The Bay Area around San Francisco is home to beautiful beaches, gorgeous wineries and the people who are creating the future. Because if you head south from San Fran, you’ll find Silicon Valley, the center of global technology.

The place today is filled with artificial intelligence, billionaire tech-bros and people trying to become immortal. Silicon Valley might be the wealthiest town in America, but behind the Teslas and the venture capital is an origin story defined by people who bucked all the rules. The history of this town was written by adventurers, with an ethos of “nothing is impossible, everything is permitted”.

This week on Passport we’re going inside the Matrix, into the real Silicon Valley, mapping its history through the hackers and freaks who made it boom. We’ll meet secret societies, burning men and giant fighting robots from San Fran’s past, as well as the AI overlords, transhumanists and mind uploaders who dominate the place today. Strap in, it’s going to get weird.

For more, including links to the things we talked about, and the places we visited, plus a full transcript, visit: https://frequencymachine.com/passport

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