The John Johnston Lounge

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how Tesla is supposedly expanding it’s unsupervised robotaxis to two new cities in Texas (Dallas and Houston), and more in Austin, but is it mostly more smoke and mirrors ahead of Tesla Earnings?

Related episodes:

 Elon Musk’s Twitter Fraud Deposition Was A Trainwreck (Footage) https://open.spotify.com/episode/5W6cess0tRaAIXA1wwL246

Elon Musk's Double Blow: Chauffeur “Robotaxi” & X Lawsuit Fail   https://open.spotify.com/episode/3CnZfFskBQ7hbUshOD8siz

Why ‘Elon-gelical’ Tesla Influencers Leaving The Cult  https://open.spotify.com/episode/6UysuwWHDaqR5mvW4oxnQY

Disclaimer: I am not a financial adviser and nothing in this content is financial advice. This content is for general education and entertainment purposes only. Do your own analysis and seek professional financial advice before making any investment decision.

John Johnston (JJ) discusses the ramifications of the recent attacks on AI tech billionaire Sam Altman and others, and why AI is facing a growing public backlash. JJ also reacts to Ed Elson from Prof G Markets, and Ed Zitron from Better Offline and The Tech Report, on the subject of growing AI resistance and the “dangerous rhetoric” surrounding the AI boom.

Related episodes:

OpenAI Insiders: Sam Altman's an Untrustworthy Sociopath https://youtu.be/rYHsEx70EPA

Sam Altman: Silicon Valley’s Greatest Grift? (Ed Zitron Reaction) https://youtu.be/3qRzXX9nOp4

Stop Believing AI Hype (Elon Taught Them Everything) https://youtu.be/yvEhvjtopb0

Referenced videos:

Violent Backlash: What the Sam Altman Attacks Signal for AI | Prof G Markets https://youtu.be/SPfkRgn24LA

‘The AI industry is ignoring how much people hate it’ | Ed Zitron | The Tech Report

https://youtu.be/Dhx5RoOXrhk

‘IT’S HAPPENING’: Attacks On Ruling Elites ERUPT As WAREHOUSES BURN & BILLIONAIRES TARGETED https://youtu.be/EscqAkSyDH0

Disclaimer: I am not a financial adviser and nothing in this content is financial advice. This content is for general education and entertainment purposes only. Do your own analysis and seek professional financial advice before making any investment decision.

John Johnston (JJ) reacts to some video clips from Elon Musk’s revealing deposition from the Twitter fraud case, in which Elon was found by a jury to have misled investors ahead of the $44 billion acquisition. 

Related episodes:

Elon Musk’s $25B ‘Desperate’ Terafab, $2.6B Court Loss & FSD Crisis https://open.spotify.com/episode/78OQ3eeaWYqgpbNRqII50T

Elon Musk Moves For Twitter Fraud Mistrial Because He’s Too Hated https://open.spotify.com/episode/1CYU9vyPnqdJjl4ANDmwdu

Disclaimer: I am not a financial adviser and nothing in this content is financial advice. This content is for general education and entertainment purposes only. Do your own analysis and seek professional financial advice before making any investment decision.

John Johnston (JJ) responds to an Atlantic article about the upcoming SpaceX IPO, that asserts that Elon Musk is banking on his “Elongelical fanboys” to make the SpaceX the most expensive big stock in the stock market. We also look at an article from Will Lockett, who details just how big of a leap Starship’s V3 needs to be to achieve what has been planned. 

Related episodes:

Biggest Money Grab Ever? Elon’s SpaceX Files To Go Public  https://open.spotify.com/episode/7JTvVEeUruYNAYYizWC4qQ

SpaceX IPO Valuation Hype: Elon’s Ultimate Reality Distortion? https://open.spotify.com/episode/68NedN7wmQLZtPkDmukIEb

Why ‘Elon-gelical’ Tesla Influencers Leaving The Cult  https://open.spotify.com/episode/6UysuwWHDaqR5mvW4oxnQY

Referenced articles:

You Don't Understand Just How Big Of A Leap Starship V3 Needs To Be | Will Lockett https://www.planetearthandbeyond.co/p/you-dont-understand-just-how-big

Elon Musk Is Banking on Fanboys https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/04/spacex-ipo-elon-musk/686793/

Disclaimer: I am not a financial adviser and nothing in this content is financial advice. This content is for general education and entertainment purposes only. Do your own analysis and seek professional financial advice before making any investment decision.

John Johnston (JJ) reacts to part of a Patrick Boyle video, in which he chronicles how  Mark Zuckerberg spent $88 Billion on Meta’s failed Metaverse. We also look at how Meta wants to build facial recognition into its Meta AI glasses, which many civil liberties groups oppose. 

Related episodes:

Mark Zuckerberg’s $379M Disaster: A Jury Just Broke Meta https://open.spotify.com/episode/00QVKKj3WjFo3x70IxT3pc

Stop Believing AI Hype (Elon Taught Them Everything)  https://open.spotify.com/episode/7v9q7arkgY27baxOWovNPS

OpenAI Insiders: Sam Altman's an Untrustworthy Sociopath https://open.spotify.com/episode/0P4iqr4n412zXAgNJYKOkR

Referenced video:

How Did the Metaverse Fail So Badly| Parick Boyle https://open.spotify.com/episode/1YNjZ5khr7HNQt16xphr8L

Disclaimer: I am not a financial adviser and nothing in this content is financial advice. This content is for general education and entertainment purposes only. Do your own analysis and seek professional financial advice before making any investment decision.

