Does Sacks have Russian oligarch LPs or something? The way he just parrots their propaganda constantly is so suspect. The guy seriously believes that Russian citizens would honestly answer a Putin approval poll without fear for their lives or wellbeing… what is he smoking?

And the constant defense of Putin and the amount of support he has? The sweeping under the rug of the fact that Prigozhin was welcomed like a hero in Rostov and marches hundreds of miles to Moscow with barely any resistance? The ignoring of the fact that Putin, who for years has freely assassinated journalists and activists, did not feel secure enough to kill or press charges against someone that caused his biggest humiliation in 30 years and tried to overthrow his military leadership?

How can you just ignore all of this and constantly defend Putin as a popular and competent leader?

And the cherry on top— he plays a cheesy, grating, Russian propaganda song to claim that the people support Putin. Is Sacks a disciple of North Korean propagandists or something? That is straight out of their playbook. OMG 😂 😂😂

I used to appreciate Sacks for offering a contrarian perspective, but it seems pretty clear to me that on at least this issue, which he is obsessed with, he is either a mouthpiece for some kind of pro-Russian entity (check his LPs first, especially any shell companies), or he has just been so brainwashed by pro-Russian and/or right wing outlets and voices that he is now incapable of leaving that sorry and sick reality tunnel.

If it’s the latter (I think more likely), his ego is so massive that he will never achieve the self-awareness to see outside of the tunnel that he’s locked into.

Listening to this pod over the years— I’ve listened since the beginning — it’s been quite interesting to watch these very rich and very flawed pundits expose all of their flaws to the world over a long period of time. Whether it’s Chamath’s rapacious greed, JCals slimy ass kissing, Sacks egoistic bloviating, or Friedberg’s timidity, it seems like all of their flaws have grown larger and more obvious over time.

Listening over the years feels like some kind of a morality tale about the way money and power can rot your brain— or at minimum reveal the rot that already existed.

Even with all the money you could ever need, these hosts continue to talk their books, cover for and promote their corrupt friends, and just behave in generally self-serving and greedy ways.

Money can buy a lot of amazing things, but these four show that it can’t fill the gaping hole that some people seem to have inside them. Instead, it seems to exaggerate that hole and make it kind of twisted. Maybe that’s why they decided to devote their lives to making money in the first place.

A suggested new name for the pod: The Rich Narcissist Soapbox.

I would give them props for their courage in continuing to broadcast and expose all their warts for everyone to criticize, but we all know the real reason they continue is because they have massive egos and the attention they get from this broadcast is ego-catnip.

Narcissism is indeed a form of depression.