Michael Calore: I am sitting here by the window in the CBNewz office, and when I look out the window, I immediately look at the Bay Bridge and I see cyber trucks all day.
Zoë Schiffer: Oh my God.
Lauren Goode: It is almost as if the cyber trucks are simply reproducing in real -time. They spawn, they spawn more cyber trucks. Is this the worst introduction ever to this episode?
Michael Calore: Do you know what? I'll take it.
Lauren Goode: Okay.
Michael Calore: I will absolutely take it.
This is Wired's Creepy valleyA show about the people, strength and influence of Silicon Valley. Nowadays we are talking about pronatalism movement and how the urge to increase birth rates is trending between some of the largest and richest names of Silicon Valley. We will talk about a part of the history behind pronatalism, which the great proponents are now, and where it all points out. I am Michael Calore, director of consumer technology and culture here at Wired.
Lauren Goode: I am Lauren Goode, I am a senior writer at Wired.
Zoë Schiffer: And I am Zoë Schiffer, director of Wired Business and Industry.
Lauren Goode: So, a few weeks ago, when we were talking about dating apps, I had something like that, oh no, you will lean so hard on me because I think I have probably had the most experience with using dating apps, but now I feel like Mike, you and I are just going to be, “so, tell us to have babies.”
Zoë Schiffer: I feel that I am doing my share for the population loss. I have had two and I won't have it anymore, thank you.
Michael Calore: And set the scene here, Lauren and I are both child -free.
Lauren Goode: And Zoë is now also one of our big bosses at Wired. So I would just say in a normal setting, not a podcast setting, I may not be sitting opposite her and say: “Tell me about your experience with babies and being older”, but because of the podcast.
Zoë Schiffer: Lauren, we bring our entire self to work, come on.
Lauren Goode: Me, too.
Zoë Schiffer: And we are friends.
Lauren Goode: Yes, we are friends.
Michael Calore: Well, to start the conversation, I think we should define what pronatalism is and who is the biggest supporters at the moment of this movement.
Zoë Schiffer: I thought you would say, we will define what a baby is. It is like a small, bald person. Next question.
Ok, so pronatism in the core is an ideology that promotes people who get babies. And specifically in Silicon Valley it is linked to this preoccupation with the decrease in the population. The idea that people don't get enough babies to supplement the population a bit, and that it creates all kinds of economic problems on the road.
