E53: Dominic Cummings on Elon, Techies in Politics, and New Elitism

Erik Torenberg and Antonio Garcia Martinez sit down with political strategist + former chief adviser to Boris Johnson's right hand Dominic Cummings who is known for architecting Brexit. They discuss whether Brexit actually saved Britain from the far right, the San Francisco homelessness complex, the 2024 election, educational polarization, & more. Sell and grow with Shopify: Sign up for $1/month trial period: https://shopify.com/momentofzen – SPONSORS: BEEHIIV | SHOPIFY | VANTA | MASTERCLASS BEEHIIV Head to Beehiiv, the newsletter platform built for growth, to power your own. Connect with premium brands, scale your audience, and deliver a beautiful UX that stands out in an inbox. 🐝to https://Beehiiv.com and use code "MOZ" for 20% off your first three months. SHOPIFY: https://shopify.com/momentofzen for a $1/month trial period Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. Shopify powers 10% of all e-commerce in the US. And Shopify’s the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy’s, and Brooklinen, and 1,000,000s of other entrepreneurs across 175 countries. From their all-in-one e-commerce platform, to their in-person POS system – wherever and whatever you’re selling, Shopify’s got you covered. With free Shopify Magic, sell more with less effort by whipping up captivating content that converts – from blog posts to product descriptions using AI. Sign up for $1/month trial period: https://shopify.com/momentofzen VANTA: Are you building a business? If you’re looking for SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR or HIPAA compliance, head to Vanta. Achieving compliance can actually unlock major growth for your company and build customer loyalty. Vanta automates up to 90% of Compliance work, getting you audit-ready in weeks instead of months and saving 85% of associated costs. Moment of Zen listeners get $1000 off at: https://www.vanta.com/zen MASTERCLASS: https://masterclass.com/zen get two memberships for the price of 1 Learn from the best to become your best. Learn how to negotiate a raise with Chris Voss or manage your relationships with Esther Perel. Boost your confidence and find practical takeaways you can apply to your life and at work. If you own a business or are a team leader, use MasterClass to empower and create future-ready employees and leaders. Moment of Zen listeners will get two memberships for the price of one at https://masterclass.com/zen – Sign up for our newsletter to receive the full shownotes: https://momentofzen.substack.com/ –  X / TWITTER: @Dominic2306 (Dominic) @antoniogm (Antonio) @eriktorenberg (Erik) @moz_podcast @TurpentineMedia -- RECOMMENDED PODCAST: LIVE PLAYERS Join host Samo Burja and Erik Torenberg as they analyze the mindsets of today’s most intriguing business leaders, investors, and innovators through the lens of their bold actions and contrarian worldviews. You’ll come away with a deeper understanding of the development of technology, business, political power, culture and more. LIsten and subscribe everywhere you get your podcasts: https://link.chtbl.com/liveplayers. - TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Episode Preview (01:19) Introduction (04:57) Inspiration for Brexit (13:00) Extreme parties in US vs UK  (15:46) SPONSOR: VANTA (16:41) Francis Fukuyama’ and Walter Kaufmann on liberalism (22:05) European wokeness explosion (26:48) The fix SF movement (31:08) SPONSOR: VANTA (32:46) SF homeless industrial complex (34:05) Techies in politics (38:29) Elon and Israel (40:56) SPONSOR: MASTERCLASS (41:49) Israel’s PR will never win in the west (52:42) New elitism (59:15) Appealing in the 2024 election (01:10:24) Abortion laws (01:00:13) British royals (01:24:26) Educational and political polarization (01:35:02) A reformed republican Party (01:39:41) Can we fix SF?