Sun Valley

‘What would you like for dinner sir?’ ‘What do you recommend?’ ‘The grilled cicadas are very fine, sir. Or the fried cockroaches.’ ‘Sounds delicious.’ Smiling, I look around the table of the Sun Valley restaurant where billionaires from Jeff Bezos to Tim Cook have convened to talk shop in a safe environment. It is a kind of tech-based relative of Bilderberg — the annual conference at which presidents, prime ministers and assorted other elite figures quietly come together. No journalists allowed, I was told. ‘I’m not a journalist!’ ‘What are you then?’ ‘I’m a thought leader.’ ‘A what?’ ‘A public intellectual.’ ‘Eh?’ ‘I have a column in the New York Times.’ It wasn’t true but it got me in.