On Larkspur, Equator, and Devil's Teeth

Today is the 3 year anniversary of YLE! This means exactly 3 years ago, I told my husband: “I’ll only do this for 6 weeks max. By then, someone will surely pick up the reigns and start communicating with the public.” Well, here we are, 623 posts later and reaching more than 300 million eyes.

On Fashion Cycles, Conservation of Energy, and Wheel Design

Welcome to week three of the AI era. Another long week, another set of lots of things, another giant post. I intend to take a nice four-day vacation in Mexico starting today, during which I won’t do any writing. I’m sure the pace of things will slow down real soon now. I mean, they have to. Don’t they?

Neither scholar nor journalist, a media influencer cuts down competitors in an academic knife fight.

The climate movement returns to the streets on Tuesday

The UK’s health service has just approved the miracle weight loss drug Semaglutide for NHS use. I know 99.99% of things called a ‘miracle weight loss drug’ are duds, but Semaglutide seems to be the real deal. Here’s one summary of the evidence: Of six major weight loss drugs, only two - Wegovy [

On change, Causeway Bay, and the Captain’s bar

Revelations from a night on ayahuasca (aka spiritual GPS).

A Big Design Change

...until it falls apart

Some semi-solved internet mysteries

On memory, science, and stories

New Activist Reports, Recent Resignations, and Tweets of the Week

The right-wing media despises its own supporters. That's dangerous for all of us.

New Activist Reports, Recent Resignations, and Tweets of the Week

...

A Short Story

It's a sandwich, a floppy disk, and an iPhone.

The 20th anniversary of the disastrous invasion of Iraq by the US-UK coalition demands a reckoning. Cameron and I discussed the legacy of the war on the podcast. Today, Iraq is often described as a state on the brink of disintegration and social and economic disaster. That fragility does not begin with the 2003 invasion, it is a persistent theme in the history of a territory caught between massive power blocs.

On beginners mind, cities, and avoiding Google Docs

On natural wine, Arsenal, and Snaxshot

Book a half hour meeting with me

When is a depositor not just a depositor

On sneakers, ceramics, and black pants.

On science, rebirths, and the food chain

Writing is Darwinian not Newtonian

Whilst Xi and Putin maneuver and Russian tactical nuclear weapons trundle towards Belarus, big Western money is flowing into defense stocks. As one private equity hawk commented: “Before it was seen as something to be ashamed of, so no one talked about investing in defence, but since the war in Ukraine, the dynamic has changed, and investors are bragging about it,” he said.

New Activist Report, Recent Resignations, and Tweets of the Week

New Activist Reports, Recent Resignations, and Tweets of the Week

Big Oil Shuts the Door on Ukraine's Foremost Energy Campaigner

Several years ago in a conversation about politics and history, a friend asked me something about the durability of Tito’s regime in Yugoslavia (35 years). I cannot remember what was my answer, but I remember that he summarized it by saying that Tito must have been a charismatic leader. That statement struck me as odd. My friend lived in Argentina for a decade or more, and I thought that perhaps it came naturally to him to associate the long rule and popularity of leaders to their “charisma”. Yet, as far as Tito was concerned, no one could claim that he was a charismatic leader. Towards the end of his life, he was quite popular, liked by most, even adored by many—but “charismatic”: never.

Over the years, I have observed many instances of this situation: There is a general agreement about what great looks like. There is disagreement about the "root cause" or "problem definition." The team gets bogged down in analysis paralysis and political maneuvering or has a string of failed efforts to "fix" the problem and loses confidence. What's going on in some cases?

So many of you are new! Allow me to introduce myself.

Roger Pielke Sr. explains (SERIES: Pielke Sr., Part 2)

It’s been close to 6 months since the initial rollout of the fall (bivalent) booster. A lot of people are wondering: Do I need a spring booster? The answer hinges on more questions: What is the purpose of vaccines? Does that purpose change depending on age or health status?

The most troublesome arguments to try to make are those that are both very specific and limited (and are by nature of that more or less non-controversial) but are roommates with much bigger and more contentious targets. You say one thing, but the entire topic is so incredibly pre-loaded for everyone listening that they all walk away with a different opinion on what you were arguing - like blind men learning about elephants, except you are the elephant and everyone is mad at you.

There is no alternative.

7 days of new AI technologies shows us that everything is happening very fast.

Rolling Stone's Miles Klee leaves us miles from the truth.