The Nerd Reich

We did it! The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy is officially a New York Times “Instant Bestseller.”

My book debuted at #3 on the hardcover nonfiction list. Thank you to everyone who pre-ordered the book or bought it the first week—or who requested it at their local public library and/or spread the word to others. It’s not easy for a first-time book author to make the list. I could not have done it without you, my first readers.

I am especially grateful to my agent, Caroline Eisenmann of Frances Goldin Literary Agency. She took me seriously at a moment when no other agent would return my queries, and here we are.

I was also super fortunate to have an amazing editor in Shannon Welch of Avid Reader Press, who gave me space to cook and coached me toward the best version possible. The entire team at Avid Reader has been amazing, scoring major media appearances (Fresh Air, Democracy Now, MS NOW, The Guardian) during launch week.

There’s more to come, and hopefully the bestseller status will erode some of the lingering hesitancy among certain legacy media institutions and personalities.

And if you didn’t get the book on launch week, now is a great time to do so! Buy it here to support this newsletter (or get it at your local independent bookstore).

In the meantime, I’m doing a ton of podcasts and interviews. Here is one of my favorites so far, my talk with Paris Marx of Tech Won’t Save Us. Paris was one of the first journalists to give me a platform back in 2024, so it was great to catch up.

‘The independent side is pretty scary’

Thor Benson interviewed me about why I became a journalist, and what it’s like to be an independent journalist taking on powerful billionaire interests. From the interview in Long Lead:

I made a tremendous investment of my own money to do the work that eventually became my book. There were moments when I thought, “Am I making a really stupid mistake here?” And I’ll be honest, there are days when you’re like, “Let’s just drop this and look for a damn job right now.” I was in politics. I could go make hundreds of thousands of dollars to advise people on what to say in a press release. Journalism is what I want to do, but there are moments where you think, “Is this just a dead end? Am I having a midlife crisis by trying to be an independent journalist?” That’s what it could seem like. But I persevered through that and got some pieces published. Those got a bigger reaction than almost anything else I had even published in a newspaper.“It’s all AI and bots and space travel — and people don’t have jobs.” Gil Durán’s new book explores big tech’s democracy hatersPulling from his careers in politics and journalism, Durán wants the public to understand the dystopian influence of Silicon Valley’s billionaires on global politics.Where To Find Me

My Instagram is blowing up, with 10,000 new followers in the past week. Click here to find me.

Or connect with me on LinkedIn (mention “newsletter”).

As always, I’m on BlueSky and Mastodon and Threads.

Nerd Reich Newsletter On Tour

Oakland: Clio’s Books, September 9, in conversation with Adam Becker. Click here for tickets.

Chicago: Fighting Technofascism, September 19. Click here for tickets.

Baltimore: Red Emma’s Bookstore, Baltimore Book Festival, September 20. Click here for info.

More to come!

Tonight in San Francisco (8/24), I’ll be onstage with Wajahat Ali at the Commonwealth Club. Afterward, I’ll sign books. Tickets still available! Click here for more info.

Court of History Podcast

Last week, I joined journalist Sidney Blumenthal and historian Sean Wilentz for a two-part interview on the Court of History podcast.

Here’s Part One:

And here’s Part Two:

More to come—soon!

Great News: The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy is a Best Seller on Bookshop and Amazon!

First-week sales matter—a lot. If you haven’t already, please buy The Nerd Reich at your local bookstore today. Or use this Bookshop link to support this newsletter. I can’t do it without your support! This is the day it matters most. (Already got the book? Please leave a review on your favorite books website.)

Nerd Reich Podcast Triumphs On YouTube

It looks like YouTube has backed down from its threat to delete The Nerd Reich’s YouTube channel.

The channel remains up today—with over 2000 new subscribers. Alex Shultz of Hard Reset Media reports that the company has no plans to disable the account. In addition, the mysterious campaign of false complaints against our channel has vanished just as quickly as it appeared.

Last week, YouTube sent a message threatening to disable the Nerd Reich channel by today. But it’s still up—and with a new episode.

This time, I’m in the guest chair being interviewed by Jean Guerrero, a New York Times contributing opinion writer and author of Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda.

Click below to watch the full episode on YouTube.

Click here for Apple Podcasts.

Click here for Spotify.

Visit Jean Guerrero’s newsletter, UNSILENCING, for a full transcript.

“The Nerd Reich” is the book Silicon Valley elites don’t want you to read. Here’s what the author has to say.I spoke to the journalist Gil Durán about his new book, which sheds light on what the tech fascists behind Trump are planning.Peter Thiel Roasted by Gandalfs in Argentina

If Peter Thiel hoped to find peace and refuge when he purchased a mansion hideout in Argentina earlier this year, he’s in for a rude awakening.

