Episode 6: Baby X
Summary
Historian Jill Lepore explores Elon Musk’s “Baby X” and his “Muskism” through the lens of feminist and Indigenous science fiction. She contrasts Musk’s techno-futurism with works by Ursula K. Le Guin and Vandana Singh, arguing his vision lacks human nuance. The episode examines AI ethics, gender politics, and Musk’s family life, linking his personal crises to his political shift.
Topics discussed
Sponsors and intro: ChatGPT, Grainger, Optum
Gender reveal parties and the origin of Baby X
Introducing Muskism and feminist sci-fi
Elon Musk's relationships and Grimes
Lois Gould's Baby X and the 1975 experiment
Ursula K. Le Guin and Mrs. Brown
Vandana Singh on domesticity and paradigm blindness
Silicon Valley's antique vision of the future
Musk on babies, AI, and Frankenstein
AI as gendered slaves and fear of rebellion
Le Guin's family and the colonized perspective
Indigenous AI and the story of Haloa
Musk's children, birth rates, and the woke virus
Preview and closing sponsors
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