Podcast

The inauguration mega pod! The “Golden Age” of America begins as Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States. We get into everything from the executive orders, to the the pardons, the tech ‘oligarchy’, optimism in the country, AI, DEI, Elon’s hand gesture on stage, Tiktok and more.

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Riley Nork, Bridget Phetasy, Molly O'Shea

We watched Joe Biden’s farewell address to the nation the other night. How will Biden be remembered in history? Solana thinks it won’t be thought of too fondly. The LA fires continues, Riley & Brandon give us a report on what’s happening in the city. Will this the end of Gavin Newsom Democrats in the state of California? Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to change to community notes at Meta has already had a massive effects on accountability in our reporting. Will Elon buy Tiktok? And finally, we tell you why you must touch grass this weekend!

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Riley Nork, Andy Jones

Our excitement for the new year fell off a cliff this week as Los Angelas caught on fire. The typical climate change narratives were used by politicians, but this event seems to be a complete failure of California government policies. Are we even sure it was a natural disaster at this point? Trump came in swinging in the new year, suggesting renaming the Panama Canal to the America Canal as well as a rebrand of The Gulf Of America. What is Trump’s actual plan here? Mark Zuckerberg continues his based journey by announcing that Meta will no longer use fact checkers. And finally, while you were away, an H1B war was waged on Twitter. We’ll catch you up on everything that happened. Happy New Year! (?)

Mike Solana, Riley Nork, Matt Marlinski, Kartik Sathappan

Our last episode of the year! We attempt to get to the bottom of the drones on New Jersey. Our resident Canadian expert gives us the latest on Justin Trudeau's regime falling apart. When 51st state? Liz Warren is back to take on Elon Musk & Trump. And Kamala for Governor of California? Say it ain't soo...

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Riley Nork, Kevin Chaiken, Alastair John Pitts

Mamma Mia! UHC Assassin, Luigi Mangione, was arrested this past week. Democrat politicians are supporting his decision? Insane comments from AOC and Elizabeth Warren. But.. is Luigi actually the killer?? Is he gay? We got the all the *alleged* details. Justice prevailed this week as Daniel Penny was acquitted of all charges. Groups like BLM returned to their normal race bait rhetoric, but it didn’t quite hit the same. Finally, mystery drones in New Jersey, Governor Trudeau, and defund the police activist gets robbed in San Francisco. Enjoy!

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Riley Nork, Molly O'Shea

This week, the PW crew is in Miami.. so we’re finally doing an in person episode. Don’t mind our festive hats. The UnitedHealthcare CEO was assassinated in New York City. What looked like another story of ramped crime in NYC, quickly turned into a targeted attack. The deranged left took to social media to celebrate the death of a health insurance CEO, including friend of the pod, Taylor Lorenz. We get into the dark timeline of what discourse like this could lead to. Hunter Biden was pardoned in a surprise move by Joe Biden. Who will be pardoned next? Pirate Idol is back! This time, the married couple battles it out. We discuss the gender affirmation bill in Tennessee and Elon Musk’s Tesla stock denied by the judge.

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Riley Nork, Matt Marlinski

NYC crime has gotten completely out of hand. A knife wielding, crazy person walked around Manhattan stabbing 3 people. Meanwhile, our elected officials only care about taking more money from working class citizens. The mainstream media downfall continues as Morning Joe ratings plummet. What’s the future of these shows? Pirate Idol returns! We explain the rise of the “Broligarchy” (whatever that is) and we get you ready for Thanksgiving with the family! If you’re a toxic uncle, this pod is for you!

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Riley Nork, Matt Marlinski, Eade Bengard

The crazed post-election Trump discourse kicked up this week. Everything from the 4B movement to celebrities leaving X. Should Elon be concerned about what X is becoming? Pirate Idol returns! We have two semifinalists ready to compete for the next round. And finally, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is here. What should we expect from Elon & Vivek.

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Riley Nork

We've got your election reaction covered this week. Bridget Phetasy joins us to break it down. Trump completes the flawless victory, the media melts down, and the Dems are in shambles. What will we see in the next 4 years of a Trump Presidency?

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Riley Nork, Bridget Phetasy

San Francisco should be the greatest city in the world, and that’s the goal. One where crime is illegal, NGO grifters are removed, public transportation is solvent, and the budget is balanced. Things, in other words, should just be normal. Pirate Wires recently endorsed Mark Farrell to become the next mayor of San Francisco. In this interview, Mark joins us to give his vision for the future of San Francisco and why he will bring the city back to it’s glory.

