Demystifying the government efficiency department

Zoe Schiffer: It must have been a long walk.

Lauren Goode: I mean I’ve heard a lot about jiu-jitsu. 56 minutes of that show was about jiu-jitsu, and then it was also like, “Also, how do you live forever.” I don’t know. Yes.

Michael Calore: I really want to hear that, because I was fascinated when she started talking about it, and Zoe was talking about it. I don’t want to read his book, but I will listen to him on Joe Rogan. The big thing about Big Joe Rogan for me was the final appearance of Marc Andreessen.

Lauren Goode: Oh, how was that?

Michael Calore: It was like 18 hours.

Lauren Goode: amazing. I was deep in the proletariat.

Zoe Schiffer: I listened to it because you were talking about it, and I was like… and it’s relevant to our conversation today, but damn, was it long?

Michael Calore: that it. This presentation will not be 18 hours long, but it is relevant, because we will be talking about DOGE.

Lauren Goode: So again, proletariat.

Michael Calore: Proletariat.

Lauren Goode: let’s do it.

Michael Calore: This is WIRED’s Uncanny Valley, a show about the people, power and influence of Silicon Valley. I’m Michael Calore, the Director of Technology and Consumer Culture here at WIRED.

Lauren Goode: And I’m Lauren Goode. I’m a senior writer at WIRED.

Zoe Schiffer: And I’m Zoe Schiffer, Business and Industry Director at WIRED.

Michael Calore: Today, we’re demystifying DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, meme coin. As Loren calls it, the proletariat. We’ll talk about the key players, what their proposed plan is for the US government, and what we think is really behind it all. Doug. Okay. Today we are talking about DOGE, not the meme currency.

Zoe Schiffer: Although the meme currency is relevant here, because this is a big joke. That’s why they chose this abbreviation. So, just to give a little background on what that means, meme coins are a type of cryptocurrency that is based on a joke. It’s almost like making fun of cryptocurrency itself. So Dogecoin is the one that Elon Musk has been promoting for a long time. There are others like BONK and FLOKI that I believe are named after his dog, Floki, not BONK. It’s actually a type of cryptocurrency, but based on an internet joke.

Lauren Goode: Wasn’t there also a Hawk Tuah coin recently?

Zoe Schiffer: ew.

Michael Calore: There was. Yes.

Lauren Goode: Yes. How was that done?

Michael Calore: Not well.

Zoe Schiffer: Yes.

Michael Calore: Meme coins generally don’t go well. But this has a second life, because it has now been renamed the Government Efficiency Administration, of which Elon Musk is one of the people in charge.