Our guest this week is Mike Solana, founder and editor-in-chief of Pirate Wires (Piratewires.com). We discuss the broken local politics of San Francisco, tech and media fights, how we should handle Tik Tok, and why AI enthusiasts are losing. We record our interviews with Riverside. Go to bit.ly/Riverside_MoZ + use code ZEN for 20%.

Also, check out the debut of Erik's new long-form interview podcast Upstream. This coming season features interviews with Marc Andreessen, Balaji Srinivasan, Ezra Sacks (all live already), David Sacks, Katherine Boyle, Joe Lonsdale, and more upcoming. www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1vBO8SYvto&t=230s

TIMESTAMPS:
(0:00) Antonio’s EA rant
(2:12) Local SF politics is changing
(18:10) Tech vs. Media
(26:30) Sponsors: Riverside and Secureframe
(28:00 )Why does SF hate tech?
(31:00) How to win over California
(38:00) Institutionalist vs. anti-institutionalist
(55:50) Taylor Lorenz
(1:01:30) Tik Tok
(1:03:40) Why Solana isn’t a libertarian anymore
(1:07:55) Why is the onus on billionaires instead of the government
(1:14:20) Dan swears off Peter Zeihan
(1:16:00) Anti-tech tech podcasts
(1:18:20) AI criticism is coming from within tech
(1:19:50) Aella
(1:21:30) AI safety debate
(1:32:00) What Solana is motivated by

TWITTER:
@MOZ_Podcast
@micsolana (Mike)
@eriktorenberg (Erik)
@dwr (Dan)@antoniogm (Antonio)

More shownotes and reading material released in our Substack: momentofzen.substack.com/

Thank you to Secureframe for sponsoring (Use "Moment of Zen" for 20% discount) and Graham Bessellieu for production.

Music License: 8JZZQD7YV7WNEC3I