The surveillance billionaire and Antichrist enthusiast’s interest in the South American country has sparked energetic protests from local activists, and they know how to hit him where it hurts.

Earlier this week, a mysterious flock of Gandalfs descended on Thiel’s mansion:

Protesters dressed as Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings protested outside the Buenos Aires home of Peter Thiel, a Palantir co-founder.

They had gathered to highlight Mr Thiel's recent 1pc stake purchase in Argentina's Vista, one of the largest oil companies operating in the country.

The demonstrators carried banners reading “You shall not pass,” a line delivered by the Lord of the Rings character, played by Sir Ian McKellen.

Images of the protesters—wearing robes, wizard hats and white beards—made headlines and newscasts around the globe.

Thiel’s obsession with The Lord of the Rings is one of his defining traits. He tends to name his companies—Palantir, Mithril, Valar—after objects in the J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy books. Oddly, Thiel does not seem to recognize that he and his cronies resemble the book’s villains rather than its heroes.

But the Gandalfs of Argentina have been summoned to remind him.

Protesters dressed as Gandalf surround Palantir founder’s houseProtesters dressed as Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings protested outside the Buenos Aires home of Peter Thiel, a Palantir co-founder.

“JD Vance is a dangerous extremist who embraces a set of ideas that should put a chill down the spine of every American.”

This morning, I appeared on Democracy Now! to discuss my book, The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy. Click here to watch my full interview with Amy Goodman and Anjali Kamat.

This is it! Last day to pre-order The Nerd Reich book.

First-week sales make a HUGE difference. If every reader of this newsletter buys the book, we’ll be a smashing success. Give the tech fascists hell—make The Nerd Reich sell!

Order it at Bookshop to support independent bookstores and this newsletter.

Or buy it at your local bookstore—or wherever you buy your books—tomorrow.

Here’s the latest review from Slate:

You could not ask for a more complete and hair-raising compendium of the insane things that Silicon Valley moguls have said and advocated for than journalist Gil Durán’s new book, The Nerd Reich. The book, based on a fiery newsletter Durán publishes about technology and the San Francisco Bay Area, identifies such billionaires as venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and Peter Thiel as the spiders at the center of a web of “philosophers,” tech evangelists, start-up founders, and—most disturbingly—politicians who subscribe to a set of authoritarian ideas and plans for the future based on half-baked theories and an incomplete understanding of how the world works.Tech Oligarchs Have a Certain Future in Mind. It Completely Misunderstands How the World Works.A new book thoroughly catalogs the insane things that tech moguls like Peter Thiel have advocated for.

It’s official: This morning, YouTube announced it will delete The Nerd Reich podcast next week—the same week my book comes out.

YouTube’s reasons are silly. Over the last few weeks, someone has targeted the Nerd Reich channel with a campaign of false and frivolous complaints. After 1.5 years on YouTube with no problems, we’re suddenly being hit with multiple, almost-daily complaints—just in time for my book launch this Tuesday.

And YouTube’s ridiculous policy is to delete our videos—and now our channel.

We’ve fought back against these false complaints, but the sheer volume is overwhelming. Someone is obsessed with deleting our channel. YouTube is playing along.

This follows a familiar pattern.

When Elon Musk bought Twitter, I was banned for eight months. Last year, Facebook banned The Nerd Reich newsletter from being posted there (a policy they reversed after media attention). In April, Musk permanently banned me from X for posting about fascism. And now, our YouTube channel—with 26,000 subscribers—will be disabled just in time for my book launch.

It’s great publicity! But I’d rather have the channel, which reaches a global audience with videos that have received 818,000 views so far. In fact, our number of YouTube subscribers is larger than our number of newsletter subscribers.

One way or another, we’ll persevere. But it’s clear that someone is very upset about my work, and they have succeeded in deplatforming me from YouTube.

Wanna help me fight back? Buy my book, which gets released this Tuesday! Available wherever you get your books.

Use this Bookshop link to support independent booksellers and this newsletter.

Use this link to find all other options.

My Interview on KQED Political Breakdown

“We can have billionaires or we can have democracy. We cannot have both. The billionaires see a future without us, so we have to start imagining a future without them.”

This week, I joined Marisa Lagos of KQED to discuss the billionaire war on democracy. Click below to watch our conversation on PBS.

Click here for audio-only version on KQED.

Political Breakdown | Do Silicon Valley Billionaires Want to End Democracy?Gil Durán warns that Silicon Valley billionaires are trying to overthrow American democracy.