Silicon Valley says it can build better weapons, faster and cheaper than traditional defense contractors. But what happens when the companies making those weapons also get a say in how they’re used?

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In today’s episode, Vox reporter and producer Miles Bryan talks with long-time national security journalist Sharon Weinberger, author of Valley of Death: How Big Tech Is Fueling the Future of War. The book traces Silicon Valley’s deep ties to the military and its return to the weapons business through companies like Palantir, SpaceX, and Anduril. Sharon says this raises troubling questions of how private funding gives tech founders greater control over military technology, and whether their promises of innovation justify risks to accountability.

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In this episode, Miles and Sharon explore the surprising CIA contract that helped keep Steve Jobs’s company afloat, how “tech companies” sell their visions to the Pentagon, if their innovations live up to the hype, and whether tech’s disruption of the defense industry could leave us with a more powerful version of the same old system.

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Host: Miles Bryan, Vox Reporter and Producer

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Guest: Sharon Weinberger, author of Valley of Death: How Big Tech Is Fueling the Future of War

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Chapters

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00:00 Intro

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01:29 What changes when Silicon Valley controls the weapons?

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10:08 How did the CIA help keep Steve Jobs in business?

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19:20 How did 9/11 bring tech and the military back together?

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23:36 What are defense tech’s founders really selling?

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29:15 Do Anduril’s weapons live up to the hype?

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38:05 Who sets the rules for using privately owned technology?

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43:37 Is Silicon Valley becoming the new defense establishment?

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We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show.

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Nevada is in many ways “ground zero” for this year’s midterms. The state swung to the right in 2024 and voted for Donald Trump. Now, many voters there are grappling with buyer’s remorse.

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Between tariffs that hit Canadian and Mexican tourism and aggressive immigration enforcement affecting local communities, workers are seeing their shifts cut and paychecks shrink, something many are now calling the “Trump slump.”

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We followed canvassers from the Culinary Workers Union—an important local political force—to see how direct voter engagement works in one of the country's most critical swing states.

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00:00 Midterms ground zero

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03:03 The politics of the Culinary Union

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07:48 Nevada’s Trump slump

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11:50 Canvassing with the Culinary Union

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24:43 Looking towards 2028

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26:56 Final arguments

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America, Actually publishes video episodes every Saturday tackling key issues in politics, culture, and the economy. Subscribe to Vox’s YouTube channel to get them. Listen to episodes of America, Actually on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app.

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If you enjoy our reporting and want to learn more, sign up for Astead’s weekly newsletter, Midterms, Actually. Just go to www.vox.com/midtermsactually to learn more, and get in-depth analysis about this year’s election right to your inbox.

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Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com.

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Vox’s Today, Explained co-hosts Sean Rameswaram and Noel King dig into the Texas Senate race and discuss Noel’s two-day trip to get a firsthand look at how the Talarico and Paxton campaigns are battling it out in the final days before Election Day. They discuss the culture war shaping the race and what voters are focusing on ahead of the midterm elections.

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We just launched a Vox mobile app that brings together all of our work — our podcasts, videos, and written stories — into one experience, so you never have to look elsewhere. The app is free to download in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

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Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com.

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What does the country lose when one generation refuses to yield power?

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In this episode, Vox host Jonquilyn Hill talks with Idrees Kahloon, staff writer at the Atlantic, about why he believes America has become a gerontocracy – a government whose rulers are older than the rest of the population. There’s the age of political leaders in Congress and the White House. And there’s also the economic impact of having Americans over the age of 55 holding nearly three-quarters of the nation's wealth.

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Jonquilyn and Idrees examine how this demographic and economic shift came to pass over the last several decades. They get into the political taboo over reforming Social Security and Medicare, the impact of housing market restrictions and zoning on younger home buyers, and the ways that government spending heavily favors older voters.

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Guest Host: Jonquilyn Hill, host of Explain It To Me

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Guest: Idrees Kahloon, Staff writer, The Atlantic

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00:00 Intro

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01:58 What is Gerontocracy

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06:42 Economic Shifts and Boomer Fortune

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11:36 Global Perspectives on Pensions

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14:11 Political Power and Congressional Aging

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24:36 Wealth Accumulation and Generational Equity

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38:14 Policy Solutions and Aging in Place

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We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show.

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And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube. New episodes drop every Monday and Friday.

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Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com.

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