For those asking, yes, that is me on the decentralized social media protocol Nostr, at mtaibbi@iris.to. My public key is: npub16dmvfhm7uwkxnhxg30k6aczw23wxhgvs62n3puzl5tykpa4aa8esja83yd
Hey man, as long as you keep publishing long form articles with actual words and paragraphs and stuff, you can waste the rest of your time on whatever social media nonsense you want
You know what - we should all be paying attention to these decentralized platforms. If our governments get their way they will shut down and censor all platforms including Substack. I am Canadian and Canada just passed legislation allowing our Federal government to censor everything on the internet.
I mean, if you really start breaking it down, it becomes a question of who runs the servers. You can be as decentralized as you want, but as long as your platform doesn’t own the physical server farms that keep them on the internet, they’re beholden to someone, most likely Amazon, and can be taken down if the government or whoever really sets their mind to it.
My point in making the original post was that I think Matt is wasting his time posting on twitter, or whatever the new version of twitter he’s upgrading to is. That social media shit is just a stew of poison. People with firm opinions dunking on each other is not the marketplace of ideas that Musk and other likeminded people make it out to be. It’s just an addictive platform where celebrity can be converted into attention so directly, it causes people with fame to behave in ways they normally wouldn’t, because they’re addicts slamming their drug, which is 240 character (or whatever) statements that get voted up or down and commented on by the whole world. That’s great and all, but the reason I pay for Matt Taibbi is his long essays where he thinks out a subject and expounds on it with citations and examples and funny turns of phrase. I think his time is better spent on that than on any social media yelling pit, no matter how decentralized it might be.
Well stated. One of the reasons I've resisted using social media to promote my (thus far) sporadic Substack posts is precisely its polarizing toxicity. Then again, if you can put up with the flaming trolls, I wonder how many subscribers a relatively unknown can garner on Twitter?
The flaming trolls bolster a good argument by showing how asinine the opposition is. Free speech allows us all to identify idiots. Use the grit like a duck, a digestive aid.
Not sure if I understand your last sentence. Anyway, I think Craig's points are well considered. If Matt is wasting his time on Twitter at this point, is there really any point in lowly plebes trying to build a following to promote our little piece of Substack? I have a very old Twitter account once used mainly for business that would need a major revival and overall in order to gain any traction. Besides, what's the attention span/click-thru rate of the the average Twit? Even if they like your writing angle, how many would actually take time to subscribe? I'd be curious to see the metrics in Matt's account to see how many new subscribers he gets lately from the Twit side. Are you on Twitter GandalfGrey?
Trudeau's Canada is a disgrace but the funny part is that they at least passed a legislation. US id different, no need to legislate, the security state just tells Zuckerberg, and now Musk, what to do and they do it. Zuckerberg was paid for his services by the promise that section 230 will not be touched, Musk payment: emission standards that give Tesla a head start.
I may have to take back what I said about Musk, not that he cares :), but he is difficult to pinpoint. In his recent interview with Tucker Carlson he revealed what I think even Matt did not know that the security state had direct access to DMs on Twitter. That's heavy.
Not only does this legislation contain AI initiative's to protect the advancements, it includes DAO definition and function pertaining to a future voting platform that may completely dispose of elections fraudism!
Those familiar with node, validator consensus and tokenized governance will tell you how imperative this is. Because that's what we all will be!
Lots of us are already signed up. As to make sure we keep content verified and US contributors, administrators 'workers' understand we all will be heard, represented, and included. Please COPY/PASTE that LINK and support our writers, designers, developers, laborers, and all citizen's who represents our unique Republic! Don't let what happened to Web 1.0 to our newfound freedoms on the BlockChain!
Great, is the petition signed by Xi? And I like that one "new and capable regulatory authorities dedicated to AI" Government facing AI, who is going to win you think? Most of the nitwits in the legislative bodies worldwide were not even able to figure out that solar panels do not work without sun.
I know, right?!. All the usual suspects, exactly. Hope you get involved too brother. Remember how they screwed us on the "freedom of the Internet" now we're all under surveillance. Let's do it right this time. They're not going to be "fooling" with our BlockChain.
By the time the federal government's censorship reach extends all the way to private, subscription journalism like substack, it will surely have taken control of all news media, including TV, cable, radio, print and social....in other words, if civil war breaks out.
I'm a paid subscriber to Matt's substack and find myself missing his long form articles which was the reason I became a follower of Matt in the first place. I hope he gets settled so he can continue writing.
I am as well & have wondered for almost a week why his articles weren't in my inbox, nor were Glenn Greenwald's and Liberal Patriot and Public News. Only Bari & The free Press and Sasha made it through. They were in my Spam folder.........hmmm. I'm thinking since the govt's hair is on fire that they can't control ALL media, especially independent like Substack, that they're leaning on Google to censor Gmail. I absolutely wouldn't put it past them.
Glenn had to leave Substack because of the deal he made with Rumble. So his long form content goes on Locals. He still respects Substack and will promote journalists on it but he can't post here anymore.
I love your work with Walter Kirn -- that made me a subscriber to your Substack. Amazing job on the Twitter Files -- hope to see more of that. Sorry to see you sulking over your brush up with Musk late last week. Let’s be resilient!
Lotta goodwill around here. I bet the "brush up" gets "tamped down," if not "ironed out" and "papered over." EM, MT, and BW won't let the goodwill turn to demand, because they are smart enough to know that the powerful issues involved require a certain level of cooperation among *all* un-captured entities, and we *will* demand it increasingly.
No one is more important than defeating this overbearing State, and we will discard anyone, including them, if their feud gets in the People's way.
I agree, and I think MT knows that but Elon is the one who needs to get with the program. Keep in mind, HE is the one doing the censoring here because he's worried about the non-threat that Substack is. He is the one who is putting his interests over that of what's left of the first amendment.
Well, I still am of strong opinion that Mr. Musk made the purchase for as much personal philosophical reasons (you know, the ones shared by most on this forum) than as a profit-seeking Capitalist.
And I feel it important to thank Mr. Musk anyway, and have sympathy. He lost more capital than most of us can even imagine, and I think he's smart enough to have known the risk.
Until I am provided with a lot of evidence (that *I* get to judge) to the contrary, I say he remains an ally.
And no matter what, rest in hell, old Twitter, and all those asshole woke ex-employees.
Musk did a lengthy interview with the Babylon Bee last year. They asked about his wealth and investments. Musk went all in with his own money on Tesla, SpaceX and Starlink. No newspapers, artwork, farm land or islands in the Caribbean. If Tesla goes broke so does Musk. I think his approach to Twitter is different and he does have investors. Starting a business is difficult and has risks, but doing a bankruptcy workout on someone else's mess is a highwire act without a net.
Edit: Oh, I apologize again. Look, imo you don't know how wealth is stored, and how property rights work. So, sorry for my opinion, also. Maybe I'm wrong. As far as I'm concerned, the *only* people "not operat[ing} with their own money" are Statists and Democrats, but I repeat myself.
Musk acquired Twitter through a leveraged buyout---$33.5 billion in equity financing, and $13 billion in loans from banks and other investors. Two advantages of being a multi-billionaire is one) having a lot of money and two) not having to use your money to buy things you want.
Yes. Elon lost a ton of money last year. But today, he's still the world's second richest man with $171 billion. The world's richest man, Bernard Arnault (Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, et al.) has $195 billion.
All the more reason not to toss him to the wolves (the State).
Even George Soros acts to increase his capital, and tell me each and every one of you don't, my peeps!
Even if Mr. Musk completely cuts off Subtack for its Twitter-competing Notes, he should still be welcomed *and* solicited for staying otherwise un-captured, which is *all* a People really need of their producers, and *especially* of their wealth.
Is Bernaud Arnault captured, or not? *That* is all that matters when comparing the 2 (two).
And please, please, please my peeps, don't turn this into *class* warfare. We all know where that leads.
Have patience, and never give up hope, nor acceptance, that a good number of the Elon Musks will realize that *we* are the ones with which their successful futures lie.
I believe Arnault has been captured. The following boilerplate is from their Values page.
"Be committed to positive impact: Every action taken by the Group and its employees reflects our commitment to ethics, corporate social responsibility and respect for the environment. " Sounds like ESG to me.
And here's some DEI, "At LVMH we have made sustainable development a strategic priority since our creation, and together with our talents, we strive to craft a future that is more sustainable, creative and inclusive."
Musk bought Twitter for the sole purpose of turning the site into a mouthpiece of the right with no curbs on, or moderation of, misinformation or abuse. Just in time for the 2024 election.
Some early horserace oddsmakers and electoral touts---eyeballing the smart money---are calling it a "$40 billion donation to the Trump campaign." And the gathering storm (Trump back on Twitter) is attracting the attention of early handicappers. Bookmakers will struggle with prop bets and balancing the action throughout.
And the action on Trump's first incendiary Twitter post? Lotta of action there...lot of action...
Without "America This Week" I doubt I would ever have encountered Walter Kirn. And what an insightful, talented and entertaining gem... Cheers from north of the 49th parallel (and good luck to us all).
