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Elon Musk wants to shape the future. How did science fiction shape him?

The story of Elon Musk, the way it's usually told, makes him sound like a fictional character, a comic-book superhero – or supervillain. He's the world's richest man, and now an adviser to the US President. He uses X - his social media platform - to berate politicians he doesn't agree with around the world.

As the world's richest man, the US President’s right-hand man, and the owner of X, he’s possibly the world’s most powerful man. Musk wants to build robots and colonise Mars and appears to be dismantling sizable parts of the US government. His vision of the future seems to stem from the science fiction that has fired his imagination since he was a boy. But what's the real story, the true history, behind Musk’s sense of destiny? Back in 2021 Harvard history professor and New Yorker writer Jill Lepore became fascinated by this question. So she made a Radio 4 podcast that tried to explain Musk through the science fiction he grew up with. So much has happened since then that we decided to update that series - and add new episodes, too. Because Musk’s power keeps growing, and so does the influence of what Lepore calls 'Muskism' - his brand of extreme capitalism, libertarianism, and techno-futurism. But where does that future come from?

Musk’s origin stories also seem to keep changing. Not too long ago, he compared himself to Batman. Arguments started online over whether or not Musk is a real-life Bruce Wayne. This episode, Lepore looks at the original ‘Caped Crusader’, created back in 1939. Batman’s origin story is bound up with fascism. And every time Musk is compared to Batman it raises a very old question about the Dark Knight: is Batman fighting fascism, or is Batman - a brooding, fabulously wealthy vigilante - somehow, himself a fascist?

Jill Lepore is the Kemper Professor of American History at Harvard University and Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. She’s also a staff writer at The New Yorker and an acclaimed author.

Series Producer: Viv Jones
Researchers: Simon Leek, Thomas Farmer
Editors: Richard Vadon
Sound design and mix: James Beard
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Original music by Corntuth
Production Coordinators: Jack Young, Maria Ogundele

CREDITS
Coverage of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg’s possible cage fight, CBS
Tesla Cybertruck Batmobile comments, @thesydneybelle on TikTok
Coverage of Colorado cinema shooting, ABC News