#### Ukraine’s surprise drone attack + agnotology (Issue #346) Do you know how to rest? I often worry I don’t. When I’m worn down or overstimulated, I’ll lay down on the couch, my mind too frazzled to read a book or a magazine. Like many people, I often default to looking at my phone, which always fails to relax me. True rest often feels out of reach. In an article for Wise & Well, nurse Andrea Romeo RN, BN discusses why this is — how a few days of rest or vacation is rarely enough to combat burnout. “A common symptom of burnout,” she writes, “is feeling constantly fatigued, even after a good sleep, but burnout does not always feel like being physically tired.” I was struck by an idea Romeo quoted from Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, author of _Sacred Rest_, who has written that there are “seven types of rest: physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, sensory, social, and creative.” We might be physically rested but spiritually exhausted; socially content but emotionally spent. To combat burnout, Romeo recommends forcing unscheduled days, avoiding obligations that don’t serve your interests, and prioritizing things like hobbies, loved ones, and your body. In a capitalist society, this can be difficult: we’ve been trained to prioritize productivity, wealth, and action. We are rewarded for multitasking — a clear driver of burnout. But Romeo’s suggestions got me thinking about the importance of quiet, which Elan Kesilman-Davin, Ph.D. has written about for Pragmatic Wisdom. “We don’t just avoid silence,” she writes of the modern world, “we erase it.” To better appreciate the value of silence, she turns to Swiss philosopher Max Picard, who “describes silence as something alive […] like a presence that holds things together.” Silence, in our modern world, might not be a total absence of sound, but a rejection of the pings, dings, and notifications that are constantly vying for our attention. It might look like walking around without headphones, sitting quietly in a park, or listening to the water run instead of putting in a podcast while we do the dishes. As Kesilman-Davin writes, “Silence hasn’t gone anywhere. It just has to be chosen.” — Marian Bull ### **👓 Stories you need** * Last Sunday, a surprise drone attack by Ukraine took down 40 Russian bombers (a third of the country’s strategic fleet). US Air Force Veteran Wes O'Donnell breaks down the 18 months of planning it took to make it happen and why he believes it is “one of the most complex and effective strategic operations of the 21st century.” * Educator Joseph Rios EdD describes his journey coming to terms with his worst critic — himself. Digging deep into his developmental past, he charts the source of his negative thoughts and then writes deeply about how he plans to counter them in the future, displaying a level of vulnerability and self-compassion that is soothing to any who share that inner turmoil. * How do we know what we don’t know? In this deep dive, Paula Marie Orlando introduces us to agnotology (or “the study of ignorance”) and explores the ancient roots of the Rumsfeld Matrix (known-knowns, known-unknowns, etc.). ### **🫒 Your daily dose of practical wisdom for a new weekend activity** Consider going on an olive oil tasting tour. ### **✍️ The “Write with Medium” June micro-challenge** We know, it can be hard to start writing. So this month, we’re trying a little experiment: Subscribe to our pop-up newsletter and spend the month writing with us — get daily prompts, practical approaches, and support in your inbox, and you’ll be publishing the story only you can tell by the end of the month. Join us! _Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter.__Sign up here_ _._ _Edited and produced by_ _Scott Lamb_ _ & __Carly Rose Gillis_ _Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us:__tips@medium.com_ _Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and_ _join a community that believes in human storytelling_ _._ * * * How rest and silence can defeat burnout was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### Emotion in the age of AI + avoiding cognitive bias while booking summer travel (Issue #345) Puzzles aren’t just a way to pass time for Heidi Erwin; they’re her livelihood. As a senior game designer at _The New York Times_ , she creates the weekly Brain Tickler: a visual riddle or word game that invites lateral thinking. Inspiration might come from something small or random. One puzzle began when Erwin started noticing bike racks around Queens. Each had a distinct geometric shape, which she transformed into a visual riddle: What item might be seen with all five? The answer — “a bicycle” — only lands if the clues are clear and the connections click. A good puzzle, she suggests, starts with curiosity but succeeds through clarity. When it clicks, it feels both earned and a little magical. While Erwin describes creating puzzles, visual artist Barbara Carter writes about solving them. She and her husband started doing jigsaws after reading about their potential to stave off cognitive decline. What began as a practical brain-health strategy quickly became a shared ritual, a new rhythm to their days. The TV stayed off. The room got quieter. Their attention changed. They began to remember not just the puzzles they finished, but how they worked through them — who did what, where they