The Stanford Machine

From the desk of Benji Welner in Austin, TX. How to Rule the World by Theo Baker. Finished on June 06, 2026. Rating: ★★★☆☆ I vaguely know Theo Baker, and heard from a mutual friend that he had published a book. But I only realized that I would have to read it when it appeared in a Robber Barons sketch comedy show to boos from the audience. If How to Rule the World was to become a central cultural artifact on campus, I figured I should know what it actually says. Now I do. How to Rule the World is in fact three books. The first is about technocapital and Stanford. The second is about the fall of MTL. And the third is about Theo Baker’s own journey.1 The first component, that of our university’s love affair with Silicon Valley, is what gets the most press. It’s a new story, it involves lots of flashy money, and it stars the people everybody loves to hate (Big Tech). I think it’s the least fleshed out. Baker doesn’t drive home his point: instead he insinuates, aiming to create a…