Mike Solana, Mark Farrell, Kartik Sathappan

This week, we take a look at how podcasts are shaping this years election. Our guest this week, John Coogan, called this out months ago when predicting election season. But has it actually been a net positive for the candidates? Polymarket has been heavily favoring a Trump victory. However, there’s something here that everyone is missing. Trump visits McDonald’s in an Americana scene out of a Normal Rockwell painting. Liberal women cope and seethe after men no longer protect them in major cities (see: Daniel Penny). And we tell you why cyclists are the worst people

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Riley Nork, John Coogan

As the polls continue to shift towards a Trump victory, the Kamala campaign decided to take more chances in the media. Unfortunately, Kamala’s interview with Fox News did not go as well as she had hoped. We take a look at the remaining weeks of the campaign and what the betting markets are telling us. Will Trump or Kamala go on the Joe Rogan podcast? Elon & SpaceX continue to inspire the country by completing once impossible missions, while California tries to remove them for political reasons. The FBI changes crime data and Venezuelan migrants are causing an uptick in crime in cities. Finally, The last quarterfinal of Pirate Idol. Columbus Day? Or Indigenous Peoples Day? Our political parties are now celebrating different holidays on the same day.

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Riley Nork, Matt Marlinski

Hurricane Milton approached Florida as a Category 5 Hurricane. The lead up to landfall was filled with insane discourse. Harris & DeSantis went at it, and the hard right called the entire thing a government made conspiracy. Trump & Harris took to the media tours this week. The stark differences in which shows they went on highlighted the gaps in voters. Speaking of the Presidential race, Trump currently owns a large lead on Harris. But is this all because of MAGA whales and Peter Thiel? Finally, Pirate Idol returns with the next round of quarterfinals. Is Elon musk the secret Presidential candidate behind Trump?

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Riley Nork

This week we're discussing the VP Debate between JD Vance and TIm Walz. Vance shined in the spotlight, solidifying his spot at the top of the Republican Party. We saw a return to somewhat normalcy. The port workers threaten to go on strike. And we have our next round of Pirate Idol! A 80 year old man gets put in prison for cloning sheep? WTF?

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Riley Nork, Matt Marlinski

The NYC clown show took center stage as Eric Adams was indicted. We had to bring on our producer and resident NYC defended, Matt, to talk trash about the city. Mark Zuckerberg's makeover continues. This week he detailed in the NYT on how he's done with politics. Sounds like Zuck may be a Pirate Wires reader sooner than later! Also, Meta introduced the Orion AR glasses. Is this the world we really want? Cards For Humanity sues Space-X? And finally, we've reached the QUARTER FINALS of Pirate Idol. 3 Returning Guests fight for a spot to be the next great PW contributor. Leave your votes below.

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Riley Nork, Matt Marlinski

This week, we experienced another assassination attempt of Donald Trump. After a day of reporting, the media quickly shifted to blaming Trump and obsessing over the cats in Ohio. Amazon announces that workers must return to the office next year, officially ending the Covid era of work from home. We also discuss the clownish demands from the NYT Tech Workers who are threatening to strike. Israel pulls off the sneak attack on Hezbollah by targeting beepers. Last but not least, our last week of Pirate Idol first round contestants. Pick your winner this week in the comments. Next week, we bring our winners back to compete in round 2!

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Riley Nork, Matt Marlinski

This interview was recorded at the Foundation For American Innovation "Reboot" conference. Big thank you to FAI for allowing Mike to interview Garry and for providing us with the video. Please check them out! https://www.thefai.org/ Today, we have special interview with Garry Tan, the CEO of Y Combinator. In this conversation, we discuss Garry's reasoning for becoming politically active, corruption in SF, the future of tech, AI, building San Francisco to be better than ever, big Tech vs. small tech, and Lina Khan.

Mike Solana, Garry Tan

This, we gotta get into this crazy story out of Springfield, Ohio. A town of 60,000 has become overrun by 20,000 Haitian migrants. Things took a weird turn this past week when reports of migrants stealing pets and eating them started to pop up on Facebook. This led to an AI meme war, JD Vance tweeting about it, and Trump yelling about it on the debate. Speaking of debate, we react to this week's Presidential debate with Trump/Harris. We were fed the political slop that we expected, but it Harris did much better than anticipated. Finally, another round of Pirate Idol! 3 fresh contestants take the stage to compete for a co-hosting spot on the pod.

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Riley Nork, John Coogan, Eade Bengard

This week we are joined by Eade Bengard. We get into Elon Musk battling the country of Brazil over the banning X and the media & Kamala’s mission to silence tech bros. We then get into the new phrase that entered the lexicon this week: Founder Mode. What the hell is Founder Mode? Are we in Founder Mode Now? Right on cue, Founder Mode is, of course, deemed to be sexists. In our Polymarket Segment, we get into the odds of Biden passing the SAVE act which will require ID to vote. And finally, it’s Pirate Idol time! 3 new contestants step up for a chance to win a spot as the new Pirate Wires contributor.

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Riley Nork, Eade Bengard

The legendary Palmer Luckey returns to the pod! Palmer is the Founder of Anduril and the inventor of Oculus. In this conversation, Mike and Palmer discuss the astronauts stuck in space, government contracts, building Arsenal-1, dealing with the media, supporting Trump, heretical thoughts, and the world that Palmer would like to leave for his grandchildren.