got stuck, which pieces landed with a little thrill. Whether analog or digital, puzzles require patience and focus. They ask you to notice more, make new connections, and tolerate uncertainty longer than most tasks allow. The pleasure comes from staying with a problem until something clicks. I love crossword puzzles even though I’m bad at them. I rarely finish without help. But I keep going because there’s something satisfying about watching a blank grid take shape. What stays with me isn’t the solution; it’s the feeling of being absorbed, even for a moment, in the act of figuring something out. — Anna Dorn ### **🤿 Jumping-off quotes** * “The reduction of emotion to something inconvenient, unproductive, or excessive is not just a cultural shift; it’s a design principle. We’re living in a world being increasingly built by, for, and through machines that don’t feel. And in the process, we’re unlearning how to.” — ashwini asokan in Reclaiming Emotion in the Age of AI * “There’s a difference between letting feedback shape you and letting it name you. One is formation. The other is fusion. And when we fuse our identity with what others say — good or bad — we become unsteady, living at the mercy of whatever opinions blow through the room.” — Dan Foster in The Five Laws of Receiving Feedback (Without Falling to Pieces) * “The weight of historical trauma creates a maddening cycle. It generates mental health challenges while simultaneously fostering distrust in the very institutions designed to help.” — Gino Cosme in Shared LGBTQ+ History as Personal Trauma Requires Innovative Therapy ### **✈️ Your daily dose of practical wisdom on booking travel without cognitive bias** Beware of the “Default Bias” cognitive flaw when booking flights. This shows up when travel insurance, donations, or SMS alerts are preselected for you — which can make you feel subconsciously “left out” if you decline them, but they’re often just a way to overcharge you. ### ✍️ The “Write with Medium” June micro-challenge We know, it can be hard to start writing. So this month, we’re trying a little experiment: Subscribe to our pop-up newsletter and spend the month writing with us—get daily prompts, practical approaches, and support in your inbox, and you’ll be publishing the story only you can tell by the end of the month. Join us! _Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter.__Sign up here_ _._ _Edited and produced by_ _Scott Lamb_ _ & __Carly Rose Gillis_ _Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us:__tips@medium.com_ _Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and_ _join a community that believes in human storytelling_ _._ * * * Why we love puzzles was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### Measles, Pride Month, and imperfect role models (Issue #344) Some people talk their way through a task — checking in, workshopping, circling back. Others dive in and stay quiet until it’s done. Both approaches can produce results, but only one tends to get recognized. In a recent piece, software engineer Priyanka Jain tells the story of two colleagues assigned the same task. One posted updates, asked questions, and collaborated loudly. The other stayed silent and shipped clean code. Both delivered. But only one was praised as a “great team player.” Jain’s point is simple: In many work cultures, we conflate visibility with value. If you speak often, we assume you’re contributing. If you’re quiet, we assume you’re not. Why does this happen? Science teacher Fergus Murray explores how quiet focus often goes unnoticed from the start, as classrooms often reward surface-level participation while disrupting the conditions needed for real focus. He writes about the kind of sustained attention that allows someone to get fully absorbed in a task. That state — what psychologists call flow — can be productive, satisfying, and self-reinforcing. And for some, it’s not just beneficial, but mandatory: > _This is central to the idea of_** _monotropism_** _: some people really only function at their best when they can focus their attention tightly. Outside of hyperfocus, monotropic thinkers tend to be restless and intensely distractible, like there’s a fountain of attention that has to go somewhere; or else we get mentally depleted, with little energy for anything._ Instead of protecting focus, classrooms often reward the performance of it. It’s easy to see the transference of this to work culture, where collaboration, confidence, and the ability to speak on cue are celebrated. But those traits can just as easily cover for a lack of follow-through. I once worked with someone who made a show of busyness — always jumping to answer the phone, narrating every delay — but rarely finished the work she was actually assigned. The most consistent work often happens quietly, without theatrics or self-promotion. Maybe it’s time to recognize that the best work doesn’t always make a scene. — Anna Dorn ### **Stories that go beyond the headlines** * As measles outbreaks rise in the U.S., is the medical industry prepared to respond? Dr. Jay K. Varma provides information on specific tests and protocols to confirm with your local clinic or primary care physician, complete with a downloadable checklist. * Author Carlyn Beccia, who suffers from “a full GI symphony” of ailments, highlights the lifesaving medical research that federal