Michal Lev-Ram: On the Intersecting Worlds of Tech, Culture, and Politics in Silicon Valley
Michal Lev-Ram is a veteran journalist with deep ties to Silicon Valley. She shares her perspective on the current tech landscape in the midst of the AI boom. We also explore geopolitics, particularly developments in the Middle East, and the growing politicization of corporate America. Michal and I also discuss the tragic murder of Bob Lee, which she covered in depth in an article for Esquire, and reflect on the balance between creativity and accountability in today’s fast-changing tech environment. If you enjoy this conversation, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing the podcast. You can also support the show by subscribing to the Boardroom Governance Newsletter at evanepstein.substack.com.This episode is sponsored by the American College of Governance Counsel.
Boardroom Governance with Evan Epstein · Michal Lev-Ram, Evan Epstein
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Show Notes
(0:00) Intro
(1:09) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel
(1:56) Start of interview
(2:39) Michal's origin story
(5:05) Her start in journalism in Silicon Valley with Business 2.0. magazine and later at Fortune Magazine.
(7:45) Her project Operation Firewall (audible original podcast involving cybersecurity)
(11:40) The current state of tech, particularly AI, in Silicon Valley. "I tend to be cautiously optimistic"
(14:59) On Mira Murati's Thinking Machine Labs founder control. *Michal's profile of Murati in Fortune (2023)
(16:00) On AI companies' fiduciary duties "to humanity"
(18:05) "For me, the jury is still out for OpenAI" *my reference to the episode with Tyler Shultz (E142)
(21:27) Her take on Riyadh, based on a recent MPW Summit that they hosted for Fortune in Saudi Arabia. *Saudi 2030 Vision
(29:10) On the her new podcast: What's Your Number? looking at the Israeli economy, but through a global lens.
(33:38) On the politicization of the boardroom (and pushback to ESG and DEI).
(38:05) Her profile of Bob Lee in Esquire "Sex, Drugs, and Murder in Tech Land" (Feb 2025)
(42:33) The changing narrative of technology. "I think that creativity is missing"
(44:03) Books that have greatly influenced her life:
- Hiroshima by John Hersey (1946)
- Old Testament
(45:17) Her mentors:
(46:23) Quotes that she thinks of often or lives her life by: "Your happiness in life is directly proportional to the number of tough conversations you're willing to have."
(47:35) An unusual habit or an absurd thing that she loves.
(48:46) The living person she most admires.
Michal Lev-Ram is a Silicon Valley-based journalist who writes about the intersecting (and sometimes colliding) worlds of tech, culture, and politics.
You can follow Evan on social media at:
X: @evanepstein
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/
Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/
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Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License