He also has a couple of aptitudes/talents that serve him well. One is a raw talent for writing, making otherwise dry subjects interesting. The second is a bullshit-detector that is unparalleled. This makes it to where he'll have a loyal readership no matter what he writes about, so he doesn't HAVE to play along with other people's various forms of fuckery to remain employed as a writer.
Matt, I have been following your work the start of the Twitter files and really appreciate what you are doing. We all should. I have also noticed the attacks on you. This is what happens in a society when there are no ramifications from wrongdoings at the Federal level. We will start with the FBI's misconduct with the Russia investigation. Jim Baker was on that too. Players within the Executive Branch have taken control of the media (via censorship) the DOJ and it is all over. What Elon and you did was show us there really is no free press left in the USA and what is actually going on. We are monitored and controlled by various state players. This is what it must have felt like in 1938 Germany.
God help us all. But thank you Matt for showing us what is going on.
Yeah, what in the (heck) was that about with Elon throwing that tantrum? Bizarre. I hate when the richest guy in the world is getting petty with me while I'm trying to take a vacation with the family....Thanks for all you do and have done over the years, Matt.
What happens when you give a malevolent 8 year old boy massive power and the weird, misplaced love of millions of fan bois who cheer literally everything he does.
Lord Mush just declared, "The Twitter Files are dead"
Looks like someone showed him his internet search history. LOL
So many in this place still loving on this entirely small little man. I guess everyone needs a hero of some kind. But as I often tell them, "You need better heroes".
Frankly, Matt, your going out of Twitter in a blaze of glory was one of the best things I've seen in a long time. Only proving you are who we think you are, and why we love you. I get the tiring slag of having to drag the rest of the world along on your amazing vision sometimes, I will tell you you are my hero. I founded a little media coop in 2011 when the Republican fascists took over Wisconsin. Got a good smack down when we covered the Hillary Victory Files money laundering and all my Dem sources disowned me. So I have great appreciation seeing you sitting in front of the Committee being grilled by Congress, and was frankly amazed you made it this far before telling them all to get screwed. rest up we need you. OX BW
You had the courage to tell the truth - people who live in fear always have a hard time digesting the truth - I’m confident you will not be cancelled 😎
Commenting here on a number of things I've seen--Elon approached Matt with the TF which, yes, put him on the map in a larger way than he was before, but also put him completely in the crosshairs, if he wasn't there already. (And for those of us who read RS while MT was there, he's been a name for about 20 years--made RS worth reading for him alone). Matt did his part. He was writing for Substack before being approached--nothing secretive here. Substack introduces a product that in no way poses a threat to Twitter. At all. Elon flips the hell out and acts like the product was Matt's idea or something. I agree Elon is still a free speech asset, of course. Love what he did on BBC the other day. But in this particular matter, I think Matt has played it as graciously as he could. I don't see what more he should do. Thank Elon for censoring all his non-TF content?
Small correction- Matt owns his own company & chooses to use it on Substack. He independently chose to do TF with the stipulation they first be on Twitter. That’s all. He also was on Twitter to chat and for business to promote his company on Substack. When Elon saw Substack was starting Notes (which no one knew about) Elon went nuts. This switch to Nostr is just relay chat/apps that does not go thru the cloud. and cannot be censored by anyone - even Musk. So NO BIG DEAL.
Yeah, sorry, if the way I wrote it made it sound like he was writing FOR Substack, that wasn't my intent. I guess I wrote it too quickly. Not sure I know how to write any other way, lol.
There is crusty exterior behavior and there is core. Don't let the crusty exterior behavior of Musk, or anyone for that matter, deflect you from recognizing their core. It is in fact the primary tactic of the left to take one crusty flake of behavior from anyone that appear to oppose their cult agenda and attempt to define their core to destroy them. They do this to you. Don't fall into that same trap doing it to others.
Musk is obviously under attack by the oligarch managerial class left and Twitter as a business is suffering from that attack. He is sensitive to any additional hits... and especially from those he might have considered principled allies. Loyalty is a tenuous thing these days in the culture wars when everyone values income and wealth pursuit as the priority.
Musk wants a public forum to exist. Like all of his adventures it must be able to stand on it's own legs without his intervention. He has bigger plans ahead.
The Twitter files was well executed and serves two purposes. Exposing what is surely permeating legacy media. Building a better public forum which is sustainable and open source.
Many ideas my wife desires seem easy until it comes time to make the dream real. Musk has done this repeatedly.
The Twitter Files---merely a fart in the media wind. Gets high ratings with this metered crowd, obviously, but elsewhere the Twitter Files is the equivalent of a Breaking Bad rerun. So much flatuence. Uncle Elon does indeed have bigger plans ahead for Twitter, however, which is to develop the site into a right-wing bullhorn unfettered by any content moderation and soon to be overrun by Trump's bilious minions and Steadman-esque MAGA-ites prepping for the 2024 election.
Personally, I'm eagerly awaiting the Big Disruption. If you cup your ear and crane your neck you just might be able to make out the distant thunder in the land. Let the scrum begin!
I was going to just write you letters. But then I found out all the censorship people that were laid off are now working for the post office opening mail. 😮 😂
You're a class act - able to control your emotions under fire! Keep doing what you're doing, especially enjoy your interactions with Walter Kirn. So nice to be able to share in your intelligent conversations. I always learn something!!
Love your work but it was easier to catch you on Twitter. Why not help Elon save the world, these other platforms not so fun and not going to chase after you, only subscribed because you were crushing it with Musk on Twitter.
Substack notes is in fact a complete rip off of twitter. Musk has been a pos on many issues. I don’t think this one is completely wrong. Musk’s willingness to expose corruption unprecedented. And we should remember how grateful we were two weeks ago. Even if he’s a douche.
As a pro union person, I have often thought he sucked. But if Charlie Manson cures cancer I’m going to try and get over that swastika carved in his forehead.
He’s been crushing it for years with books and Rolling Stone and his company on Substack. Frankly Twitter is becoming a repetitive bore. As far as we know he is still on Substack so subscribe and you won’t miss anything
Let us all please refer to Mr. Taibbi's work here as a "newsletter," which it is, and not a "company," which it also is but for purposes only germane to Taibbi, his accountant, his lawyer, and his family.
Should we be surprised that Elon has knifed you? As you've said yourself, the motives of the leaker (Musk) are not the story. What matters is - is it true? We need more long form journalists like you, a dying breed. Hang in there Matt.
But don’t take the kiddos on Splash Mountain. Bad enough their father is a right winger, if they’re also exposed to Song of the South they’ll be ruined.
Eventually in order to protect the negro, they will apparently be erased from history. One would think the linguine spined liberals would embrace the employing of the negro in our culture, but alas, this isn't the case.ask uncle Ben and Aunt Jemima.
I contend that oil freed the slaves. Oil was found in Pennsylvania one year prior to the Civil War. They were destined to be replaced by machines but the South could not afford machinery. Slaves were valued in property records and usually amounted to more value than the land. Imagine having to replace your entire inventory of farm equipment.
I'm not justifying it, just pointing out their perspective at the time.
I am worried Matt drifting too far into the extremely online world and becoming untethered to the real one. He dedicated about a million words to the arcane inner workings of Twitter, raising a lot of thorny and intellectually stimulating questions the obvious solution to which is "just don't go on Twitter." Like, who cares? It's only a small percentage of the world on there making noise. Matt went from tackling existential questions about the intersection of human nature, mass media in the always online age, and representative democratic systems...to reporting on school yard fights between various tools and losers on social media.
I hear this — it’s a legit complaint. I would say my own issue with the online world is the same way it’s creating people who aren’t grounded in reality, and this is really what the TF reports were about, the back room machinations and fights to control that process. Like any issue, whether it’s banking or military contracting, understanding requires getting into weeds, at least with initial reporting. It is very inside baseball, I agree. I definitely do not want to be writing this stuff much longer
I am on substack—not on Twitter unless referenced by an article on substack or a politician with interesting posts, but I don’t use an account. I enjoyed your testimony in front of Congress with MS on C-Span. As a previous comment indicated, I am an independent—maybe they’re correct this is our forum—the place for free speech, honest debates, and a search for understanding of what’s really happening so as to have a constitutional democracy that is healthy. Thank you, Matt Taibbi—so appreciate your participation in our country!
Need you Matt. Easy enough to measure myself and check other sources and agree or not with your perspectives. I've developed a trust in you. With you pre TF, please keep it up.
I actually did jump on after Elon bought it, but gave it up months ago because I found myself arguing with people and just raising my blood pressure. And yet, here I am. But seriously, the TF was a momentous story of government "overreach" (not nearly, nearly strong enough) and a complete trampling of 1A in so many ways you lose count. That's what it was about.
For better or worse, real life has lots and lots of details.
With that said, it is a very good idea to big picture things for people who think in terms of the big picture.
I would argue that reaching more people has more to do with translating things into the many languages of human brain diversity and understanding--than marketing the same song to more people.
LOL I got rid of my turntable when those newfangled CDs came out and never looked back. Back in the day we spent thousands of dollars trying to get rid of hiss, pops, wow and rumble. Today though? Some people can't get enough of it! "So warm!"