funding of private universities helps make possible. She breaks down the specific contributions Harvard University has made such as: mapping the human genome, CRISPR gene editing (used in curing sickle cell disease), and identifying the Epstein-Barr virus as the likely trigger for multiple sclerosis. * In honor of Pride Month, Dayna A. Ellis urges allies to look beyond corporate honorifics and spend time directly supporting local causes. “Before picking up that limited-edition bottle of booze plastered in rainbows, consider donating to local LGBT mutual-aid funds that keep queer people housed, fed, and alive.” ### **Your daily dose of practical wisdom on pushing perfectionism aside** If your perfectionism is rooted in comparing yourself to someone, John Kruse MD, PhD recommends finding an imperfect role model and considering how those imperfections are what makes them admirable. _Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter.__Sign up here_ _._ _Edited and produced by_ _Scott Lamb_ _ & __Carly Rose Gillis_ _Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us:__tips@medium.com_ _Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and_ _join a community that believes in human storytelling_ _._ * * * Ignoring the value of “quiet work” starts in the classroom was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### A new way to connect more readers to your stories Images created by Jason Combs, featuring “A Rare Win for Vitamin D Supplementation: Multiple Sclerosis” by F. Perry Wilson, MD The most powerful way we have to bring readers to your stories is through the Medium Digest, which is the personalized email we send to the 13+ million readers who have signed up to get it either daily or weekly. Each personalized email contains around 15 stories that Medium’s recommendation system picked as the ones most likely to interest the reader. We know the Digest is very effective at connecting readers to stories: It is the number one way, outside of search engines, that readers land on Medium stories. If you write and publish on Medium, there’s a good chance your story has been included in these emails. Because it’s so good at matching your stories to readers, we’ve been focusing on ways to bring it to more readers. We’ve just added it to the Medium app, added notifications to let readers know when their Digest is ready, and made it easier to navigate between stories in the Digest. Over two million people read stories on the app every month; 500,000+ of those receive notifications from Medium every day. The TL;DR is that we’ve streamlined the Digest experience for readers, and we’ve added the Digest to the Medium app. We’re anticipating these additions to make it easier for more readers to discover and love more of the stories you write on Medium. Here are all the details. ### Making the Medium Digest easier to find and navigate First, readers with the Medium app downloaded will now also get an app notification — timed to arrive right when they start their day — to go check out their Digest, either daily or weekly, depending on what they’ve set their Digest preferences to. When readers click on a story from their email Digest or from the Medium app notification, they’ll be taken to an in-app Digest feed with all the top stories we’ve picked for them for that day or week. After they’ve finished reading a story, they can navigate back to check out the rest of their Digest. (Before, navigating “back” would take readers back to their inbox.) They’ll also be able to find their digest in their app Library at any time, plus ten of their latest Digests. We have rolled this out to all of our mobile app users, so if you don’t see it or something isn’t working as expected, let us know. If you don’t have the app yet, but want to see these updates for yourself, you can download the app on the App Store or Google Play. Our readers value the story recommendations they find in their Digest. We expect this will make the Digest even more powerful at helping readers find and read the stories and writers they’ll love. * * * The email Digest is how millions of Medium readers find stories. Now we’ve brought it to the app was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### Designing with soul + how to work with every type of person (Issue #343) Insects can be scary (like wasps), gross (like cockroaches), and annoying (like the ants that somehow made their way into my two-pound honey jar last week). They’re also essential to our survival: Bugs great and small are crucial members of ecosystems across the globe, whether they’re pollinating suburban flowers or breaking down leaves and dead animals on the forest floor. But as Christopher Halsch recently wrote in The Conversation U.S., humans are contributing to serious declines in insect populations. (Perhaps you’re familiar with the windshield phenomenon?) As we’ve done with so much of the natural world, we humans haven’t been very good at showing insects our gratitude. Recently, a research group called Status of Insects reviewed hundreds of studies regarding insect decline. They found a few primary causes: intensive agriculture, climate change, pollution, invasive species, and habitat loss. So what can individuals do to support these small but mighty creatures? Well, Halsch writes, we can plant native species to help local bugs thrive. (He also mentioned dimming