Reading List

The most recent articles from a list of feeds I subscribe to.

Mark Zuckerberg’s unbelievably bleak AI vision

Of all the many famous Steve Jobs stories that tech industry folks like to share, perhaps the single most famous is his 1983 pitch to then-Pepsi president John Sculley to join Apple: “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?” […]

How “the Grim Reaper effect” stops our government from saving lives

Last summer, the Congressional Budget Office released a report under the unassuming name “Budgetary Effects of Policies That Would Increase Hepatitis C Treatment.” I read it because I am the type of person who is interested in the budgetary effects of policies that would increase hepatitis C treatment. Embedded in the report, though, was a […]

Trump’s new tax, briefly explained

This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here. Welcome to The Logoff: It’s tariffs day, for real this time. President Donald Trump’s latest wave of tariffs, which will almost certainly raise prices for Americans, officially went into effect […]

The Texas gerrymandering showdown is about to get even messier

Democracy’s a pretty simple concept: Voters vote for a politician, the politician with the most votes wins, and that politician then represents voters as an elected official. That’s the idea anyway, right? But what if — just what if — instead of voters picking politicians, politicians instead could choose their own voters? And basically guarantee […]

Israel’s Gaza policy is viciously cruel — and strategically disastrous

Editor’s note, August 8, 11:30 am ET: Israel’s Security Cabinet has now approved a plan to take control of Gaza City. Israel’s restrictions on humanitarian aid in Gaza are, first and foremost, a moral atrocity. Israeli policies since March, most notably the initial shutdown on aid entering the Strip, were very obviously going to cause […]