Marginal stupidity, decadence, and more writing

I haven’t done a writing review in a very, very long time (almost 6 months)! So I figured it was time to aggregate my collective output and highlight some of my favorite pieces.

First of all, most of my writing energies these days are devoted to the “Securities” by Lux Capital newsletter, and the identically-named podcast series, which is produced by Chris Gates. I’ve been covering science, technology, finance and the human condition since we officially launched in January, and so far, I’ve published 23 weekly newsletters and 20 podcast episodes.

I’ve covered a huge amount of ground given the openness of the overarching theme, but among my favorite newsletter issues:

• American Civil War 2.0 — on the perilous state of civil society in the United States and why a new Civil War seems to be closer than it appears.
• AI, dual-use medicine, and bioweapons — on the complexities of regulating technologies in the biotech space, and why bioweapons are so hard to stop.
• Easternization of media — on the massive growth of media emanating from East Asia these days to the West, from pop music to manga.
• The ESG Mirage — on the multiple scandals that the Environmental, Social and Governance investment management industry is facing right now, and why quantification in the industry is a lost cause.
• America’s gambling fetish — on why online sports betting, crypto, decentralized startup investing and more have taken American culture by storm.

Meanwhile, over on the “Securities” by Lux Capital podcast, we’ve had a star-studded list of guests and some great conversations. Among my favorites are:

• A four-part series on “Risk, Bias and Decision Making” with Nobel laureate Danny Kahneman, famed securities and portfolio researcher Michael Mauboussin, and World Poker champion and cognitive psychologist Annie Duke.
• We had a great chat with Jonathan Haidt, whose book The Coddling of the American Mind has become a touchstone in America’s turbulent culture wars.
• Long-time friend Eliot Peper joined to talk about his new book Reap3r and also how speculative fiction is a prism to understand people.
• And we also had iPod/iPhone inventor Tony Fadell talking about the metaverse, building hard products, and more on “If you’re not solving for pain, then what the hell are you doing?”

Finally, over here on my own personal blog, I’ve written two analyses and two book reviews:

• Can the delocalization and deglobalization of American news ever be undone? — on the changing financial tides of the media industry.
• Is “decadence” even a useful concept? — on the meaning of “decadence” and whether qualitative assessments of society can ever be defined.
• How disposable is Miami?, a review of Mario Alejandro Ariza’s recent book Disposable City: Miami’s Future on the Shores of Climate Catastrophe.
• The subplots of China, a review of Megan Walsh’s new book The Subplot: What China Is Reading and Why It Matters.

As always, stay in touch!