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Silicon Valley was supposed to change the world. Turns out, it wasn't kidding.

For decades, the tech industry's biggest personalities sold us a vision of innovation, openness, and progress. But somewhere along the way, the people building our digital future began accumulating something even more consequential than wealth: political power.

In this episode of FUTUREPROOF., Jeremy Goldman sits down with investigative journalist Jacob Silverman, author of bestseller GILDED RAGE: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley (now out in paperback!) to explore how an industry once associated with technological optimism became increasingly entangled with ideology, political influence, and the ambitions of its billionaire founders.

Elon Musk is the obvious protagonist. But is he really the exception, or simply the most visible example of a much bigger transformation?

Jeremy and Jacob explore:

• How Silicon Valley's political identity evolved, and why the shift matters far beyond the technology industry.
• Whether Elon Musk is driving a new era of tech power or merely revealing forces that were already there.
• How AI, social platforms, and concentrated wealth are changing the relationship between technology companies and governments.
• Why the mythology of the genius founder makes society unusually willing to trust billionaires outside their areas of expertise.
• Whether the incentives behind social media and Silicon Valley culture reward increasingly extreme personalities.
• What happens when the companies shaping public discourse also become influential political players.

The bigger question isn't whether technology companies should have political opinions. It's what happens when the people who own our digital infrastructure begin exercising influence that extends far beyond their products.

Silicon Valley promised to change the world. But who gets to decide what that world looks like?

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Artificial intelligence may dominate the headlines.

But behind every breakthrough model, every chatbot, and every AI-powered application is something far less glamorous—and arguably far more important:

The semiconductor.

In this episode of FUTUREPROOF., Jeremy Goldman sits down with Rakesh Kumar, Professor of Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois and author of THE CHIP AGE: HOW SEMICONDUCTORS BECOME THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL RESOURCE, to explore why the future of AI may ultimately be determined not by software—but by hardware.

As demand for advanced chips accelerates, countries are racing to secure manufacturing capacity, supply chains are becoming geopolitical flashpoints, and data centers are consuming unprecedented amounts of energy. The conversation moves beyond processors themselves to examine what happens when computing power becomes one of the world's most strategic resources.

Jeremy and Rakesh discuss:

• Why semiconductors have become the foundation of the AI economy.
• How the global race for chip manufacturing is reshaping geopolitics.
• Whether export controls are slowing AI—or accelerating global competition.
• Taiwan's critical role in the semiconductor ecosystem.
• Why AI's biggest constraint may soon be electricity rather than algorithms.
• The hidden complexity of global semiconductor supply chains.
• What leaders should understand about the infrastructure powering the next generation of technology.

The AI revolution may be built on software.

But its future will be decided by silicon.

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For years, the debate has been framed as a simple choice:

Work from home—or return to the office.

But what if we've been asking the wrong question?

In this episode of FUTUREPROOF., Jeremy Goldman sits down with Harvard-trained economists Emma Harrington and Natalia Emanuel, authors of IN PERSON: How Working Together Fuels Creativity, Productivity, and Growth. Drawing on years of research across Fortune 500 companies, startups, and millions of hours of workplace data, they argue that the real value of being together isn't checking boxes or attending meetings—it's something much harder to measure: creativity, mentorship, trust, and innovation.

The conversation takes an unexpected turn as AI enters the picture. If artificial intelligence is increasingly handling individual work, does that make the uniquely human parts of work—collaboration, judgment, and spontaneous idea generation—even more valuable?

Jeremy, Emma, and Natalia explore:

• Why productivity isn't the same as quality.
• What organizations misunderstand about return-to-office policies.
• Why mentorship is becoming more—not less—important in the AI era.
• The surprising science behind "brain-to-brain synchrony."
• Why many hybrid strategies fail despite good intentions.
• How leaders can balance flexibility with the benefits of proximity.
• What the future workplace could look like as AI transforms knowledge work.

The future of work may not be about choosing between home and the office.

It may be about understanding which kinds of work are fundamentally better when humans are together.