I don’t think it would be any kind of exaggeration to say the world was finally and fully changed in 2024, as themes we’ve written about in these wires from that fateful summer 2020, when it felt America was ending, and could perhaps never recover from a fall so shocking, came to full fruition. The censors lost, and not only control of the narrative, or even control of the state, but control of the culture. The other week, I saw a cover story on the newsstand describing the various “leaders” in Hollywood and wondered, “who are these people?” We’re no longer living in our parents’ America. Today, we are the culture. Or, we are many distinct cultures. This is a blessing and a curse.

In this fragmented information ecosystem we all live inside, a thousand upstarts flourish, with as many ghoulish new voices of malevolence as there have been voices for good — and no shortage of cheap imitations. The future is chaos, and a battle for the truth. As ever, I remain grateful for your readership, and your trust, as we all navigate this new reality together, and we fight for what is right.

Pirate Wires is taking a bit of a break this holiday, as my team recharges, and I sketch out the latest updates to our product (newsletters, beats, pods). We’ll still be publishing a few pieces, along with a couple cute holiday cards, but both the Daily and the pod come back week after New Year’s.

Now, let’s take a look back at the stories, the themes, and the mighty battles of 2024. Godspeed, and catch you all again in the new year.

—Solana

Pirate Wires // Solana’s dispatches from the intersection of technology, politics, and culture

Google's AI Is an Anti-White Lunatic

Google launched an AI nearly incapable of depicting white people, insanely including throughout European history. A wild, damning piece of reporting on the trend, which precipitated an even more important story I didn’t see coming —

Google's Culture of Fear

Following Google’s Gemini disaster, I was flooded with Googlers looking to tell their story. I went in hoping for a better understanding of how the company built a racist AI, assuming out of control woke nonsense. And sure, there was some of that. But mostly I learned Googlers, of all political inclinations, feel they are no longer capable of shipping new products at the company. I also discovered the safety architecture of Gemini.

Thoughts and Prayers for Literally Hitler

Watching Trump take a bullet changed the country. But then, as Democratic well-wishers offered their thoughts and prayers, it also blew apart the notion our democracy was in any kind of danger. An incredible moment of clarity, and an important chapter of history.

Apocalypse Meow

Haitians eating cats? A rallying call and a smokescreen alike. Behold, the duality of our batshit crazy internet.

Total Victory

The definitive election recap, and my thoughts on why Trump won.

Death by Vibes

How, following what seemed to be the dark revealing of President Biden’s shocking dementia, “Brat Summer” took over the internet.

Jail the Tech Bros

Yes, they literally want to jail our founders. These were the stakes before November.

We Are the Media Now

Self-explanatory tbh.

Revolution of the Broletariat

Early to the trend as usual, and before it could be weaponized against us, Pirate Wires picked up on the polar shift in bro-discourse, as the frat boy transformed from 2018’s most hated villain to the hero of 2024.

Moon Should Be a State

While the case for Moon increasingly captures the hearts and minds of America, nobody — and by nobody I of course just mean myself — had yet written the full thesis. This year, I completed this important work.

Interviews with friends of the Pirate Wires universe

The End of Social Media: An Interview With Jack Dorsey

Jack Dorsey started Bluesky to decentralize social media, and save freedom of expression. Long story short? The product became a company, and that company ended up “literally repeating all the mistakes we made [at Twitter].” Here, in a piece shared hundreds of times (not always with a credit) Solana broke the news on why Jack left the board, in a concluding note on his years-long Twitter coverage.

More Great Conversations

• Our Vanishing Internet: An Interview with Dr. Larry Sanger

• Interview with Palmer Luckey: the Full Transcript

• DON’T DIE: An Interview with Bryan Johnson

• The Tech Insurgent’s Battle for the Future

• Behind the Mask of 𝕏's Anonymous Influencers

This year's best tech reporting from the Pirate Wires team

How the Regime Captured Wikipedia

Kicking off a series of groundbreaking reported articles on the internet's encyclopedia, Ashley Rindsberg uncovered the corruption that turned the decentralized database of all the world's knowledge to a top-down social activism and advocacy machine.