As an aside, my old neighbour made a lot of money taking the "wood" off old turntables and then replacing it with gorgeous exotic real woods. He could take an old beat up thing and make it stunning.
Totally didn't intend to become the MT defender here, but I'm so grateful for what he's done in the past few years, I can't help myself. I agree with you, LearDog, in a vacuum, but Elon is the one who needs to mend the fence here. Calling Matt an employee of Substack? Wtf? Not that that is egregious slander, but it shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the subject at hand. IMO, MT has already taken the high road here.
Musk is a much bigger fish. He has his own agenda and I still believe he is an asset to free speech. There are many bugs to work out in providing the best public forum. I've participated and seen it evolve for over 20 years. Many platforms have disappeared overnight. This is not an easy task, but I think Musk is on the right track.
I know little about the folks at Substack, but I use them. If I were seeking the big time, I would want my own domain. It's too risky to trust anyone with your baby.
Or even if you were just seeking the "little time." And it can always grow. Your own domain gives you total control (but also no help). Many of us did it back in the blog days.
Because Musk is petty and rather unfamiliar with which most of the rest of us are familiar and given his position why not say whatever the hell he wants to say?
Also, perhaps the sophomoric humor is a product of Asberger's . Humor has to be practiced and does not come naturally. He does seem happy but has difficulty expressing it in a more complex and sophisticated way. I am similar when trying to joke off the cuff. Keep it simple, sarcastic and often cynical. We can't all be masters like Dangerfielld.
I view those on the spectrum as a possible advantageous mutation in the human genome, and not necessarily a defect.
I think you are quite right about all that. And I'm just some anonymous guy on the internet, but fwiw, I have it on pretty good authority that he doesn't sleep much (duh..) but also that stimulants play a role in that. Lack of sleep will do a number on judgment as well.
Free speech will contain errors. He may clarify but he is trying to build a sustainable platform first and foremost. He may be a bit overprotective but I can't blame him considering all the psyops swirling. If it works and improves society in a sustainable way I will be satisfied.
If it does not work, the tribe will pull up stakes like nomads and find a better oasis.
I don't know why you said I was an "anti-capitalist." I'm not here to attack or defend capitalism. That's not even on my radar.
What I am against is the capture of all our institutions (schools, universities, hospitals, doctor groups, mainstream media, entertainment and the government by the totalitarian woke mob that pushes the evil lie called "transgenderism." And what good is all the money in the world when the State can order parents to have their children chemically or surgically castrated? Forget the money. Is that the world you want your grandchildren to live in? Yes. It's already happened to some parents and their children. And it's spreading. Quickly.
It turns out that some multibillionaires (Pritzkers, Strykers, and Rothblatt) are secretly funding the "transgender" movement through their foundations to the tune of millions and billions of dollars. Did you ever stop and wonder why the ACLU which used to stand up for free speech now supports censorship. The Stryker Family gave the ACLU $15 million. The ACLU then hired a bunch of "transgender" lawyers and now they're the biggest lobbying group for "transgenderism."
ESG and CEI (Corporate Equity Index) are the tools used to keep corporations and the American people in line with wokeism and "transgenderism." But the public is starting to catch on. And I read this evening that some financial types are starting to push back against these woke indexes because they actually hurt the financial health of companies.
By the way, Elon lost about $40 billion last year. That sounds like a lot of money but it's only 20% of his net worth. He'll bounce back. And even if he doesn't, he's got more than enough for himself, his kids, and their kids to live in luxury for the next five or ten generations.
And did you know that Elon's oldest son is now a "transgender." And after Elon split with the singer Grimes last year, she took up with "Chelsea" Manning. I'm sure Elon is not a happy camper about either of those things. But Elon has autism and so his son probably had it, too. And people with autism, like his son, are especially vulnerable to joining cults, like "transgenderism."
Oh, look, a QAnon acolyte pushing the Big Q transgender party line---the most far out far right nut job conspiracy theory being retailed on the internet. A lie that is much more than a lie. Now Taibbi's beginning to attract the Q people. Heavens.
Can you say "Nazi Eugenics," anyone? Jennifer Bilek can. And Racket News' very own Nancy Robertson is apparently learning the language, the secret codes, handshakes, gestures, etc.
And Grimes and Chelsea Manning? No shit. And no, I didn't know that Elon's oldest son is now transgender. Christ, no wonder Uncle Elon flipped out over...whatever he flipped out over. But then he "has" autism, which is apparently a Q-approved -ism unlike the -ism of the transgendered. Anyway, what's the word on Taylor Swift now that she's cut bait with that thin-lipped Brit? Any prospects for her?
Matt don't take any of this s*** too seriously. Turn on your love light and forgive crazy Elon. Don't worry about what platform you're on people like me are going to find you wherever you are.
Elon is so rich in part because he suffers from extreme black or white thinking regarding threats to his business.
You will continue to be successful, and have enthusiatic fans like me, because of the intelligence honesty and great sense of humor your reporting contains - in an age where all three things have become scarce.
Matt: I appreciate your writing and the effort you put to get the truth. The US Government IMO is into lies and hiding truths. This government is suppose to be a representative government "by the people for the people". Any time the government knowing lies to the people it is creating a fraud and any actions it takes based on lies are fraudulent. Therefore, those that lie need to be identified, tried, and if convicted of lying sent to jail for a matter of time.
Matt keep up the good work, you can be sure that throughout the years with your great work you have built a solid base of readers who will be with your through thick and thin because we have no doubt that whoever will end up in your crosshairs fully deserves it. Your ethics is one of the very few things that I know I can count on. As for Musk, he is probably not used to anyone not falling immediately in line with his desires. If he’s a person of intellectual honesty, he will understand and appreciate the lesson. If not, too bad for him
I’ve been thinking it’s time I learned what Nostr is all about. This is the perfect excuse to explore, knowing I’ll find at least one friendly face in the foreign land. Incidentally, I’m 61, never warmed to Twitter. Or Facebook. Prepared to dislike Nostr too, but worth giving it a try in case a swift move becomes necessary.
I am not a fan of the decentralized platforms. w/o critial mass SM networks don't work. I always read you on twitter, but honestly as a paid subscriber, I would be happy if you stopped being sucked into troll fights on twitter. It was a huge waste of time and energy
I'd never heard of it, so I started reading the forbes explanation written in semi-gibberish. Clicked a link in it to iris.to & was prompted to type my name. Now I'm on it! Who knew? Lots of bitcoin chatter. Zzz Decentralized is good.
Suggestion for both of you, make sure you save your private key as you'll need that to log back in if you get logged out. Maybe the Damus app helps you with it automatically, but on the Iris.to website, I had to hunt around for where it is kept. If you get logged out somehow w/o saving that key, you can't get back in.
Matt, I don't really know enough about this but aren't the environmental concerns about bitcoin significant enough to weigh into your considerations? Is it the case that Nostr only uses bitcoin... and so we who would subscribe to you there, should you move, would have to? I don't want to!
Holy Moly, as Captain Marvel used to say. Don't know why I preferred him to Superman back in the day, or strove to enjoy eating KIX, the breakfast cereal somehow associated with him. I preferred and still lament its absurd degradation from Shredded Ralston to Wheat Chex's shadow of its former self, it being the cereal touted by Tom Mix, whose hand my grandfather shook as Mix exited a taxicab in Scollay Square. I don't know what my grandfather was doing in Scollay Square. Ignorance like death creates space in air fondness strives manfully to repair. What is it we're discussing here, Matt? Moly appears to have sustained John and Jesus for their month of 40 days in the wilderness, and Herman Melville when he and a pal jumped ship, landing happily and soon solemnly bewitched in Tahiti. Some like when Odysseus and his crew landed on, I think, the Isle of Capri, ruled in those days by Circe and her fledgling sirens who turned all men, sailors particularly, into swine. Just as Jesus did to that herd of perfectly sane pigs on the road to Gadarea. Ciao for now. What, by the way, is a public key? Should we write that down?
LOl not at all. I mean, I’m not marrying the site, just trying it.
I haven’t done marketing for about 15 years. After writing new articles, all I did was tweet them out. This worked, but it was actually very stupid. I didn’t try to find new audiences in new places (which also leads to not hearing about whole ranges of stories) and didn’t learn to operate on other platforms. After this whole mess I’m going back to fix that mistake, but also thinking about the insanity I saw in the TF episode and looking for more censor- or manipulation-proof tools to use going forward. Nostr is one of those ideas. Will it work? I have no idea, but in theory anyway it protects against some of the problems at Twitter.
Go for it. Greenwald already has over 320,000 followers and he’s only been on Rumble for a few months. It usually takes years to get that kind of following.
You've got me considering my first social media account with Nostr. I believe the only positive future we have is based on decentralization of power. Technology needs to lead the way on that.
Aww shit, who am I kidding, I'm still unlikely to join...
I support this wholeheartedly! Nostr &/or Lens Protocol are the future of dissident journalism and social media. few understand that now, but in an age of ever-increasing totalitarianism and censorship, it will soon be the only option. Twitter will wane and likely go bankrupt
Honest to dog, Matt - I've been following you from your early days at RS. I AM dismayed at this current dust-up, and think EM playing "Nice" with Substack would be to EVERYONE's advantage, IF the overarching goal is to present real news to the billions of people who consume bullshit "news" daily from totally captured outlets. This will be a WORLD changing event, if we can get you, EM, GG, and a few others to support, share information and amplify the facts, that a majority of humanity is STARVING/DYING for.
