What if we've become less willing to sacrifice our pawns to take the queen?
This week, Jess and Joey talk about Ezra Klein, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Obama, game theory, defaulting to passion, and nuclear weapons. They don’t talk about David Lightman.
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What's in your notes?
This week, Aaron and Jess talk about internet chalk, bottle lining, the Pantry Challenge, gold bars, word clothes, and golden milk. They don’t talk about Gold Bond powder.
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Paris is Burning trailer
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell
How much do you think you can change your personality?
This week, Joey and Jess talk about life satisfaction, sad auras, nominative determinism, nature versus nurture, Martin Seligman, magical meat sacks. They don’t talk about marinade bags.
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Forbes: How Singer-Songwriter EJAE Found Rumi’s Voice In ‘KPop Demon Hunters’
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Most people's life satisfaction matches their personality traits: True correlations in multitrait, multirater, multisample data. [PDF]
What are places where wisdom exists where it shouldn't?
This week, Joey and Jess talk about the Benner Cycle, feng shui, jelly shoes, BMW dashboards, the bullshit asymmetry principle, and Hitchens's razor. They don’t talk about Christopher Robin.
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Why do we wave from trains and boats?
This week, Aaron and Jess talk about kids, duck boats, kerchiefs, air travel, cruise ships, and roller coasters. They don’t talk about chucking the deuce.
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How are you personally preparing mentally, psychologically for the increased engagement with AI?
This week, Joey and Jess talk about AI psychosis, Blake Lemoine, the Turing Test, cognative security, red teaming, and hats. They don’t (yet) talk about NonsenseLLM.
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The New York Times: They Asked an A.I. Chatbot Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling.
The New York Times: Chatbots Can Go Into a Delusional Spiral. Here’s How It Happens.
Washington Post The Google engineer who thinks the company’s AI has come to life
Bloomberg Technology: Google Engineer on His Sentient AI Claim
Johns Hopkins Magazine: The science behind why we see faces in nature
Study: Barking Up the Wrong Tree: Human Perception of Dog Emotions Is Influenced by Extraneous Factors
Planning red teaming for large language models (LLMs) and their applications
How do you make sense?
This week, Aaron, Jess, and Joey talk about intention, trust, assumption, context windows, synchronicity, and drinking. They don’t talk about Pal Joey.
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Why do we do hard things?
This week, Joey and Jess talk about the Baddie Performance Index, Barkley Marathons, fun types, self flagellation, dessert stomachs, and natural childbirth. They don’t talk about Saquon.
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Why is it so important to be cool?
This week, Jess, Aaron, and Joey talk about Black culture, 21 Jump Street, social approval, bandwaggoning, alternative hierarchies, and Lauryn Hill. They don’t talk about Digable Planets.
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Journal of Experimental Psychology: "Cool is cool wherever you are"
Miles Davis' The Birth of the Cool
Uncola: Seven-Up, Counterculture and the Making of an American Brand
Wired Video: Linguists Explain the History of "Cool"
BET Video: The Origin Of "Cool": How Black Culture Embodies "Cool" & Influences Trends For Mainstream
Corrections Department: To clarify, the study does not specifically question the Black origins of our collective use of the word "cool," rather it questions whether the emotional restraint in Black culture that came to define the early idea of "cool" is still the current concept of "cool."
How is it we've convinced ourselves sometimes that we like things that we don't really like?
This week, Jess and Joey talk about the big light, the beach, group vacations, going to the movies, nature bathing, and bad drinks. They don’t talk about Mr. Nice Guy.
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What new rules should we have?
This week, Joey and Jess talk about the Irish Goodbye, music at the beach, phones on the train, zipper merging, gift obligations, and desire paths. They don’t talk about Dua Lipa or New Rochelle.
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How do y'all protect your sense of possibility?
This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about optimism, imagination, resilience, cultural technology, escape rooms, and rules. They don’t talk about the endless persistence of existential dread.
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What are the important analog activities in an increasingly digital world?
This week, Joey and Jess talk about luddites, handwriting, typewriting, mashing tomatoes, kinetic learning, and carbon dioxide. They don’t talk about Folkways Records.
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In April, SYLVAIN released an open letter of resistance in response to the chaos of the moment we're in. This is a live reading of that letter, and a reminder that resistance is ongoing.
Too many in our industry have been quiet in the face of injustice and uncertainty. Too many important conversations have been relegated to back channels. So we put pen to paper, naming simple truths that have guided our company and actions for 15 years—and will continue to guide us.
Have a listen or read the open letter at impact.sylvain.co
What universal truths do you believe in?
This week, Joey and Jess talk about database shapes, LLMs, collective human intelligence, apple eating, folk wisdom, and Pi. They don’t talk about apple pie, though.
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How do you feel about no-phone zones?
This week, Joey and Aaron talk about AI, parenting, over-responsibility, constant access, bluetooth speakers, and biking while texting. They don’t talk about Nowadays.
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The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
The Last Sun by K. D. Edwards
Quad Press Release: "81% of Gen Z report wishing it was easier to disconnect from digital devices"
Do we create more with friends?
This week, Joey and Jess talk about consuming, the value cylce, parallel play, time horizons, water-based cooking, and Ciabatta. They don’t talk about Real Genius.
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How do we muster the courage?
This week, Jess and Joey talk about fear, Inside Out 2, Andor, The Mandalorian, stoking action, and antidotes. They don’t talk about booze.
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How do we stress professionally?
This week, Aaron, Jess, and Joey talk about Cowboy Carter, self-regulation, Frozen, tears, being "professional," and anger. They don’t talk about Organized Konfusion.
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