Dan Guadagnolo
@danguad.bsky.social
Historian of marketing and culture / asst prof at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Communication, Culture, information & Technology
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
I am really excited that this week we are reading The Hamlet Fire by Bryant Simon, a tour de force if ever there was one. I love the feeling that words and thinking can transform us, and I hope, transform the world.
bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
The Hamlet Fire: A Tragic Story of Cheap Food, Cheap Government, and Cheap Lives
A Tragic Story of Cheap Food, Cheap Government, and Cheap Lives
bookshop.org
November 15, 2025 at 10:49 PM
I am really excited that this week we are reading The Hamlet Fire by Bryant Simon, a tour de force if ever there was one. I love the feeling that words and thinking can transform us, and I hope, transform the world.
bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
this is the craziest thing I've read in a long time???? Meta projected that 10% of its revenue last year, $16 billion, came from scams. Meta intentionally charges the scammers MORE and knows that people who click on scams are more likely to see more of them www.reuters.com/investigatio...
November 7, 2025 at 5:13 AM
this is the craziest thing I've read in a long time???? Meta projected that 10% of its revenue last year, $16 billion, came from scams. Meta intentionally charges the scammers MORE and knows that people who click on scams are more likely to see more of them www.reuters.com/investigatio...
Canadian govt is committing money to recruit researchers from the US and elsewhere to Canadian universities. Includes grad students too!
November 4, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Canadian govt is committing money to recruit researchers from the US and elsewhere to Canadian universities. Includes grad students too!
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
Just remember, the Liberals supported this too. If they think this will attract more researchers to Canada, they are smoking the dope they legalized. And once again, just like animal research, why is it @picardonhealth.bsky.social who needs to raise this publicly and not @u15ca.bsky.social
November 4, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Just remember, the Liberals supported this too. If they think this will attract more researchers to Canada, they are smoking the dope they legalized. And once again, just like animal research, why is it @picardonhealth.bsky.social who needs to raise this publicly and not @u15ca.bsky.social
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
On the 20th anniversary of that debate, I wrote about that line from the debate for @publicseminar.bsky.social.
publicseminar.org/essays/why-b...
publicseminar.org/essays/why-b...
Why Business Depends on Big Government - Public Seminar
Photo Credit: Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock ————— One of the most telling statements of our political era was made by...Read More
publicseminar.org
November 4, 2025 at 8:47 PM
On the 20th anniversary of that debate, I wrote about that line from the debate for @publicseminar.bsky.social.
publicseminar.org/essays/why-b...
publicseminar.org/essays/why-b...
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
One thing i always remember about betting markets is that there used to be international spreads on teams (people betting on the home team) and that this is still a feature of the current markets
Update: Ackman is convincing himself Cuomo will win based on Kalshi prediction market data, which Kalshi claims shows “significantly more support” for Cuomo among NYC bettors.
Mamdani’s contract is at ~90% on Kalshi
Mamdani’s contract is at ~90% on Kalshi
November 4, 2025 at 3:26 PM
One thing i always remember about betting markets is that there used to be international spreads on teams (people betting on the home team) and that this is still a feature of the current markets
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
It is worth saying that putting “Africana studies” in scare quotes as if it’s a ridiculous concept is not a political argument. It’s just racism. “Africa is not worthy of a major” is the implication. Yeah dude you’re just racist. (From Gerard Baker at the WSJ today)
www.wsj.com/opinion/mamd...
www.wsj.com/opinion/mamd...
November 4, 2025 at 1:36 PM
It is worth saying that putting “Africana studies” in scare quotes as if it’s a ridiculous concept is not a political argument. It’s just racism. “Africa is not worthy of a major” is the implication. Yeah dude you’re just racist. (From Gerard Baker at the WSJ today)
www.wsj.com/opinion/mamd...
www.wsj.com/opinion/mamd...
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
And if you reckon banks have moderated their behaviour post-financial crisis, get this: US loans to private equity and credit funds have jumped by 60 per cent between the fourth quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of this year. To almost half a trillion dollars.
Why I love the IMF global financial stability report ft.trib.al/X0SfWSV | opinion
Why I love the IMF global financial stability report
It’s the best publication for investors — but the latest issue makes spooky reading
ft.trib.al
October 31, 2025 at 11:08 AM
And if you reckon banks have moderated their behaviour post-financial crisis, get this: US loans to private equity and credit funds have jumped by 60 per cent between the fourth quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of this year. To almost half a trillion dollars.
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
When people learn with ChatGPT instead of following their own searches, they end up knowing less, caring less, and producing worse advice, even when the facts are the same.
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Experimental evidence of the effects of large language models versus web search on depth of learning
Abstract. The effects of using large language models (LLMs) versus traditional web search on depth of learning are explored. A theory is proposed that when
academic.oup.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:14 PM
When people learn with ChatGPT instead of following their own searches, they end up knowing less, caring less, and producing worse advice, even when the facts are the same.