Mike Solana & Palmer Luckey

This week, we’re joined by Brad Polumbo to discuss the news of the week. The Mark Zuckerberg story arc continues to be unpredictable as the BJJ fighting, gold chain wearing, Gen-Z haircut chad is now regretful for cooperating with the Biden/Harris administration during Covid. Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, was arrested in France this week. Is this a free speech issue, was it politically motivated or neither? Tech press continues to be unhinged, a recent WIRED article calls out tech leaders over Trump’s infamous “very fine people” quote. And finally, week 2 of Pirate Idol! 4 new contestants join the show to win a chance at being a regular contributor to the pod.

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Riley Nork, Brad Polumbo

Martin Shkreli is back on the pod to discuss Kamala’s economic policies. We break down all of the details and why they are terrible ideas. The DNC is wrapped up, and we react to the events of the week. The media came after Ben Horowitz and his wife because.. wait for it.. they support Trump. And finally.. the most anticipated event of the week.. PIRATE IDOL. Shkreli is our guest judge this week as 4 contestants compete to earn a regular contributor spot on the Pirate Wires Podcast.

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Riley Nork, Martin Shkreli

This past week, we gathered around our iPhones like it was the 1920's to listen to Trump and Elon speak on Spaces. The media of course, had a meltdown over it. We then get into the insane policies of the EU that threatens to jail everyone for speech. CNN's Kaitlan Collins goes on Stephen Colbert's show, only to find the audience laughing at them. And finally, our pal (the one who claims that math is racist), Jo Boaler, is back with her new book Math-ish. We also have some sad news at the end of the show as this will be Sanjana's final episode with Pirate Wires.

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Sanjana Friedman, Riley Nork

The Kamala vibe shift moves forward, despite the fact that she doesn't have a single policy issue on her website. Are Dems really happy? Or is it just cope to make sure orange man doesn't get elected. We are then joined by Ashley Rindsberg to discuss his piece for Pirate Wires "How the Regime Captured Wikipedia" Also discussed: The VCs for Kamala zoom call was about as embarrassing as expected, strange fan fiction from Dems, the disastrous France Olympics, and Taylor Swift concerts cancelled due to terrorist threats

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Sanjana Friedman, Ashley Rindsberg

Nic Carter is here to give us the latest update on Bitcoin & Crypto after Trump mentioned Operation Chokepoint 2.0 at the Bitcoin Conference. Crypto money is started to change the landscape of elections. We then get into VCs for Kamala, Google searches editing Trump’s assassination attempt, controversy at the Olympics involving an intersex boxer, and Melinda Gates philanthropic mission to destroy us all. Enjoy!

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Sanjana Friedman, Nic Carter

Joe Biden officially dropped out of the race this past week. Democrats decide to not do democracy this year and just replaced Biden with Kamala Harris. We get into the hot swap, Kamala’s image makeover, and what democracy actually means. Friend of the show, John Coogan, stops in to talk about the battle of the billionaires on X. The TDS of Silicon Valley has brought out current and past disputes with David Sacks, Paul Graham, Vinod Khosla, Parker Conrad, and our very own billionaire Mike Solana. We then take a deep dive into the Crowdstrike outage last week that took our our airports and work computers. We’re EU regulations to blame for all of this? Enjoy!

Mike Solana, Sanjana Friedman, Riley Nork, John Coogan

The world changed since we last saw you. We're catching up on all the Trump related news and reactions. Comfortably Smug is joining us again! Giving us a live report from the Republican National Convention. We also get into JD Vance selected as VP, Silicon Valley getting behind Trump, Elon Musk's $45M PAC For Trump, the right cancelling people for wishing Trump had been k*lled, and Morning Joe taken off the air. Enjoy!

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Sanjana Friedman, Comfortably Smug, Riley Nork

We're back! Anything happen while we were gone? Oh.. only the entire Democratic party is in complete disarray. So we figured we'd bring in the man who predicted the Biden hot swap. Jason Calacanis joins the show! The All-In x PW crossover you've been waiting for. We also discuss the Project 2025 meltdown, AOC suing the Supreme Court, and our Infrastructure falling apart. Oh, and you may notice some new faces on this episode too. Enjoy!

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Sanjana Friedman, Jason Calacanis, Riley Nork, Matt Marlinski, Eric Button

The Mega Pod is here! We’re off next week for the 4th of July, so we figured we’d leave you with some extra content to carry through the break. First up, an instant reaction to the train wreck that was the Presidential debates. We had to wake up early on Friday morning and record a reaction for you guys. Solana & Producer Matt discuss. Then, back to your regularly scheduled pod episode. Martin Shkreli joins the show to discuss all the betting markets reaction to Trump coin and the downfall of TechCrunch. We are then joined by Kian Sadeghi & Delian Asparouhov to discuss Nucleus Genomicsm, the all-in-one DNA test. Next up, fire alarm enthusiast, Jamaal Bowman, gets voted out in NY and AOC makes a fool of herself at the rally. Finally, Trump promised green cards for all college graduates. Is this a good idea? Makes sense? Hope so. Enjoy!

