Great quote: The torture allotted to the Danaids in the classical underworld, that of attempting to fill sieves with water, is the symbol not of one vice, but of all vices. It is the very mark of a perverse desire that it seeks what is not to be had. The desire to be inside the invisible line illustrates this rule. As long as you are governed by that desire you will never get what you want. You are trying to peel an onion: if you succeed there will be nothing left. Until you conquer the fear of being an outsider, an outsider you will remain.
Long list of great articles, videos, and books that hold true through slopification.
N+1 (surprisingly) writes a solid analysis of Sinner’s tennis style. While harsh, I agree that Sinner is mechanically efficient in his playing style which in some ways makes it all the more brutal.
Newsletters have to be specific and preferably thematic. Posting your diary entries may generate attention but doesn't reflect effort that a great newsletter brings to the table (or your inbox).
I like this artist, a bit refined but interesting perspective that modern art served a purpose for a cultural moment before needing to shift.
Good little list of book recs about writing!
Great quote - “Brand age watches look strange because they have no practical function. Their function is to express brand, and while that is certainly a constraint, it's not the clean kind of constraint that generates good things. The constraints imposed by brand ultimately depend on some of the worst features of human psychology. So when you have a world defined only by brand, it's going to be a weird, bad world.”
Fundamentally, a brand is built around a product, and a product should be built to solve a problem.
A good reminder about navigating life (a classic graduation speech)
An argument for why to write in Chicago.
Note: I like this for the simple fact that it makes a worthwhile argument about a fantastic city.
Writer and photographer. Beautiful long-form essays on walking, books, and Japan.
Author and media inventor. Great model for personal site structure.
Fantastic article that pins down what is wrong in Silicon Valley and how the culture is so flawed.
Full elements of style (PDF) - writing guide from William Strunk and E.B. White
Letter from April 1958 on finding purpose and meaning.
Writing on AI and 2026 AI predictions
A list of books and articles detailing how to define progress (as in cultural and scientific advancements) that we should be thinking about.
Just a great article that covers everything from con men to movie producers. It's a long article but reads quickly.
A long but really insightful article into how intel operations are conducted, some of the cultural pieces of intel gathering, Iran, and how ops officers try to make money after they leave.
Shishkin’s formulation is elegant: story first, user need second, format third. The live blog, on the other hand, is less refined and only gives the sensation of being informed rather than the development of understanding.