Peter Thiel and the Antichrist
Know Your Enemy
America as the Last Rome and Political Implications
Hosts note Thiel’s view of the U.S. as the final catacomb and his preference for a stronger, less constrained state.
Over the course of the past year, Peter Thiel—the Trump backing, Vance boosting gay tech billionaire—has been delivering a series of lectures on the Antichrist, using an examination of the Biblical antagonist of the End Times to make an argument about the supposed perils of this political moment. We got our hands on transcripts of these talks as delivered last year in San Francisco, and explain what Thiel said and why it matters. Topics include: Thiel's conservative evangelical upbringing, the influence of Rene Girard on his thinking, and how Thiel's Antichrist lectures relate to his broader thinking and worldview; the place of the Antichrist in the eschatology of different Christian traditions, and the curious similarities between Thiel's understanding of the Antichrist and that found in the work of Timothy LaHaye, co-author of the Left Behind novels; Christianity's recent trendiness in Silicon Valley; the way Thiel's account of how the Antichrist will come to power connects to his economic interests; and more!
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Listen again:
"Rene Girard and the Right" (w/ John Ganz), KYE, Feb 26, 2024
"A Remedy for Envy? Rene Girard Redux," KYE, March 4, 2024 (for subscribers)
Sources:
Peter Thiel, "The Straussian Moment," 2007
Ross Douthat interviews Peter Thiel (transcript), New York Times, June 26, 2025
Max Chafkin, The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and the Rise of the Silicon Valley Oligarchs (2021)
Timothy LaHaye, Revelation Unveiled (1999)
Elisabetta Povoledo, "Peter Thiel Fears the Antichrist Is Coming. In Rome, Some Call His View Heresy," New York Times, March 17, 2026
Johana Bhuiyan, Dara Kerr, Nick Robins-Early, "Inside tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s off-the-record lectures about the antichrist," The Guardian, Oct 10, 2025
Peter Thiel & Sam Wolfe, "Voyages to the End of the World," First Things, Oct 1, 2025
Emma Goldberg, "Seeking God, or Peter Thiel, in Silicon Valley," New York Times, Feb 11, 2025
Kate Lucky interview w/ Michelle Stephens, "‘Wouldn’t It Be Funny if We Tricked a Bunch of People into Going to Church?’" Christianity Today, Aug 11, 2025
Laura Bullard, "The Real Stakes, and Real Story, of Peter Thiel’s Antichrist Obsession," Wired, Sep 30, 2025
John Ganz, "What Happened Here," Unpopular Front, Feb 4, 2025
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