Dot Collecting, Dot Connecting
volume 2, issue 1
It’s been a while since I did one of these and I didn’t realize how much I needed one! A few of these are paywalled. They’re worth it, I think.
Good Artists, Great Artists
Thinking a lot about borrowing vs. theft in an AI era. Is it a matter of scale?
…unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, shit on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it: Lady Gaga’s highly referential (self and otherwise) new album from one of my favorite podcasts- Switched on Pop.
Authenticity is invaluable. Originality is nonexistent. Steal, adapt, borrow: Jonathan Anderson, formerly Loewe currently Dior.
Familiar, but not too familiar. New, but not too new.: Obsessed with this instagram post from the Infatuation.
Unhappy AF
The World Happiness Report came out and it’s kinda depressing. Especially if you’re an American under 30.
The World Happiness Report: This is a long report that’s kinda sad. Working my way through it and also including some tools below to digest it in different ways.
Dining Alone: Robert Putnam cautioned about the societal ramifications of Bowling Alone. Clearly everyone heeded the warning.
Listen to it via Eleven Labs: AI generated podcast
Chat with it via customgpt.ai: Chat with the reports, articles, and transcripts? e.g. Why does Kyla Scanlon say Gen Z is so sad- example below.
Perhaps Related: Just Salad introduces dinner plates
Kyla Scanlon-Futurelessness = Fucking Around and Finding Out:
Reasons for Optimism
It’s not all doom and gloom! At least we have back-up Oat Milk…thanks Odeko.
Odeko: Matt Newberg of Hngry goes deep on a company ‘reverse franchising’ the cafe business at scale. (Matt offers a 7-day trial- DO IT)
Kareem Rahma: Maybe dining alone is fine!
Abundance: My man crushes unite to save the democratic party, America, the world…?
Kyla Scanlon: Yes, again. 80,000 people subscribe to her Substack- it ought to be mandatory. With Derek Thompson on Plain English. I’m on my 3rd listen.
A BrAIve New World
‘What fun it would be,’ he thought, ‘if one didn’t have to think about happiness!’
Yum Brands & Nvidia: A $3 Trillion dollar company leans into solving drive through order fuck ups.
The Future is Franchised: &pizza goes franchise- a sign of things to come as AI-first operating systems take hold.
Agent.ai on Manus: Understanding the breakthrough AI agent tool from my favorite mind on an agentic future.
Jensen Huang Keynote from Nvidia: Explaining the most cutting edge computing by way of seating a 7-top at a wedding.
That felt good, thanks! Well not all the unhappiness stuff but, still…
Eli