*PREVIEW* All My Rings Schismatic feat. Mattie Lubchansky and Josh Boerman

Summary

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TRASHFUTURE Podcast Summary

Episode: PREVIEW All My Rings Schismatic feat. Mattie Lubchansky and Josh Boerman
Date: July 31, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on a shocking story of corporate misconduct involving eBay’s executive team and their campaign of harassment against blog authors critical of the company. The hosts and guests dissect the surreal and criminal steps taken by eBay’s security division to silence online criticism—revealing the bizarre lengths companies will sometimes go to, and reflecting on the toxic culture of hyper-aggressive corporate environments under late capitalism.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Background: eBay and the Bloggers

• The episode begins with the story that “is the basis upon which eBay has agreed to pay close to a $56 million settlement to two bloggers” (00:00).
• In 2019, E-Commerce Bytes, a blog run by Ina Steiner, published pieces critical of eBay, including an article noting that then-CEO Devin Wenig was paid “152 times more than a typical eBay employee” and questioning the company's service quality (00:19).
• Around this time, activist hedge fund Elliott Management took a major stake in eBay, pressuring the company amid internal paranoia and an "incredibly paranoid and hyper-aggressive corporate culture" (00:19).

2. The Escalation: From Critical Coverage to Harassment

• Executives were deeply upset by the Steiner's reporting. "Devin Wenig read the comments" and subsequently texted another executive, Steve Weimer, "it was time to crush Ina Steiner and take her down" (01:40).
• Co-hosts note the gravity: “You’ve already shown intent to ruin somebody’s life. Like that’s… a problem when you’re in a court of law.” (02:02)
• Lower-level eBay security staff treated these discussions as orders, setting into motion a campaign of escalating harassment.

3. The Harassment Campaign

• The harassment began on Twitter with a sockpuppet account, then advanced quickly to receiving disturbing items:
  • "A book about surviving spousal bereavement"
  • "Pornographic magazines sent to neighbors"
  • "Live cockroaches, a pig’s head, and a funeral wreath" (03:18-03:30)
• The team also tried to install a GPS tracker on the Steiners' car and posted fake Craigslist ads for yard sales and even explicit parties at their home (03:33).
• Host: “And these were all eBay employees who were doing this and they were doing it.” (03:57)
• Co-host 2: “In the dark heart of even a rent-a-cop always lurks an absolute fucking maniac.” (04:00)

4. Pop Culture Parallels and Absurdity

• Guest draws parallels to Jared Leto’s infamous “method acting” pranks on the Suicide Squad set, particularly the sending of grotesque items, noting: “It’s not an original idea from the eBay employees. Jared did it, like, a few years previous.” (04:42-05:17)

5. Direct Executive Involvement

• Direct texts from executives, including Wenig: “If you’re ever going to take her down, now’s the time.”
• Weimer responds: “Hatred is a sin, but I’m very sinful ... I want her done. She’s a biased troll who needs to get burned down.” (05:18-05:41)
• They “all went on sabbatical and left it with Jim Baugh,” eBay’s head of security (05:42).

6. The "White Knight" Strategy

• The security team’s plan was “not to harass them into silence,” but to “secretly harass the Steiners and then offer eBay’s assistance in stopping the attacks, thereby winning their confidence and manipulating them into favorable coverage of the company.” (06:34)
• Co-hosts lampoon the idiocy:
  • Co-host 1: “How’s it going? It’s me, Tim, eBay. I’m sure you’ve been receiving various death threats from Guam lately. Well, I’m here to tell you that we here at eBay have a solution for that problem.” (07:06)
• The hosts compare the convoluted scheme to a Coen Brothers movie (06:30), with one calling out: “This is just Fargo.”

7. Investigation and the Unraveling

• The police catch on quickly. A detective followed a payment trail for pizza deliveries back to San Francisco, “the place closest to the eBay headquarters” (08:15).
• A rental car used for surveillance is traced to Veronica Zea, a Baugh employee, who traveled cross-country to harass the Steiners (08:32).
• An episode highlight: The team stayed at the Ritz Carlton “on eBay’s dime” while carrying out this campaign (09:00-09:09).
• The final stage: Security team members tried to forge documentation showing they’d “just discovered” the harassment, and Brian Gilbert contacted the Steiners to “offer eBay’s support”—the planned "White Knight" move (09:16-09:34).

