Where did Elon Musk’s epic ambitions begin? In search of clues we return to his sheltered youth in apartheid South Africa, a world engineered for white supremacy. Along the way, we connect the dots between a bizarre White House ambush of South African president Cyril Ramaphosa to teenage Elon’s ego-powered quests in video games. Finally, was his “draft dodge” from military service a moral act or an opportunist’s exit?
Guests in this episode include:
- Rudolph Pienaar, childhood friend of Elon Musk
- Will Shoki, South African journalist and writer
Topics in this episode include:
- Donald Trump’s Oval Office ambush of President Cyril Ramaphosa with conspiracy theories about an anti-white Afrikaaner farmer genocide, or “white genocide” in South Africa
- Elon Musk’s South African childhood, including his time at Pretoria Boys High School and his approach to fantasy role playing video games
- Apartheid and structural white privilege/supremacy
- The South African Border War, conscription and draft-dodging
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- Trump’s Next Move Is Being Tested in Hungary. Interview with Kim Lane Scheppele – 11 April 2026
- Gender Under Siege: Slow Violence and Antigender Mobilisation in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Ethnonationalist Landscape, by Zlatiborka Popov-Momčinović – 23 January 2026
- China FAQ – Is China a Socialist Country? – 12 April 2022
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