When we were growing up, the name of a serial murderer or killer of a famous person, was a name you remembered the rest of your life (often you remembered their middle name as well). Today, the names of people like that are forgotten between news cycles.
Most people of my generation member Charles Whitman's name (killer of 17). Who remembers the Virginia Tech killer's name (32 deaths)….or even remember the event?
They weren't serial killers, they were their replacement/ the mass murderer. Son of Sam, Richard Speck, Ted Bundy- they were serial killers
This is very much on topic, interview of a former Furd, editor of Furd Daily, who describes the institutional rot in the research and investment culture at the Farm.
Some background on his book:
"How to Rule the World: An Education in Power at Stanford University is a bestselling 2026 memoir and investigative expos by journalist Theo Baker. [1, 2, 3]
Book Overview
Publication Date:May 19, 2026 by Penguin Press.
Length: 336 pages.
Author: Theo Baker, a student journalist who won a George Polk Award at age 17 for his reporting in The Stanford Daily. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Core Themes and Plot
The Investigation: The book chronicles Baker's freshman year when he uncovered decades of data manipulation and research misconduct in papers co-authored by Stanford University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne. This pressure ultimately forced Tessier-Lavigne to resign. [1, 2, 3]
Silicon Valley's Grip: It examines the corporate culture at Stanford, detailing how venture capitalists and tech elite groom elite young students for future startups through exclusive networks, pre-idea funding, and secretive non-credit campus classes. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Institutional Critique: The memoir reflects on modern higher education turning into a corporate powerhouse, balancing the immense wealth generated by Silicon Valley against the erosion of campus ethics and student life."
