Your Mid-Week Experiment
Sorry I didn’t get an essay out this weekend. My sons were in town, and we had a big old time. Got a good one planned for this weekend, though. In the meantime, though, I have been reading some great stuff from friends of mine, including Texas Monthly’s Russell Gold, whose article about Elon Musk I link to below, but I’m maybe more impressed with his exposé on how the Craddick family has made millions while in elected office. Also worth your time is Frank Spring’s newsletter that takes the measure of exactly how messed up things are right now. And two of the music choices this week betray how much I’m enjoying Meet Me in the Bathroom: Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City 2001-2011.
But first, something fun happened to me the other day. The Business of Story podcast, which I actually subscribe to, had me on to talk about Forget the Alamo. Click on my big dumb face below to give it a listen.
“In Texas, we love our energy business but rarely our energy magnates. To seek national fame or some sense of validation, they look outside the industry. Musk certainly has. Which is a shame. Finding a way to provide more energy than ever, while tackling climate change, is a global-scale, generational challenge. Musk—and Texas—could lead the effort. Too bad he doesn’t tweet about that more often.” (Russell Gold, killing it)
“All movies reach into the past — of their makers or the medium itself — to be legible in the present. The question is what kind of future they’ll bring forth in the process.” (Ann Hornaday)
Great analysis on the limitations of AI so far. “ChatGPT exhibits something like the banality of evil: plagiarism and apathy and obviation.” (Noam Chomsky)
“Tell an advanced AI to produce as many paper clips as possible, and it may stop at nothing to fulfill its mission, including killing off humans and turning our entire solar system into a giant paper clip machine. Only here’s the thing: Powerful AI is already here, and it’s already doing this. It’s called Instagram. Advertising is optimizing media — and by extension, optimizing us — not for paper clips, but for fear and polarization.” (Scott Galloway)
“Soft inflation is a capital strike, paid for largely by American consumers.” (Frank Spring)
Smart take on what public health has to do to restore trust. (Leana Wen)
If you are reading this and haven’t watched Ted Lasso S1E3 yet, go do that now. You’re excused from the rest of the newsletter.
I tried to watch the Chris Rock Netflix special but couldn’t make it past the first bit, so I flipped over to Ali Wong, who captured my attention with Always Be My Maybe. Unlike that sweet movie, her comedy is dirty and common, but for some reason it worked for me. I actually — and this is rare for me — laughed out loud in surprise when she dropped the “pockets” line in the bit below.
Thanks to Noom, I lost 40 pounds over 2020-21 and have kept it off since then. Click on the blue box to get 20% off. Seriously, this works. No, this isn’t an ad. Yes, I really lost all that weight with Noom.
We set up a merch table in the back where you can get T-shirts, coffee mugs, and even tote bags now. Show the world that you’re part of The Experiment.
We’ve also got a tip jar, and I promise to waste every cent you give me on having fun, because writing this newsletter for you is how I have fun.
Buy the book Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick banned from the Bullock Texas History Museum: Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of the American Myth by Bryan Burrough, Chris Tomlinson, and myself is out from Penguin Random House. The New York Times bestseller is 44% off and the same price as a paperback now!