Long Reads: Trillion Dollar Baby w/ Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff (Part 2)

In September 2025, Elon Musk spoke by video link to a fascist rally in London. Tommy Robinson, the organizer of the rally and a convicted criminal, has been trying to incite a racial war on the streets of Britain. That record of incitement won him the admiration of Musk. Since delivering the speech, Musk has become the world’s first trillionaire, boosting his war chest even further.

Today’s episode is the second part of an interview with Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff, the authors of Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed. The interview was conducted shortly before the SpaceX IPO that gave Musk his trillion-dollar valuation.

The first part of the interview concentrates on the growth of Musk’s business empire with companies like SpaceX and Tesla. This episode focuses on his political turn over the last decade.

Read Jacobin’s reviews of Muskism here: https://jacobin.com/2026/03/muskism-futurism-fordism-sovereignty-technology

And here: https://jacobin.com/2026/03/musk-slobodian-tarnoff-neoliberalism-right

Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies with music by Knxwledge.