artificial lights, which can trap and kill certain species, at night.) Recognizing our interwoven relationships with insects is also an important part of repairing ecosystems. Have you, perhaps, realized that your seasonal allergies have gotten worse in the last year? As climate change “supercharges” pollen, it’s also killing off bee populations, which are crucial to collective survival: Bees pollinate one third of the world’s food supply. Bees can also help us with those allergies; many people believe that local honey can help the pollen-averse, basically by inoculating them with trace amounts of pollen. As someone who, just this morning, enjoyed a morning cup of tea while watching a tiny, neon-green inchworm find its way across a stone step, I also think that observation of insects can remind us, on a personal and collective level, of our place in the world: Not as rulers with the right to destroy anything in sight, but as simply another set of beings trying to make sense of the strange surface on which we find ourselves. Scientists have recently begun to think that bugs are indeed sentient. This means that, when we swat and smush them, they feel pain. It’s something to consider as we move through the world that these insects work so hard to maintain. — Marian Bull ### **Discussion-worthy stories** * Why do so many people think fonts just *feel* better a Mac than a PC? It boils down to rendering philosophy. Apple products display text true to how the design would appear in print, whereas Microsoft opts to focus on precise pixel placement. (Kartscrut) * Researcher and service designer Dr Urvashi Sharma reflects on what’s missing from a lot of government, academia, and design consultancies: designing with soul. She describes it as balancing user needs with cultural fluency, compassion, and systems thinking. * Vinita breaks down how to work with every kind of person on your team, complete with actual conversational prompts you can use. For naysayers: “Challenge them to contribute by asking for solutions instead of only sharing critique.” For eternal optimists: “Balance their enthusiasm with practical follow-through.” ### **Your daily dose of practical wisdom: on empathy as an entrepreneurial skill** “Anger destroys opportunity.” _—_ _Aaron Dinin, PhD_ _, in_ _What Smart Founders Do When VCs Say No_ _Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter.__Sign up here_ _._ _Edited and produced by_ _Scott Lamb_ _ & __Carly Rose Gillis_ _Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us:__tips@medium.com_ _Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and_ _join a community that believes in human storytelling_ _._ * * * Exploring our relationship to bugs as fellow beings was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### Reflections five years after George Floyd & how to prove your inner critic wrong (Issue #342) I’ve always been ambitious. But I’ve also always been suspicious of that ambition, wondering if it’s a genuine hunger or just a prettier name for insecurity. Maybe I’m just desperate to avoid feeling ordinary. Physician Charles Black M.D. makes a thoughtful case for ordinariness. He traces our cultural obsession with greatness to the American promise that anyone can achieve anything, and the shame that follows if you don’t. When we equate success with exceptionality, everything else starts to feel like failure. That mindset makes us allergic to the very things that make life feel good: quiet routines, small pleasures, simple relationships. Ordinary isn’t failure, he argues. It’s freedom. But maybe you can still be ambitious without needing to be great. In _Psychology Today_ , business school professor Jeff DeGraff defends ambition as an internal drive to shape your life in a way that feels meaningful. He draws from Emerson and American pragmatism to argue that ambition, at its best, is a form of self-trust. Not the need to stand out, but the decision to take yourself seriously. It means continuing to move and learn, even when the outcome isn’t guaranteed. I agree with DeGraff that ambition can be a way of staying connected to what matters. I like striving. It gives shape to my days. It gives me something to care about. But ambition can also become compulsive, especially when it’s tied to the belief that being impressive is the only way to be loved. That idea often starts early and is hard to shake. In that case, anything short of exceptional feels like failure. What would ambition feel like if you didn’t need to prove anything? — Anna Dorn ### **Stories that will deepen your day** * It’s been five years since George Floyd’s death. William Spivey grew up just a few blocks away from where it happened and reflects on how much has (and hasn’t) changed since then. * Airports aren’t always just places of limbo. Pablo Pereyra explores how the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is itself a culturally important destination, sharing photos of its expansive art and history exhibits that offer museum-worthy education to any who may be able to slow down and look. * Product designer Mehekk Bassi shares deceptively simple tips on how to look at data with an emphasis on developing _insights_ instead of just studying inputs. This includes pushing yourself beyond charts and graphs; instead, tell stories of your analysis that inspire your team to understand why your discoveries are important. ### **Your daily dose of practical wisdom: about ignoring your inner critic** If you suffer from endlessly listening to a toxic inner critic, Jakob Ryce recommends doing something in direct opposition to whatever it’s telling you not to do. “Even the smallest acts of defiance against the darkness can shift something.” _Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter.