You can’t retract the facts

In this episode, Patrick McKenzie (@patio11) responds to a recent request by a crypto unicorn founder / bank CEO to retract his essay Debanking (and debunking?). Come for the note about editorial standards and independence, stay for the diss track. –Full transcript available here: https://www.complexsystemspodcast.com/editorial-standards-and-independence/–Sponsors:  Safebase | CheckReady to save time and close deals faster? Inbound security reviews shouldn’t slow down your team or your sales cycle. Leading companies use SafeBase to eliminate up to 98% of inbound security questionnaires, automate workflows, and accelerate pipeline. Go to safebase.io/podcast Check is the leading payroll infrastructure provider and pioneer of embedded payroll. Check makes it easy for any SaaS platform to build a payroll business, and already powers 60+ popular platforms. Head to checkhq.com/complex and tell them patio11 sent you.–Recommended in this episode:Debanking (and debunking?): https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/archive/debanking-and-debunking/CEO: Retract your debanking article? Me: No. https://www.kalzumeus.com/2025/02/10/retraction-request-denied/Geekiest rap single in history https://suno.com/song/c5ac7441-4a0b-4e5e-9c85-480e3ba63fc1 –Twitter:@patio11–Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(03:04) Musical interlude(04:56) Return to commentary(06:35) You can’t please everyone(08:06) The bar for retraction is high(10:07) Our review of the retraction request(10:37) “A few areas were incorrect or misleading”(16:12) “Lots of omission of key facts”(18:57) “Missing the point about what we mean by debunking”(20:40) Sponsors: Safebase | Check(25:00) Our response to McCauley’s testimony(28:24) McCauley’s concluding remarks and our response(30:21) Bank CEOs do not often ask writers for retractions(34:20) Some context regarding custodial banks(40:50) Returning to our regularly scheduled programming