Newsletter 49. Why STEM education is about mind exercise, not job training. Plus, why AI is fair turnabout for journalists, ChatGPT is a bullshitter, and the Stanford Internet Observatory stops tracking the spread of lies. Plus, three people to follow and three books to read. Training thinkers For more than a decade, people have been…
Newsletter 48. Knowledge workers are old hat; long live idea workers. Plus, audiobooks grow like mad, Texas court refuses to restore banned fart books, and proof that AI will never stop hallucinating. Also, three people to follow, three books to read, and a chance to register your experience as an author. The ascendance of the…
Newsletter 47. How not to get sucked into hypercompetition, Bill Gates’ memoir, AI whistleblower protection, plus three people to follow, three books to read, and the world’s largest business author survey. How to succeed without competing For decades, I was driven to compete. I had to be the best. I was top of my class,…
Newsletter 46: Curiosity beats animosity, OpenAI trains ChatGPT-5, Google spreads fakery, plus three people to follow and three books to read. The value of principled argument When I was a media analyst, companies often brought me in to hear my perspective. Many of the companies who hired me also intensely (and sometimes very publicly) disagreed…
How to do your work perfectly and why that matters, plus why mobile phones aren’t destroying our youth’s mental health, why centrism isn’t really neopopulism, three people to follow, and three books to read. Why perfection matters — to authors and all creative workers Authors get maybe one chance every couple of years to put…
Newsletter 44: Getting old means not giving a damn about stuff that doesn’t matter. Also, why you shouldn’t buy at Amazon’s book sale, Google and OpenAI announce great steps forward, why Joe Mazzulla is a profound philosopher, plus three people to follow and three books to read. On not giving a damn If you’ve had…
Newsletter 43: Free advice is the lubricant of the business world; PRH proprietary AI tool; hybrid insights, plus three people to follow and three books to read. Beyond the old-boy network The working world runs on free advice. This may or may not have been visible to you when you started working, but unless you’re…
Newsletter 42: Make an effort or fade away, labelling killer foods, don’t trust NPS braggarts, plus three people to follow and three books to read. The effort is the point Everything about our modern world — at least in the prosperous part of it where you probably live — is designed to make things easier….
Newsletter 41: When you subtract AI from writing, what’s left is creativity; ending garbage books; remembering Daniel Dennett; surprising truths about book sales; plus three people to follow and three books to read. Soon, only creative writers will remain. Huzzah! There are things AI excels at. Summarizing long documents. Finding patterns. Turning formulaic content into…