8. Aftermath and Cover-Up Attempts

• “For hours, prosecutors say, the team workshopped cover stories to mislead the local police,” even considering enlisting a Bay Area cop for fake security camera footage (09:49).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On executive overreaction:

  • Host: “Devin Wenig read the comments” (01:40)
  • Co-host 1: “You’ve already shown intent to ruin somebody’s life. Like that’s, that’s a problem when you’re in a court of law.” (02:02)

• On the absurdity:

  • Co-host 2: “In the dark heart of even a rent-a-cop always lurks an absolute fucking maniac.” (04:00)
  • Co-host 1: “This is something out of a Coen Brothers movie. This is just Fargo.” (06:30)

• On the ‘White Knight’ scheme:

  • Host: “Their plan was much, much stupider… to secretly harass the Steiners and then offer eBay’s assistance in stopping the attacks, thereby winning their confidence…” (06:34)
  • Co-host 1: “How's it going? It's me, Tim. eBay…” (07:06)

• On investigative bungling:

  • Host: “A detective figured out that a payment had been made...with a gift card bought in San Francisco. And it was the place that was closest to the eBay headquarters.” (08:15)
  • Co-host 1: “Wait, so they were. They were staying at the Ritz? So while harassing this couple. Yes, so good.” (09:00)

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Segment Timeline

• [00:00-00:40] Introduction to the eBay scandal & context
• [00:41-02:10] How the company responded to criticism
• [02:11-03:33] Harassment campaign details & escalation
• [03:34-05:17] Bizarre harassment tactics; “inspiration” from celebrity pranks
• [05:18-06:34] Texts and directives from eBay executives
• [06:35-07:42] Unpacking the ‘White Knight’ plan
• [07:43-09:09] Police investigation and exposure of eBay’s involvement
• [09:10-09:49] eBay attempts to cover up the campaign

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Overall Tone

The hosts and guests dissect a grimly comic true story in their signature style: irreverent, skeptical, and incredulous at the cartoonish criminality of a major tech company’s leadership. With sharp asides and pop-culture references, they illustrate how executive paranoia and warped incentives can turn a corporate entity into the punchline—and perpetrator—of its own Coen Brothers-style farce.

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Transcript

[Host]

The what? The story I'm about to tell you is the basis upon which ebay has agreed to pay close to a $56 million settlement to two bloggers. In 2019, there was a blog called E Commerce bites.

[Co-host 1]

I'll say she does, folks.

[Host]

They sent out a newsletter. Well, they. Do you want to get targeted by ebay? That's exactly the way to get targeted by ebay. E Commerce Bytes published a blog post that company's executives were unhappy with. So, yeah, in April 2019, Enos Steiner, the author, reported that eBay's then CEO, Devin Wenig, was paid 152 times more than a typical ebay employee. But that, like, the service wasn't great in some ways. Now, coincidentally, a couple months previously, the company had also had a major stake taken in it by a hedge fund called Elliot management, which is like an activist fund that like. Like what they do is they like to. They treat themselves almost like private equity. They buy huge positions in public companies and then they go in and try to influence it, but they're like voting in, in like shareholder meetings. Right. Activist hedge fund. Famously, they do this. And one of the things they said was that top management is not performing great and maybe could be replaced. And the executives, like the ebay trust and safety and security executives, all incredibly paranoid and part of a hyper aggressive corporate culture, believed the best way to do this was to silence online criticism.

[Co-host 2]

Now always works.

[Co-host 1]

Yeah. Yep.

[Host]

According to court documents, eBay executives grew increasingly upset by the Steiner's critical coverage of the company, leading two very fateful text messages to be sent.

[Co-host 1]

Oh, the texts of fate.

[Host]

Okay, so Devin Wenig, the CEO who they were criticizing. Look, this is just a perfect lesson. You cannot read the comments. Devin Wenig read the comments.