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Ghoulish, evil, intentional malice
"OpenAI twice loosened ChatGPT’s rules for discussing suicide in the year before 16-year-old Adam Raine took his own life using a method the chatbot advised him on, according to an amended lawsuit filed by his parents on Wednesday."
OpenAI Loosened Suicide-Talk Rules Before Teen’s Death, Lawsuit Alleges
An amended complaint from the parents of Adam Raine, a 16-year-old who died by suicide, alleges the changes were part of a push to increase engagement.
www.wsj.com
October 23, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Ghoulish, evil, intentional malice
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
I don’t care if a lot of recruits can’t run a mile but I do care that we don’t seem to have much for young people to dream of and work towards but enactor of state violence or grifter, and even the idea of putting in effort to achieve an outcome feels sour
October 21, 2025 at 1:53 AM
I don’t care if a lot of recruits can’t run a mile but I do care that we don’t seem to have much for young people to dream of and work towards but enactor of state violence or grifter, and even the idea of putting in effort to achieve an outcome feels sour
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
my latest investigation for @consumerreports.org is based on months of reporting and 60+ lab tests of leading protein supplements
we found that most protein powders and shakes have more lead in one serving than our experts say is safe to have in a day (🧵)
www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein...
we found that most protein powders and shakes have more lead in one serving than our experts say is safe to have in a day (🧵)
www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein...
Protein Powders and Shakes Contain High Levels of Lead - Consumer Reports
CR tests of 23 popular protein powders and shakes found that most contain high levels of lead.
www.consumerreports.org
October 14, 2025 at 4:37 PM
my latest investigation for @consumerreports.org is based on months of reporting and 60+ lab tests of leading protein supplements
we found that most protein powders and shakes have more lead in one serving than our experts say is safe to have in a day (🧵)
www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein...
we found that most protein powders and shakes have more lead in one serving than our experts say is safe to have in a day (🧵)
www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein...
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
Beef is just crazy expensive rn, especially compared to other commodities
October 13, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Beef is just crazy expensive rn, especially compared to other commodities
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
Whenever anarchism — or any idea more radical than the status quo — gets dismissed as unserious, it's worth remembering the current system runs on things like "we put all the money on a scam machine that tells rich dipshits they're god."
"The hundreds of billions of dollars companies are investing in AI now account for an astonishing 40 per cent share of US GDP growth this year... In a way, then, America has become one big bet on AI."
America is now one big bet on AI
It’s seen as the magic fix for every threat to the US economy
www.ft.com
October 6, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Whenever anarchism — or any idea more radical than the status quo — gets dismissed as unserious, it's worth remembering the current system runs on things like "we put all the money on a scam machine that tells rich dipshits they're god."
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
It's simply ending the partnership between government and academia that drove the most successful era of science anywhere ever. There's no eternal rule that required this system, it was a just a specific, creative innovation that worked. It seems wr will learn its value the hard way now.
Some schools will be starved of resources. Other schools will be offered bribes. The end goal is the same. To make the universities an extension of the Trump administration. Shame on any of these institutions willing to take the bribes.
October 2, 2025 at 3:17 AM
It's simply ending the partnership between government and academia that drove the most successful era of science anywhere ever. There's no eternal rule that required this system, it was a just a specific, creative innovation that worked. It seems wr will learn its value the hard way now.
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
I had some thoughts about people saying that "debate me bro" trolling is somehow the height of democratic discourse.
The “Debate Me Bro” Grift: How Trolls Weaponized The Marketplace Of Ideas
Among the attempts to create hagiographic eulogies of Charlie Kirk, I’ve seen more than a few people suggest that Kirk should be respected for being willing to talk to “those who disagree with him” as a sign that he was…
Among the attempts to create hagiographic eulogies of Charlie Kirk, I’ve seen more than a few people suggest that Kirk should be respected for being willing to talk to “those who disagree with him” as a sign that he was…
The “Debate Me Bro” Grift: How Trolls Weaponized The Marketplace Of Ideas
Among the attempts to create hagiographic eulogies of Charlie Kirk, I’ve seen more than a few people suggest that Kirk should be respected for being willing to talk to “those who disagree with him” as a sign that he was engaging in good faith. Perhaps the perfect example of this is Ezra Klein’s silly eulogy claiming that Kirk was “
www.techdirt.com
September 17, 2025 at 4:52 PM
I had some thoughts about people saying that "debate me bro" trolling is somehow the height of democratic discourse.
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
American media has been manufacturing parasocial reactionaries for decades. Limbaugh, Beck, Shapiro, Jones, Carlson, Hannity, etc. The importance of these figures is not ideological purity, consistency, inventiveness, etc. It’s that they keep you company in your cab, your cubicle, on your commute.
September 17, 2025 at 2:35 AM
American media has been manufacturing parasocial reactionaries for decades. Limbaugh, Beck, Shapiro, Jones, Carlson, Hannity, etc. The importance of these figures is not ideological purity, consistency, inventiveness, etc. It’s that they keep you company in your cab, your cubicle, on your commute.
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
“AI isn’t magic; it’s a pyramid scheme of human labor,” said Adio Dinika, a researcher at the Distributed AI Research Institute…These raters are the middle rung: invisible, essential and expendable.”