Wikipedia Series

• How Wikipedia is Becoming a Massive Pay-to-Play Scheme

• How Wikipedia Launders Regime Propaganda

• How Wikipedia’s Pro-Hamas Editors Hijacked the Israel-Palestine Narrative

• Wikipedia Editors Officially Deem Trump a Fascist

• Wikipedia Editors at War Over Calling UK Grooming Gangs “Moral Panic”

AI Regulation

• California’s Controversial AI Bill: A Cheat Sheet

• The Conflict of Interest at the Heart of CA’s AI Bill

• The Forces Behind Scott Wiener's Steadfast Defense of SB 1047

• Groundswell of Opposition to CA’s AI Bill as it Nears Vote

• Gavin Newsom Vetos Effective Altruism's AI Bill in Win for Silicon Valley

• America is Sleepwalking Into a Permanent DEI Bureaucracy That Regulates AI

UK/EU Regulations

• Shock UK Regulatory Coup Gives Government Sweeping Control Over US Tech

• Musk: EU Wanted "Illegal Secret Deal" to "Quietly Censor Speech"

• How the EU Weaponizes Regulation to Extract Billions from American Tech

• Pavel Durov’s Arrest Leaves More Questions Than Answers

• Radio Free Britain: a Primer on Free Speech and Social Media in the UK

Crypto/Debanking

• Inside the Biden Admin’s Plot to Destroy Silvergate and Debank Crypto for Good

• Kalshi Paid Influencers to Target Polymarket CEO After FBI Raid

• Marc Andreessen and the CFPB: Debunking the Debanking Debunkers

• Operation Choke Point 2.0 Goes Mainstream

• Inside the Government’s Attempt to Destroy Election Markets in the Name of Democracy

This year's best local politics reporting from the Pirate Wires team

How San Francisco's DEI Industrial Complex Works

How did San Francisco's government become so insane? Turns out, as always, money leads the way. Sanjana Friedman investigates corruption in the city government that lined the pockets of politically-aligned non-profits.

Local Politics in SF, NYC, and Chicago

• Is Chicago About to Hit Rock Bottom?

• Meet the British Scammer Who Infiltrated the Highest Levels of CA Education Policymaking

• CA’s Architect of “Equity-Based Algebra” Accused of Academic Fraud

• SF Taxed Fintech Out of the City to Solve Homelessness. 6 Years Later, the Problem's Worse

• Why is NYC’s "New Ellis Island" Operated by the Pakistani Government?

• The SF Tenants Union Is Actively Helping Squatters Find New Homes to Take Over

• Inside SF Public Schools' Shocking Health Curriculum

• California’s Impending Tax Apocalypse

• Project Roomkey: California’s $3 Billion COVID Homeless Policy Disaster

• Audit the Nonprofits

Culture pieces, guest articles, and other miscellaneous bangers

Inside Anduril’s Comms Strategy: 10 Rules for Mission-Driven Founders

Lulu Cheng Meservey shares the never-before-revealed playbook that shaped Anduril’s early communication strategy and helped its founders turn the company from black sheep to household name.

• The Primacy of Winning

• Taylor Lorenz’s History of Lies

• The Health Gurus of Hereticon

• Does Testosterone Make You Gay?

• What Happens When Your City is Deemed Illegal?

• Is Technology Destroying Marriage?

• The Princess and the Girlboss

• The Atlantic's Phantom Nazi Problem

• Back to the Future

• What Happened to the American Cinematic Universe?

• How a Hater Accelerated My Startup’s Timeline By a Year, Overnight

• CCP Landlords Matter

It’s been a wild ride. Thanks, as ever, for your support. We couldn’t do this without you, and frankly? If the work wasn’t resonating we wouldn’t even want to. Stay amazing, and see you all in 2025.

—SOLANA and the Pirate Wires Crew