Featuring Mike Solana, Sanjana Friedman, Matt Marlinski, Martin Shkreli, Kian Sadeghi, Delian Asparouhov

This week, Pirate Wires found itself in the middle of some breaking news. We reported news about an official Trump crypto coin that Barron Trump was spearheading. The aftermath was chaotic.. and we're reacting to all of it. Next up, we discuss John Coogan’s piece in Pirate Wires this week on the right wing vibe shift in tech. Is it even real? Or just overblown by a few major donors? We are then joined by special guest. Patrick Blumenthal gives us a live report from Ukraine. What is the feeling like day-to-day in Ukraine, and how are tech companies doing amidst the war? Finally, the clown show that is Just Stop Oil. This week they attacked Stonehenge. All of these attacks on sacred monuments makes us just want to burn more oil.

Mike Solana, Sanjana Friedman, John Coogan, Patrick Blumenthal

Ashley St. Clair joins us this week for the first time. Packed show! First, we jump into Elon makes “likes” private on X. Will this be good for the platform, or just bring more chaos? IVF has become a talking point online as the right constantly looks for ways to blow their lead in the election. An anon account on Twitter shows up to take down all of the Twitter influencers. His claims don’t seem to have much substance, but it showed a yearning for these people to be taken down. Nationalism is on the rise in Europe. Why is this happening? and why are we seeing the same thing happen in America? It’s pride month! We discuss the silly moments in pride and why we’ve seen an anti-pride movement.

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Sanjana Friedman, Ashley St. Clair

The election is coming into focus this week as the vibe shift in tech seems to favor Trump. This has been highlighted by David Sacks' Trump Fundraiser this week in SF. Meanwhile, Biden's aging continues to spotlighted. We dive into the Polymarkets and make predictions as to what may happen in the election. We then discuss Trump's declaration that he will get rid of the Department Of Education. Which raises the question, what exactly does The Dept. Of Ed do anyway? Next up, the 2020-era grifters are continuing to be exposed. We discuss the anti-racist that is Ibram x. Kendi. Finally, we have some major white pill! SpaceX has a successful rocket launch and landing. We’re going to Mars!

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Sanjana Friedman, Riley Nork

This week we get into controversy over flags. Specifically, the ones that Justice Alito hung from his house and how Dems are using this to force Alito to recuse himself from Jan 6th hearings. Vivek purchased 8% of Buzzfeed and offers a grand vision for the company. The problem? He doesn’t understand brand at all. Pete Buttigieg face plants on live television after the discovery that we’ve only built 8 electric chargers. Sanjana breaks down her piece on the complete fail of Prop C in San Francisco and how it pushed Fintech companies out of the city. Finally, a sense of normalcy is returning?! Harvard announced this week that it will now be mission first. Tech leads the way once again..

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Sanjana Friedman

Another wildly random, spicy episode on deck for you that only Pirate Wires could deliver (please don't ban us YT!) We get into the controversy surrounding Scarlett Johansson and OpenAI. Scarlett is threatening legal action over claims that her voice was stolen for GPT4o. Does GPT actually sound like her? Next up, microplastic in every man's testicles?! Is this really the reason for low birth rates in this country? Then, the C*vid reckoning continues.. Hidden emails that involved Fauci and a gym in NJ has all charges dropped after defying lockdown measures. Finally, California is still a clown world. Senate passes bill to stop you from going above the speed limit in your car. Enjoy!

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Sanjana Friedman

This week, John Coogan returns to chat about the week that was. First up, we're all getting girlfriends! OpenAI announced GPT-4o.. the most talked about feature, was the human-like AI that sounded like AI girlfriends are closer that we though. Next up, Biden & Trump have agreed to debates soon. Do debates even matter anymore? or are they just an embarrassment for the country. Then, does taking testosterone make you gay? Sanjana dives into her new piece for Pirate Wires that has gotten the internet bros big mad. Finally, we have a debut!! Riley from PW joins us to tell us all the details on the return of Roaring Kitty and Gamestop. Stonks!

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Sanjana Friedman, Riley Nork, John Coogan

This week, Pirate Wires is in the news after Mike Solana was able to get an exclusive interview with Jack Dorsey. We get the details on Jack’s decision to leave Bluesky, his conversations with Elon Musk, and what’s next for him. We also play some exclusive audio soundbites from the interview that you won’t get anywhere else. We then talk about Apple’s controversial dystopian iPad advertisement, the strange war on fake meat, FTX costumers being made whole, evil villains in tech & finance, and the fake virtue signaling at the Met Gala, and why this year was kind of based? Enjoy!

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Sanjana Friedman

We tried to avoid it, but this week the protests around college campuses took over the news. We dive into the craziness of students requesting humanitarian aid and the media circus. The bros made a stunning comeback protecting the flag at UNC. Congress overreacts and introduces a bill aimed to reduce anti semitism, when really it's just another free speech violation. A CEO of a publicly traded company decided to play the activist game (good luck!) And finally, Solana discusses his trip to Paris, why he enjoyed it so much, and what America could learn from that city.