At the VERY least, keep working on the Twitter Files project - there was a LOT of seriously shady shit going on, that I'm sure would wake a lot of people the fuck up. If EM would prioritize getting this story out in surgically-precise fashion, the benefits to Twitter could completely dwarf the Substack "notes" issue. EM - you listening?
Yes, each side has to play the hand he is dealt. There was no alternative for Matt--but still a bit of a mystery why Elon played those particular cards.
I suppose that calling out Elon for not allowing Substack to profit from piggybacking on Twitter's platform for free might have inspired a vindictive response. Is that censorship or juvenile boys acting out?
Musk does not own any of the content--except what he himself posts. It's a public website.
Any idea that Twitter owns other people's content is fully nuts. If I scrape every Tweet on twitter, that's still is not stealing from or profiting off of twitter. Musk doesn't own other people's content.
The biggest problem with Elon's breakdown is not his anger that the internet has links and that capitalism has competition, the biggest problem is his belief that he owns the content created by others.
so for the barrage! one last thing. Maybe consider replying to your Nostr.directory tweet with this link so your followers can get a head start on how to use Nostr and why. https://nostr.how/
On the homepage of nostr.directory, first click 'Sign In With Twitter'. Then on the same page click on both of those buttons above that say 'Tweet your nostr', then 'Verify your pubkey'. After that's done you can scan you Twitter follows and it will find the ones with Nostr addresses (Snort.social also has a way of automating this if you have trouble using nostr.directory). Feel free to DM me if you need any troubleshooting :) knightwhosaysni@iris.to
you may also find this tool useful! It's a signer so you don't have to keep copy/pasting your address across different front end apps. it will pop up at every new tool or nostr front end and give you the option of logging in once or staying logged in forever.
An honorable person would play fair, but I wouldn't put it past him :/ it's just so sad... Musk could have really made Twitter into something special, worth every penny of his overpriced investment. Sadly he lacks principles and has chosen to wage war against a broad coalition of centrists and independents who might have otherwise continued to use Twitter and maybe even make it a profitable company with great journalism from all platforms. Cooperation > competition. The poor lad has gone mad. I pity the fool!
I knew of your book, Business Secrets of Drug Dealing, but I probably wouldn't have purchased it anytime soon. I was delighted to find it free here, and I read it in one long enjoyable sitting. Good book, and although I never sold any drugs, it brought back plenty of memories of "those days".
Megalomaniacs can't see past their immediate needs. Elon didn't see the irony of wanting real journalists to collect subscriptions on his site but censor/punishing them for exclusivity. It's like having a company and firing the engineers to save money. Same kind of thinking. We as a nation have to stop catering to /making excuses for people like this just because they are rich. They are not "complicated intellectuals". Just think fuc*ing toddler.
History will show Greenwald and Taibbi rescued and resuscitated free speech in the West. Musk’s assist will be a footnote - an important footnote - but a footnote nonetheless.
Man, what is wrong with............seventy percent of the people that post here? Not a single person knows Mr. Musk so how can they tell anyone anything regarding the mans motives?
As for any slight Musk may have given Substack..........if Substack want to exist for any length of time they should work on an ability to function without Twitter at all..........too many people are whining about not being provided something formerly given.........its like some beggar calling you names for not giving him as much as he did the previous time he leeched off his provider. And what the hell is with the personal attacks here? That kind of little girl crap makes ya feel big somehow?
Love your work, but I wonder if you're screaming in a hurricane. The media and our institutions are sewn up and the right, tired of years of hatred from the left, now returns the favor. I see but two options: accept the Big State, or violence. In all of the modern era -- I'm think beginning of 20th Century -- what you've uncovered would have sent the media into a frenzy; aroused the fury of citizens; and put an administration on its heels. Today, nothing happens.
Matt, I really admire your written work. Distilled, refined and readable. I’m not a fan of the video’s or transcriptions. If I want to listen to people run on, I could engage at the pub. I sure don’t need “something new” to try and find your writings. It would be great if you distilled your video’s to word and edited the logorrhea. Thank you for your great journalism.
Fuck Elon Musk and his capricious nonsense. Still “like him personally”, Matt?
I think he’s a genius of capitalism, a prescient and brilliant guy who works very hard, but personally is a total douche. Don’t like him personally at all.
Hey man, as long as you keep publishing long form articles with actual words and paragraphs and stuff, you can waste the rest of your time on whatever social media nonsense you want
You know what - we should all be paying attention to these decentralized platforms. If our governments get their way they will shut down and censor all platforms including Substack. I am Canadian and Canada just passed legislation allowing our Federal government to censor everything on the internet.
I mean, if you really start breaking it down, it becomes a question of who runs the servers. You can be as decentralized as you want, but as long as your platform doesn’t own the physical server farms that keep them on the internet, they’re beholden to someone, most likely Amazon, and can be taken down if the government or whoever really sets their mind to it.
My point in making the original post was that I think Matt is wasting his time posting on twitter, or whatever the new version of twitter he’s upgrading to is. That social media shit is just a stew of poison. People with firm opinions dunking on each other is not the marketplace of ideas that Musk and other likeminded people make it out to be. It’s just an addictive platform where celebrity can be converted into attention so directly, it causes people with fame to behave in ways they normally wouldn’t, because they’re addicts slamming their drug, which is 240 character (or whatever) statements that get voted up or down and commented on by the whole world. That’s great and all, but the reason I pay for Matt Taibbi is his long essays where he thinks out a subject and expounds on it with citations and examples and funny turns of phrase. I think his time is better spent on that than on any social media yelling pit, no matter how decentralized it might be.
Well stated. One of the reasons I've resisted using social media to promote my (thus far) sporadic Substack posts is precisely its polarizing toxicity. Then again, if you can put up with the flaming trolls, I wonder how many subscribers a relatively unknown can garner on Twitter?
The flaming trolls bolster a good argument by showing how asinine the opposition is. Free speech allows us all to identify idiots. Use the grit like a duck, a digestive aid.
Not sure if I understand your last sentence. Anyway, I think Craig's points are well considered. If Matt is wasting his time on Twitter at this point, is there really any point in lowly plebes trying to build a following to promote our little piece of Substack? I have a very old Twitter account once used mainly for business that would need a major revival and overall in order to gain any traction. Besides, what's the attention span/click-thru rate of the the average Twit? Even if they like your writing angle, how many would actually take time to subscribe? I'd be curious to see the metrics in Matt's account to see how many new subscribers he gets lately from the Twit side. Are you on Twitter GandalfGrey?
Just recently, more for viewing than comment.
Trudeau's Canada is a disgrace but the funny part is that they at least passed a legislation. US id different, no need to legislate, the security state just tells Zuckerberg, and now Musk, what to do and they do it. Zuckerberg was paid for his services by the promise that section 230 will not be touched, Musk payment: emission standards that give Tesla a head start.
Trudeau is just an errand boi for The Empire, Israel and money.
Skippy will be even worse.
Singh is a nobody.
I may have to take back what I said about Musk, not that he cares :), but he is difficult to pinpoint. In his recent interview with Tucker Carlson he revealed what I think even Matt did not know that the security state had direct access to DMs on Twitter. That's heavy.
Yes, and they did that with not even the slightest whimper from somnolent Canadians.
We are in that process in the states. In fact I just signed our petitions today through the
https://futureoflife.org/open-letter/pause-giant-ai-experiments/
Please download the content and read it NOW!
Not only does this legislation contain AI initiative's to protect the advancements, it includes DAO definition and function pertaining to a future voting platform that may completely dispose of elections fraudism!
Those familiar with node, validator consensus and tokenized governance will tell you how imperative this is. Because that's what we all will be!
Lots of us are already signed up. As to make sure we keep content verified and US contributors, administrators 'workers' understand we all will be heard, represented, and included. Please COPY/PASTE that LINK and support our writers, designers, developers, laborers, and all citizen's who represents our unique Republic! Don't let what happened to Web 1.0 to our newfound freedoms on the BlockChain!
DO IT TODAY
Great, is the petition signed by Xi? And I like that one "new and capable regulatory authorities dedicated to AI" Government facing AI, who is going to win you think? Most of the nitwits in the legislative bodies worldwide were not even able to figure out that solar panels do not work without sun.
I know, right?!. All the usual suspects, exactly. Hope you get involved too brother. Remember how they screwed us on the "freedom of the Internet" now we're all under surveillance. Let's do it right this time. They're not going to be "fooling" with our BlockChain.
By the time the federal government's censorship reach extends all the way to private, subscription journalism like substack, it will surely have taken control of all news media, including TV, cable, radio, print and social....in other words, if civil war breaks out.
Excellent point...and why not both platforms with different flavors of coverage. It looks like some savvy creators have figured that out.
I'm a paid subscriber to Matt's substack and find myself missing his long form articles which was the reason I became a follower of Matt in the first place. I hope he gets settled so he can continue writing.
