe that is his worst nightmare come to life.

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