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Sanjana Friedman, Comfortably Smug

Episode #50! This week, Liz Wolfe is joining us to discuss the week that was. We start off with the TikTok divestiture bill that was signed into law by President Biden, and was conveniently placed into a foreign aid package for Ukraine & Israel. Next up, Ivy League colleges shut down over yay-Hamas protests. Is all anti-semitism? Or just an excuse for kids to go glamping with their friends. We transition into protests at work and woke activism. Coinbase started the trend years ago with mission driven company, and now their bet is on the right side of history. Finally, the NPR story gets even better (or worse). Katherine Maher appears to be involved with the CIA. Enjoy!

Featuring Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Sanjana Friedman, Liz Wolfe

Welcome Back To The Pod! This week we're talking about NPR's new CEO hire, who can only be described as an NPC Leftist.The question though, why should our tax money go towards this organization? We then get into Solana's solution for dealing with protestors that are disrupting our daily lives on the bridges and at the airports. Next up, the first major AI hardware was released to scathing reviews. The Humane AI Pin was torn apart by the biggest reviewers in tech such as Marques Brownlee. Is it ok the rip founders trying to build? Or should we be cheering them on? Finally, the globalism takeover; a breakdown of Solana's piece "Exit vs. Build".

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

This week we start off with a story that could only happen on the internet. Investor and Founder of Y Combinator, Paul Graham, tweeted out that he was able to spot the use of ChatGPT in a pitch email over use of the word "delve". This might seem uneventful to most, but for the nation of Nigeria, it was war. We discuss the use of language, and you'll get a behind the scenes look into how the Pirate Wires staff approaches writing. Then, Elon Musk takes on the nation of Brazil over freedom of speech. Finally, Sanjana shares an insane story of a school in SF teaching sexual terminology to kids.

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

This week, we kick things off with FTC Chair, Lina Khan, appearing on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. From the standing ovation, to the blatant speak of dismantling tech companies, we analyze exactly what she said. We then get into the “Right To Disconnect” bill introduced in California, that would effectively punish companies who message an employee after 5pm. Next up, the war on algebra continues! Last week, we discussed Jo Boaler in San Francisco. This week, we dive into the insane discourse around the Garry Tan funded company, Mentrava. Finally, squatters all around the nation, from NYC to San Francisco. River breaks down his piece on an organization in SF that’s actively helping people to find places to squat. It’s all crazy! We’re here to help navigate it all.

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

This week we have a discussion around "disinformation experts". What makes these people experts, (aside from Mike Solana of course) and why do they only blame misinformation on the right wing? We think you know why. Meta was in the news this past week. From Boomers getting fooled by AI images, to the decision to limit political news ahead of the election season. Ron DeSantis signs a bill to ban social media for kids in Florida. Do you agree? Finally, Sanjana breaks down her piece on Jo Boaler, the woman who dismantled Algebra education in San Francisco. 

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

In today’s episode, Mike Solana is joined by Jan Sramek & Devon Zuegel to discuss California Forever, a startup aimed at building an entirely new city in California. We get into why Jan has raising $900M for this project, the problems with current cities, accomplishing the impossible, and the ferocious push back that he has received.

Mike Solana, Jan Sramek, Devon Zuegel

This week we hit you with some amazing white pill with advancements in Neuralink & Starship. The moral inversion that that is sweeping the nation. Don Lemon & Kara Swisher's unhinged interview about Elon & tech. And we wrap up with the one and only Elizabeth Warren and her crusade of taxing the rich forever.

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

This week we break down the TikTok bill that was passed in the house. Will it pass in the Senate? We look into the people who voted no, the politicians who were paid off by Jeffrey Yass, and fractures in the right wing coalition. We then discuss River’s story on Florida’s ban on fake meat. Then, Don Lemon is back in the news. His deal with X was cancelled after an interview with Elon Musk went awry. Now, Don is going back to his old employers claiming free speech violations. Finally, Neal Young capitulates and returns to Spotify. Further solidifying our take on the memory hole that is the Covid years. Enjoy!

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

This week we get into the breaking news of house legislation to force ByteDance to sell TikTok in the Unites States. We’re joined by special guest Nathan Leamer to break it al down. Next, we get into Solana’s explosive piece in Pirate Wires, revealing what’s really going on at Google. Spoiler Alert: It’s not good. Finally, “Allyship In The Outdoors”. This one is about as clownish as it gets. Go check out these articles after the pod on Pirate Wires. Enjoy!

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman, Nathan Leamer

In this episode, Mike Solana is joined by Lulu Cheng Meservey and Trae Stephens to discuss effective comms strategy. Trae Stephens is a Partner at Founders Fund and Co-Founder of Anduril. Lulu is the former comms at Activision Blizzard and Substack and is the Co-Founder of TrailRunner. Lulu breaks down her 10 rules that helped shape Anduril into the multi-billion dollar company it is today and navigate Palmer Luckey through some of his lowest PR moments. This is an inside look into a company that you won't find anywhere else. You can also read Lulu's full piece in Pirate Wires linked below.