I am as well & have wondered for almost a week why his articles weren't in my inbox, nor were Glenn Greenwald's and Liberal Patriot and Public News. Only Bari & The free Press and Sasha made it through. They were in my Spam folder.........hmmm. I'm thinking since the govt's hair is on fire that they can't control ALL media, especially independent like Substack, that they're leaning on Google to censor Gmail. I absolutely wouldn't put it past them.
Glenn had to leave Substack because of the deal he made with Rumble. So his long form content goes on Locals. He still respects Substack and will promote journalists on it but he can't post here anymore.
I love your work with Walter Kirn -- that made me a subscriber to your Substack. Amazing job on the Twitter Files -- hope to see more of that. Sorry to see you sulking over your brush up with Musk late last week. Let’s be resilient!
Lotta goodwill around here. I bet the "brush up" gets "tamped down," if not "ironed out" and "papered over." EM, MT, and BW won't let the goodwill turn to demand, because they are smart enough to know that the powerful issues involved require a certain level of cooperation among *all* un-captured entities, and we *will* demand it increasingly.
No one is more important than defeating this overbearing State, and we will discard anyone, including them, if their feud gets in the People's way.
I agree, and I think MT knows that but Elon is the one who needs to get with the program. Keep in mind, HE is the one doing the censoring here because he's worried about the non-threat that Substack is. He is the one who is putting his interests over that of what's left of the first amendment.
Well, I still am of strong opinion that Mr. Musk made the purchase for as much personal philosophical reasons (you know, the ones shared by most on this forum) than as a profit-seeking Capitalist.
And I feel it important to thank Mr. Musk anyway, and have sympathy. He lost more capital than most of us can even imagine, and I think he's smart enough to have known the risk.
Until I am provided with a lot of evidence (that *I* get to judge) to the contrary, I say he remains an ally.
And no matter what, rest in hell, old Twitter, and all those asshole woke ex-employees.
Lost his own capital...? Surely he bought twitter on borrowed money...? Such people do not operate with their own money—it's too risky!
Musk did a lengthy interview with the Babylon Bee last year. They asked about his wealth and investments. Musk went all in with his own money on Tesla, SpaceX and Starlink. No newspapers, artwork, farm land or islands in the Caribbean. If Tesla goes broke so does Musk. I think his approach to Twitter is different and he does have investors. Starting a business is difficult and has risks, but doing a bankruptcy workout on someone else's mess is a highwire act without a net.
How did I miss *that*!
Yes, all the more reason to believe his primary if not sole purpose is as I have said.
I strongly believe Mr. Musk is the wealthy Classical Liberal (Capitalist, true-not-crony) the People could well use* on our side.
*Correction: *have* used, in *fact*
Thank you, Elon. I owe you a debt of gratitude, and hope you become richer!
Bullshit.
Edit: Oh, I apologize again. Look, imo you don't know how wealth is stored, and how property rights work. So, sorry for my opinion, also. Maybe I'm wrong. As far as I'm concerned, the *only* people "not operat[ing} with their own money" are Statists and Democrats, but I repeat myself.
Musk acquired Twitter through a leveraged buyout---$33.5 billion in equity financing, and $13 billion in loans from banks and other investors. Two advantages of being a multi-billionaire is one) having a lot of money and two) not having to use your money to buy things you want.
Yes. Elon lost a ton of money last year. But today, he's still the world's second richest man with $171 billion. The world's richest man, Bernard Arnault (Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, et al.) has $195 billion.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-13/arnault-s-wealth-soars-to-210-billion-leaving-musk-in-the-dust?leadSource=uverify%20wall
All the more reason not to toss him to the wolves (the State).
Even George Soros acts to increase his capital, and tell me each and every one of you don't, my peeps!
Even if Mr. Musk completely cuts off Subtack for its Twitter-competing Notes, he should still be welcomed *and* solicited for staying otherwise un-captured, which is *all* a People really need of their producers, and *especially* of their wealth.
Is Bernaud Arnault captured, or not? *That* is all that matters when comparing the 2 (two).
And please, please, please my peeps, don't turn this into *class* warfare. We all know where that leads.
Have patience, and never give up hope, nor acceptance, that a good number of the Elon Musks will realize that *we* are the ones with which their successful futures lie.
Class war? We know where that leads to? Guillotines on the National Mall with long lines of billionaires? Can't have that...
I believe Arnault has been captured. The following boilerplate is from their Values page.
"Be committed to positive impact: Every action taken by the Group and its employees reflects our commitment to ethics, corporate social responsibility and respect for the environment. " Sounds like ESG to me.
And here's some DEI, "At LVMH we have made sustainable development a strategic priority since our creation, and together with our talents, we strive to craft a future that is more sustainable, creative and inclusive."
Musk bought Twitter for the sole purpose of turning the site into a mouthpiece of the right with no curbs on, or moderation of, misinformation or abuse. Just in time for the 2024 election.
Some early horserace oddsmakers and electoral touts---eyeballing the smart money---are calling it a "$40 billion donation to the Trump campaign." And the gathering storm (Trump back on Twitter) is attracting the attention of early handicappers. Bookmakers will struggle with prop bets and balancing the action throughout.
And the action on Trump's first incendiary Twitter post? Lotta of action there...lot of action...
There is no such thing as misinfo, disinfo, mal info, etc.
There is only info and you, the censor.
You, the censor, and the State, your big bro censor, just want to decide for *every* individual the truth, or not, of incoming info.
It isn't for you, nor your agent , the State, to decide for *any* individual the veracity of *any* piece of info.
For trying to hide info from me, and deciding *for* me its veracity in *every* case:
FUCK YOU.
May I then assume you're not interested in placing any wagers in the betting pool I'm organizing?
Winner, winner---chicken dinner.
How much was twitter worth to Biden campaign in October and early November 2020?
Couldn't answer that. Wasn't on it at the time.
Wait..."ironed out" and "papered over." Yeah, that's better.
Without "America This Week" I doubt I would ever have encountered Walter Kirn. And what an insightful, talented and entertaining gem... Cheers from north of the 49th parallel (and good luck to us all).
Walter Kirn is on Gutfeld about once a month and always is entertaining.
He has appeared several times on the Gutfeld! show, always with his excellent wit and observations.
Punditman, I don't know what's going on above your comment; I'm liking your literal post only.
And I don't know what's going on below my comment. But thanks :-)
Wtf?
Slow to anger, quick to listen. What exactly are you jammed up about?
The best thing about Taibbi is that he's gonna be genuine and write honestly about what he's interested no matter what anyone says.
Integrity is as rare as gold these days.
yep. Mans got a conscience. can’t help himself from being honest.
He also has a couple of aptitudes/talents that serve him well. One is a raw talent for writing, making otherwise dry subjects interesting. The second is a bullshit-detector that is unparalleled. This makes it to where he'll have a loyal readership no matter what he writes about, so he doesn't HAVE to play along with other people's various forms of fuckery to remain employed as a writer.
Yeah, but I miss the stories that discuss David Brooks' predilection for people defecating on his back.
Dude: Do you understand the definition of a vacation with your family?
Apparently not. Matt, are your wife and kids speaking to you? I hope they, at least, are enjoying their vacation.
Matt clearly loves this stuff. If I was on vacay, I would be posting too, albeit from a beach somewhere...
I trust Matt to be Matt.
You’re a special talent Mr. Taibbi. Hang in there!
You will burn and you will burn out, you will be healed and come back again...(from our friend Fyodor)
Like a phoenix that rises from ashes again and again.
Matt, I have been following your work the start of the Twitter files and really appreciate what you are doing. We all should. I have also noticed the attacks on you. This is what happens in a society when there are no ramifications from wrongdoings at the Federal level. We will start with the FBI's misconduct with the Russia investigation. Jim Baker was on that too. Players within the Executive Branch have taken control of the media (via censorship) the DOJ and it is all over. What Elon and you did was show us there really is no free press left in the USA and what is actually going on. We are monitored and controlled by various state players. This is what it must have felt like in 1938 Germany.
God help us all. But thank you Matt for showing us what is going on.
Yeah, what in the (heck) was that about with Elon throwing that tantrum? Bizarre. I hate when the richest guy in the world is getting petty with me while I'm trying to take a vacation with the family....Thanks for all you do and have done over the years, Matt.
Asperger's Syndrome can be difficult sometimes. Don't take it personal.
What happens when you give a malevolent 8 year old boy massive power and the weird, misplaced love of millions of fan bois who cheer literally everything he does.
We'll soon discover...
Lord Mush just declared, "The Twitter Files are dead"
Looks like someone showed him his internet search history. LOL
So many in this place still loving on this entirely small little man. I guess everyone needs a hero of some kind. But as I often tell them, "You need better heroes".
You are an ankle-biter, even of a "small little man."
Your usual logical error is known as "straw man," and you here do not disappoint.
"...give..."?
"...who cheer *literally everything*..." (italics mine)
Okay, Mr. Hyperbolic, care to comment on reality?
