Hayek's Bastards

Elon Musk’s Endgame

The Ezra Klein Show, 30 October 2026. The book comes up at 41 min 58 sec in.

Ezra Klein asks Quinn Slobodian to explain Hayek's Bastards, written before Muskism. Slobodian argues that self-described neoliberals — who coined the term in 1938 — grew panicked after the Cold War not about socialism but about environmentalism, affirmative action, and gay and feminist politics, creating conditions for a libertarian–cultural-nationalist alliance. The subtitle is 'Race, Gold, IQ, and the Capitalism of the Far Right.' Later Slobodian applies the book's 'flight to safety' argument to Musk's current predicament.

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