Mike Solana, Lulu Cheng Meservey, Trae Stephens

We're back! Where should we start this week? Oh.. maybe it's that we got our first hit piece! Courtesy of Miles Klee of Rolling Stone magazine. Next, we get into the "Battle Of The Ages". Taylor Lorenz and Libs of TikTok meet up in person for a battle that will live in internet infamy for all of eternity. Ok maybe not (it's just them sitting at a cafe). We get into why Taylor Lorenz is the undisputed champion of internet battles. Next story involves a family feud which involves a female influencer and her Bitcoin shirt wearing father. Finally, we wrap with the continued liberal vibe shift of the post-C*vid era.

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

This week, we get right into the absolute insanity of Google’s Gemini A.I. Image Generator. Twitter erupted in activity earlier this week when people were using the AI, only to find that it was nearly impossible to generate a white person (despite historical inaccuracies.) We get into all of the hilariously absurd examples. Next up, what do Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, and Joe Biden all have in common? Well clearly it’s their attempt to take over the election this year! (but also.. probably not.) We get in to the conspiracy of it all. Finally, Sanjana breaks down her piece on how a local government successfully ended homeless camps. Another fun one! Hope you enjoy!

Featuring Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

Are you ready for this one? Because this week is a wild ride. We start off talking about Alicia Keys’ vocal mistake at the Super Bowl and the NFL erasing all memory of it from the internet.. leading to a discussion on the Mandela Effect. We then move on to reacting to the Putin/Tucker interview while Biden holds a press conference to prove that he’s not senile. Jon Stewart returns and calls out Biden’s age. River then tells us this crazy story about Tiffany Henyard: America’s Mayor. We then follow up with right wing outrage over Kristen Stewarts androgynous photoshoot, the latest update on Twitter famous’ Ian Miles Cheong. Finally.. we wrap up with the wild news on the one and only Rachel Dolezal

Featuring Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

The Pirate Wires crew is back for your weekly podcast! This week we jump into discussing our pal, E Warren, blaming corporations for shrinkflation. Instead of.. you know.. blaming actual inflation. We are then joined by a special guest! Christian Angermayer jumps on to discuss the Enhanced Games, the sporting event where athletes can use performance enhancing drugs. We debate the pros and cons of the games and the potential downstream effects on culture. After wrapping with Christian, we move on to Woke Kindergarten that promotes protests and trans liberation. Finally, we wrap up the show talking about Kara Swisher. The tech journalist who hates the tech industry and blames white men for everything.

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

Mike Solana is joined by Christoper Rufo, writer, activist, and Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Chris has been in the headlines the past few months due to his public battle against DEI policies. Specifically, his efforts to have Harvard President, Claudine Gay, removed from her position. In this episode, we get into why Chis is on this mission, why DEI policies are so destructive, and how we can solve this issue.

Mike Solana, Christoper Rufo

This week, we get into Mark Cuban's battle with a cartoon rabbit on Twitter over questionable DEI policies. Nearulink, Bryan Johnson's p**** and.. electric stoves? What do these all have to do with the aesthetics of the future? We jump into a viral 'men vs. women' political views chart. Garry Tan's tweet that has the SF supervisors clutching their pearls and police involvement. Finally, the recent societal queer cosplay by our far left citizens (particularly by women.)

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

EPISODE #34: Today's guest is Chris Dixon, Founder and Managing Partner at A16z Crypto. Chris is here to discuss his new book "Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet". In this episode, we get into open source internet, ownership of digital property, why Bitcoin is important, regulation in the United States, fear around centralized A.I. and the future of blockchain

Mike Solana , Chris Dixon

EPISODE #33: Pirate Wires crew is back for the weekly Friday podcast! This week we get into the complete implosion of the media industry with layoffs at multiple companies (the same week we launched our website btw..) Jon Stewart is returning for the election.. but it doesn't quite hit the same. We react to the Bryan Johnson interview. Finally, the Barbie Oscar nomination controversy that summoned Hillary Clinton. The patriarchy strikes again..

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

EPISODE #32: Bryan Johnson, Founder of Blueprint, joins us for an exclusive interview! His mission in life is DON’T DIE. In this episode, Bryan joins Mike Solana to discuss the public’s reaction to his project, his daily routine, why he’s made life extension his life’s work, and more.

Mike Solana, Bryan Johnson

Your favorite pod is back for the weekly Friday episode! Mike Solana and the Pirate Wires writing crew is here to discuss the week that was. We dive into the Casey Newton fake Nazi story, the legacy media trying to control speech, The media meltdown over Trump’s win in Iowa, an absolutely insane story regarding eBay. Also, we get a little spicy. We discuss a certain word that has been removed from our vernacular and might be coming back. Finally, the vibe shift continues in the place you definitely thought it would.. RuPaul’s Drag Race! Do our PW fans watch RuPaul? Comment below...

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

The Pirate Wires crew is here for your weekly Friday podcast! This episode we get into all the latest clown world stories. Now that Greta is yay-Hamas, is the climate change fight over? Pete Buttigieg says ‘not so fast!’ as he claims that the supply chain will be disrupted by climate change.. while there’s an actual terrorist attack in the Red Sea. The Jewish tunnels in NYC brought out some of the best memes on the the internet. The complete buffoonery that is SF passing a ceasefire resolution. Don Lemon is based and on X. Which leads us to our final topic about the overton collapse and the future of news media.

