Ryan Holiday on Conspiracy, Gawker, and the Hulk Hogan Trial

I like how they talk about “Mr. A” using his interview with Thiel to pitch the conspiracy rather than a startup. An aspect not covered in the book.<p>This podcast made me read the book. The book is interesting, but this podcast is somehow better because of the way Roberts questions Holiday down a few logical paths.

That truly was a case in which there was no good side to it. There was nobody worth rooting for, and no matter who won, it would have been bad. Publishing a private citizen&#x27;s sex tape is not news, and for that matter, neither is outing someone who is not wanting to be outed. Using your vast wealth to bankroll someone else&#x27;s lawsuit is also quite shady.

I&#x27;m curious how stoicism is tied to this as Holiday has been using his Daily Stoic platform to promote this book as well..

Ok, I doubt I&#x27;ll ever take an hour to listen to this, but I really enjoyed the book. It was very interesting to see the little particularities of the legal system and the participants that had a big impact. I basically read it straight through in one shot as the host said he did as well. I found the writing to be florid at times (there was a seamless segue between an anecdote of Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon and Hulk Hogan&#x27;s decision to sue against the distribution of the hidden camera sextape that made me actually laugh out loud) but I found the asides were unobtrusive enough that it didn&#x27;t affect the reading.

It’s much more deep and interesting than the tawdry title suggests.

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Gawker always said it was in the business of publishing true stories. Here is one last true story: You live in a country where a billionaire can put a publication out of business. A billionaire can pick off an individual writer and leave that person penniless and without legal protection.<p>If you want to write stories that might anger a billionaire, you need to work for another billionaire yourself, or for a billion-dollar corporation. The law will not protect you. There is no freedom in this world but power and money.<p>- Tom Scocca, &quot;Gawker Was Murdered by Gaslight&quot;