__Sign up here_ _._ _Edited and produced by_ _Scott Lamb_ _ & __Carly Rose Gillis_ _Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us:__tips@medium.com_ _Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and_ _join a community that believes in human storytelling_ _._ * * * Ambition is the decision to take yourself seriously was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### First person stories, from Gaza to Cape Town (Issue #341) In last week’s newsletter, Carly Rose Gillis highlighted a recent study about the decline of lingering in American cities. And as a New Yorker, this idea is close to my heart: Just as I’m always looking for ways to pursue boredom, I love opportunities to enjoy a city without having to, say, pay $6 for a matcha latte. The study that Carly cited had me wondering _why_ we’ve lost the art of lingering — and how our cities have been designed to deter it. In New York, for example, libraries have been defunded, and commercial real estate seems to be the city’s biggest priority. Sitting quietly in the park often feels like an act of resistance. Other developments have also made cities less inviting, and even hostile. As Riley York has written, Hostile Architecture — design elements like uncomfortable benches and spikes — has filled cities and public spaces. These design elements deter unhoused people from sleeping in view of, say, shoppers at a mall. While they make the world inhospitable to the most vulnerable, they also make public space less accessible to those in need of rest, and they make lingering far less likely. “I remember more places having benches,” York writes, “and I couldn’t remember when they were taken away.” These articles made me think of a new publication called Third Place Zine, which celebrates “communal settings distinct from home (the first place) and work (the second place).” In the inaugural issue, Jen Louie writes about Columbus Park in New York’s Chinatown, which “offers a symphony of micro-interactions and physical activities that illustrate the vibrant sensation of our humanity, both personal and shared.” Louie lovingly describes the park as “chaotic,” a word I imagine the designers of hostile architecture don’t love. It reminded me of Samuel Delany’s idea of “contact” vs. “networking”: “networking” is the act of meeting up with people you already know: going to dinner with friends or lunch with coworkers, for example. “Contact” is the random, repeated interaction between strangers of different backgrounds that leads to sharing resources and creating a communal safety net. To my ear, “contact” and “lingering” and a park’s “symphony of micro-interactions” all share a similar energy. They gesture towards what the best cities offer: novelty, community, and interactions between strangers in an invigorating, lively, accessible environment. – Marian Bull ### **Highlights from first-person stories this month** > “To survive a suicide attempt is to become a ghost in your own life. You move through the world with the knowledge that death is a door you’ve already opened, and now it never quite shuts.” — Benj Gabun Sumabat writing about life in the aftermath, in What Happens If You Live the Next Day After a Suicide Attempt? > “One day, my father took me and my two sisters to try our luck at a bakery. The women’s queue was often shorter, often faster. But when we arrived, the bakery was suffocatingly packed — people shoving, jostling, and shouting. Fists flew as some tried to snatch loaves from each other.” — Samah Zaqout writing about trying to find food in Gaza as famine looms, in Famine, Fear, and the Fight for Bread > “I’m not going to play small just because the world is big. But don’t just take it from me: consider this African proverb that says, ‘When death comes to find you, may it find you alive.’” —Laura Katie Jackson writing about revisiting the scene of her assault in When the victim becomes the victor ### **Your daily dose of practical wisdom on choosing wisely** Real freedom isn’t the absence of consequences, it’s the power to choose which consequences you’re willing to live with. (Charles Black M.D.) _Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter.