Group chats are the 'dark matter of American politics'

The thing about social media when it was created was that it was public. Ideas shared were debated for all to see. Today, much of that is happening behind closed doors—in group chats.

Ben Smith, editor-in-chief of the media outlet Semafor and co-host of the podcast Mixed Signals, recently published a piece documenting a network of elite political conversations revolving around the venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and a circle of Silicon Valley figures.

Invite-only conversations on Signal and WhatsApp, Smith writes, "are the single most important place in which a stunning realignment toward Donald Trump was shaped and negotiated, and an alliance between Silicon Valley and the new right formed."

Endless Thread's Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson sit down with Smith to talk about these group chats shaping American politics.

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