Ask HN: Host of [redacted] is not well. Can anyone in SF help? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Host of [redacted] is not well. Can anyone in SF help?

I've been a fan of the [redacted] podcast for years. Within the several weeks, the [redacted]-based host [redacted] has become increasingly manic, culminating in paranoid messages on his Twitter[1] and a 4 minute episode today threatening Mark Zuckerberg and accusing him of ruining his life. I don't know [redacted] personally, but it appears he his having a serious mental health crisis and may potentially harm himself or others. If anyone in [redacted] knows [redacted], can someone go check on him and get him help?

[1] [redacted]

[2] [redacted]

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Posting with a burner account because I'm a friend of [redacted]'s. Yes, [redacted] has been experiencing a manic episode for the past 4-6 weeks as a consequence of diagnosed bipolar (not sharing anything private, he's been upfront about this on twitter). His friends are doing what they can to help. [redacted] is a really sweet and genuine person and it's been difficult to watch him suffer.

Thank you for sharing and for doing whatever you can to help. I have a lot of respect for [redacted] and felt that his recent behavior didn't match who he is as a person. Learning that the manic episode is due to bipolar disorder makes perfect sense now. If there's anything I can do to help, let me know. You can also email me privately at throwaway.[redacted]@gmail.com if you like.

Does he have family members any of you can contact?

They might be more willing to intervene than friends.

This is pronounced crisis and there may be more at stake than reputational damage. (Financial risk, risky sexual behavior, drug abuse, etc.)

Hey, wishing him and you the best. The SED slack community is concerned and willing to give a hand anytime. Keep it up, I am sure he'll get over it in time and with your help.

The response on twitter has been totally abysmal. Very few people seem to be reacting to this in a way that recognizes he's having a manic episode. Lots of shaming, distancing, bridge burning, etc. Very concerning that it's not clear to those around him on that platform that he's not in control of any of this. The lack of compassion is alarming.

My thoughts exactly. Looking at even just a handful of his recent posts should make it very clear to anyone he's experiencing some type of severe mental health crisis. Really disappointing to see the lack of compassion and recognition, especially from people who probably consider themselves generally empathetic and aware.

I came across this thread as I was trying to find out whether [redacted] s Twitter account had been hacked. I fear that all of this might ruin everything he has built. For about a year, I listened to every single episode of [redacted], current and older ones, and I learned a lot. I even purchased a 1-year subscription to support him, as soon as this was possible. I stopped listening around one year ago because I felt that most of the podcast was about satisfying his sponsors and it seemed to me that [redacted] himself had completely lost interest in the topic. He appeared to be less and less prepared and more and more unmotivated and bored. His questions came across as unqualified and lacking respect for his guests and their technologies. Is it possible that all I just described were symptoms of what culminated into the episode he's suffering right now? I have no experience with this kind of issues and wish him the very best, not only but especially after his (former) work has made me a better engineer.

Same path to getting here. I hope he gets the help he needs - his work has been impressive and useful to the software industry.

Can you recommend some good episodes?

Probably just check the site/by rating. One I remember is the one about React Native/AirBNB.

Please some one help [redacted]! I am so far away from him and it break my hear seeing him destroying himself and his business! I love [redacted], it made me a better engineer especially in my Country!

Please Help Him.

Wasn't sure if his accounts had been hacked since it's so wildly out-of-character for him. It's horrible to see and I wish him the best. [redacted] has been a huge help in my development as a software engineer. I hope he gets the help he needs :(

The last podcast I listened to, re Kafka, he sounded as if he'd been putting a bit much something up his nose. Then today I heard this suckerberg episode - crikey. Is Zuckerberg taking action re [redacted]'s book? I don't use twitter so haven't noticed anything beyond the podcasts.

Wow, I saw the episode this morning and assumed it got hacked. I hope he gets the help he needs.

I hope he gets the help he needs. Thanks for posting this. Just responding to help get this more visibility.

[redacted]

What a bizarre read. It's like he had a episode midway through writing that post. I hope he gets better.

Genuinely concerned for him

This is brutal to see. Hoping he can get some help ASAP.

What [redacted] is saying, while containing a bit too many Winnie the Pooh pictures, is technically accurate. [redacted] has many connections, mainly through her family, with Chinese intelligence agencies. Yes other countries such as Israel and Saudi Arabia have a sizeable number of agents embedded in Facebook and their contractors such as Accenture and TaskUs, but talking about the People's Republic of China angle has been seriously undocumented.

Since the above statement is my anecdote and doesn't rise to tge proof level of HN (though anecdotes are valuable), let me give some empirical evidence. if you check all the domains and subdomains Facebook's WHOIS records point too, you'll find a little over 2k currently running in Tencent's ASN. FB has tried to run it very quietly, but they've had an accelerator in Tencent's HQ office since 2018. Not clear the purpose, although maybe someone else can chime in.

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