This episode covers a wide range of topics spanning Sam Harris controversies, Biden's final days, technology regulation, venture capital ethics, and an extensive deep dive into the historical origins and context of "Pizzagate." The episode runs approximately 3+ hours:

The Background:

Recent Developments:

Key Analysis:

Quote:

"What you are doing is that the source of information determines its truth. And he is basically saying that these people, which may be bad actors, maybe careless, sloppy people... He is then saying himself his own testimony, I sent Elon an email telling him that he is being manipulated by lunatics, by right wing. That is not the right way to start a conversation about what factually happened somewhere."

Sam Harris's Claim:

Problems with This Theory:

Hosts' Analysis:

The COVID Bet Story:

Timeline Problems:

The hosts note:

"So all you now have when you actually realize that is a sequence of events and then an attributed sort of theory from Sam."

Harris's Framing:

The Theranos Story:

Alex's Defense of VC:

The SBF/Platform Life Sciences Connection:

The Pattern:

Biden's Warning:

The Timing:

Hosts' Analysis:

Quote:

"The regular news media is crumbling in an environment where they are able to say anything they want. It's not that they are being suppressed. It's not that they're being hunted and prevented from saying things that are true."

What Happened:

The Move:

Comparison:

The Ban:

Why It Matters:

Hosts' Reaction:

"Credit where credit's due. At least Biden is, or at least his administration is being very clever with how they try to fuck Trump over."

The Initial Story:

Weiner's Denials:

The Most Significant Moment in American Politics:

Breitbart used the moment to:

The Bigger Picture:

Breitbart's ACORN Success:

This "bait the adversary" tactic was Breitbart's counter to Podesta's own "deny and attack the messenger" strategy.

Important Preface:

Part 1: The Podesta Connection

John Podesta's Background:

The Andrew Breitbart Time Bomb:

"How prog guru John Podesta isn't household name as world class underage sex slave op cover upper defending unspeakable dregs escapes me."

This tweet sat dormant until the 2016 email leaks gave it new context.

Part 2: The Belgian Connection

The Dutroux Affair:

Axel Vervoordt:

Part 3: The Marina Abramović Connection

Who is Marina Abramović:

The Email:

"November 6-22: Proportio, curated by Axel Vervoordt"

This directly connects:

Part 4: Tony Podesta's Art Collection

Washington Life Magazine Profile:

Biljana Djurdjević's Art:

Tony Podesta owns multiple works from this series and displays them in his home where he hosts parties.

Part 5: James Alefantis and Comet Ping Pong

Who is James Alefantis:

The Instagram Evidence:

The Sex Stains Band:

The Atmosphere:

Part 6: The Transformer Gallery Connection

What the Hosts Revealed:

Alefantis uses his art connections and pizza parties at Tony Podesta's house to maintain his position as one of DC's power players, despite being a pizza restaurant owner - an unusual position for someone on the "50 most powerful" list.

Part 7: The Clarification

What This Is NOT:

What This IS:

The Name "Pizzagate":

What Happened:

On Sam Harris's Methodology:

"Sam doesn't know this because he hasn't read the... by the way, this timeline comes from a lawsuit that Hunter Biden submitted against the owner of the repair shop. Right? I'm not telling you like Bannon's timeline. I'm telling you Hunter Biden's timeline."

On Sam's Source-Based Reasoning:

"He trusts the conclusions of the sources and that's all he does is he goes, I need to prune my sources to make sure my sources are good so I don't actually have to think about it or read any of the shit."

On Venture Capital:

"It's a hits driven business. Okay. If you're a venture capitalist, your whole thing is like, we take 10 wild shots and like, we hope that one or two make it through... When people are accusing venture capitalists of making wild bets or whatever, they're literally accusing them of doing their job."

On Biden's Tech Industrial Complex Warning:

"Did we solve that the most, the most war hawkish president ever. Like he's given them hundreds of billions of dollars and he's like, remember how, you know, that guy was saying stuff? You know. Well, I disagree with him on the substance, but he had a good turn of phrase that I would use."

On Google vs. EU:

"Google basically now knowing that the US is no longer going to be supporting this stuff, basically told the EU to go fuck itself because, you know, what are they going to do about it?"

On the TikTok Ban Law:

"Who passes a law that comes into effect on 19th of January?"

Andrew Breitbart on John Podesta:

"John Podesta, who is my mortal enemy. This guy runs ThinkProgress... This was all an attempt. The strategy in the first weekend was to try and say if we attacked Breitbart, then by the time we get to Tuesday, it will no longer be there."

