"Gandalf's the crazy person who wants to start a war, and Mordor is this technological civilization based on reason and science. Outside of Mordor, it's all sort of mystical and environmental and nothing works."

"I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible."
4/6

"For Thiel, ambition like this - outsize, contrarian, vaguely seditious - is nothing new."

"A devoted J.R.R. Tolkien fan from an early age, Thiel is equally enamored with a retelling of The Lord of the Rings in which Sauron is a beleaguered victim."
3/6

The interview was first published in Details Magazine by journalist Jonathan Miles.

In "The Billionaire King of Techtopia" Thiel appears in the image of a crown.

"Forget start-up companies. The next frontier is start-up countries."
2/6

Hey Kristin! It's great to hear from you! How are you doing?

Thanks for thinking of me @kresowik.bsky.social thanks for thinking of me Mark @whitneybauck.bsky.social I am a fungi nerd, and have come across articles about Chinese mushroom culture and am interested in it. But would need to look for them again. Their history with Reishi is especially interesting

It's hard to imagine how we can realistically address this given where things are at with media, big tech, and politics.... but I haven't read the article yes. Maybe there are some good ideas in there?