Grappling with Red Pilling
Friday evening, I had the privilege of watching my fifth group of seniors cross the stage in a very boisterous auditorium at the Emirates Palace. They were...
AI Tools are Getting Better and AI Companies are Getting Worse
Photo by Jernej Furman The great shortcoming of the American system in our time is the inability of Congress to legislate, especially when the proposed laws...
Chip War and Doppelganger -- Two Lenses into Threats Facing the US
This week I want to talk about two books. One I am in the process of reading and one that I just finished. A few newsletters back, I raved about Chip War by...
The Terrible Movie Everyone Seems to Love
Warning: This film is not worth your time This weekend, I experienced two cultural events at opposite ends of the quality spectrum. An awe inspiring concert...
Militarized Police Aren’t the Answer to Gaza Protests
Police in LA arrest protestors after raiding a protest encampment | Matt Baretto I was half-tempted to make this week’s newsletter a recap of the Kendrick...
Campus Protests: Failing the Leadership Test
Police presence the University of Texas-Austin | Irisoptical If you find yourself summoning the police to beat and tear gas your own students you've lost the...
The Case of the Missing $64,000 Homes
An ad for a mid-century Sears Kit House I want to open with a silly data point. The most clicked link in last week's newsletter was to the WrestleMania...
Cairo's Soccer Data Farms, Zoom Cashiers, and Holes in the Job Market
Soccer fans in Cairo | Muhammad Ghafari After a brief health scare, mom is home from the hospital. The Sounders got their first win of the season (although...
The View from Below
A woman working in her "Sari-Sari" store | John Martin Perry Last week's newsletter pissed-off the kind of readers who hate when Black people talk about...
The Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and American Meritocracy
First Officer Carole Hopson, one of the Black pilots at United Airlines | Karston Tannis. It’s spring break here in the Gulf and Hope and I are headed to the...
Experiencing Ramadan in the Gulf
Iftar is the meal where Muslims break their fast at dusk | Whaton.ae Ramadan is a holy month, marked by communal fasting and deepened devotion to the Islamic...
Traveling through History in Uzbekistan
The Registan, a 1400-1600s era Madrasah complex in Samarkand, Uzbekistan The Republic of Uzbekistan was born in August 1991. It was one of the 15 states that...
A Spoiler-Free Appreciation of Dune Part II
Warner Bros Promo Photo for "Dune Part II" As a nerd and a homer, I am contractually obligated to dig Dune. Frank Herbert, the author of Dune, grew up in...
Reader Mailbag on the Demise of Utopianism
WWI started with dudes from the French countryside, riding horses in Napoleonic uniforms into battle and ended with rat infested trenches, aerial bombing,...
A Requiem for Vice
Dearly beloved, we gather here today to say farewell to "Vice" On Friday, Vice closed up shop. That morning, employees found themselves locked out of company...
Where Did All the Utopians Go?
Over 65,000 workers took part in the Seattle General Strike of 1919, shutting down the city for five days - University of Washington On Friday, I wrapped up...
The Mortality of Black Men
Photo by Rickie Crouch My father died when I was a sophomore in high school. My Vice Principal called me to the office and told me there had been an incident...
The Time Lost to Commuting
Photo by Robert So There are a handful of peculiar American institutions: overdraft fees, health insurance tied to your employer, and my topic today—the...
Learning to Not Believe Your Eyes
Photo by Cottonbro Studios It feels like deep fakes hit the mainstream this week, with disastrous results. A deepfake is a “video of a person in which their...
Scam AI Deep Fakes are More Popular than that Katt Williams Interview
A stressed Phylicia Rashad facing off with online scammers in the film “The Beekeeper” I never thought that a Jason Statham movie could give a fit of...