Speaking of Krugman going indie, I find it curious that even established writers are offloading platform ownership to Substack in return for the benefit of its network and (I guess?) simple technical set up. What happens when Substack stops being cool or culturally palatable?
I was let down when I heard that Paul Krugman was retiring from the New York Times — this is until I found that he’s got a new home on Substack and is commenting with ever more frequency on economics and (of course) politics. Highly recommended and paywall free (for now?)
We watched Wild Robot last night 🍿 As new parents, the story line hit hard in a good way.
I appreciated the dystopian undertones of the movie — like the Golden Gate Bridge being underwater.
And if you’re an ecologist, just try to suspend belief for about an hour for best effect.
Finished reading: Boom by Byrne Hobart and Tobias Huber 📚
The book’s idea is that useful bubbles — characterized by irrational exuberance, shared optimism, and overinvestment — are important drivers of innovation (think of bubbles as things like the Apollo program and development of the microchip rather than purely financial delusions like the 2008 financial crisis). In that sense, the current AI bubble can be seen as useful because it’s concentrating huge amounts of R&D on a shared vision of the future. And just like the dot-com bubble popped but left behind the network infrastructure necessary for the Internet we rely upon today, the AI bubble may leave behind important software and computing paradigms even if Nvidia’s stock crashes.
Boom also has its weird and sometimes eye-roll-worthy moments. The first part of the book tries to explain that we’re currently mired in a Great Stagnation compared to the rapid developments of the mid-century. One of the things it blames for stagnation is the monoculture of university campuses — as if wokeness is to blame for a lack of innovation. The book ends with a philosophical and somewhat theological discussion of bubbles and progress that frankly didn’t land with me at all in audiobook format.
The middle stretch of the book is quite nice, though, as a survey of key technological developments in the last century and how a bubble-type environment brought them about.
Finished reading: Somewhere Beyond the Sea by Tj Klune 📚 This was our night time read for a while because we kept falling asleep early as new parents. I love Daniel Henning’s narration and find myself using David-the-Yeti’s voice with my son too often. I think it’s interesting how the first book concluded we can win over conservatives with love, but this book swung to towards silencing authoritarians with [magical] force and a little bit of land-back movement for good measure. Enough is enough, eh?
Finished reading: The Comeback by Lily Chu 📚A book about accidentally getting into a relationship with a K-pop idol and becoming a hashtag. I like the cross-overs with the Stand In and The Takedown.
Finished reading: The Stand-In by Lily Chu 📚 A rom-com where the main character finds her life’s work in becoming a productivity app developer/mogul? Oh yes!
Finished reading: The Takedown by Lily Chu. 📚 Lovely characters and I loved how the book poked at the cult of blind positivity. I also nerded out over how the friend Hanna is a callback to her book The Comeback.
Finished reading: Drop Dead by Lily Chu. 📚 A cute rom-com with a delightful narration duet from Phillipa Soo and John Cho. I wonder if Chu had Margaret Atwood in mind when writing Dot Voline?
Over paternity leave I crushed through the whole catalogue of Lily Chu audiobooks and I loved her whole mood board of Toronto / lady takes on the world / falls in love in the most implausible way / finds her purpose in life. Here’s some catch-up posts on each read… ✌️
My podcast listening stats for 2024 show just how much I have @macsparky in my ear! I’m sad to see Automators go (the second @rosemaryorchard podcast I’ve had sunset on me) but it’s given me the push to try improvements to my tech life and I thank them for that. 💜
This wonk podcast episode is primarily about whether passive investing is good for markets (and investors), but an idea that caught my ear is that we should have a means to invest in our local communities, but we don’t.
Right now, my biggest investment is in the US equity market. This is great for long-term returns, but it means my money has left the country where I live and isn’t making any tangible difference in my life. Why can’t I also make my local community better by investing in its businesses? In other words, why isn’t there an ETF for small businesses in Penetanguishene, Ontario?
And just like that, a night dipping to -20°, and Penetanguishene is iced in by Georgian Bay.
The first big ice formations of the season.
I enjoyed this video by Stewart Hicks on how the joining plate led to cheap trusses and ultimately the proliferation of McMansions in suburbia. So often a good idea ends up being perverted by capitalist players and the market goes along with it.
The first sunny day after two weeks of snow ❄️
You can’t tell your own stories if you’re too busy refuting the terrible stories told by others. You have to give yourself both the space—and the silence—to dream.
Watched Stay the Night with Andrea Bang. 🎬 We loved the thoughtful take on the rom com and coming of age genres. And perfect Toronto vibes.
My Old Ass 🎬 with Aubry Plaza and a Canadian cast surprised with the hard-hitting sentimentality of embracing the present and accepting the future (i.e. we all cried).
Started reading Handmade by Gary Rogowski because, until yesterday, it was free on Audible. 📚 I struggled through the start where he proclaimed he mastery of woodworking for ten minutes and then the first several chapters recounting his college life, but eventually it settled into a memoir on the craft similar to Peter Korn’s or even Nick Offerman’s. Definitely reminiscent of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance in the melding of philosophy and craft.