How thousands of ‘overworked, underpaid’ humans train Google’s AI to seem smart
Contracted AI raters describe grueling deadlines, poor pay and opacity around work to make chatbots intelligent
www.theguardian.com
September 11, 2025 at 1:58 PM
“AI isn’t magic; it’s a pyramid scheme of human labor,” said Adio Dinika, a researcher at the Distributed AI Research Institute…These raters are the middle rung: invisible, essential and expendable.”
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Attacked Boat Near Venezuela Multiple Times to Kill Survivors
American officials said the repeat drone strikes were carried out by Special Operations Command, and more attacks could come soon.
theintercept.com/2025/09/10/u...
American officials said the repeat drone strikes were carried out by Special Operations Command, and more attacks could come soon.
theintercept.com/2025/09/10/u...
U.S. Attacked Boat Near Venezuela Multiple Times to Kill Survivors
American officials said the repeat drone strikes were carried out by Special Forces, and more attacks could come soon.
theintercept.com
September 11, 2025 at 12:04 AM
EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Attacked Boat Near Venezuela Multiple Times to Kill Survivors
American officials said the repeat drone strikes were carried out by Special Operations Command, and more attacks could come soon.
theintercept.com/2025/09/10/u...
American officials said the repeat drone strikes were carried out by Special Operations Command, and more attacks could come soon.
theintercept.com/2025/09/10/u...
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
New pub: @culturalstudies.bsky.social has just posted the interview that @imreszeman.bsky.social and I did with Andreas Malm re: Fossil Capital, the development of his thought, and plenty more. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.....
September 8, 2025 at 7:22 PM
New pub: @culturalstudies.bsky.social has just posted the interview that @imreszeman.bsky.social and I did with Andreas Malm re: Fossil Capital, the development of his thought, and plenty more. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.....
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
A German teen told Meta's child safety researchers his under-10 little brother had been sexually propositioned multiple times on its VR platform.
Meta deleted the evidence.
New internal whistleblower docs indicate that was part of a broader cover-up: www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
Meta deleted the evidence.
New internal whistleblower docs indicate that was part of a broader cover-up: www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
Meta suppressed research on child safety, employees say
The company’s lawyers intervened to shape research that might have shed light on risks in virtual reality, four current and former staffers have told Congress. Meta denies the allegations.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 8, 2025 at 12:11 PM
A German teen told Meta's child safety researchers his under-10 little brother had been sexually propositioned multiple times on its VR platform.
Meta deleted the evidence.
New internal whistleblower docs indicate that was part of a broader cover-up: www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
Meta deleted the evidence.
New internal whistleblower docs indicate that was part of a broader cover-up: www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
over time I believe this will end up being one of the most unpopular things the administration ever does
a death sentence for many hobbies and all the average consumer sees is that you’re taking away all their bargains
one of the few policies that has a direct negative effect on almost everyone
a death sentence for many hobbies and all the average consumer sees is that you’re taking away all their bargains
one of the few policies that has a direct negative effect on almost everyone
The de minimis rule that allowed small packages worth less than $800 to be exempt from tariffs ended on Friday, Aug. 29, 2025.
Postal traffic to US drops more than 80% after trade exemption rule ends, UN agency says
The de minimis rule that allowed small packages worth less than $800 to be exempt from tariffs ended on Friday, Aug. 29, 2025.
n.pr
September 7, 2025 at 11:12 PM
over time I believe this will end up being one of the most unpopular things the administration ever does
a death sentence for many hobbies and all the average consumer sees is that you’re taking away all their bargains
one of the few policies that has a direct negative effect on almost everyone
a death sentence for many hobbies and all the average consumer sees is that you’re taking away all their bargains
one of the few policies that has a direct negative effect on almost everyone
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
Whoopsie. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
September 1, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Whoopsie. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
One of Australia’s worst exports: consultants Nous are wrecking Canadian universities nationalpost.com/feature/how-...
How to run a university in Canada? Outsource it to this management consulting firm
Nous Group's template for getting out of the red has been adopted by major schools. Critics call it the corporatization of higher education.
nationalpost.com
August 29, 2025 at 7:09 AM
One of Australia’s worst exports: consultants Nous are wrecking Canadian universities nationalpost.com/feature/how-...
Reposted by Dan Guadagnolo
70 years ago, on this date, Emmett Till was kidnapped and brutally murdered by white men.
His family, including his cousin who was with him at the time, is repeating the train ride he took from Chicago to Mississippi in 1955 to mark the anniversary
His family, including his cousin who was with him at the time, is repeating the train ride he took from Chicago to Mississippi in 1955 to mark the anniversary
August 28, 2025 at 1:14 PM
70 years ago, on this date, Emmett Till was kidnapped and brutally murdered by white men.
His family, including his cousin who was with him at the time, is repeating the train ride he took from Chicago to Mississippi in 1955 to mark the anniversary
His family, including his cousin who was with him at the time, is repeating the train ride he took from Chicago to Mississippi in 1955 to mark the anniversary