Inlay

Profile

Writer in nyc. Space nerd. Mars is a Hellhole. Bylines in NYT’s, The Atlantic, Wired, Esquire, Longreads, & others. Anti fascist. Opinions are mine. Climate by day. signal: shannonstirone.78 https://natureofthings.substack.com/ shannonstirone.com

Shannon Stirone

Shannon was the first person I knew who called out Musk for who we now know he was. More of us should have listened to her.

For years so many people told me I was being too hard on Elon, that I was overreacting. I think about those people, the entire folder of hate mail I still get from angry men, and every tv interview where an anchor said “but the teslas!” How does it feel to be so incredibly wrong? Just curious.

But he’s just trying to help the planet! But the teslas! But his rockets are cool! But he wants to take us to mars! When DOGE happened I watched and I wasn’t surprised. The hero isn’t a hero just because you want them to be. Sometimes they’re just evil and love to tell stories.

I wish as a society we didn’t long for power, & instead aimed to be decent people who care for each other and our world. It’s alluring to see all that money, to be sold the sci fi dreams of our childhoods, the escape, the adventure. Only the worst kind of people use our dreams against us.

Observing someone and believing them the first time is vital not only to living, but to keeping democracy alive, to prevent ourselves from being swindled. If it’s the story you love, find a different way to hold that close without lifting up the bad men who love a good yarn.

It’s a human thing to do. We are fallible and want so much. My wish as we see him reach this inhumane, unethical level of wealth, is that we learn from this. Not to lose belief in people, but to believe them when they show us who they are at the jump. And he did. Many, many times.

It’s all the great work of our lives, to inquire within ourselves why something excites us, so makes us fervent, or finds us judging. The answers are all in those questions, but we have to work on being comfortable with asking them.

Shannon Stirone

I was doxxed by his army, had to go into hiding from the guys on 4chan threatening to kill me. I was shunned by some colleagues for my crazy take. And have dealt with death threats for a decade. Our cultures obsession with him holds such a valuable lesson. I truly hope that we’re learning it.

Paul Byrne

Shannon Stirone