John Johnston (JJ) reacts to some of a recent interview with Ed Zitron, who thinks that OpenAI’s Sam Altman “is an historic con artist”, and the the AI boom is mostly inflated hype This follows a recent New Yorker expose about Altman, by respected investigative journalists Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz.

Related episodes:

Stop Believing AI Hype (Elon Taught Them Everything)  https://open.spotify.com/episode/7v9q7arkgY27baxOWovNPS

AI Bubble: Is OpenAI Going Broke? https://open.spotify.com/episode/4xPM7mmWrmDHcRmdytpEoq

OpenAI Insiders: Sam Altman's an Untrustworthy Sociopath https://open.spotify.com/episode/0P4iqr4n412zXAgNJYKOkR

Referenced video:

‘Sam Altman is an historic con artist’ | Ed Zitron | The Tech Report https://open.spotify.com/episode/0UJMmRnSltAaqYZnbz5HG7

Disclaimer: I am not a financial adviser and nothing in this content is financial advice. This content is for general education and entertainment purposes only. Do your own analysis and seek professional financial advice before making any investment decision.

John Johnston (JJ) reacts to authoritarian expert Anne Applebaum, who discusses with The Bulwark’s Tim Miller how the Trump administration has been copying the increasingly authoritarian playbook of Viktor Orbán in Hungary.

Related episodes:

What Authoritarians Have in Common & How to Build A Resistance https://youtu.be/5cnBHlXLkkU

It's Time to Confront the Reality of Fascism in America https://youtu.be/LZ8t67NBpWQ

Comparison: Trump’s America vs 1930s Fascist Germany https://youtu.be/GaaGnRVz3yE

Referenced video:

Trump Wants to Invent a Fake Reality (w/ Anne Applebaum) | The Bulwark Podcast

https://youtu.be/fkW_UU_BBaY

John Johnston (JJ) reacts to a Bloomberg opinion piece, in which Max Chafkin asserts that the upcoming SpaceX IPO is Elon Musk’s most audacious product launch yet, with it’s $2 trillion valuation leaning heavily on current AI hype. Tesla investors are also already abuzz about a potential Tesla merger with SpaceX.

Related episodes:

They REALLY Want SpaceX Starship to be a War Machine https://open.spotify.com/episode/26LynmPoiUjk5TNhJVQ7B9

Elon’s SpaceX $1.75T IPO: ‘Lottery Ticket With Better Branding’ https://open.spotify.com/episode/6cfQKCpmzocEleD5PDjJxa

Tesla Too? Elon Musk’s SpaceX “in Talks” to Merge with xAI  https://open.spotify.com/episode/1Tm48PzDKixyoTUUn71kzn

Referenced article and book:

The SpaceX IPO Is Elon Musk’s Most Audacious Product Launch Yet

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-08/elon-musk-spacex-ipo-2-trillion-valuation-push-explained

The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power | Max Chafkin https://amzn.to/4ccsqRp

Disclaimer: I am not a financial adviser and nothing in this content is financial advice. This content is for general education and entertainment purposes only. Do your own analysis and seek professional financial advice before making any investment decision.

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship could in the future be used to launch powerful munitions into orbit, to be deployed quickly against international adversaries in times of war. This is the suggestion of a visiting “geopolitics scholar” at Cambridge University, via the Wall Street Journal.

Related episodes:

Prediction: US Defeat in Iran War Will Pop AI Bubble https://open.spotify.com/episode/3IdsB0PeURDU7nyDC8BMI3

Palantir Chief Psycho Says Quiet Part Out Loud https://open.spotify.com/episode/76fGjqrk1qP5FlOlC0lRV9

Elon Musk’s ‘Self-Growing Moon City’: Anyone Still Believe Him? https://open.spotify.com/episode/7GqExGR4JY2mVIhfrNN0mz

Disclaimer: I am not a financial adviser and nothing in this content is financial advice. This content is for general education and entertainment purposes only. Do your own analysis and seek professional financial advice before making any investment decision.

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down the astonishing news that OpenAI has acquired TBPN tech podcast for “low hundreds of millions” of dollars, supposedly to “accelerate the global conversation around AI”. 

Related episodes:

AI Bubble: Is OpenAI Going Broke? https://open.spotify.com/episode/4xPM7mmWrmDHcRmdytpEoq

Stop Believing AI Hype (Elon Taught Them Everything)  https://open.spotify.com/episode/7v9q7arkgY27baxOWovNPS

Referenced videos:

OpenAI Acquires TBPN |TBPN https://youtu.be/2UWMNPfseOg

Pollster: Trump's Approval Ratings At "Five-Alarm Fire" Level | Pivot https://youtu.be/N04qoE8X0Ys

Disclaimer: I am not a financial adviser and nothing in this content is financial advice. This content is for general education and entertainment purposes only. Do your own analysis and seek professional financial advice before making any investment decision.