A newsletter about Pop Culture, Software Studies, Business Strategy, Media Platforms, Algorithmic Management, Game Design, and everything in between.

FEATURED

Essays

Ensemble

When two instruments in an orchestra play simultaneous pure tones at sufficient intensity, a third tone nobody is playing emerges.

Essays

Boomerang

Empires have a way of seeding their own destruction.

  • Why Agentic Systems Need Ontologies — Frank Coyle, UC Berkeley

    A second refund on the same order. A payout sent to the support desk instead of the buyer. An order status of “probably shipped.” These are the kinds of mistakes a probabilistic agent makes and a paragraph of instructions cannot… more ›

  • Invest Like the Best with Patrick O’Shaughnessy: Sam Altman – How to Make an Abundant Future – [Invest Like the Best, EP.484]

    Listen: https://ift.tt/xXtQsZM My guest today is Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. It's a conversation spanning the history, present, and future of OpenAI, from the origin of ChatGPT through Codex, hardware, and their new Jalapeno chip. We discuss the early decision… more ›

  • Building with ChatGPT Voice | OpenAI

    Control your computer and direct multiple agents running in ChatGPT Work or Codex, using just your voice. It’s powered by GPT-Live, so it can speak, listen, and coordinate work in the app at the same time. Rolling out globally today… more ›

  • Sam Altman on AGI, Compute, and Human Agency

    Sam Altman joins us for a wide-ranging conversation about OpenAI’s next chapter, the race for compute, and what happens as artificial intelligence becomes more powerful, abundant, and embedded across the economy. He explains why OpenAI recently narrowed its focus, why… more ›

  • There is no ‘getting back to normal’ with climate breakdown

    As the IPCC report makes clear, there are now only unknown and unfamiliar alternative futures that we can choose from, says political economist Mark Blyth https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/11/no-getting-back-to-normal-climate-breakdown-ipcc-report?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other more ›

  • Why does everything feel so joyless? Welcome to the age of decadence without pleasure

    Decadence in our era comes in technologically mediated forms, emptied of desire and obsessed with self-optimisation https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/jul/26/age-of-decadence-pleasure-ai?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other more ›

  • 1970 (2005 Remaster)

    Provided to YouTube by Rhino/Elektra 1970 (2005 Remaster) · The Stooges Fun House ℗ 1970 Elektra/Asylum Records Engineer: Brian Ross-Myring Bass Guitar: Dave Alexander Producer: Don Gallucci Vocals: Iggy Pop Guitar: Ron Asheton Drums: Scott Asheton Tenor Saxophone: Steven Mackay… more ›

  • ChinaTalk: WarTalk: Iran War Back On, Rogue AI, Ukraine Civ-Mil

    Listen: https://ift.tt/LJY4lId Five months into the Iran campaign, the US has two carrier strike groups parked in the Arabian Sea, a blockade that may take months to bite, and a daisy chain of tankers stretching thousands of miles because there… more ›

  • Past Present Future: The History of Bad Ideas: Utilitarianism

    Listen: https://ift.tt/SL6T1O9 Today’s episode in the history of bad ideas is about one of the central ideas in modern philosophy: utilitarianism, or the view that what matters is the greatest happiness of the greatest number. David talks to philosopher Nikhil… more ›

  • Daft Punk – Instant Crush (Official Video) ft. Julian Casablancas

    Official video for “Instant Crush” by Daft Punk feat. Julian Casablancas Homework: https://ift.tt/Hf89P4l Discovery: https://ift.tt/NlSokUG Alive 1997: https://ift.tt/85GdQnT Daft Club: https://ift.tt/Tpm6jUo Human After All: https://ift.tt/6B3zj2W Human After All (Remixes): https://ift.tt/KjHa4S6 Alive 2007: https://ift.tt/DCekln9 Watch more videos of Daft Punk: https://ift.tt/vARVwLH… more ›