Elon Musk

With the New Twitter, the Right Wing Disinfo is Coming from the Top

by Donald Moynihan

"Musk often refers to himself as moderate or independent, but he routinely treats far-right fringe figures as people worth taking seriously—and, more troublingly, as reliable sources of information."

I'm a History Professor with 139 Followers. Why Did Elon Ban Me From Twitter?

by Kenneth Osgood

(It was because I called him a "bologna face".)

2022's Lesson? Billionaires Bad, Actually

Tech historian Margaret O'Mara says Musk, like other tech moguls, has long been supported by a myth of the individual genius that is only now being overturned by his erratic decisionmaking, boosting of right-wing conspiracy theories, and incredibly thin-skinned reaction to criticism. 

Why Washington Can't (or Won't) Quit Twitter

Tech historian Margaret O'Mara says that the social platform keeps work-addicted (and sometimes gossipy) politicos connected all the time, making it both an emotional and instrumental necessity. 

The Robber Barons Had Nothing on Musk

by David Nasaw

Like the Gilded Age robber barons, Elon Musk's self-made mythos hides the government subsidies supporting his businesses. Unlike them, he has the werewhithal to move financial markets to his advantage through Twitter. 

Musk Just Latest in Right's Push To Acquire Media Platforms

by A.J. Bauer

The history of conservative media acquisitions reflects the anxiety on the right that their ideas are broadly unpopular. 

Musk: A Vapid Mind Boosted by Wealth and Ego

by Siva Vaidhyanathan

What happens when an unserious person has serious power over public discourse? We must take Musk more seriously than he seems to take anything himself. 

Musk's Twitter Bid Harkens Back to Hearst

Richard White and Brad DeLong consider how the megabillionaire's bid for Twitter stacks up against other efforts by the ultra-rich to build media empires – is it more about attention and less about advancing financial interests? 

Trying to Change Twitter's Content Moderation is Going to Disappoint Elon Musk

by Evelyn Douek

Musk is delusional if he thinks that Twitter can function without moderation. The problem this highlights is the ability of a small number of billionaires to make the decisions that shape the contemporary public sphere. 

Jill Lepore Debunks Elon Musk's Futurism

Is Elon Musk's worldview based in a singularly weird interpretation of the sci-fi books he devoured as a kid? Jill Lepore discusses the rise of the self-styled comic book hero CEO as a matter of confusing dystopia for a how-to guide. 

Amy Shira Teitel: Why is Space Such a Boys' Club?

"Space skews predominantly male, especially Apollo-era space history because that was the era when little boys growing up were being told, 'You can be an astronaut, too'!"

Adulation for Today's Space Race is Misplaced. So is Nostalgia for the First One

by Catherine Devlin

It is impossible not to compare today’s billionaire space race to the iconic celestial competition of the 1960’s. But what if neither is worthy of adulation?

Ike Would Like the New Private Space Race

by Yanek Mieczkowski

Wary of government spending and the entanglement of public money with private contractors, Dwight Eisenhower would find much to like in today's billionaire space race. 

Why Is NASA Spending Billions to Build a Rocket When Elon Musk Has a Cheaper One?

by James Stejskal

The answer is only partly because of the concerns about Musk.

Stephen Mihm: New York Had a Hyperloop First, Elon Musk

Stephen Mihm, an associate professor of history at the University of Georgia, is a contributor to the Ticker. Follow him on TwitterAh, the “hyperloop.” Elon Musk, whose track record as a technological visionary is unimpeachable, has released details of his plan for a futuristic system of transport. The basic idea is to use air pressure to shoot people-carrying pods through tubes at speeds of up to 760 miles per hour.With all due respect to Mr. Musk, the idea isn’t new. This has been pointed out by some commentators, who have noted that in 1972 Rand Corporation researcher R. M. Salter released a proposal to ferry passengers from New York to Los Angles in a mere 21 minutes, or 14 minutes less than the hyperloop would take to send them from Los Angeles to San Francisco. But at its heart, Musk’s project is even more old school: It owes most of its inspiration to ideas that have been around for two hundred years.