#296: You'll Probably Hate-Listen To This 🐦 🤡

We’re going to have to preemptively apologize for this week’s recommendation because we’re about to return to the chaotic world of Elon Musk with Flipping the Bird. Whether you’re a fan or not, you get to shine a light on Musk's less-than-stellar public persona, sparing no detail on his recent business blunders despite his so-called brilliance.

We've covered some of Musk’s Twitter skylarking before, and find ourselves coming back to this train-wreck of a story because it just keeps chugging along. Much of the podcast is made possible thanks to the court order that made A LOT of Elon’s inner world very public and host David Brown, along with the team at Wondery, craft a polished narrative with blow-by-blow accounts of what was happening behind the scenes.

As we peel back the layers of chaos, we find some noteworthy missteps and controversies surrounding the eccentric entrepreneur's Twitter acquisition – and they’re not particularly flattering. Like a nosy neighbor peering through the curtains, we get to snoop on the text exchanges exposed during legal proceedings – particularly between Musk and his insular circle of mostly white, mostly male tech entrepreneurs.

To be fair, Flipping the Bird does offer some fascinating, seemingly up-to-the-minute insights, as it tracks some of Elon's greatest dumbest hits, like when he...

• started snatching up Twitter stock in secret

• showed up at Twitter HQ with a bathroom sink

• asked Twitter engineers to print their code on actual sheets of paper

• potentially breached SEC rules regarding insider trading and deceptive practices

• publicly feuded with, and fired, employees on the Twitter platform

• did whatever he last did with Twitter's verification system

• slapped “government-funded media” labels on public broadcast media accounts

There's almost no end to this list.

It's wild.

Despite knowing this man doesn’t need any more attention, we have to acknowledge that the intriguing drama has a lot to do with the ego and aura surrounding its central figure. Whether it's the thrill of watching a broken billionaire unravel or the morbid curiosity in witnessing the meteoric rise and ongoing fall, Flipping the Bird: Elon vs. Twitter roosts on a nest of wildly fascinating events that simply demand your attention.

Have a listen and share what you think.

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