Stewart Brand, Silicon Valley’s Favorite Prophet, on Life’s Most Important Principle

Tawlla Tawlla's podcast · Apr 24, 2026 · 52m

Stewart Brand might be the most influential philosopher of the internet – at least in its more idealistic era. In the 1960s, Brand was the central bridge figure between the San Francisco counterculture and the emerging technology scene. He created the legendary Trips Festival with Ken Kesey in 1966, and was there at “the mother of all demos” in 1968. And he created and edited the Whole Earth Catalog, which Steve Jobs called “one of the bibles of my generation” and “Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along.” Brand has seen Silicon Valley evolve in the decades since. And…