Bookmarked Will A.I. Become the New McKinsey? by Ted Chiang in the New Yorker
Ted’s Thoughts
Ted Han’s thoughts about journalism, technology, civilization, art and a bunch of other things.
Ted Chiang: Fears of Technology Are Fears of Capitalism
Writer Ted Chiang (author of the fantastic Exhalation) was recently a guest on the Ezra Klein Show. The conversation ranged widely — I enjoyed his thoughts on s
Brett Scott (@brettscott)
Marshall McLuhan is famous for his observation that the form of a communication technology can shape our mind and society The age of the printed book, for example, carried with it a particular way of being. Regardless of the differing content of different books, all books required a particular mindset in which a thread is followed from the beginning to the end through an arc I feel the age of social media is like the age of a ripped up book, as if we were surrounded by torn shards and shreds of paper floating like confetti around us. We grab for them, hoping for some tiny insight, but not having any way of knowing where it fits in the overarching narrative This note is one such shard. You can toss it away now
Cas (Stephen Casper) on Twitter / X
It is hard to overstate how disappointing I think this new paper from Oxford, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google (et al) is. I can't take it seriously as academic work, just as propaganda. It also has some very bad scholarship and questionable adherence to research ethics. Having… pic.twitter.com/Z5fBx360ya— Cas (Stephen Casper) (@StephenLCasper) May 13, 2026
Roland-Allen.com
Home of the author of THE NOTEBOOK: A HISTORY OF THINKING ON PAPER, available now
No There There by Chris Rhomberg - Paper
Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.
The Anti-Intellectualism of Silicon Valley Elites
I recently re-read Richard Hofstadter's Anti-Intellectualism in American Life, and now every time a reactionary Silicon Valley billionaire opens his mouth, I think about it. So I wrote about it for The Nation. Here's the column: On Instagram, there’s an activist named Brian Patrick (@pano.
The Shapeshifter’s Little Brother
On Mark Zuckerberg’s AI manifesto—aka nine blog posts in a trenchcoat.
William Dalrymple on Twitter / X
Just finished this gem by the wonderful @KimGhattas. Kim is one of best informed and most intelligent writers on West Asia, remarkable for her ability to bring clarity to the most complex scenarios. She is also a wonderful storyteller. Her new book, The Best Kind of American, is… pic.twitter.com/ZOHEulcuOe— William Dalrymple (@DalrympleWill) August 27, 2026
Shawn Gude on Twitter / X
.@BernieSanders: "An essential story about one of America’s greatest champions for workers." Sara Nelson (@FlyingWithSara): "This book couldn’t be more timely.” @GraceBlakeley: "Masterful." Preorder American Socialist: The Life and Legacy of Eugene V. Debs today!…— Shawn Gude (@shawngude) August 31, 2026
Reading, and Understanding Media
A guidebook, and poetry more than prose, Marshall McLuhan's 1964 work remains one of our best resources for exploring the nature and effects of new media. It's not an easy read, so I'm going to help.
How Social Media Tricks our Brains — and Destroys our Politics - Aaron Ross Powell's Blog
Great new-ish paper by @zephoria.bsky.social I have a few thoughts …
We will discuss this paper in the civic participation journal club. Cannot wait to read it at lunchtime tomorrow🍎
Brihi Joshi
Reasoning about the "why" behind user behavior can improve LLM personas! ✨🧠📈 📝Excited to share our new work: Improving LLM Personas via Rationalization with Psychological Scaffolds 🔗 arxiv.org/abs/2504.17993 🧵 (1/n)