Frankly, Matt, your going out of Twitter in a blaze of glory was one of the best things I've seen in a long time. Only proving you are who we think you are, and why we love you. I get the tiring slag of having to drag the rest of the world along on your amazing vision sometimes, I will tell you you are my hero. I founded a little media coop in 2011 when the Republican fascists took over Wisconsin. Got a good smack down when we covered the Hillary Victory Files money laundering and all my Dem sources disowned me. So I have great appreciation seeing you sitting in front of the Committee being grilled by Congress, and was frankly amazed you made it this far before telling them all to get screwed. rest up we need you. OX BW
YES, YES!
You had the courage to tell the truth - people who live in fear always have a hard time digesting the truth - I’m confident you will not be cancelled 😎
Commenting here on a number of things I've seen--Elon approached Matt with the TF which, yes, put him on the map in a larger way than he was before, but also put him completely in the crosshairs, if he wasn't there already. (And for those of us who read RS while MT was there, he's been a name for about 20 years--made RS worth reading for him alone). Matt did his part. He was writing for Substack before being approached--nothing secretive here. Substack introduces a product that in no way poses a threat to Twitter. At all. Elon flips the hell out and acts like the product was Matt's idea or something. I agree Elon is still a free speech asset, of course. Love what he did on BBC the other day. But in this particular matter, I think Matt has played it as graciously as he could. I don't see what more he should do. Thank Elon for censoring all his non-TF content?
Small correction- Matt owns his own company & chooses to use it on Substack. He independently chose to do TF with the stipulation they first be on Twitter. That’s all. He also was on Twitter to chat and for business to promote his company on Substack. When Elon saw Substack was starting Notes (which no one knew about) Elon went nuts. This switch to Nostr is just relay chat/apps that does not go thru the cloud. and cannot be censored by anyone - even Musk. So NO BIG DEAL.
Yeah, sorry, if the way I wrote it made it sound like he was writing FOR Substack, that wasn't my intent. I guess I wrote it too quickly. Not sure I know how to write any other way, lol.
There is crusty exterior behavior and there is core. Don't let the crusty exterior behavior of Musk, or anyone for that matter, deflect you from recognizing their core. It is in fact the primary tactic of the left to take one crusty flake of behavior from anyone that appear to oppose their cult agenda and attempt to define their core to destroy them. They do this to you. Don't fall into that same trap doing it to others.
Musk is obviously under attack by the oligarch managerial class left and Twitter as a business is suffering from that attack. He is sensitive to any additional hits... and especially from those he might have considered principled allies. Loyalty is a tenuous thing these days in the culture wars when everyone values income and wealth pursuit as the priority.
Musk wants a public forum to exist. Like all of his adventures it must be able to stand on it's own legs without his intervention. He has bigger plans ahead.
The Twitter files was well executed and serves two purposes. Exposing what is surely permeating legacy media. Building a better public forum which is sustainable and open source.
Many ideas my wife desires seem easy until it comes time to make the dream real. Musk has done this repeatedly.
The Twitter Files---merely a fart in the media wind. Gets high ratings with this metered crowd, obviously, but elsewhere the Twitter Files is the equivalent of a Breaking Bad rerun. So much flatuence. Uncle Elon does indeed have bigger plans ahead for Twitter, however, which is to develop the site into a right-wing bullhorn unfettered by any content moderation and soon to be overrun by Trump's bilious minions and Steadman-esque MAGA-ites prepping for the 2024 election.
Personally, I'm eagerly awaiting the Big Disruption. If you cup your ear and crane your neck you just might be able to make out the distant thunder in the land. Let the scrum begin!
I didn't know there was a left version of q-anon.
"...the oligarch managerial class left." I don't want to see any of that cohort at my 4th of July barbecue.
I was going to just write you letters. But then I found out all the censorship people that were laid off are now working for the post office opening mail. 😮 😂
Disclaimer: This is a joke.
Carrier pigeon.
Smoke signals.
You're a class act - able to control your emotions under fire! Keep doing what you're doing, especially enjoy your interactions with Walter Kirn. So nice to be able to share in your intelligent conversations. I always learn something!!
Love your work but it was easier to catch you on Twitter. Why not help Elon save the world, these other platforms not so fun and not going to chase after you, only subscribed because you were crushing it with Musk on Twitter.
Because Elon was a total douche about it. Didn't leave Matt with much of a choice.
And Matt will still be releasing the remaining TWTR files on that platform.
Substack notes is in fact a complete rip off of twitter. Musk has been a pos on many issues. I don’t think this one is completely wrong. Musk’s willingness to expose corruption unprecedented. And we should remember how grateful we were two weeks ago. Even if he’s a douche.
As a pro union person, I have often thought he sucked. But if Charlie Manson cures cancer I’m going to try and get over that swastika carved in his forehead.
Twitter is a "rip-off" of a cell phone text message. Limiting the number of characters in a post is not an "idea" that can be ripped off.
How did we fall so far when we never climbed that high to begin with?
Elon is the Trump of Nicolai Teslas.
He’s been crushing it for years with books and Rolling Stone and his company on Substack. Frankly Twitter is becoming a repetitive bore. As far as we know he is still on Substack so subscribe and you won’t miss anything
Let us all please refer to Mr. Taibbi's work here as a "newsletter," which it is, and not a "company," which it also is but for purposes only germane to Taibbi, his accountant, his lawyer, and his family.
He called it a company fyi
That doesn't mean we have to.
Should we be surprised that Elon has knifed you? As you've said yourself, the motives of the leaker (Musk) are not the story. What matters is - is it true? We need more long form journalists like you, a dying breed. Hang in there Matt.
Keep doing your thing Matt. You are our Cronkite. Don't let the bastards grind you down. Peace.
You are a hilarious Matt. Get some sun. Try and look like Walter
But don’t take the kiddos on Splash Mountain. Bad enough their father is a right winger, if they’re also exposed to Song of the South they’ll be ruined.
It’ll be family friendly starting in June.
Eventually in order to protect the negro, they will apparently be erased from history. One would think the linguine spined liberals would embrace the employing of the negro in our culture, but alas, this isn't the case.ask uncle Ben and Aunt Jemima.
I contend that oil freed the slaves. Oil was found in Pennsylvania one year prior to the Civil War. They were destined to be replaced by machines but the South could not afford machinery. Slaves were valued in property records and usually amounted to more value than the land. Imagine having to replace your entire inventory of farm equipment.
I'm not justifying it, just pointing out their perspective at the time.
"...Oil was found in Pennsylvania one year prior to the Civil War. "
And a few months after the Battle Of Antietam, the divided nation celebrated the opening of its 1,000th Marathon Station.
Spit it out junior.
Matt, Keep up the good work!
Illegitimi non carborundum.
I am worried Matt drifting too far into the extremely online world and becoming untethered to the real one. He dedicated about a million words to the arcane inner workings of Twitter, raising a lot of thorny and intellectually stimulating questions the obvious solution to which is "just don't go on Twitter." Like, who cares? It's only a small percentage of the world on there making noise. Matt went from tackling existential questions about the intersection of human nature, mass media in the always online age, and representative democratic systems...to reporting on school yard fights between various tools and losers on social media.
I hear this — it’s a legit complaint. I would say my own issue with the online world is the same way it’s creating people who aren’t grounded in reality, and this is really what the TF reports were about, the back room machinations and fights to control that process. Like any issue, whether it’s banking or military contracting, understanding requires getting into weeds, at least with initial reporting. It is very inside baseball, I agree. I definitely do not want to be writing this stuff much longer
I am on substack—not on Twitter unless referenced by an article on substack or a politician with interesting posts, but I don’t use an account. I enjoyed your testimony in front of Congress with MS on C-Span. As a previous comment indicated, I am an independent—maybe they’re correct this is our forum—the place for free speech, honest debates, and a search for understanding of what’s really happening so as to have a constitutional democracy that is healthy. Thank you, Matt Taibbi—so appreciate your participation in our country!
Need you Matt. Easy enough to measure myself and check other sources and agree or not with your perspectives. I've developed a trust in you. With you pre TF, please keep it up.
That was an interesting last sentence.
Dude, you missed the point of TF entirely.
You must be on Twitter
I actually did jump on after Elon bought it, but gave it up months ago because I found myself arguing with people and just raising my blood pressure. And yet, here I am. But seriously, the TF was a momentous story of government "overreach" (not nearly, nearly strong enough) and a complete trampling of 1A in so many ways you lose count. That's what it was about.
For better or worse, real life has lots and lots of details.
With that said, it is a very good idea to big picture things for people who think in terms of the big picture.
I would argue that reaching more people has more to do with translating things into the many languages of human brain diversity and understanding--than marketing the same song to more people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNEtjL_qOl8
Love your journalism Matt! Always have, all through the decades.
I don't know about this new hippy stuff at Jack's place. Can I use my Commodore 64 there?
‘Hippie’ & your turntable too!
LOL I got rid of my turntable when those newfangled CDs came out and never looked back. Back in the day we spent thousands of dollars trying to get rid of hiss, pops, wow and rumble. Today though? Some people can't get enough of it! "So warm!"
As an aside, my old neighbour made a lot of money taking the "wood" off old turntables and then replacing it with gorgeous exotic real woods. He could take an old beat up thing and make it stunning.
Thanks!
