Hi, I'm so happy to be here with Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist. This conversation started in a very 2026 way. It started from a LinkedIn post where you discussed your politics. One of the things you wrote is that you consider yourself a founding father patriot. I'm curious if you could tell me what a founding father patriot is.
I'm talking about the values practiced and preached for the most part by the founding fathers, although I include Lincoln among them. They believed in honest government, accountability, checks and balances. I think it's important to stand up for them.
You use the word patriotism, which some could say has gone a little out of vogue. I'm curious if you think that, and if so, how can it be reclaimed?
Well, the term got damaged by the Vietnam War, and I've been gun-shy about using it for decades. A lot of that's true for a lot of people. So, I figured it's the most accurate term I could use for what I'm talking about, particularly as I dig into my own background of what influenced me. For example, growing up in Morristown and growing up with World War II parents. That influenced me and it's sunken pretty thoroughly, but I didn't consciously think about that until recently.
What prompted that thinking or that change?
Well, I've been thinking about a number of things. For example, why online pretty much everyone gets my politics wrong. And that could impact my safety. I needed to put a bit of a bigger stake in the ground.
When you say people get your politics wrong, what are some of the assumptions that they make?
People use terms like liberal, progressive, and conservative. I think the use of those terms only hurts discourse. I don't know how to really reclaim more effective, more honest terminology. But at least I would make a statement on my behalf. I would ask people to spread the word. I'm not good at changing the terminology used by an entire country and world, but at least I could say a thing. I am looking for a snappier term than founding father patriot, including Lincoln. I'm looking for a better term. Looking back into history, I had a vague memory that I might be an American System style Whig. And that's close, but since almost everyone doesn't know what that means, I may not be using it except for comedy.
Right. Although it could be interesting. It could be a way to also have Americans learn about other political systems and other countries' political histories. So, is that what prompted your post on LinkedIn about your politics? That people were making assumptions?
People are making assumptions and ones that could attract the attention of some very bad actors. Which has happened. It's in a very lower level than I thought. I've seen it both in discussion boards, forums including Blue Sky and Twitter, and also people who helped me out have seen it's popped up in the dark web. Basically what's attracted the worst negative attention is the fact that I'm both anti-communist and Jewish. And there are people who don't like that kind of thing. Sometimes they object to anti-communism. Sometimes they object to being Jewish and sometimes both.
That sounds familiar, I think. Often with Jews, it's always they're either anti-communist or they're too communist, and it seems like accusations can come from all different places.
Yeah, I'm not unique in my threat level. But I need to focus on my threat level because I never have before. You maybe know that something I do very quietly is support threat intelligence gathering regarding anti-Semitism in the US. That's an ongoing process. Regarding the actual results, I probably should let the experts talk for themselves. In part, I don't want to draw attention to them because some of them are risking their lives to dig into anti-Semitic groups. And anonymity at this point is their only protection.
In general, you have been really focusing on cybersecurity. Can I ask what prompted this?
Well, I'm focusing on both scam fighting and cybersecurity. I see that regular people need to defend their homes and the country. But also a bigger and bigger problem on the internet are bad actors trying to scam people. I get approached several times a day. So, I'm trying to figure out how to build networks of networks to help us fight back. And I'm also trying to figure out what technology is maybe available for scam fighting. Turns out we're in better shape than we thought. And I do need to better understand what's going on. And then to figure out what's next. For example, right now has some pretty good detection mechanisms on Android phones. I saw them in operation before I knew they existed. One thing I should do is encourage Google to get the word out better. And then I should see how people can work together to set the bar higher. Because everywhere should implement what mechanisms there are to detect scams. The traditional means are things like keyword searches. And it's very easy for a bad actor to bypass that.
Yeah, on a personal level, my mother was a victim of one of these scams and I see just now since I'm looking at her correspondence and being a sort of wall between her and other people, I see how many scams come at her every day. And I'm sure she's one of so many people who are just being inundated all the time.
Someone that I might be married to has to take a good look at what the people who might be my in-laws are doing.
Yeah, I see that so often. So many of the people I know are in that position of helping their parents and needing to guard against it. It shouldn't be a full-time job for people.
Yeah, my team are talking to AARP to work together to do a better job.
That's really important. Well, from a personal level, I'd love to learn more. I can't wait to learn more about that and see what happens. To go back to politics for a second, I'm curious how your worldview was shaped by those around you growing up. You mentioned Morristown. What other influences were there?
Well, the biggest single influence is the moral compass set by Mr. and Mrs. Levin back in Sunday school. This is like the late '50s. I internalized all that, having started thinking consciously about it until the last 10 years. And then in high school, I had a great US history course, Mr. Anton Chulsky. And he made really sure that we knew all about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. And in my case, I guess he did something to ensure my commitment to all that. Which I appreciate. That was the basis of it. The hard part that I'm still having trouble with is figuring out on the one hand what it means to be my brother's keeper, my sister's keeper. I'm a nerd. I tend to take things literally, which has been an impediment for me for maybe 50 years. Similarly, my Rabbi, Leonard Cohen, directed me to look at all the teachings of a guy who said that one should sell one's possessions and feed the poor. And I need to not take that literally, but to act on what I think I'm being told. And so I'm trying to follow through with that.
