NPR’s Geoff Brumfiel broke the story in September, and he’s joining us to explain the details. But there’s also a lot to say about Isaiah Taylor, the man behind Valar Atomics.. Kiera Butler profiled him for Mother Jones, and writes that by age 26, Taylor had accomplished more than most people twice his age. He’s a high school dropout, with government contracts, invitations to Mar-a-Lago and backing from some of Silicon Valley’s biggest names. As Butler tells it, his goal is nothing less than to usher in an era of American nuclear dominance and to become the next Elon Musk while he’s at it. She also reports that Taylor came of age in the Idaho church of Doug Wilson, a pastor who calls himself a Christian nationalist, and that Valar has ties to Russia and Jeffrey Epstein. Butler joins us to talk about what she learned.
GUESTS –
Geoff Brumfiel | Senior editor and correspondent on NPR’s science desk. His story is “A startup wants to build a massive nuclear-powered data center on public land in Utah.”
Kiera Butler | National correspondent at Mother Jones. Her profile of Isaiah Taylor is called “The Trump Administration’s Favorite Nuclear Startup Has Ties to Russia and Epstein.”
Airdate: Oct. 15, 2026