__Sign up here_ _._ _Edited and produced by_ _Scott Lamb_ _ & __Carly Rose Gillis_ _Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us:__tips@medium.com_ _Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and_ _join a community that believes in human storytelling_ _._ * * * Why we’ve lost the art of lingering was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### More consistent access to your readership through emails Image created by Jason Combs As a writer, you want your readers to easily find and read your stories, and we at Medium want the same thing. Last month, we made a product change to make it easier for readers to stay up to date with your latest stories. Now, when readers follow you, they can subscribe to notifications about every new story you publish. Since we released that feature, we’ve seen a 7x increase in the number of email subscribers. In short, readers are choosing to get notified about your latest writing a lot more than they were before. Image created by Jason Combs We expect that number to go up even more, as we’ve added that new flow all over Medium — in the search results, the home page, the notifications page, both on the web page and in the app. Images created by Jason Combs ### When readers control their emails, your reach increases We know readers want to have control over who they follow and how they get your stories. Writers want more of their readers to have a direct line to their writing. As we tested this new feature, we found that readers were much more likely to subscribe to get your story updates if they don’t have to provide an email address. That’s why we decided that for these new email notifications, writers would no longer get direct access to these email addresses or be able to download them. We know some writers are trying to use Medium to grow their owned email lists — if that’s you, and you’re frustrated that you can no longer do so on Medium directly, I encourage you to add a link to the newsletter platform you use to your bio, about page, or within your stories to give readers the option to subscribe to your emails there. ### Reaching new readers while keeping your readers informed We built (and are building) Medium to connect your most thoughtful and informed writing to new readers, even if you don’t already have an audience here. That’s what makes it possible for writers to thrive here even if they don’t have an existing audience, nor time to build one. The downside is that the same system creates inconsistency for writers who do have an audience. To address that inconsistency, we’ve been investing in email as a way for writers to consistently reach their audience, on their readers’ terms. We’ve been focusing on improving how writers can reach their audience on Medium, and we’re excited to see that writers are feeling more connected to their audience and excited to share their stories after we made the change. The number of stories you publish on Medium has gone up 25% in the last two months (and yes, we checked that that doesn’t include spam!). We hope these changes will make it even easier for readers who love your work to get your stories as soon as you publish them. * * * How a design change is leading to 7x more email subscribers across Medium was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### There are five criteria you need to meet to join Image by Jason Combs The Medium Partner Program is how we pay writers for their stories. When you publish a story on Medium, you can choose to put it behind the paywall like this: Screenshot taken by Zulie When you paywall a story, only a paying Medium Member can read it. When a paying Medium Member reads your story, you earn some money for that story. If you’re interested in applying, there are five criteria that you’ll have to meet. Prefer watching? Here’s a three-minute video about joining the Medium Partner Program: https://medium.com/media/4f9e45dc99cca760cde9b095fcb71cdb/href ### 5 criteria for joining the Medium Partner Program First of all, you have to **be a Medium Member** yourself. As a Medium Member, you get to read unlimited stories, both paywalled and not paywalled, all across Medium. It also means that you get to paywall your stories. Second, you need to have **published a story in the last six months**. Third, you have to **be located in an eligible country**. Last year, we expanded the number of countries we can support, so if you’re worried that your country might not be allowed, I encourage you to double-check. Here’s the blog post where we talk about the expansion: We’ve added 77 countries to the Medium Partner Program And here’s the full list of countries that we support in the Medium Partner Program. Fourth, you have to **be over the age of 18**. And fifth, you have to **agree to the****Medium Partner Program Terms & Conditions**. ### How to enroll in the Medium Partner Program Head on over to https://medium.com/partner-program. From there, select Apply Now. You’ll select your country, hit next, and you’ll run into this onboarding wizard that takes you through those five criteria I mentioned above. Once you’ve completed those steps, you’re officially enrolled in the Medium Partner Program and can earn money for your writing on Medium. You will have to create and connect your Stripe account to get your payouts, and you’ll also need to submit some tax documentation. Here are two support articles that walk you through those areas: * Setting up payouts with Stripe * Common questions about taxpayer information And of course, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to raise a support ticket with the support team, who will help you get on your feet. Submit a request - Medium Help Center Now that you’re enrolled, you’ll be able to access your Medium Partner Program dashboard and see exactly how much money you’re earning from your stories. If you have any questions, let me know in the responses below! * * * How to enroll in the Medium Partner Program was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### Changing your personality, changing your phone habits, and changing your evening routine (Issue #340) Humans have always been preoccupied