Peter Thiel's Not-So-Secret Society and the Evil Billionaire Hall of Fame With Adam Conover

June 25, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

In the summer of 1877, a young Cecil Rhodes sat in an Oxford room drafting what he called his "confession of faith." He was a nobody—no money, weak lungs, no title—but he had a plan: a secret society to bring the entire globe under British rule. He wrote it plainly: "A society, not openly acknowledged, for the extension of one people's rule across the whole of Earth." He named the lands he meant to take—Africa, South America, the Holy Land, the Pacific islands, even the recovery of the United States. He put this vision in his will, left every pound he owned to fund it, and then went to South Africa during the diamond rush. He bought out every rival mine until his company, De Beers, controlled nine of every ten diamonds on Earth. He became Prime Minister of the Cape, chartered an army to seize a piece of Africa he named Rhodesia, and wrote laws that kept the native population powerless. He died at 48 with a fortune of six million pounds. The men who opened his will found his grand design to rule the planet from the shadows and were embarrassed. They used the money to found a scholarship instead. The students who won it would be called Rhodes Scholars.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:06) **The Cecil Rhodes Origin Story** - The episode opens with a dramatic reading of Cecil Rhodes' secret plan to bring the entire globe under British rule, written when he was a nobody at Oxford.
2 (02:28) **Introducing Adam Conover and the Peter Thiel Revelation** - The hosts welcome Adam Conover to discuss the recent leak of Peter Thiel's secret society, "Dialogue."
3 (10:09) **The Banality of Elite Exclusivity** - Adam argues that the conference is fundamentally banal, comparing its secrecy to that of a high-end dating app like Raya.
4 (14:50) **Adam's Theory: Peter Thiel's "CEO Disease" Cure** - Adam posits that Thiel started Dialogue to combat his own isolation and gather real, uncensored opinions from a cross-section of powerful people.
5 (18:19) **The Anti-Elon Musk: Power vs. Fame** - The conversation contrasts Thiel's desire for secret power with Elon Musk's craving for public fame.
6 (21:09) **The Unimaginable Scale of Billionaire Influence** - The hosts grapple with the difficulty of comprehending the sheer scale of a billionaire's wealth and influence.
7 (26:13) **Ezra Klein's Defense and the Price of Association** - Adam analyzes Ezra Klein's 2,000-word statement denying any nefarious intent, arguing that the secrecy itself is the trap.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Actor/comedian Adam Conover joins to discuss Peter Thiel’s invitation-only organization and a list of the all-time evil billionaires. Plus, a pair of weight-loss drug stories, drone warfare in Russia, and theories about the afterlife.

In this episode:

(00:00) Intro

(3:02) Peter Thiel’s "Dialog"

(13:13) Jason’s theory about Dialog

(38:03) All-time evil billionaires

(48:23) The Doomscroll: Ozempic hacked

(50:51) New obesity drug in the White House?

(53:09) Claude Mythos update

(56:11) Ukrainian drones

(1:02:23) The ghost of Dennis Hopper

Hosts: Jason Concepcion and Tyler Parker

Guest: Adam Conover

Producers: Donnie Beacham and Justin Sayles

Art direction: David Shoemaker

Motion graphics and animations: Chris Calleton

Engineering: Sarah Reddy

Set design: Hannah Leiken and Jonathan Ratliff

Additional Support: Dae Shik Kim

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