My interview with Tom Wheeler is briefly interrupted by a phone call from the Republican senator Rand Paul. Wheeler, an Obama appointee who chaired the influential Federal Communications Commission (FCC), says that while he might disagree with the positions held by Paul, he admires the Republican’s independence. “He strays from the flock,” says Wheeler. “We need more people like that.” As FCC chair from 2013 to 2017, Wheeler led the US federal agency responsible for regulating radio, television, cable, satellite, and telecommunications services during a period of fast-moving digital change. At 80, Wheeler continues to write prodigiously on tech regulation,…

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