Elon Musk episode is out
Added 2022-12-31 02:48:51 +0000 UTCHey everyone,
Just thought I'd make a thread for our final episode of the year. We will be back soon enough in 2023 but hope the Elon episode finally coming out was a nice end of year surprise.
Any and all feedback welcome, as always!
Happy New Year!
Comments
I'm now convinced that Elon's convinced that Ayn Rand thinks he's hot.
Captain Princess Goddammit Freakout
2023-01-05 13:05:15 +0000 UTCThis is probably one of the softest most friendly interviewer to a subject you've covered. The interviewer is just a cheerleader.
Anonymous ethicist, not a serial killer at all, just asking questions.
2023-01-03 18:08:07 +0000 UTCAll good friend. Douglas Murray I do agree with you about. I think Sam viewed him as the one to fill the void that Hitch left and misjudged Murray in that he is not just a “small c conservative”. Also, the racial profiling in the sense that Sam means is not racial profiling, it’s just profiling. Pretty standard practice across populations of people.
elcid
2023-01-03 01:39:56 +0000 UTC"Those who make you have to lean in and be still and focused to listen" - totally agree with this. I know a narcissist (undiagnosed but pretty obvious) who does that sort of thing. He isn't always quiet in his speech, but his manner and manipulativeness forces you to "lean in" and pay attention to him. And I've met plenty of people who do use that quiet voice and too much eye contact to do the same; they always came off as self-important to me.
Treebee
2023-01-02 14:43:28 +0000 UTCThanks for your response! Haha yeah it would be a discussion better handled face to face over a beer for sure :) In short, I will agree with you that Harris is not a grifter. He’s completely sincere about his opposition to Trump as well as his very strident & reactionary eviscerations of so called “wokeness” that is apparently all encompassing in his view. The thing is I have a much harsher view of Harris based on many reasons; ie his support of racial and religious profiling, torture, his fawning of embrace of Douglas Murray, his spreading of Eurabia conspiracy theories and his shallow enlightened centrist philosophy and politics. Most of all (as a non-white person) I find his enthusiastic support of race-IQ science, Charles Murray and the way he handled the subsequent criticisms completely distasteful. To be clear, It’s more the lack of pushback and the way he framed the discussion that annoyed me rather than him simply having the discussion.
SHOUNAK SARKAR
2023-01-02 14:08:01 +0000 UTCBravo! I don’t think anyone could voice that sentiment in a more levelheaded way.
elcid
2023-01-02 04:00:54 +0000 UTCWell there’s a bit there to be sure. Bits I can agree with, bits I vehemently disagree with, but I’m not willing to get into that here. The thread would be way too long. Better discussed over a couple of beers in person I have found (or start your own podcast!). We don’t really know what goes on in the private lives of such public facing individuals that we pay attention to and nor do I really care to, but I will say that in regards to Sams latest podcast, if you find a way to listen to the rest you may find that the lead up was warranted and shifts into a reiteration of his concerns about Elon and Twitter that he has voiced previously, and not just a petty reaction to Elon’s trollish ways. Or given how you feel about Harris, perhaps not. Regardless, I agree with you, Sam can be problematic, he is a wealthy LA trust fund kid whose opinions I sometimes get on board with and sometimes not. But barring the absolute psychos and lunatics, isn’t this true of most people? He does seem to genuinely care though and that’s gotta count for something in this day and age. Cheers for the thoughtful comment mate.
elcid
2023-01-02 03:25:40 +0000 UTCI did listen to that Sam Harris episode which came out on Saturday, although only listened to the first 25 mins or so before it cut me off. Yes, Harris finally did criticise his "ex good friend" Elon Musk a little bit but I highly suspect that it was mainly driven by Musk's own criticism and poking fun at Harris for leaving Twitter. As we all know, Harris is notoriously thin skinned and I have noticed again and again that he only turns on his friends, if they have a go at him, rather than turn on them when they go down the hard-right pathway, as we always knew they eventually would. So Harris should only receive a tiny bit of credit. Also (as usual) he managed to equivocate between the two ends of the political spectrum and said that wokeness has captured and destroyed every mainstream organisation. And that he is the only smart one to thread the needle between eviscerating wokeness and criticising Trump. BUT, if wokeness is such a giant threat to the very existence of western civilisation, why not turn to Trump (as an imperfect weapon) to stop its spread? That's the logic that the rest of the IDW use and as reprehensible that I find that view, I find it easier to understand than Harris' half baked rantings. I guess you should credit him for not jumping aboard the Trump train, but people forget that his criticisms are based on Trump's behaviour and attempted coup, rather than any meaningful policy differences. I mean Harris himself admitted that he agrees with most of Trump's policies and his criticisms of Trump never seem to extend to the Orban fanboys that he still counts as friends like Douglas Murray, Peter Boghossian etc. Harris is still a problematic and reactionary arrogant trust fund bastard IMO.