[Co-host 1]

Damn true.

[Host]

He read the comments and he texted another executive called Steve Weimer that it was time to crush Ena Steiner and take her down. Presumably what they meant was, let's see if we can file an injunction against them or something like this.

[Co-host 1]

You know, like you've put something like that, you've already shown intent to ruin somebody's life. Like that's, that's, that's a problem when you're in a court of law.

[Host]

Oh, of course. Now, here's the thing. The head of ebay security was a guy called Jim Baugh. B a u h. And he took

[Co-host 1]

this very literally, like he went to rough them up or something.

[Host]

Well, they had this plan, and I'm gonna tell you what they did, and then I'm gonna tell you what the plan Was. And this is because the lower level staff at like ebay security treated like these executives angry discussions with one another as literal operational directives. They believed that orchestrating a campaign to stop the report, the Steiner's reporting would secure like their corporate status, advance their careers. Like they're going to be, they're going to be go getters, they're going to be self starters. So that summer 2019, harassment against the Steiners started on Twitter with a sock puppet account saying, like, hey, I'm from Guam and I use ebay for selling stuff. And you're criticizing them as hurting them and that's hurting me. I hate you. And then it escalated where that same account started saying, ignoring me. You know, you're going to pay attention to me now. And the Steiners started receiving items to their home, including a book about surviving spousal bereavement.

[Guest]

What?

[Host]

As well as pornographic magazines sent to neighbors homes in David Steiner's name. Also, they were sent live cockroaches, a pig's head and a funeral wreath.

[Co-host 2]

What?

[Host]

McBaugh and his like security team even attempted to install a GPS tracking device on their car and, and then created posts on Craigslist and saying that there were like free fuck come dumpster parties at their house, that they were having yard sales they weren't having, and so on and so on. Ebay, like ebay. And these were all ebay employees who were doing this and they were doing it.

[Co-host 2]

This is the head of security. Yeah.

[Host]

And, and in his, his like goon

[Co-host 2]

squad, dark heart of even a rent a cop always, always lurks an absolute fucking maniac. That's, that's the lesson.

[Host]

Oh, 100%.

[Guest]

But it also feels like they stole the idea off a recently disgraced celebrity as of today, Jared Leto.

[Co-host 1]

Jared Leto said like, speak more on this, please.

[Co-host 2]

He's pranking him. He's pranking on him.

[Guest]

Well, because Jared Leto, when he was doing, when he was being the joker in fucking, what's it called? Suicide Squad.

[Co-host 1]

Right, right, right.

[Guest]

Like, like one of the headlines of it was that like he was like, he was quote unquote, method acting. And part of the method acting involves sending Margot Robbie just like various boxes

[Host]

of like, Right, I remember that dead

[Co-host 2]

fish and stuff, right?

[Guest]

An animal cum and a dead fish and all that type of stuff. And like, you know, and basically like no one really asked him a follow up in terms of like, well, why, why would the joker send a box of animal cum to Margot Robbie? Jared, like, they just sort of like took his word for it. Right. But it's like, yeah, this is just something that the Joker would do. And I was sort of thinking about this in terms of, like, oh, should I bring it up? Because now, like, there was a period of time where that would have been something kind of funny to say, but now, like, it's not. But, yeah, look, it's not an original idea from the ebay employees. Jared. Jared did it, like, a few years previous.

[Co-host 1]

That's right.

[Host]

So Devin Wenig, the CEO, texted Weimer, saying, if you're ever going to take her down, now's the time. On it. Weimer responded, texting Jim Baugh, hatred is a sin, but I'm very sinful. And then Weimer said, yeah, I want her done. She's a biased troll who needs to get burned down. And then they all went on sabbatical and left it with Jim. Boss.

[Co-host 1]

Oh, no.

[Co-host 2]

Oh, hey. Just getting back from vacation, seeing how my file an injunction plan went, and the head of securities in my office covered in blood.

[Host]

Yeah, like what?

[Co-host 2]

Awesome. Dude, I have been doing so much stalking and harassing and mailing of blood.