You actually probably can, anything that is ascii based takes almost no bandwidth. LOL
I'd bet my bippy that someone is doing this.
{checks the internets}
Yup!
https://youtu.be/mfahsGLtQwc
I love that.
I wish I had kept my 64, but I gave it away when I bought my first PC with its truly massive 20 megabyte HDD! lol
It’s so ‘inside baseball’. I understand that there’s a beef but wonder about the scope of it relative to the good you do on that platform.
Totally didn't intend to become the MT defender here, but I'm so grateful for what he's done in the past few years, I can't help myself. I agree with you, LearDog, in a vacuum, but Elon is the one who needs to mend the fence here. Calling Matt an employee of Substack? Wtf? Not that that is egregious slander, but it shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the subject at hand. IMO, MT has already taken the high road here.
Musk is a much bigger fish. He has his own agenda and I still believe he is an asset to free speech. There are many bugs to work out in providing the best public forum. I've participated and seen it evolve for over 20 years. Many platforms have disappeared overnight. This is not an easy task, but I think Musk is on the right track.
I know little about the folks at Substack, but I use them. If I were seeking the big time, I would want my own domain. It's too risky to trust anyone with your baby.
Or even if you were just seeking the "little time." And it can always grow. Your own domain gives you total control (but also no help). Many of us did it back in the blog days.
A domain would require a good IT department for security. Not super easy but you are in full control and not subject to the whims of a landlord.
Twitter has entered into early stage senescence with Elon Musk at the helm, and there are probably 2-3 years at most left in its lifecycle.
Can you name one of his ventures which has failed?
Agree that if a ‘fundamental misunderstanding’ is what’s driving the issue here - it is easily remedied. Deep, cleansing breath.
It's entirely possible he was not familiar with substack.
He does have a few balls in the air.
For sure--just a couple. But in his position, why opine on that which he is unfamiliar with such authority and in such a public, petty way?
Because Musk is petty and rather unfamiliar with which most of the rest of us are familiar and given his position why not say whatever the hell he wants to say?
Also, perhaps the sophomoric humor is a product of Asberger's . Humor has to be practiced and does not come naturally. He does seem happy but has difficulty expressing it in a more complex and sophisticated way. I am similar when trying to joke off the cuff. Keep it simple, sarcastic and often cynical. We can't all be masters like Dangerfielld.
I view those on the spectrum as a possible advantageous mutation in the human genome, and not necessarily a defect.
I think you are quite right about all that. And I'm just some anonymous guy on the internet, but fwiw, I have it on pretty good authority that he doesn't sleep much (duh..) but also that stimulants play a role in that. Lack of sleep will do a number on judgment as well.
If you're at home "practicing" humor you are almost certainly not funny---whether in public or at the bottom of a mineshaft.
Does a Doctor practice medicine in his basement?
You are an idiot.
Thank you for your opinion.
Free speech will contain errors. He may clarify but he is trying to build a sustainable platform first and foremost. He may be a bit overprotective but I can't blame him considering all the psyops swirling. If it works and improves society in a sustainable way I will be satisfied.
If it does not work, the tribe will pull up stakes like nomads and find a better oasis.
I don't know why you said I was an "anti-capitalist." I'm not here to attack or defend capitalism. That's not even on my radar.
What I am against is the capture of all our institutions (schools, universities, hospitals, doctor groups, mainstream media, entertainment and the government by the totalitarian woke mob that pushes the evil lie called "transgenderism." And what good is all the money in the world when the State can order parents to have their children chemically or surgically castrated? Forget the money. Is that the world you want your grandchildren to live in? Yes. It's already happened to some parents and their children. And it's spreading. Quickly.
It turns out that some multibillionaires (Pritzkers, Strykers, and Rothblatt) are secretly funding the "transgender" movement through their foundations to the tune of millions and billions of dollars. Did you ever stop and wonder why the ACLU which used to stand up for free speech now supports censorship. The Stryker Family gave the ACLU $15 million. The ACLU then hired a bunch of "transgender" lawyers and now they're the biggest lobbying group for "transgenderism."
ESG and CEI (Corporate Equity Index) are the tools used to keep corporations and the American people in line with wokeism and "transgenderism." But the public is starting to catch on. And I read this evening that some financial types are starting to push back against these woke indexes because they actually hurt the financial health of companies.
By the way, Elon lost about $40 billion last year. That sounds like a lot of money but it's only 20% of his net worth. He'll bounce back. And even if he doesn't, he's got more than enough for himself, his kids, and their kids to live in luxury for the next five or ten generations.
And did you know that Elon's oldest son is now a "transgender." And after Elon split with the singer Grimes last year, she took up with "Chelsea" Manning. I'm sure Elon is not a happy camper about either of those things. But Elon has autism and so his son probably had it, too. And people with autism, like his son, are especially vulnerable to joining cults, like "transgenderism."
Oh, look, a QAnon acolyte pushing the Big Q transgender party line---the most far out far right nut job conspiracy theory being retailed on the internet. A lie that is much more than a lie. Now Taibbi's beginning to attract the Q people. Heavens.
Can you say "Nazi Eugenics," anyone? Jennifer Bilek can. And Racket News' very own Nancy Robertson is apparently learning the language, the secret codes, handshakes, gestures, etc.
And Grimes and Chelsea Manning? No shit. And no, I didn't know that Elon's oldest son is now transgender. Christ, no wonder Uncle Elon flipped out over...whatever he flipped out over. But then he "has" autism, which is apparently a Q-approved -ism unlike the -ism of the transgendered. Anyway, what's the word on Taylor Swift now that she's cut bait with that thin-lipped Brit? Any prospects for her?
Matt don't take any of this s*** too seriously. Turn on your love light and forgive crazy Elon. Don't worry about what platform you're on people like me are going to find you wherever you are.
Elon is so rich in part because he suffers from extreme black or white thinking regarding threats to his business.
You will continue to be successful, and have enthusiatic fans like me, because of the intelligence honesty and great sense of humor your reporting contains - in an age where all three things have become scarce.
Matt: I appreciate your writing and the effort you put to get the truth. The US Government IMO is into lies and hiding truths. This government is suppose to be a representative government "by the people for the people". Any time the government knowing lies to the people it is creating a fraud and any actions it takes based on lies are fraudulent. Therefore, those that lie need to be identified, tried, and if convicted of lying sent to jail for a matter of time.
Matt keep up the good work, you can be sure that throughout the years with your great work you have built a solid base of readers who will be with your through thick and thin because we have no doubt that whoever will end up in your crosshairs fully deserves it. Your ethics is one of the very few things that I know I can count on. As for Musk, he is probably not used to anyone not falling immediately in line with his desires. If he’s a person of intellectual honesty, he will understand and appreciate the lesson. If not, too bad for him
Get back on Twitter. You're making a mistake by not posting on Twitter.
Please don't tell me Taibbi's off Substack.
This is getting downright weird.
No, no, I’m here! It’s just a social media protocol I’m trying.
Good. This newfangled stuff ties my old head up in knots.
I’ve been thinking it’s time I learned what Nostr is all about. This is the perfect excuse to explore, knowing I’ll find at least one friendly face in the foreign land. Incidentally, I’m 61, never warmed to Twitter. Or Facebook. Prepared to dislike Nostr too, but worth giving it a try in case a swift move becomes necessary.
Stay beautiful, all!
I am not a fan of the decentralized platforms. w/o critial mass SM networks don't work. I always read you on twitter, but honestly as a paid subscriber, I would be happy if you stopped being sucked into troll fights on twitter. It was a huge waste of time and energy
Thank you for your answer. I had interpreted all the anger as being focused on Elon. Doh. Of course it was the course "interview".
I always say that I never take a vacation...but...dude!!
Hope you enjoyed some of your time...meeting family can be huge...and Disneyland...
I'd never heard of it, so I started reading the forbes explanation written in semi-gibberish. Clicked a link in it to iris.to & was prompted to type my name. Now I'm on it! Who knew? Lots of bitcoin chatter. Zzz Decentralized is good.
I’m not much of a bitcoin person. But the structure fixes a lot of the problems of Twitter. Theoretically, it’s censor-proof.
Suggestion for both of you, make sure you save your private key as you'll need that to log back in if you get logged out. Maybe the Damus app helps you with it automatically, but on the Iris.to website, I had to hunt around for where it is kept. If you get logged out somehow w/o saving that key, you can't get back in.
Matt, I don't really know enough about this but aren't the environmental concerns about bitcoin significant enough to weigh into your considerations? Is it the case that Nostr only uses bitcoin... and so we who would subscribe to you there, should you move, would have to? I don't want to!
Christmas lights use more energy than Bitcoin and have arguably much less utility.
I would never use Christmas lights either.
I’m with you!
