Astral Codex Ten

Ashlee Vance

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Ashlee Vance

Article

Ashlee Vance is a recurring person in the Astral Codex Ten archive, appearing 4 times across 4 issues between September 13, 2023 and January 17, 2025. The archive places it in contexts such as “This is the 2015 Musk biography by Ashlee Vance”; “this time Ashlee Vance himself is skeptical . He says”; “‘I’ve heard via my personal network (which I trust more than this Ashlee Vance book)…’“. It most often appears alongside Elon Musk, Twitter, America.

Metadata

  • Category: People
  • Mention count: 4
  • Issue count: 4
  • First seen: September 13, 2023
  • Last seen: January 17, 2025

Appears In

Source Context

Recovered passages from the original issue text. When the raw archive preserved outbound links inside the source passage, they are listed directly under the quote.

Book Review: Elon Musk
September 13, 2023 · Original source
This isn’t the new Musk biography everyone’s talking about. This is the 2015 Musk biography by Ashlee Vance. I started reading it in July, before I knew there was a new one. It’s fine: Musk never changes. He’s always been exactly the same person he is now1.
Inline links: 1
On the other hand, this time Ashlee Vance himself is skeptical. He says:
Inline links: Ashlee Vance himself is skeptical
Open Thread 294
September 18, 2023 · Original source
3: I try to link to blogs of people I profile here, but I learned too late that Ashlee Vance, author of the Musk biography I reviewed last week, has a Substack and a new book on private space companies.
Inline links: has a Substack, a new book on private space companies
Highlights From The Comments On Elon Musk
September 18, 2023 · Original source
I’ve heard via my personal network (which I trust more than this Ashlee Vance book) that Musk did used to drill down into engineering level decisions at SpaceX. Whether he’s actually extremely technically proficient, I don’t know. I’ve also heard this has slowed down a lot in the last few years since he’s focused on Twitter. (Note that the above is hearsay, I’ve never met the man myself or worked for any of his companies).
Links For January 2025
January 17, 2025 · Original source
44: Ashlee Vance has a new tech industry Substack, Core Memory. I enjoyed his Musk biography, and he strikes me as one of the rare people covering Silicon Valley who is neither a corporate stooge nor a reflexive anti-tech ideologue.
Inline links: Core Memory