Today: How Tech Power Became State Power

Today at 4 p.m. Pacific (7 p.m. Eastern) you can watch a livestream of TechnoFachos: How Tech Power Became State Power.

I participated in this panel with Marisa Franco and Dr. Safiya U. Noble at the Take Back Tech conference in Atlanta in April. Our talk was moderated by Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson.

It was one of the best conversations I’ve had on the existential crisis facing our democracy due to Silicon Valley fascism. I think you’ll find it worth your time.

Click below to watch the livestream at 4 p.m. PST (7 p.m. EST) today (Thursday, June 4, 2026).

TechnoFachos Panel: How Tech Power Became State Power

The line between Silicon Valley and Washington was never as thick as they wanted us to think. Now it’s gone. In this conversation, we’ll examine how tech power and fascism are feeding each other. And what real resistance looks like when the people with the money also control the machines. Moderator: Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, Movement Strategist Panelists: Marisa Franco, Mijente; Dr. Safiya U. Noble, UCLA Center on Resilience and Digital Justice; and Gil Duran, Nerd Reich Podcast.

StreamYard

August 24: Nerd Reich San Francisco Book Launch

On August 24, I’ll be joined by writer Wajahat Ali and hundreds of readers for a book launch at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. Tickets are now on sale! If you are in the Bay Area, please join us in-person. Online tickets also available.

Wajahat and I always keep things interesting, and I’m glad he’s able to join me onstage to launch The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War On Democracy.

Click here for information on how to purchase tickets.

Passages: Bernie the Anti-Fascist Fancy Rat

In April 2025, around the same time I landed my book deal, we adopted a wonderful pet rat named Bernie. We took him in after he was abandoned on a local street and we gave him the charmed and spoiled life he deserved. He was just a little hooded fancy rat, but he was the sweetest friend and a comfort in dark times.

I always said Bernie was sent to keep me company and lighten the atmosphere as I wrote my book. Now that era is gone—and so, too, is our precious Bernie. This week, old age caught up with our little guy and we had to say goodbye. It was hard. We weren’t ready to lose him. But all the little holes he nibbled—in a favorite shirt, in the bed sheets— will enshrine our joy. (He even made a cameo appearance in an episode of the Nerd Reich podcast.)

We’ll miss those big sweet eyes and those spiky pink “chicken feet.” He was grooming our fingers til the very end. We love you forever, Berns!!!

Remember: Rats are wingless angels, excellent pets (pocket puppies!), and always up for adoption.