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Gil Durán's 'The Nerd Reich' examines Big Tech, Peter Thiel and JD Vance

politicsAug 17, 2026391,079

Gil Durán’s new book The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy argues that tech billionaires have moved from occasional opposition to Donald Trump to actively promoting what Durán calls “tech fascism.” Durán traces a line from Peter Thiel through JD Vance to the far right monarchist Curtis Yarvin, saying Vance is almost entirely a creation of Thiel who bankrolled his stint in Silicon Valley and his rise to the Senate. Durán says “These guys were never libertarians. Now that they are the government, we see their true face: They’re fascists, and they’re authoritarians.” The book grew out of a 2024 New Republic series and Durán rebranded his newsletter as The Nerd Reich after hearing the label used within the crypto community. Durán is the former opinion editor of The Sacramento Bee and editorial page editor at the San Francisco Examiner and now publishes the newsletters The Nerd Reich and FrameLab. He emphasizes that with Vance at Trump’s side, Silicon Valley has effectively placed a tech venture capitalist one heartbeat away from the presidency.

Democracy Now!
@democracynow.org

“The Nerd Reich”: Author Gil Durán on Big Tech Fascism, Peter Thiel, JD Vance & the War on Democracy https://www.democracynow.org/2026/8/17/gil_duran_nerd_reich

27145d ago
Bill Kristol
@billkristolbulwark.bsky.social

I’m no fan of JD Vance. But does any serious person, watching Trump over the last few months, doubt that it would be in the national interest to impeach and remove him from office as soon as possible?

39045d ago
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