Newsletter week three, thanks for hanging with me. This week: an essay on COVID’s viral storytellers, how Tesla faked out its drivers (including me), more snarky news takes, people to follow, books to read, and explugation. Stories are easier to invent and spread than messy scientific truth David Quammen has been writing books on science,…
Every corporation you’ve ever done business with is now filling your inbox with “reassuring” messages. Most of them are companies you’ll never work with again, so they’re just an annoying background buzz. But some of them are actively dopey. Things are bad enough — this is no time for more self-inflicted brand damage. And now,…
Today I launch #5BullshitThings, an industry-by-industry analysis of the whacked-out way the world works now. I’ll start with book publishing. When rapid change hits stodgy industries you get disruption. Disruption generates cognitive confusion and threatens power dynamics. That, in turn, generates hypocrisy, and incomprehensible behavior. In other words, bullshit. Let’s look at five bullshit things about…