Holy Moly, as Captain Marvel used to say. Don't know why I preferred him to Superman back in the day, or strove to enjoy eating KIX, the breakfast cereal somehow associated with him. I preferred and still lament its absurd degradation from Shredded Ralston to Wheat Chex's shadow of its former self, it being the cereal touted by Tom Mix, whose hand my grandfather shook as Mix exited a taxicab in Scollay Square. I don't know what my grandfather was doing in Scollay Square. Ignorance like death creates space in air fondness strives manfully to repair. What is it we're discussing here, Matt? Moly appears to have sustained John and Jesus for their month of 40 days in the wilderness, and Herman Melville when he and a pal jumped ship, landing happily and soon solemnly bewitched in Tahiti. Some like when Odysseus and his crew landed on, I think, the Isle of Capri, ruled in those days by Circe and her fledgling sirens who turned all men, sailors particularly, into swine. Just as Jesus did to that herd of perfectly sane pigs on the road to Gadarea. Ciao for now. What, by the way, is a public key? Should we write that down?
I’m confused but with you all the way.
Jack Dorsey's? Whoa, you're really going after Elon. Smells a little vengeful. But w/o your titanium nads you wouldn't be you.
LOl not at all. I mean, I’m not marrying the site, just trying it.
I haven’t done marketing for about 15 years. After writing new articles, all I did was tweet them out. This worked, but it was actually very stupid. I didn’t try to find new audiences in new places (which also leads to not hearing about whole ranges of stories) and didn’t learn to operate on other platforms. After this whole mess I’m going back to fix that mistake, but also thinking about the insanity I saw in the TF episode and looking for more censor- or manipulation-proof tools to use going forward. Nostr is one of those ideas. Will it work? I have no idea, but in theory anyway it protects against some of the problems at Twitter.
Go for it. Greenwald already has over 320,000 followers and he’s only been on Rumble for a few months. It usually takes years to get that kind of following.
You've got me considering my first social media account with Nostr. I believe the only positive future we have is based on decentralization of power. Technology needs to lead the way on that.
Aww shit, who am I kidding, I'm still unlikely to join...
Sorry, I got it wrong. Greenwald’s show has over 340,000 subscribers. 320,000 must have been a week or two ago.
I support this wholeheartedly! Nostr &/or Lens Protocol are the future of dissident journalism and social media. few understand that now, but in an age of ever-increasing totalitarianism and censorship, it will soon be the only option. Twitter will wane and likely go bankrupt
Smart business man! See if it works for you. We want your brilliance spread far and wide.
Honest to dog, Matt - I've been following you from your early days at RS. I AM dismayed at this current dust-up, and think EM playing "Nice" with Substack would be to EVERYONE's advantage, IF the overarching goal is to present real news to the billions of people who consume bullshit "news" daily from totally captured outlets. This will be a WORLD changing event, if we can get you, EM, GG, and a few others to support, share information and amplify the facts, that a majority of humanity is STARVING/DYING for.
At the VERY least, keep working on the Twitter Files project - there was a LOT of seriously shady shit going on, that I'm sure would wake a lot of people the fuck up. If EM would prioritize getting this story out in surgically-precise fashion, the benefits to Twitter could completely dwarf the Substack "notes" issue. EM - you listening?
Matt -- you're supposed to be on vacation. On behalf of your wife and kids, stop working. Twitter, etc will still be here when you get back.
He can multi-task as well as any woman- I admire it
Substack alerts me:
Matt Taibbi published their first note2d
Please, Matt, please tell me that's not your preferred pronoun.
God no
I was just thinking that Walter must be an island of refuge for you. What a good and grounded friend to have.
Stepping into the Twilight Zone. An entity that automatically infers for (against?) one's proclivities?
That is creepy. Pass the Bud Lite? Tainted times.
Elon trying to stop Substack from profiting off twitter is not censorship.
True, but disabling my TF reports and putting me on max deboost search ban is. I have nothing to do with the Substack matter!
Yes, each side has to play the hand he is dealt. There was no alternative for Matt--but still a bit of a mystery why Elon played those particular cards.
It was really cool getting a reply from you, by the way. I'm a ridiculously huge fan.
I suppose that calling out Elon for not allowing Substack to profit from piggybacking on Twitter's platform for free might have inspired a vindictive response. Is that censorship or juvenile boys acting out?
Profiting off twitter?
Musk does not own any of the content--except what he himself posts. It's a public website.
Any idea that Twitter owns other people's content is fully nuts. If I scrape every Tweet on twitter, that's still is not stealing from or profiting off of twitter. Musk doesn't own other people's content.
The biggest problem with Elon's breakdown is not his anger that the internet has links and that capitalism has competition, the biggest problem is his belief that he owns the content created by others.
Fully nuts and fully evil.
Welcome to the party Matt! Just followed you. Mine's below if anyone wants to connect
npub1wh26ax5apd9w4juhha9pw0glpgvx7lrkztz3yvv0rlafr52wsy0qvlrxm7
On another note, Matt - would you consider endorsing Bobby Kennedy for President?
Also, you should make your last post on Twitter to be your Nostr address using Nostr.directory. If the Censorious Musk will let you, that is... lol
https://nostr.directory/
How do I do that? What would I post?
so for the barrage! one last thing. Maybe consider replying to your Nostr.directory tweet with this link so your followers can get a head start on how to use Nostr and why. https://nostr.how/
Viva the open source revolution. This is what the internet was supposed to be. Ed is here also
On the homepage of nostr.directory, first click 'Sign In With Twitter'. Then on the same page click on both of those buttons above that say 'Tweet your nostr', then 'Verify your pubkey'. After that's done you can scan you Twitter follows and it will find the ones with Nostr addresses (Snort.social also has a way of automating this if you have trouble using nostr.directory). Feel free to DM me if you need any troubleshooting :) knightwhosaysni@iris.to
He actually just posted his pub handle to Twitter! I've done my deed for the revolution ;) I'm retiring now, ya'll can take it from here lol
I saw that and laughed.
you may also find this tool useful! It's a signer so you don't have to keep copy/pasting your address across different front end apps. it will pop up at every new tool or nostr front end and give you the option of logging in once or staying logged in forever.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/nos2x/kpgefcfmnafjgpblomihpgmejjdanjjp
Lol, I feel rather confident he would not let him, even if Matt could.
An honorable person would play fair, but I wouldn't put it past him :/ it's just so sad... Musk could have really made Twitter into something special, worth every penny of his overpriced investment. Sadly he lacks principles and has chosen to wage war against a broad coalition of centrists and independents who might have otherwise continued to use Twitter and maybe even make it a profitable company with great journalism from all platforms. Cooperation > competition. The poor lad has gone mad. I pity the fool!
It's a huge disappointment.
Did you use an app? I tried Damus on my iPhone but am unable to find Matt via search (I am literally brand new to this).
Search for him on iris using his address. or search by name, matthew taibbi
npub16dmvfhm7uwkxnhxg30k6aczw23wxhgvs62n3puzl5tykpa4aa8esja83yd
Or you for that matter. Clearly I have something wrong.
https://damus.io/npub16dmvfhm7uwkxnhxg30k6aczw23wxhgvs62n3puzl5tykpa4aa8esja83yd
I knew of your book, Business Secrets of Drug Dealing, but I probably wouldn't have purchased it anytime soon. I was delighted to find it free here, and I read it in one long enjoyable sitting. Good book, and although I never sold any drugs, it brought back plenty of memories of "those days".
https://www.racket.news/p/chapters-one-and-two-the-business-secrets-of-drug-dealing
Thx Matt just keep doing what you're doing. eastamant.com
Decentralized, uncensorable, social media for the win.
Megalomaniacs can't see past their immediate needs. Elon didn't see the irony of wanting real journalists to collect subscriptions on his site but censor/punishing them for exclusivity. It's like having a company and firing the engineers to save money. Same kind of thinking. We as a nation have to stop catering to /making excuses for people like this just because they are rich. They are not "complicated intellectuals". Just think fuc*ing toddler.
History will show Greenwald and Taibbi rescued and resuscitated free speech in the West. Musk’s assist will be a footnote - an important footnote - but a footnote nonetheless.
Man, what is wrong with............seventy percent of the people that post here? Not a single person knows Mr. Musk so how can they tell anyone anything regarding the mans motives?
As for any slight Musk may have given Substack..........if Substack want to exist for any length of time they should work on an ability to function without Twitter at all..........too many people are whining about not being provided something formerly given.........its like some beggar calling you names for not giving him as much as he did the previous time he leeched off his provider. And what the hell is with the personal attacks here? That kind of little girl crap makes ya feel big somehow?
It's a very excitable group...
Love your work, but I wonder if you're screaming in a hurricane. The media and our institutions are sewn up and the right, tired of years of hatred from the left, now returns the favor. I see but two options: accept the Big State, or violence. In all of the modern era -- I'm think beginning of 20th Century -- what you've uncovered would have sent the media into a frenzy; aroused the fury of citizens; and put an administration on its heels. Today, nothing happens.
Good move. Are you orange-pilled Matt?
Matt, I really admire your written work. Distilled, refined and readable. I’m not a fan of the video’s or transcriptions. If I want to listen to people run on, I could engage at the pub. I sure don’t need “something new” to try and find your writings. It would be great if you distilled your video’s to word and edited the logorrhea. Thank you for your great journalism.
Fuck Elon Musk and his capricious nonsense. Still “like him personally”, Matt?
I think he’s a genius of capitalism, a prescient and brilliant guy who works very hard, but personally is a total douche. Don’t like him personally at all.