Ben Collins, NBC, talks about Elon Musk and his beliefs, CTO responsibilities, fighting back against powerful influence, and analyzing the consequences of an ex-Twitter executive's purchase of a controversial website in this entertaining podcast.
Elon Musk's engagement with anti-trans rhetoric stems partially from personal experiences and frustrations, highlighting the potential influence of personal beliefs on extremist views.
The media needs to focus on exposing the intentional tactics and connections of hate-filled power centers, rather than getting distracted by trivial controversies, in order to address the shifts in power and their impact on society.
Deep dives
Mark Zuckerberg versus Elon Musk
In this podcast episode, the conversation revolves around a hypothetical fight between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. The guest, Ben Collins, expresses his opinion that Zuckerberg would emerge as the winner, citing some questionable activities by Musk and the need for Zuckerberg to rehabilitate his public image. The discussion delves into the absurdity of the situation and the desire for such a showdown to actually take place.
Elon Musk's beliefs and motivations
The podcast explores Elon Musk's political beliefs and motivations. Ben Collins shares his viewpoint that Musk genuinely believes in right-wing ideologies and is driven by a sense of animus towards those who have wronged him. Collins suggests that Musk's engagement with anti-trans rhetoric stems partially from personal experiences and frustrations. The conversation highlights how such beliefs can lead individuals down a path of extremist views and association with hate-filled communities.
The influence of hate-filled power centers
The episode focuses on the influence of hate-filled power centers in shaping public discourse. Collins highlights how these power centers, comprising wealthy individuals and hate organizations, manipulate traditional editorial structures and influence media narratives. The conversation emphasizes the need for media to focus on exposing the intentional tactics and connections of these powerful players, rather than getting distracted by trivial controversies. It underscores the urgency of recognizing these shifts in power and the impact they have on society at large.
Today I’m launching a new podcast called 15 Minutes In Hell — a 15-minute-long interview show featuring interesting people in tech, business, entertainment, sports, and any other area I see fit.
You’ll be able to subscribe through Apple Podcasts, PocketCasts, and Spotify in the coming days. I’ll update this post as and when I get links. In the meantime, you can manually add the feed to your preferred podcast app using this link. If you like the show, please do review it on Apple Podcasts.
Today’s guest is Ben Collins, Senior Reporter at NBC, who you can find on Twitter and Bluesky. We talked about Elon Musk and how Ben manages to keep empathetic while covering the worst people in the world.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ez.substack.com
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