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Max Chafkin is a features editor and reporter for\xa0Bloomberg Businessweek. His new book is\xa0The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley\u2019s Pursuit of Power.\n\u201cI think there's like a really good way to come up with story ideas where you basically just look for people who have given TED Talks and figure out what they're lying about. And there's also a tendency in the press to pump up these startups based on those stories\u2026. It's worth taking a critical look at these stars of the moment. Because often there's not as much there as we think. And if you\u2019re talking about Theranos or something, there's some potential to do harm\u2014but also it means that maybe more worthwhile efforts are not getting the attention they deserve.\u201d\nShow notes:\n\n@chafkin\n\nmaxchafkin.com\n\nChafkin on Longform\n\nChafkin's\xa0Bloomberg Businessweek\xa0archive\n\n02:00\xa0"Anything Could Happen"\xa0(Inc. \u2022 Mar 2008)\n\n09:00\xa0"A Broken Place: The Spectacular Failure Of The Startup That Was Going To Change The World"\xa0(Fast Company \u2022 Apr 2014)\n\n15:00\xa0The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley\u2019s Pursuit of Power\xa0(Penguin Press \u2022 2021)\n\n22:00\xa0Conspiracy: A True Story of Power, Sex, and a Billionaire\u2019s Secret Plot to Destroy a Media Empire\xa0(Portfolio \u2022 2019)\n\n25:00\xa0"The Education of a Libertarian"\xa0(Peter Thiel \u2022 Cato Unbound \u2022 Apr 2009)\n\n\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices