Mike Solana on Twitter under Elon, Sam Altman's PR strategy, and The Culture War's evolution

Erik and Dan are joined by special guest Mike Solana, Editor-in-Chief of Pirate Wires (https://www.piratewires.com/) to discuss the recent AI congressional hearings, political polarization, Elon’s reign at Twitter, and much more.

RECOMMENDED PODCAST:
Upstream Podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/Upstream
YouTube: @UpstreamwithErikTorenberg

LINKS:
Mike Solana's Interview with Grimes (https://www.piratewires.com/p/base-reality-an-interview-with-grimes-6b3)
Dan's sci-fi book recommendation: Delta-v by Daniel Suarez

TIMESTAMPS:
(00:00) Preview of episode
(01:44) On what Mike Solana would say to Congress about AI
(08:30) Contrasting Zuck, Brian Armstrong, and Sam Altman’s approach to regulation
(15:09) Recommendation: Upstream
(15:35) Sponsor: Secureframe
(16:05) AI doomerism is just marketing for big AI
(26:25) Elon’s wins and losses so far as Twitter CEO
(38:57) Taylor Lorenz Mythology
(41:40) Twitter’s regime change // How the tables have turned. Muahahaha.
(45:00) What we’d do if we were Twitter CEO
(51:00) Evolution of polarization
(59:00) Silver lining of polarization
(1:05:00) Distinguishing Elon’s antics from his philosophy
(1:14:00) Trump feels more familiar in 2023 vs. 2016
(1:18:00) The right is adopting woke tactics
(1:22:00) Social media and depression follow up
(1:24:00) Is half of Gen Z non-straight?
(1:28:00) Ellen Pao
(1:34:30) Is Pirate Wires conservative media? (No)

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