Friends, lovers, haters (fans), as these final moments of summer escape us, and the venture capitalists finally return to “work” after their month-long break in Lake Como or the Amalfi Coast or whatever other Disney World-ified “elite” European locale they’ve been hiding in, I’d like to remind you that — in addition to our absolutely legendary Pirate Wires Daily, and our blockbuster Pirate Wires pod — we publish a ton of great longer form work, which you may have missed over the last month or so while you’ve been absconding in the islands with your fellow shithead Bitcoin billionaires. Below, a brief list of all our recent bangers. Welcome back to the real world (and to my masterful, god-mode run-on sentences (Paul Graham could literally never)).
First, and most importantly if I do say so myself, your pirate lord, your billionaire mayor of San Francisco, your friendly neighborhood shitposter, has not been on vacation in Italy. And don’t get used to it by the way, I’m never taking a summer off from aristocratic leisure again. From the wicked (loving) mind of your Original Solana, some good ass bangers:
Earlier this month, rising Valley tensions gave way to a gloves-off battle of the billionaires on X, largely instigated by Paul Graham (let’s be honest, the man is bored) with an unprovoked attack on David Sacks. I took a look at the — we’re told — political forces driving the conflict, and wasn’t convinced. Frankly? I think we’re looking at a good old-fashioned status war.
Earlier this month, Pirate Wires published my interview with Wikipedia co-founder Dr. Larry Sanger. He and I discussed the establishment takeover of Wikipedia, corporate control of online information, why information disappears from the internet (our vanishing internet, a theme I simply refuse to let go of), and more.
I’m not gonna mince words here, this is easily the most substance-free election in American history, a total clown show of mid memes and tropical-themed fuckery. I put on my silly little hunting cap (so brat), and dove into the cuckoo for coconut Kamala Harris campaign, recapped my (harrowing) experience in the ‘VCs for Kamala’ Zoom call, took a look at Europe’s mad dash for global censorship, and more.
Tl;dr I (really) think they’re going to try to jail Elon. After Brazil’s X ban, I surveyed the state of what increasingly appears to be a semi-coordinated global war on speech. Like clockwork, the Overton Window has once again shifted. Casual discussion of real totalitarianism is now perfectly acceptable, which means real despotism is now possible.
Honestly? Our interview with Palmer Luckey is easily one of the wildest he’s ever delivered, and certainly the wildest we’ve ever published. The inventor, entrepreneur, and founder of Oculus VR and Anduril Industries returns, in conversation with yours truly. Topics including: our astronauts are stuck in space (wtf is wrong with Boeing), Anduril’s new Arsenal-1 factory, the state of U.S. manufacturing, the evolution of Trump’s appeal in Silicon Valley, Palmer’s most heretical thoughts, and (after much, much more) our real-life Tony Stark’s hopeful vision for the future. Check out the video here, or read the full transcript here.
Now, onto the rest of the crew, and our great tech industry coverage over the last thirty days or so:
In his Pirate Wires debut, and just before we published my interview with Dr. Sanger, Ashley Rindsberg explored Wikipedia’s evolution from a community of decentralized, uncompensated editors to a top-down organization made up of a handful of highly-paid NGO technocrats, actively reorienting the site in accordance with the Western elite social justice regime. An important first chapter on the historic corruption of Wikipedia, and absolutely required reading for the Pirate Nation.
Our boy Riley did a great job exploring the advertiser boycott of X, kicked up this summer when Elon went to war with the org (and defeated them, it now seems). This is the story of how the now-defunct Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) allegedly organized an advertising boycott of X, and took similar actions against other websites it deemed ideologically problematic.
Brandon’s been leading the charge, not only at Pirate Wires but throughout the tech press, on California State Senator (and notorious bugman) Scott Wiener’s SB 1047, the now infamous anti-AI bill (full primer on the bill here) (also, did you know the EA who basically wrote the bill for Wiener divested his equity from the AI safety compliance company he started while he was drafting the bill, after we called him out on the conflict of interest? Lol.). Here, an analysis of the heightened criticism directed towards SB 1047 from a number of prominent academics and politicians — despite Wiener’s claims that only “the loudest voices” stand in opposition to his bill.
Allen Farrington and Preston Byrne guest with a great, important look at the speech crackdown taking place on the other side of the Atlantic. A newly emboldened Labour government is flexing its muscles, making use of the authoritarian anti-speech codes on the books abroad, threatening social media users not just in the UK — but around the world — with egregious, dangerous acts of censorship.
Dean W. Ball guests. While Scott Wiener continues to vouch for his controversial AI bill in the face of widespread opposition, Dean takes a closer look at the forces behind his steadfast defense — including the unmistakable influence of Effective Altruism (God these people suck).
Back, back, back for more. In a great follow-up to his opening banger for the Pirate Nation, Ashley Rindsberg continues his Wikipedia series, now with a closer look at how specifically consensus on the platform is achieved behind the scenes, and why — strangely! — it pretty much entirely aligns the prerogatives of the Democrat Party, and its mouthpieces in the press.
As more details emerge about Pavel Durov’s arrest, so do more questions about the entire Telegram saga, which strikes at the heart of some of the most important issues of our day: security, censorship, government interference, geopolitics, and an increasingly chaotic media landscape. Ashley provides the canonical account.
We’ve got a bunch of great work coming at you this fall, and buckle-up for content from Hereticon — taking place end of October, and likely reported out throughout November. FYI, I’m working on the show now, so if you get a little lull for me just know I’m winding up for a rush of great stories you won’t, because you simply can’t, find anywhere else. Speaking of: if you love us, and you aren’t already paying us? I am hereby demanding (politely requesting) your money. Become a paying member of Pirate Wires today, and receive access to all of these articles and more.
Thanks, as ever, for your support. And welcome home.
-Solana
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our astronauts are stuck in space, anduril's arsenal-1, US manufacturing, tariffs, google, trump, media, our vanishing internet, palmer's most heretical thoughts, and hope for the future
Mike Solana
pirate wires #126 // brazil bans x as the global war on speech continues, the overton window shifts to jailing founders, and facing the despotism now before us
Mike Solana
pirate wires #125 // america goes cuckoo for coconut, VCs for kamala, war on the “substance demanders,” EU moves for global censorship, and how the world has changed since we’ve been vibing
Mike Solana
