Who’s Elon Musk’s Biggest Fan? His Mom

You can follow Michael Calore on Bluesky at @snackfightLauren Goode on Bluesky at @laurengoodeand Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky at @zoeschiffer. Write to us at uncannyvalley@wired.com.

How to Listen

You can always listen to this week’s podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here’s how:

If you’re on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link. You can also download an app like Overcast or Pocket Casts and search for “uncanny valley.” We’re on Spotify too.

Transcript

Note: This is an automated transcript, which may contain errors.

Michael Heat: Hey, Zoë, what does your mom call you?

Zoë Schiffer: I feel like I’ll erode a lot of my credibility if I tell you, so I’m just going to say that a lot of people call me Zoe for short.

Michael Heat: Okay.

Zoë Schiffer: Which is what my name looks like.

Michael Heat: If you don’t have the umlaut over the E, it just looks like Zoe?

Zoë Schiffer: Yeah, because it doesn’t have the Y so people always get confused. I’m like, “Oh, no, my parents call me Zoe. Don’t worry about it.”

Lauren Goode: Oh. Right, right. Like Zooey Deschanel, she has the Y, right? Yeah, okay.

Michael Heat: But she’s Zooey.

Lauren Goode: I never thought about that before.

Michael Heat: Isn’t she? Isn’t she Zooey?

Lauren Goode: No, she’s Zooey.

Zoë Schiffer: Like Franny and Zooey is spelled Zooey but it’s Zooey, Franny and Zooey. Anyway, Mike, what do your parents, what did they call you when you were little?

Lauren Goode: She’s deflecting really hard. She doesn’t want to tell us the real nickname.

Zoë Schiffer: I can’t. I just feel like I already have too much imposter syndrome.

Michael Heat: For a very long time, my mother referred to me by my full name, Michael, and so did my father.

Lauren Goode: What’s your middle name?

Michael Heat: Seth.

Lauren Goode: Did they call you Michael Seth?

Michael Heat: On very, very rare occasions.

Zoë Schiffer: Seth really could be your first name, too. I feel like that feels like that almost fits.

Lauren Goode: Oh, yeah. You’re a Seth.

Michael Heat: Do I present as Seth?

Zoë Schiffer: A little bit. Seth rising, if you will.

Michael Heat: Okay.