Week #17: Open Tabs & Links
A grab bag of the other stuff I read the week of April 21, 2025
A roundup of other interesting articles. Generally, going to be related to leadership, food, culture, digital strategy, investing, fatherhood, writing and other stuff that’s interesting
The Regenerator - This post from Bridget is interesting for a couple reasons.
It’s Henry Blodget’s new thing and I admire his “eat the dogfood” approach. He’s been an early adopter with a lot of success, so let’s see.
It’s nice to see a seasoned journalism pro “work in the open” as he learns about AI
I appreciate his honesty about his approach to the role AI may play for him.
It’s an example of skeuomorphism, how new tech takes hold by making it fit old models first (e.g. Horseless carriage, “wireless” phones, “Desktops” in the OS). In this case, invented co-workers played by AI
I love the heat in the comments, and I wonder if they were written by bots or some actual clog-throwing anti-AI saboteurs.
Best review of Abundance that I’ve read. Still working through the book myself.
We still have digital prophets? Geez, I don’t even know how to respond to this post from David “Shingy” Shing, a “Creative Omnivore” … I actually met him a couple times back in the days when the “digital prophet” was a thing and he referred to himself as such. He’s a really bright guy, humble in person, thoughtful, a good listener. But, the schtick was a little too much then, much less now.
As much as I am skeptical of the packaging (I acknowledge his branding works: I remember him, i’m talking about him and his ideas), there’s something good in here. Brands can/should create a sense of belonging. But this “platform” - the branding, the messaging, the almost mystical writing - seems post-real, like it was written by a bot to regurgitate all the BS from a previous, more visionary era of brand building.
Will the message get lost in the fog of the language?
And, i’m not a believer that AI can create a sense of belonging. It’s getting better fast, and soon enough it may be able to fool me. But, i’m dubious. Just try any current customer support chat and you’ll agree.
But, read it and find the nuggets in there. And, Schingy, keep doing your thing.
AI 2027 - Still Reading AI 2027. And, thanks to Tim Brunelle of Curiosity+Courage , for the pointer to this take on the project from AstralCodexTen. Also still reading Situational Awareness, another future-focused take on AI.
Kyla Scanlon’s What Happens When Everything Becomes a Meme… lots going on here, per the usual with her essays. But, it’s a good reminder of why “the commons” is something we should all be re-committing to.
Millenial Hobby Energy…. Why can’t a hobby be just for fun and not a commercial pursuit?
If you did what we called an extra-curricular, it was less because it was fun, or because you wanted to, but because “it looked good,” or communicated something “interesting” or “well-rounded” about your personality. And when you instrumentalize leisure in this way, you lose touch with your understanding of what leisure even is. Did you like basketball? Did you like playing the piano? Or did you do it because it — or something like it — was what you did?
Within this framework, there was very little room for activities that resisted narrativization in a college essay. Hobbies that didn’t produce something, or help someone, establish you as superlative, or in some way highlight your entrepreneurial spirit weren’t really hobbies at all. They were fucking around: invisible, if not altogether shameful. Listening to music = not a hobby. Scrapbooking = not a hobby. Zine making could be a hobby, but only if you distributed it to every high school in your metro area and formed a movement around it, etc. etc.
I feel this drive to monetize, too. But, I honestly just want this writing thing to be a hobby in the truest sense.
The Other Recession - Finally, anyone want to grab a coffee? This article touches on a familiar subject to men over 30, but I like the way it was written. Coincidentally, I am reading this while on a guys weekend with my college buddies. The Friendship Recession: The Lost Art of Hanging out.
Hope this week is great!