On Bounded Distrust https://thezvi.substack.com/p/on-bounded-distrust The Utopia of the Nuclear Family https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-utopia-of-the-nuclear-family/ Novelist Interview: Chuck Palahniuk https://youtu.be/czBL7JQl248

The real Lord of the Flies: what happened when six boys were shipwrecked for 15 months https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/09/the-real-lord-of-the-flies-what-happened-when-six-boys-were-shipwrecked-for-15-months Jailbirds of a Feather Flock Together https://www.aporiamagazine.com/p/jailbirds-of-a-feather-flock-together Book Revi...

The Cluster B Society https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-cluster-b-society Large language models, explained with a minimum of math and jargon https://www.understandingai.org/p/large-language-models-explained-with 'Controlled spontaneity': The secret UK government blueprints shaping post-terror planning https://www.middleeasteye.n...

"A Guide to Understanding the Hoax of the Century" https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/guide-understanding-hoax-century-thirteen-ways-looking-disinformation

For Polarization https://pmarca.substack.com/p/for-polarization The Corruption of California https://unherd.com/2023/03/the-corruption-of-california/ Give Up Seventy Percent Of The Way Through The Hyperstitious Slur Cascade https://open.substack.com/pub/astralcodexten/p/give-up-seventy-percent-of-the-way

How Sad Are Psychologists? https://mentaldisorder.substack.com/p/how-sad-are-psychologists Corruption, Norms and Legal Enforcement: Evidence from Diplomatic Parking Tickets http://emiguel.econ.berkeley.edu/research/corruption-norms-and-legal-enforcement-evidence-from-diplomatic-parking-tickets/ Why are young liberals so depressed? http...

So many good links it's Monday and I can already push this out. By the way, Vanessa's new show opens in Hollywood on Feb 14. If you haven't seen the invite, message me and I'll share the details. I'd love to see you all there. "Simulacra Levels Summary" https://thezvi.substack.com/p/simulacra-levels-summary “Opportunity Is Always Out T...

The Extreme Shortage of High IQ Workers https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2023/01/the-extreme-shortage-of-high-iq-workers.html "René Girard and the Rise of Victim Power" https://compactmag.com/article/rene-girard-and-the-rise-of-victim-power "The DIY Scientist, the Olympian, and the Mutated Gene" https://www.propublica....

Happy new year! Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2023. Here are some fun/interesting things I've read over the last couple months. "Brokenism'" https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/brokenism-alana-newhouse "Stupidity Beats Intelligence" https://cactus.substack.com/p/stupidity-beats-intelligence "We are made to live like ...

Several people have told me recently that they miss Steve's Reads, so who am I to disappoint? It seems like the overall climate is a bit less "sensitive" right now than it was when I was writing these earlier, so feel free to send to anyone who's not a self-righteous bore. In order to be able to fire these off with minimal effort, I am...

Halloween is back!! Decorations are up in my neighborhood and my two year old is excited. Maybe next week I will find some good links on how idiotic the winter time change is (tops a long list of my most hated things of the modern world). For now, just two links this week -- one an interesting take, and one an absolutely essential piec...

Sorry for my absence. It's very cool to get messages from a few of you who actually miss my newsletter when I skip a week. The whole point of this was to surface interesting things that I read to like minded people who may miss them otherwise. That even a handful of friends and family get value out of it makes it well worth it. I don't...

I can't believe it's October! Sorry I missed a newsletter week, but hopefully it gave you time to catch up on some good links. I'll keep it short and sweet and simply remind you to buy bitcoin as it's all of our best hope. And now here are the links... Human Nature and The Purpose of Propaganda https://www.robkhenderson.com/past-newsle...

Sorry I haven't sent one of these in a bit. We spent 10 days at the beach, avoiding some workmen at our house and taking one final summer vacation. A lot has happened in these few weeks, but it all seems like more of the same -- watching things crumble in real-time while daily life goes on in relative ease and luxury for most (compared...

Just dropped my 2 year-old at school/daycare for the first time. He cried. They say they all cry. I know that he will at least enjoy the peanut butter and jelly sandwich in his lunchbox. As we head into fall, the world is not looking so great, but it does seem like things are starting to shift, or at least reach a breaking point. I'm c...