[Host]

This is an excerpt from a New York Times article that was written in 2020. At the time, planning for the harassment campaign began, naturally with a movie. Jim Bosh showed the analysts in his security department a clip from Johnny B. Goode, an 8018 comedy in which a villainous football coach must deal with a host of pests arriving at his house. Simultaneously, a delivery guy with hundreds of dollars of unwanted pizza, Hare Krishna's, a rodent exterminator, a male stripper. Mr. Baugh asked the analysts for inspiration, and one of them suggested sending the Steiners a coffin.

[Co-host 1]

This is something out of a Coen Brothers movie, right? Like, this is just Fargo.

[Host]

Well, here's the thing. Your suggestion this is something out of a Coen Brothers movie is very prescient, because that wasn't their plan. Their plan wasn't to harass them into being silent. Their plan was much, much stupider. According to prosecutors, Mr. Baugh and members of the security team devised a convoluted and improbable strategy to secretly harass the Steiners and then offer ebay's assistance in stopping the attacks, thereby winning their confidence and manipulating them into favorable coverage of the company.

[Co-host 2]

And they'll love us. Yep.

[Co-host 1]

Listen, I've heard. How's it going? It's me, Tim. EBay. I'm sure you've been receiving various death threats from Guam lately. Well, I'm here to tell you that we here at ebay have a solution for that problem.

[Host]

Oh, they're angry about your coverage. Oh, that's not fair. But you should stop making them angry. Maybe they'll stop saying so. Yeah, that was the idea.

[Co-host 2]

Did you hear what happened to Prince Machiavelli? Yeah, he fell down the stairs and his head really hard. And his new stuff is pretty weird.

[Host]

So they called it the White Knight Operation.

[Co-host 1]

Hell, yeah.

[Host]

Inevitably. Inevitably. This was inspired by a movie called the Body of Lies, a CIA thriller that we watched on this podcast many years ago with Seamus Melchizedeli about a fake plot to draw out a real terrorist. Of course, instead, what. They sort of do this huge harassment campaign, and instead of talking to ebay, the Steiners talk to the police, who figure it out immediately, which is really

[Co-host 1]

saying something that, like, the cops immediately were like, oh, it's that. Huh? Must not have been very good of a plan at all.

[Host]

So a detective. So a detective figured out that a payment had been made on some of the pizzas ordered to the house, where with a gift card bought in San Francisco. And it was the place that was closest to the ebay headquarters.

[Co-host 2]

This is just the Sopranos episode, the Telltale mootel.

[Host]

Yeah, yeah, 100%. And one of the rental cars they bought to go and try and break into their house to put a GPS tracker on their car was traced back to Veronica Zia, one of Jim Baugh's employees who had traveled across the country with Jim Baugh specifically. Specifically to fuck with this, like, elderly couple. So Onyx 21st, a detective showed up at the Ritz Carlton in Boston to see her. Mr. After Ms. Z dodged him, the detective called her phone, and Mr. Baugh was hustling her to the airport.

[Co-host 1]

Wait, so they were. They were staying at the Ritz? So while harassing this couple. Yes, so good.

[Host]

Well, because it was on ebay's dime, obviously.

[Co-host 1]

Yeah, I just. I love that fucking. They need to make a movie out of this. This is awesome.

[Host]

I would. I would watch the fuck out of this movie. Meanwhile, members of the security team wrote emails to one another to try to create the appearance that they had just discovered the harassing tweets. And one of them, Brian Gilbert, phoned the Steiners, ostensibly to offer ebay's support. The final step in the White Knight strategy. Just made phone contact. Gilbert informed the team afterward. They're totally rattled. And immediately referred me to the police.

[Co-host 1]

It's really fucked up that he was doing this between videos, like tracing what every Pokemon would do if you hung out with them. In Brian David Gilbert, anybody anybody.

[Host]

So for hours, prosecutors say, the team workshopped cover stories to mislead the local police, at one point even considering enlisting a friendly Bay Area cop to provide falsified security camera footage, who declined to do so.