Jan 30, 2026
The Monkey’s Paw Curls
Isn’t “may you get exactly what you asked for” one of those ancient Chinese curses?
Since we last spoke, prediction markets have gone to the moon, rising from millions to billions in monthly volume.
For a few weeks in October, Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan was the world’s youngest...
Jan 30, 2026
[previously in series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
Every city parties for its own reasons. New Yorkers party to flaunt their wealth. Angelenos party to flaunt their beauty. Washingtonians party to network. Here in SF, they party because Claude 4.5 Opus has saturated VendingBench, and the newest AI agency benchmark...
Jan 30, 2026
One morning around 6, the police banged on our door. “OPEN UP!” they shouted, the way police shout when they definitely have an alternative in mind for if you won’t.
I was awake at the time, because the kids were up early and I was on shift. I opened the door. The cops seemed mollified by the fact that I was...
Jan 23, 2026
[original post: Against Against Boomers]
Before getting started:
First, I wish I’d been more careful to differentiate the following claims:
- Boomers had it much easier than later generations.
- The political system unfairly prioritizes Boomers over other generations.
- Boomers are uniquely bad on some axis like...
Jan 23, 2026
If you’re not familiar with “X years to escape the permanent underclass”, see the New Yorker here, or the Laine, Bear, and Trammell/Dwarkesh articles that inspired it.
The “permanent underclass” meme isn’t being spread by poor people - who are already part of the underclass, and generally not worrying too...