Novum Newsletter

Novum Newsletter delves into a diverse array of subjects including cultural evolution, political dynamics, historical events, literary criticism, and technological impacts on society. It critically explores themes such as consumerism, global socio-political shifts, the essence of human creativity versus AI, and psychological impacts of power and technology.

Cultural Evolution Political Dynamics Historical Events Literary Criticism Technological Impact on Society Consumerism Global Socio-Political Shifts Human Creativity vs. AI Psychological Impacts of Power and Technology

The hottest Substack posts of Novum Newsletter

And their main takeaways

2023 Recap: Novum Newsletter

224 implied HN points • 04 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture History Literature Art Essay Newsletter
  1. Anton gained a significant increase in subscribers despite a lack of consistent publishing in 2023
  2. Initially planned a weekly series for 2023 but shifted back to long-form writing
  3. Focuses on historical essays with a narrative approach, aiming for 10,000 subscribers by 2024

Weekly Retrospective #2

294 implied HN points • 11 Feb 23
  1. Japan's Presidential Assassin finds unexpected admirers in the aftermath of the assassination, revealing complex societal dynamics.
  2. Taliban members in Kabul share candid letters about their struggles with the transition to office work and city life after the Taliban's takeover.
  3. Global middle class emerges for the first time, shifting world dynamics while social media engagement, and big tech platforms show signs of stagnation and decline.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

Weekly Retrospective #6

84 implied HN points • 12 Mar 23
📰 News Global State Politics Social
  1. The author is putting their weekly review series on hold to focus on other writing projects.
  2. The newsletter is being reorganized to make it easier to navigate, with sections like Global, State & Politics, and Social.
  3. The author expresses gratitude for the subscribers and provides an overview of the newsletter's categories.

Symphonies of Color

1 HN point • 31 Jan 24
🎨 Art & Illustration Artist Architecture Exhibition
  1. Florian Yuriev was deeply inspired by the northern lights, which he saw during his childhood in Siberia.
  2. Yuriev developed a unique artistic language combining colors, music, and poetry, influenced by his experiences living in exile.
  3. Yuriev's life was marked by a pursuit of creating meaningful art, as seen in his vision for a 'light music theater' and his resistance against ideological impositions.

Living in a Time of Psychopolitics

5 HN points • 14 May 23
🎭️ Culture Philosophy Social Issues Technology Art Literature
  1. The concept of 'burnout' originated in the 1970s, highlighting emotional exhaustion in post-industrial societies and knowledge-based work environments.
  2. Philosopher Byung-Chul Han discusses 'psychopolitics,' emphasizing how power manipulates psychological states through technologies of control, leading to societal conflicts and individual struggles.
  3. Han warns of the dangers posed by 'Big Data' and tech platforms exploiting psychopolitical methods to predict and control human behavior, jeopardizing individual freedom and autonomy.

The Purpose of the Novel

3 HN points • 31 May 23
📚 Literature Novel Art Social History
  1. The lazy option tends to win when translating content, leading to lowered writing quality.
  2. Artificially-generated writing and art are becoming more prevalent, raising concerns about their impact on various industries.
  3. The novel is a uniquely human form of expression that AI struggles to replicate due to its social and historical origins.

Panic in the Skies

1 HN point • 14 Feb 23
🌍 World Politics Foreign Relations
  1. American culture has a tendency toward paranoia and anxieties over decline as a superpower.
  2. Declinist panics have been a consistent part of America's history since becoming a superpower.
  3. The current panic over spy balloons in the skies is different from past panics and may be fueled by other motivations.