Society

And maybe that's okay.

No.395 — Possibilities literacy ⊗ Proof ⊗ Energy falling below $100 ⊗ Roots and the meaning of life

I’m turning 40 in a month or so, and at 40 years young, I’m old enough to remember as far back as December 11 2025, when Disney and OpenAI “reached an agreement” to “bring beloved characters from across Disney’s brands to Sora.” As part of the deal,

The race to power AI is already remaking the physical world.

I gave this talk yesterday to the Massachusetts Teachers Association, as part of the MTA Retired First Wednesday Speaker Series. Thank you very much for inviting me to speak to you today. I’m honored that you’ve asked me here, as I strongly believe that “AI” marks one of

I need to confess something before I write this piece.

No.393 — The future belongs to the creative generalists ⊗ Media’s bad idea with Kalshi ⊗ Reimagining realism ⊗ Labor market impacts of AI ⊗ World record for fusion plasma ⊗ Apocalypse no

Welcome to the Trump Bloc

We cannot separate the everyday use of “AI” platforms from their use in death and war.

Jeb Lund on war with Iran and war with Iran and war with Iran and Florida

No.392 — We can move beyond the capitalist model and save the climate ⊗ Our emerging planetary nervous system ⊗ A handbook for strategic foresight ⊗ A Cookie for Dario? ⊗ This city turned its rooftops into a climate shield ⊗ “Viking” was a job description

The AI boom wasn’t built for the polycrisis.

I built a machine learning model to find London's divide and you can enter your postcode to see which side you're on. We've been blaming the wrong people for it.

Some people long for bold, visionary leaders. Others value technocratic expertise. But there’s a third alternative.

Do you love something historically-unusual about today’s culture?

Physician incomes are extraordinarily high in the United States. A new NBER paper finds that U.S. physicians earn roughly two to four times as much as their counterparts in Canada, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Why? Is it some feature particular to the US health care sector? Probably not. The same paper finds that physicians in […]

Agnes Pockels achievements in surface science have long been overshadowed by a popular and likely untrue story that she became interested in the subject while doing the dishes

Investigative research into age verification lobbying, dark money, and model legislation

Our national project of elite impunity

States are no longer the highest form of power globally. Power has shifted to wealthy individuals who work in groups and operate across borders.

Jessica Burbank: A new world order is here. States (countries) are no longer the highest form of power globally. Power has shifted to wealthy individuals who

Billionaires made 19 percent of all reported federal campaign contributions in 2024, a Times analysis shows, and even more in some local elections. Wealthy donors are reaping the rewards.

Private Reinsurance, IRGC Fragmentation, Interceptor Depletion, and a Dead Nuclear Fatwa Have Produced a Crisis No Military Victory Can Resolve

Online fraud and fraud fighting in a GenAI world