Mike Solana , Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

Special Emergency Pod! Mike Solana is joined by Ryan Petersen, Founder & CEO of Flexport, a multi-national supply chain management & logistics company. In the past month, the Yemen led Houthi movement began attacking cargo ships in the Red Sea. These attacks were prompted by the continued conflict between Israel and Palestine as a retaliation against Israel's allies. The results has been a rerouting of ships around the Suez Canal, shipping delays, and dramatic price increases. Ryan helps us break down the entire situation and addresses the fears of how this could escalate into a regional war.

Mike Solana & Ryan Petersen

Happy New Year! The Pirate Wires crew is back! We may be in the new year, but the Claudine Gay discourse has decided ride into 2024 with us. We discuss the recent resignation of Claudine Gay from Harvard, the embarrassing (yet predictable) media response, the citizen journalism that took down Claudine, the end of DEI, and the vibe shift of race relations in the country within schools and the workplace.

Mike Solana , Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

The Pirate Wires crew is back! This week we get into bunch of controversies regarding race in America involving IBM President, Bill Ackman, & Claudine Gay. Whether you agree with them or not, we do stand by the push for free speech. We also get into the Christmas.. I mean.. Holiday Season. Company Christmas parties have replaced drinking with guac and Pickleball. Finally, River breaks down the fake holiday that we know as Kwanzaa. Packed episode!

Mike Solana , Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

EPISODE #26: This week on the Pirate Wires Podcast, Solana is joined by Balaji Srinivasan, and Beff Jezos. We're breaking down Beff's recent doxxing by Forbes and expose the evil ethics behind the media. We also discuss the media losing its power from tech companies, the vibe shift of CEOs, the future of e/acc, and AI concerns.

Mike Solana, Balaji, & Beff Jezos (Guillaume Verdon)

We're Back! This week on the Pirate Wires podcast, we discuss Deadspin calling a child racist for dressing up at a football game, Elon Musk's insane interview with the NYT, Ireland policing speech, UN attempting to stop meat consumption in America, the morality of having kids.. and Pirate Wires BIG week in the news!!

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

Nearly 30 years after publishing "The Diversity Myth," Peter Thiel sits down with Mike Solana to unpack what the book got right and wrong. Thiel argues that social distractions have stunted scientific progress, slowed economic growth and weakened our geopolitical standing. How did anti-Western rhetoric popularized on college campuses in the 90s morph into the culture wars that divide our country today? How can we move past this pessimistic, hyper-political moment and continue building the future?

Mike Solana, Peter Thiel

Packed show! San Francisco Is Clean.. because Xi came to town. Reacting the latest insurrection.. errr.. protests at the DNC. Everything from the clown world nature of it all.. to the slightly fetish element? We also review Sanjana's piece on The Dream Keeper Initiative in SF, react to Nikki Haley's attempts to ban internet anons if elected President. Solana gives his full view on why he dislikes Vivek Ramaswamy. And finally, the battle for the ages: Ben Shapiro vs. Candice Owens.

Mike Solana , Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

Mike Solana is joined by Anduril Industries founder Palmer Luckey. Anduril is leading the way as an entirely new defense company in the United States, specializing in autonomous systems. In this episode, Palmer discusses the war in the Middle East, the future of American war, concerns over China, banning TikTok, and the production of semiconductors in the United States.

Mike Solana, Palmer Luckey

This week, the Pirate Wires crew joins Solana to talk about why opinion on Israel-Palestine is so one-sided on TikTok, the "violent history" of the pumpkin spice latte, the viral Halloween candy incident, anchor babies, and Australia.

Mike Solana , Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

This week, the Pirate Wires crew joined Solana to discuss the tech press's reaction to Marc Marc Andreessen's techno-optimist manifesto, new developments in San Francisco's war on self-driving cars, the Hitler-loving photographer the NYT hired to cover the Israel/Palestine conflict, and cancel culture.

Mike Solana , Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

This week on the pod, Tim Urban jumps on with Solana to discuss his new book, What's Our Problem?: A Self-Help Book for Societies. Topics include mental frameworks for thinking clearly about politics, staying cool when issues become heated, the gollums of the Trump right and the social justice left, and soberly navigating Israel and Palestine in a moment of mass hysteria.

Mike Solana, Tim Urban

War. Hamas attacks Israel in a horrific terror attack, setting off a week of counter attacks by Israel on Gaza. On this weeks episode, the Pirate Wires crew is joined by Noah Smith to break down all of the online reactions. From the deranged left, to college campuses, to CEOs creating terror lists. We also get into Twitter (X) and Elon's role in journalism as he continues to make changes to the platform.