Back from vacation! Nearly 3000 miles driven with a 2-year-old and 2-month-old in the back seat and dare I say that we are all refreshed? UT, CO, WY with a few other states as drive-throughs -- we saw some of the most beautiful sights the country has to offer. Meanwhile, back in the "civilized" world... Lee Smith on Afghanistan and our...

Good news and bad -- the bad is that I am going out of town for a bit and won't have a newsletter next week. The good is that I've made this one extra long so it should hold you through. I am going to keep the descriptions short as I'm in a bit of a hurry, I'll let you investigate them... Balaji Interview https://sotonye.substack.com/p...

This week I've had three friends tell me they're enjoying this newsletter. I started this for no personal gain; rather my hope was simply to pass on some benefit from all the time I spend filtering through stuff -- maybe I could surface something you like that you would not have found otherwise, or at least save you some of the sifting...

I can't believe it's already mid July! I am sharing only two links this week, but they're both pretty long so let's go... Big Tech Has No Power At All by Curtis Yarvin https://graymirror.substack.com/p/big-tech-has-no-power-at-all This is the best essay I have ever read on how power actually works. It is worth reading the entire thing ...

Summer always gets a little slower in my business. People are out traveling and having fun rather than obsessing over watches on the internet. It's perfect timing for me. Our new baby is growing like a weed, mom is doing great, big and medium bro are taking his arrival quite well, and I'm loving having a large family. Like everyone els...

Rockwell Green Prager Hallock was born on Jun 19 -- another healthy and happy boy in our house! Mom is doing great. It's wonderful having a larger family. If anyone who reads my newsletter is on the fence in any way, my advice would be to have kids asap. It's starting to be the most rebellious act one can participate in. Anyway, sorry ...

California is open! I'm not really sure what that means, but that's what I hear. From my perspective everything seems the same as it has been. This is undoubtedly due to my persistent astonishment of how much the people here WANT their freedoms taken away and eagerly perpetuate it. The government can remove what are obviously burdensom...

Still no baby! We're on serious watch, but no movement yet. Odds are we'll meet the little guy before I send out another newsletter. Busy today so I will keep this short and sweet. Let's go to the links... El Salvador To Make Bitcoin Legal Tender: A Milestone In Monetary History https://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2021/06/07/el-...

I can't believe it's June! School is ending (only a month or so after it started here), our baby is nearly due (June 16, so we're on daily watch), and I've been in my pool every day for weeks. Life is very good, yet the world seems to be falling apart. I wonder if this is a function of the media -- either everything is blown out of pro...

I wrote a long intro on the final vestiges of the pandemic (i.e. the performative ten-foot walk to your table before removing your mask for 2 hours while the minimum-wage restaurant staff has to be double masked for their entire shift), but I deleted it because it's all just so lame at this point. Do yourself a favor and simply decide ...

Sorry to skip the newsletter last week. I was traveling and didn't get a chance to read as much as usual. I guess we missed UFO's, the corporate media finally being willing to acknowledge C19 being from a lab, the crumbling of our national infrastructure resulting in gas shortages, inflation finally being so obvious it even shows up in...

I'll keep it short this week as I am traveling. In a sane world, these would be the only two stories this week Sars2 Was Man Made https://nicholaswade.medium.com/origin-of-covid-following-the-clues-6f03564c038 Anyone paying attention knew this a year ago, but of course saying so would get you wiped off the internet. Turns out the pande...

This has been a pretty slow week around here, not that there's anything wrong with that! When I tried to think of some update to add, the only thing I could recall of significance is finally figuring out a breakfast I like after 38 years. I guess that is what social media was supposed to be for, before it metastasized. I miss the food ...

Is it just me or did that week seem like two weeks? Here in LA we were even treated to completely different seasons this week (how much am I spending on heating the pool when it's 60 degrees out? Answer to come with next month's gas bill). Overall the news made me want to move to Mars, but I was able to sift out some pretty good links ...

I found this to be a particularly tough week of media, so gross that there was very little I feel comfortable forwarding. On the flip-side, my son finally went back to in-person schooling, Bitcoin hit a new all-time high, and a few of my friends and customers made some really big waves in the world. Optimism is still warranted, but she...