“The Nerd Reich”: Rise of AI Tech Fascism w/ Book Talk Author Gil Durán & host Wajahat Ali

BOOK TALK: "The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy"
(publisher Simon & Schuster, August 18, 2026)

Join an in-person talk with author Gil Durán, who will explain the origins, strategies and ambitions of what he says is Silicon Valley’s “war on democracy.”

AUTHOR: Gil Durán, journalist & "Nerd Riech" podcaster

MODERATOR: Wajahat Ali, Co-host, "Democracy-ish" Podcast, editor of the “Left Hook” Substack and former Daily Beast columnist

Monday, August 24 at 6 PM - 7 PM

TICKETS:

In-person: Students = FREE w/ school ID; regular admission $25; copy of book & ticket $55
https://commonwealthclub.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/instances/a0FVb00000G97ibMAB

On-line: book & on-line ticket $40; only on-line $10
https://commonwealthclub.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/instances/a0FVb00000G97gzMAB


When Silicon Valley says it is “moving fast and breaking things,” the world interprets the chaos as a necessary cost of innovation. In his new book, The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy, Gil Durán argues that something far more sinister is at work: a decades-long campaign to replace elected governments with corporate rule.

Durán chronicles what he calls the “tech-authoritarian movement” from its early days in San Francisco politics to its current moment on the international stage, exploring the wild and dystopian ambition of the technocrats at its center, and offering his road map to resistance.

Drawing on insider political experience and new investigations, he traces this ideology from its philosophical roots in The Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg. He introduces its modern apostles—Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, Balaji Srinivasan and Elon Musk—and argues that the promise of technological liberation has transformed into a global movement for digital feudalism, powered by cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, and the algorithmic propaganda of social media.

Durán explains the origins, strategies and ambitions of Silicon Valley’s “war on democracy.” Join us as Durán will be in conversation by acclaimed author and former Daily Beast columnist Wajahat Ali, editor of the “Left Hook” Substack.


ABOUT: Gil Duran

From Bookshop.org: Gil Durán was born in Tulare, California, in 1976. The grandson of Mexican immigrant farmworkers, he got his first taste of work in the fields, but took an interest in journalism after winning the local newspaper’s “My Mom Is the Best” contest in the fifth grade. In the tenth grade, his family moved from California to Kentucky, where he dropped out of high school for a year, then returned and befriended an English teacher who encouraged him to apply to college. He graduated DePauw University in 1998 and started his journalism career at the San Jose Mercury News. As the newspaper industry hit turbulence, he pivoted to politics and spent ten years as an advisor to politicians including Jerry Brown, Dianne Feinstein, and Kamala Harris. In 2018, he returned to journalism as California opinion editor of The Sacramento Bee, and then became editorial page editor of the San Francisco Examiner. Now an independent journalist, he publishes two newsletters: The Nerd Reich, focused on extremist tech politics, and FrameLab, focused on political language.

To see the full listing page of "The Nerd Reich" or purchase from an INDEPENDENT bookstore, go to: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-nerd-reich-silicon-valley-fascism-and-the-war-on-democracy-gil-dur-n/a6f6f0dce1150339

______________________________________________________________

DEMOCRACY NOW!

“The Nerd Reich”: Author Gil Durán on Big Tech Fascism, Peter Thiel, JD Vance & the War on Democracy

Interview with Gil Durnan on the Silicon Valley war on democracy w/ journalists Amy Goodman and Anjali Kamat

https://www.democracynow.org/2026/8/17/gil_duran_nerd_reich


POLITICAL.org ARTICLE: "Gil Durán’s ‘The Nerd Reich’ Chronicles Silicon Valley’s War on American Democracy" --By: Rachel Huang

QUOTE: "A provocative new book by journalist and former political aide Gil Durán argues that a tightly networked circle of Silicon Valley billionaires and venture capitalists have spent three decades methodically constructing an ideological and political apparatus aimed at replacing democratic governance with corporate rule. The book, The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy, published by Simon & Schuster, is scheduled for release on August 18, 2026 — and its claims are already igniting debate across the political spectrum."

For the full, complete article, go to: https://political.org/2026/08/10/gil-durans-the-nerd-reich-chronicles-silicon-valleys-war-on-american-democracy/