with creating images of ourselves. Designer Darren Yeo analyzes the history of portraiture from oil paintings of kings to Ghibli-style AI selfies of Sam Altman. Across time, we’ve adjusted how we appear to fit a certain ideal. What’s changed is scale. Today, self-portraits aren’t just personal; they’re data, feeding AI systems trained to mimic our expressions, preferences, and styles. Yeo raises urgent questions about whether the rush to democratize image-making truly honors creativity or risks automating it out of existence. He warns that platforms profit from user data and attention while sidelining artists, but also notes that portraiture has always evolved alongside technology. With thoughtful design, AI might expand creative possibilities rather than erase the artist’s role. The challenge is making sure these tools serve creators and communities, not just corporate interests. In a darkly comedic piece, author Edie Meade satirizes the pursuit of perfect, optimized images at the cost of personal well-being in a story about begging a plastic surgeon to make her look like her Facetuned selfies. Meade’s ideal face — sharp-jawed, glowing, cartoon-perfect — is actually a Day of the Dead sugar skull. When the surgeon warns her she might die, she doesn’t flinch. In a world where filters rewrite our features and beauty is measured by engagement metrics, Meade’s narrator chases the logic to its final form: If your real face doesn’t perform, why keep it? Together, these stories ask who controls the image, and why we’re so desperate to improve it. Yeo critiques the systems that commodify identity at scale. Meade parodies the user struggling to keep up. When tools are this powerful, it’s easy to doubt your unfiltered self. But the real question isn’t appearance — it’s authorship. In the age of AI, we face a choice: let fear shape how we see ourselves, or use these tools to reflect what makes us human. — Anna Dorn ### **🆕 3 new perspectives for your Tuesday** * Rather than being a fixed thing, your personality actually changes throughout the course of your life (studies show this happens most profoundly after age 60). Those changes are within your control; if you’re trying, say, to become more open-minded, taking a new class or visiting a place you’ve never been before can help. (Kathleen Murphy) * The U.S. could potentially be a much larger source of the rare earth minerals that tech companies need for hardware without opening new mines, via “waste mining,” a high-intensity form of recycling. (The New Climate) * Want to change your relationship to your phone? Just start by tracking your weekly habits, without judgement, then remove the app that’s the biggest offender. “Track your attention like you track your money. You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” (Jano le Roux) ### **😴 Your daily dose of practical wisdom on routines** No matter how strong your morning routine might be, it’s won or lost the night before. **_Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter._****_Sign up here_**** _._** _Edited and produced by_ _Scott Lamb_ _ & __Carly Rose Gillis_ _Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us:__tips@medium.com_ _Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and_ _join a community that believes in human storytelling_ _._ * * * What AI selfies tell us about ourselves was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### What you need to know about Claude 4 & tips for how to read scientific studies skeptically (Issue #339) Some histories of Memorial Day in the U.S. are rooted in an 1868 proclamation, but the annual holiday can be traced back even further to 1865, when a crowd of 10,000 (most of whom were formerly enslaved Black citizens) gathered in Charleston, South Carolina, to honor fallen Union soldiers who fought for their freedom. “America’s first memorial day became a celebration of Black liberty and patriotism, but racism blocked an opportunity for the nation to commemorate,” writes Dr. Allison Wiltz. She goes on to describe the totality of this narrative erasure from history — the cemetery where that first gathering took place is no longer there, replaced by a park honoring a Confederate general. Another oft-forgotten story from U.S. military history: Did you know some families in other countries choose to adopt the graves of U.S. soldiers who died on international soil? Filmmaker Rob O’Brien interviewed a Dutch family who did just that for a 23-year-old WWII soldier from Michigan who died in a German village, just six months before victory was declared in Europe. The practice of adopting these graves lets families on both sides put aside nationalism to honor their unified fight against hatred and oppression. O’Brien remarks: “Both families talked about gratitude, reverence and kindness. They also spoke about love for him, the soldier — and his sacrifice — and for each other. We didn’t talk about war or the bloody WW2 endgame that played out just a few miles away. Love and kindness ruled.” – Carly Rose Gillis ### **➡️ What else we’re reading today** * The AI tool Claude just released a new version; here’s a useful guide to all the updates in Claude 4, including new extended thinking (ie, using web search to help answer questions) and coding tools. (Jim Clyde Monge) * If you’re trying to evaluate whether that scientific study you just read about is