SHOUNAK SARKAR
2023-01-02 01:56:56 +0000 UTCRelative to much earlier interviews, Musk’s speech is softer and more halting. I’ve observed in the past that those who make you have to lean in and be still and focused to listen are frequently narcissistic people deploying a deliberate strategy. The self-effacing stuff felt obnoxiously contrived. It’s so interesting to me that narcissism and great disruption seem so intertwined. Musk, Assange, Jobs, maybe Snowden as well off the top of my head, are all unpleasant, unlikeable people to me, but their likely narcissism was absolutely necessary to their respective missions. Sometimes it takes exactly these kinds of people and their inflated sense of self to mow down barriers and systems, for all that is better and all that is worse.
Heather Geverding
2023-01-01 18:31:34 +0000 UTCOh, and knowing what I know now, listening to people like Kara Swisher going on and on about what a genius he is is nauseating. I mean, she's mad at him now, but constantly reminding everyone about how exceptional he is.
Jennydiver
2023-01-01 05:56:32 +0000 UTCThank you for mentioning the Sam Harris episode. Haven't listened in a long time but I'll always come back for a topic like this
JustTheWorstEver
2022-12-31 20:41:30 +0000 UTCI hadn’t paid him much attention until he was going on about superintelligence and AI alignment around 2016 or so. He claimed he was being warned about this by very smart engineers but knowing what I know now about Elon he was likely credulously repeating talking points via Rogan and other hangers on who grift billionaires into thinking the singularity is coming, can extend their life, etc
rooftowel
2022-12-31 13:17:16 +0000 UTCRemembered Elon from ‘who killed the electric car’ doc. And didn’t know much beyond the Joe Rogan interview where he seemed a little needy to be cool, but that fit what I’ve found to be a smart nerd chic. Anyways, as always, wonderful to hear rational thinking about hard topics and people. Refreshing.
bron stoll-engelsen
2022-12-31 10:08:05 +0000 UTCFound it on Spotify. I was thinking it was a patron only episode and got confused by the lack of a direct listen button. Have a safe and happy New Year celebration!
Suzan Lemont
2022-12-31 09:19:54 +0000 UTCOn the main feed!
Christopher Kavanagh
2022-12-31 08:32:27 +0000 UTCGee! Sam just went in pretty hard on Elon. Between your fabulous decoding and Sams 30 min ass rape of Elon (forgive me!), I think we’re all just that little bit more enlightened. This is setup perfectly for a future revisit of Elon and “what’s he up to now” DTG episode with Sam Harris as guest in the same vain as “Weinstein World with reluctant guest Dave Pizzaro”.
elcid
2022-12-31 07:03:39 +0000 UTCPerfection.
Agnieszka Z
2022-12-31 06:32:27 +0000 UTCA wonderful surprise, and yet not surprising about Elon. What a fake. Thanks!
Jennydiver
2022-12-31 05:37:11 +0000 UTCI'd say that this is as good as they get 10/10. I especially enjoy that you looked wider than just one conversation and incorporated more biographical stuff. This is the best way to understand people, not through a conversation but as a result of their actions. I hope you keep this going in future decodings
Klas Bergholtz
2022-12-31 05:28:22 +0000 UTCFantastic episode. Amazing the seeming disjunction between the self effacing ackward nerd engineer and the absurd bombastic red pilled shit posting billionaire. But only 80% self effacing, a crucial 20 % super overstated self grandiosity that ends up encompassing and defining everything. Along with the never ending stream of lies.
Daniel Reed Miller
2022-12-31 05:13:10 +0000 UTCIt’s out on the various podcast servers
Daniel Reed Miller
2022-12-31 05:09:07 +0000 UTCI'm not seeing the episode anywhere? Just the photo and text announcement.
Suzan Lemont
2022-12-31 04:59:22 +0000 UTCSo far I am really enjoying it. I don't know if you talk about the shenanigans Elon pulled to have himself recognised as a founder of Tesla at some point in the episode, but the softball questions in the fawning audience are almost as cringeworthy as his reference to "first principles". I think I know Chris Kavanagh better than Matt does at this point! 🤗 Happy New Year to both of you and my fellow patreons. When our leaders tell us to drink from the Kool-Aid, I'll be the first in line…🤗
Chris Spanos
2022-12-31 04:49:16 +0000 UTCNah, just thought that video was decent. Not intended as a general endorsement.
Christopher Kavanagh
2022-12-31 04:04:31 +0000 UTCGreat episode. I was wondering if you’d touch on the controversies surrounding thunderfoot but I suppose that would’ve been a little too off topic
TheRealEricWeinstein
2022-12-31 02:55:36 +0000 UTC9/10 😉
Hugh Denton
2022-12-31 02:54:19 +0000 UTCMy only peeve is that Matt has once again, introduced himself as a professor and his partner as just 'Chris Cavanaugh'. 3rd time he's done this? Chris will chuckle and just take it , but how bout some respect, MB?
Hugh Denton
2022-12-31 02:53:31 +0000 UTC