Mike Solana, Noah Smith, Brandon Gorrell, Sanjana Friedman

This week in Pirate Wires: We discuss the Titanic submersible that was destroyed in a catastrophic implosion. We dig into the insane discourse surrounding the event, the de-humanization of the victims, and overwhelming hatred of the rich on the left. We also discuss the Science debate between Joe Rogan, RFK Jr. and Peter Hotez

Mike Solana, Sanjana Friedman, and Brandon Gorrell

The Pirate Wires staff is back again for the weekly podcast. This week, we talk about recent murders of far-left activists in major cities that have caused outrageous responses online. We then get into the clown world of men pretending to be non-binary to attend a women's conference, A muslim mayor bans the pride flag, and Solana gives us the White Pill on the new face of tech after Mark Zuckerberg's interview with Lex Fridman.

Mike Solana , Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

Liz Wolfe returns to the pod this week! We discuss looting in Philadelphia and how an Instagram influencer named "Meatball" was introduced to the world. We then get into the bizarre Republican Debates and Immigration & Migrant crises that continues in major cities. River gives a report on how Florida is the only state that can actually build a high speed rail and Sanjana deep dives into San Francisco's Millionaire Marxist, Dean Preston.

Mike Solana , Liz Wolfe, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

This week, we are joined by Comfortably Smug! We discuss the insane politicians who hate America and want to tear down statues, the embarrassment of John Fetterman wearing shorts in Congress, the migrant crises taking over the world, and River's piece on Biden's "CHIPS Act".

Mike Solana, River Page, Comfortably Smug

This week, the Pirate Wires crew is joined by Grant Dever, who makes the White Pill case for Nuclear Energy. Grant makes the case for nuclear and how we are making progress in the United States and around the world. Also on this episode, the Grindr Union that caused half the staff to be laid off, Zoomers Demand Work From Home, Memory Hole-ing of the insane C*vid policies, and the obsessive nature of the Trump Derangement Syndrome crowd.

Mike Solana, Grant Dever, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

In this episode, Liv Boeree joins the show to give us an on the ground, in depth report, about what really happened at Burning Man. People Trapped? Many Deaths? EBOLA?! Or maybe none of that at all. We'll also get into Elon Musk suing the ADL and the history of the group. Then we discuss Time Magazine's ridiculous cover of the top 100 in AI and Solana & Liv get into a debate around AI.

Mike Solana , Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Liv Boeree

John Coogan returns to the pod to join Solana in his mission to make Moon a state. We discuss how crazy it is that the U.S. never took control of Moon after successfully landing on it. Also on this episode, how billionaires and Prop C ruined San Fransisco, billionaires now leaving SF due to the homeless crises, and California's new city that the NYT can't seem to comprehend.

Mike Solana, John Coogan, Brandon Gorrell, Sanjana Friedman

The Pirate Wires staff joins Solana this week to discuss Rachel Zegler/ Snow White, whether or not that plane lady is real, the SF homelessness crisis, and some depressing developments in the Maui wildfire story

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, River Page, Sanjana Friedman

In this episode, Mike is joined by John Coogan and the Founder of Anduril Trae Stephens. We discuss the history of defense companies, how the tech startup Anduril became a player in the defense industry, the shift in opinion working with the government, and what the future of tech defense holds.

Mike Solana , John Coogan, Trae Stephens

The battle of self driving rages on. While companies like Waymo are producing their highest safety scores, politicians & unions are actively fighting to create anti-self driving propaganda. We review Sanjana's article "Labor’s Shadow War With Self-Driving Cars" and Lee Edwards joins us to break down all of the clown world discourse.

Mike Solana, Brandon Gorrell, Sanjana Friedman and special guest Lee Edwards

In this episode, Mike is joined by Kmele Foster and Trae Stephens. We break down the movie Oppenheimer, the aftermath of dropping nuclear weapons, and the discourse surrounding the film.

Mike Solana, Kmele Foster, Trae Stephens

In this Episode, Mike & River are joined by Liz Wolfe from Reason. Liz has been deep into uncovering everything about Robert F. Kennedy's rise in the 2024 presidential election. We discuss his ascension, media censorship, where he's right about vaccines and where he goes way off the rails, why people are seeking alternative candidates, and if he's a viable candidate for the Democratic Party.

Mike Solana, River Page, and Liz Wolfe

On this week's Pirate Wires Podcast, Mike is joined by Kmele Foster and Ben Smith to discuss the death of new media. We get into the unrealized hope for new media, how Trump changed the media landscape, "disagreements" over mostly peaceful protestors, the death of BuzzFeed and straightening of the New York Times, and the future of the media.

Mike Solana , Kmele Foster, Ben Smith

Breaking down the discource around A.I. and what everyone is getting wrong with special guest John Luttig. The insane concept of digital land acknowledgement, and the people shaping our A.I. policies in DC.

Mike Solana, River Page, John Luttig, Brandon Gorrell

The Pride issue: "We're coming for your children," nudity at Pride events, the politicization of the Pride flag, the forever-changing history of Stonewall, the purpose of drag, how Pride has changed over the years, and more.

Mike Solana and River Page

This week in Pirate Wires: on the ground at Trump’s arraignment, genetically modifying our freakish Everglade hell snakes to self-extinct themselves, and the Aztec Empire totally sucked, actually.

Mike Solana, River Page, and Brandon Gorrell