Cenk Uygur on Breitbart (Before Weiner Confession):

"Andrew Breitbart, the conservative clown who thinks he's a journalist, what a joke. Has done another fraudulent story as usual... it's totally and utterly untrue."

Breitbart's Tweet (February 2011):

"How prog guru John Podesta isn't household name as world class underage sex slave op cover upper defending unspeakable dregs escapes me."

On James Alefantis:

"We are not talking about some immigrant family that has a pizza place... A poor person caught up in nothing. They have absolutely no stake in the game. They have nothing important to just a bystander getting swept up in an Internet frenzy. Totally different than a person who's really well connected."

On Tony Podesta's Art Shows:

"If you've ever dreamed of strolling through a museum with a slice of pizza and a glass of wine in hand, you need to befriend super lobbyist Tony Podesta."

On the Kill Room Jokes:

"Sort of morbid humor. Yeah, it's fine. I make morbid jokes decently, frequently. But when you have the same one recurring and you keep referring to the place that you work as having kill rooms and things like that, it gets a little sketchy."

The podcast has a distinct three-act structure:

Act 1: Sam Harris and Contemporary Controversies (0:00 - ~1:20)

Act 2: Biden's Last Days and Tech Policy (1:20 - ~1:40)

Act 3: The Pizzagate Deep Dive (1:40 - ~3:30)

The flow demonstrates the hosts':

Throughout the episode, a recurring theme is how influential figures like Sam Harris maintain plausible deniability by deliberately remaining uninformed about details that would complicate their narratives. Harris:

This allows him to make strong claims while retreating to "I'm just speculating" when challenged.

Alex points out that Harris's approach amounts to the genetic fallacy - determining truth based on the source rather than the evidence. When Harris tells Elon "you're being manipulated by right-wing trolls who gave us Pizzagate," he's:

This is the same tactic used to dismiss Pizzagate questions - focus on the most extreme claims and the messenger, never address the actual documented connections.

Andrew Breitbart emerges as a central figure who:

His "bait the adversary" tactic (release evidence gradually, let them lie, expose the lies) was specifically designed to counter Podesta's "deny and attack the messenger" strategy from the Clinton era.

A significant insight is how high-end art serves as:

The connection between Podesta, Abramović, Alefantis, and Vervoordt isn't primarily through pizza or politics - it's through the art world. This provides plausible explanations for associations while also raising questions about shared values.

The Pizzagate story demonstrates why "just asking questions" gets such a strong reaction. When you have:

Even asking questions gets labeled "conspiracy theory" because engaging with the questions legitimizes the inquiry. The standard response is:

Biden's last-minute actions reveal a sophisticated understanding of:

These aren't random acts - they're calculated moves to constrain Trump's options and force him to spend political capital on legal battles rather than implementing his agenda.

A crucial insight is how the US government used the EU to impose restrictions that the First Amendment prevents domestically:

Google and Facebook calling the EU's bluff only works because Trump is incoming. Under continued Democratic leadership, the companies would have faced other pressure to comply.

The Comet Ping Pong Instagram posts present a challenge for both sides:

For Dismissers:

For Believers:

The hosts' position: These posts, combined with everything else, warranted investigation rather than dismissal. The fact that asking questions was immediately labeled conspiracy theory prevented any serious examination.

The hosts make clear they've presented connections and patterns, not proof of crimes. They note:

The point isn't to prove guilt but to show why "Pizzagate" had more grounding than typically acknowledged, and why the coordinated shutting down of inquiry raises its own questions.

This episode demonstrates the hosts' core mission: examining stories that mainstream media dismisses or covers inadequately. The three-hour runtime allows for the depth needed to properly contextualize complex issues.

Central Tensions:

Truth vs. Narrative Management:

Power vs. Accountability:

Investigation vs. Conspiracy Theory:

Speech vs. "Fact-Checking":

The Breitbart Question:

The fact that this tweet sat unexplored for years, then suddenly seemed relevant, then got immediately dismissed as conspiracy theory, encapsulates the challenge of truth-seeking in a managed information environment.

The Takeaway:

Whether this adds up to proof of wrongdoing or just uncomfortable coincidences, the hosts argue, should be determined by investigation, not dismissal. The fact that investigation became impossible - that even asking questions marked you as a conspiracy theorist - is itself revealing about how power protects power.