Mike Solana on Twitter under Elon, Sam Altman's PR strategy, political polarization, 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. If you’re looking for an ERP platform, check out our sponsor, NetSuite: http://netsuite.com/zen 

We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com.

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)

Please support our sponsors: Beehiiv | Shopify | NetSuite | Secureframe

Head to Beehiiv, the newsletter platform built for growth, to power your own. Connect with premium brands, scale your audience, and deliver a beautiful UX that stands out in an inbox. 🐝 to https://Beehiiv.com and use code “MOZ” for 20% off your first three months

-Shopify: https://shopify.com/momentofzen for a $1/month trial period

Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. Shopify powers 10% of all e-commerce in the US. And Shopify’s the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy’s, and Brooklinen, and 1,000,000s of other entrepreneurs across 175 countries. From their all-in-one e-commerce platform, to their in-person POS system – wherever and whatever you’re selling, Shopify’s got you covered. With free Shopify Magic, sell more with less effort by whipping up captivating content that converts – from blog posts to product descriptions using AI. Sign up for $1/month trial period: https://shopify.com/momentofzen

-NetSuite: http://netsuite.com/zen

NetSuite provides financial software for all your business needs. More than thirty-six thousand companies have already upgraded to NetSuite, gaining visibility and control over their financials, inventory, HR, eCommerce, and more. If you're looking for an ERP platform ✅ NetSuite: http://netsuite.com/zen and defer payments of a FULL NetSuite implementation for six months.

- Secureframe: https://secureframe.com/

Secureframe is the leading all-in-one platform for security and privacy compliance. Get SOC-2 audit ready in weeks, not months. I believe in Secureframe so much that I invested in it, and I recommend it to all my portfolio companies. Sign up for a free demo and mention MOZ during your demo to get 20% off your first year.