Behind closed doors, powerbrokers across the world in politics, tech and media have convened at an annual in-the-know retreat hosted by Peter Thiel to rub elbows and examine hot-button issues. Dialog, the invite-only society that bills itself as a forum for leaders to “discuss topics off-the-record,” maintains a low public profile and has never shared a list of its members. For decades, little to nothing has been uncovered about the group.
That changed earlier this week when a Swiss independent researcher leaked information about the organization that was left open in the code of the society’s website. The materials offer a glimpse into the inner-workings and makeup of the group comprised of political and business titans whose decisions set the agenda on global events.
The researcher, Maia Arson Crimew, provided The Hollywood Reporter the materials, which includes a membership directory and information about this year’s upcoming forum.
Some familiar names in Hollywood tied to Dialog who surfaced in the leaked materials: Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men, Avengers: Infinity War); Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Dark Knight Rises, 500 Days of Summer); Sophia Bush (One Tree Hill); Scooter Braun (CEO, Hybe America); Isaac Lee (chairman and CEO, Hybe America); Scott Belsky (partner, A24); Benj Pasek (composer-producer, La La Land, The Greatest Showman); Eva Price (CEO, Maximum Entertainment Productions); Teresa Hsiao (writer-producer, Family Guy, American Dad); Zach Shields (executive producer-writer, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Gladys); Nick Thompson (CEO, The Atlantic); and Ezra Klein (The New York Times).
The retreat puts them in the same room as powerful figures across government, tech and finance, whose work often intersects with entertainment and media. They include Elon Musk, Jared Kushner, Senator Ted Cruz, Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, Xbox president Sarah Bond, OpenAI president Greg Brockman, Anthropic global affairs chief Michael Sellitto, Fortress Investment Group principal Pete Briger, TLG Communications founder Molly Levinson, among nearly 200 other figures.
A spokesperson for Brolin tells THR the actor would “like to know what the fuck he got himself into.” Others didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The leaked materials identify the full set of session topics in this year’s conference, scheduled for August at a sprawling estate in Dublin, Ireland, with a heavy emphasis on geopolitics and tech. Several relate to divisive issues, like “Bring Back Nuclear,” “Disinformation & Deepfakes,” “Battlefield Technologies,” “Democracy Under Surveillance,” “Taiwan and the AI Race,” and “Three Predictions in Iran.”
Others are more personal. A few examples: “Build-a-Party,” “Money (Does?) Buy Happiness,” “How’s Your Sex Life,” “It’s Fun to be in Charge,” and “Research-Based Longevity Hacks” (Bryan Johnson also appears in the leak).
And some sound ominous, including “Build-a-Cult” and “Navigating WWIII.”
A participation guide tells members to be concise, offer a dissenting view and avoid status signaling. “Everyone at Dialog is highly accomplished,” states the guide, which stresses never to argue for the sake of winning. “Only share those aspects of your bio that are most relevant to the conversation or to people getting to know you.”
A guide, which was part of the leaked materials, instructs Dialog moderators on how to guide the conversation.
Dialog
Since its founding in 2006, Dialog has been emerged as one of most off-the-radar gatherings of C-suite execs and kingmakers. The organization is preparing for a major expansion, with plans to build a campus in the D.C. suburbs as a permanent hub for off-the-record meetings, reported Axios last year, citing an anonymous tipster. The decision to build the venue within commuting distance of the capital signals that the group plans to increase engagement with lawmakers. The behind-closed-doors nature of its annual retreats is meant to sidestep public scrutiny and allow members to “talk candidly across ideological lines” and share “controversial and concerning ideas that they would not be comfortable sharing elsewhere,” the source in the Axios report said.
Dialog membership isn’t limited to conservatives. Many prominent Democrats or figures associated with left-leaning politics are connected to the group, including Senator Cory Booker, Maryland governor Wes Moore, Colorado governor Jared Polis and LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman. Attendees are asked their political leaning, with the choices being “far left,” “left,” “right,” and “far right.”
The leaked materials show that Dialog maintains a vetting process for membership. Applicants are assigned a grade that reflects their influence in their respective industry, qualifications, purpose for joining and the active member who recommended them, among other things.
Hsiao, who didn’t respond to a request for comment, was assigned an A grade. Her reviewer noted she’s an “accomplished television writer and producer known for her work on notable series such as Family Guy, American Dad, and Fresh Off the Boat, as well as her role in co-creating Awkwafina is Nora From Queens.”
“Hsiao’s work contributes to the increasing diversity in television and film, showcasing stories that might not have been told previously,” states the dossier compiled on Hsiao. “She emphasizes using comedy to uplift rather than belittle, ensuring that those who were once the ‘butt of the joke’ are now in control of telling their own stories.”
It appears some Hollywood folk registered for the purpose of schmoozing with other film and TV folk. Hsiao wrote that she’s looking to connect with “someone who works in my industry,” according to her application.
Brolin, another first-time Dialoger meanwhile, was given a C grade by Thiel’s organization. The leaked materials didn’t state his interest in joining Dialog. “I grew up on a horse farm, climbed parts of Everest, given academy awards, been nominated, written a book, had former Poet laureates reach out, been friends with the greatest artists of our time and smoked crack under a car at 3am in San Francisco,” the actor, who was nominated by former Uber CEO Ryan Graves, wrote.
Another feature of the group appears to be an internal dating function that matches Dialog members with each other. It also offers book recommendations, with a throughline being how civilizations hold together or fall apart and technology’s effect on humanity and the future.