A transformative technology is ascending. Supporters say it will forever change the world. Critics say it’s a bubble. Corruption is oozing out of Washington and an anti-oligarchy political backlash is fomenting.

Is this the AI boom of the 2020s? Or the transcontinental railroad construction of the late 1800s?

Yes.

Today’s piece is a LONG interview with the 19th century historian Richard White on the history of the transcontinental railroad and what it can teach us about the age of AI.