The Reading Rooms
Each room captures an institution or episode where public positioning diverged sharply from private communications. Filter by industry or evasion mechanism.
Boeing 737 MAX
“Safety is our highest priority at Boeing and the core of who we are.”
“Would you put your family on a MAX simulator trained aircraft? I wouldn't.”
Exxon & Shell
“The science of climate change is too uncertain to mandate actions that would cripple our economy.”
“There is general scientific agreement that mankind is influencing climate through carbon dioxide from fossil fuels.”
Facebook & Teen Well-Being
“Our research shows using social apps to connect has positive mental health benefits.”
“Thirty-two percent of teen girls told us that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse.”
Internal Tech Emails Canon
“We compete openly on product quality, respect user privacy, and treat platform partners fairly.”
“Holy war with Google... cut off their air supply... turn history off on this thread please... what we are buying is time.”
Meta × LibGen
“Training on copyrighted material is lawful fair use and our models are trained responsibly on public internet data.”
“A dataset we know to be pirated… in no case would we disclose publicly that we had trained on libgen.”
Silicon Valley No-Poach Cartel
“Silicon Valley is an open, merit-based ecosystem where talent is fiercely competed for.”
“Keep this verbal, do not create a paper trail over email, as I don't want to get sued later.”
OpenAI × LibGen
“We respect creator rights and train our models on licensed data and fair use internet content.”
“Renaming channel from #excise-libgen to #project-clear to avoid sensitive terms in Slack search.”
OpenAI Non-Profit to For-Profit
“A non-profit AI company free from obligations to create a return on investment.”
“The non-profit structure is great for optics and mission, but we need equity upside to retain talent.”
Purdue Pharma & The Sacklers
“OxyContin addiction risk is exceedingly rare; dosing is strictly individualized by physicians.”
“We have to hammer on the abusers in every way possible. They are the culprits and the problem.”
Theranos
“One tiny drop of blood changes everything, performed with zero hands-on human work.”
“We are running all tests on Siemens machines with manual dilutions. Praying for a miracle.”
The Uber Files
“Uber is about consumer choice, safe transit, and partnering peacefully with cities.”
“I think it's worth it. Violence guarantee[s] success. We have adopted the position that we are just f***ing illegal.”