worth trusting, here are 10 simple questions to ask that can help you determine whether it’s credible — starting with “how large was the sample size?” (Elspeth Raisbeck) * Confessions of a Sweatshop Inspector is an incredible first-person account from a human rights inspector about visiting clothing factories in Taiwan and China in the late 1990s, which ends with the writer coming to a grim conclusion: “Hiring an industry-friendly ‘independent’ inspection company is the most cost-effective way for the manufacturers to maintain their profits while claiming to care about the people on whose sweat their profits depend.” (Joshua Samuel Brown) ### **💪 Your daily dose of practical wisdom on conquering imposter syndrome** “Recognize that you don’t have to be the world’s expert to be helpful to others.” — Karl Wiegers _Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter.__Sign up here_ _._ _Edited and produced by_ _Scott Lamb_ _ & __Carly Rose Gillis_ _Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us:__tips@medium.com_ _Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and_ _join a community that believes in human storytelling_ _._ * * * Memorial Day and forgotten stories was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### A better way to learn languages + ranking ‘Mission:Impossible’ movies (Issue #338) We’ve dedicated a few past issues to the decline of “third places,” which are venues for socializing that are not work or home. Think public libraries, parks, recreation centers — spaces that do not have a cost barrier and bring together people from different backgrounds. I hadn’t thought of _sidewalks_ as third places until I read this interview about how public behavior on sidewalks is changing with Dr. Arianna Salazar-Miranda, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and Data Science at the Yale School of the Environment. She led a study that looked at sidewalk activity in a few major U.S. cities over the span of 30 years (from 1980–2010). Some fascinating findings: * Pedestrians walked faster over time by an average of about 15% * The time that people spent lingering in these public spaces had declined by half * The percentage of pedestrians walking alone remained relatively stable (it increased only 1%) * However, “group encounters” declined (meaning fewer people interacted with each other in public) When metrics related to public interactivity decline, it can act as a warning signal. The benefits of diverse and active communities are extensive, yielding innovations and inventions that increase social capital and cohesion (_cue Jane Jacobs_). But these behavioral declines mean fewer people are getting those benefits, which could even be achieved on those humble sidewalks. Salazar-Miranda explains: > _If we shift public spaces away from being places of encounter and towards being thoroughfares, it could potentially hinder the ability of cities to create economic opportunity._ Her research offers concrete examples of how thoughtful planning can maximize sidewalks’ social potential: * Although the “15-minute city” planning concept is popular (which aims for residents to be able to walk to all their essential needs in that span of time), it may actually **_increase_** segregation in low income neighborhoods. To counter this, she highlighted the success of creating “bridging neighborhoods” **_between_** socioeconomically segregated areas. “For example, when amenities like plazas, shopping centers and boardwalks are located in strategic places that bridge low-income and high-income neighborhoods, there is reduced segregation.” * Another popular idea is Slow Zones, which are areas where car traffic is limited and streets reclaimed by pedestrians. Although some are skeptical of their usefulness, Salazar-Miranda’s study revealed some data-driven benefits: “We used Twitter (X) data to understand how many people come to Slow Zones, and how long they were staying. Despite the backlash, we found that Slow Zones double foot traffic and attract people from a wider range of neighborhoods into one particular place.” I don’t think I’ll look at the sidewalks of my neighborhood in the same way after this. — Carly Rose Gillis ### **Other stories for your Friday** * Trying to learn a language? Here are 20 science-backed approaches from a linguist and language teacher. (Viktoria Verde, PhD) * How one family took simple steps to reduce their carbon footprint — I’ve seen hundreds of versions of this topic, but this story, from a former Microsoft engineer, is practical and walks through the process that worked for one family. (Anand Cousins, Ph.D.) * _Mission: Impossible — Final Reckoning_ is out in theaters today, so here’s a ranking of all the M:I films from Fanfare. Does your favorite get the #1 spot? (Simon Dillon) ### **Your daily dose of practical wisdom** Mini habits can make a massive difference. One to try this weekend: do one thing a day without your phone. (Michael Hunter, MD) _Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter.__Sign up here_ _._ _Edited and produced by_ _Scott Lamb_ _Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us:__tips@medium.com_ _Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and_ _join a community that believes in human storytelling_ _._ * * * How better sidewalks make better communities was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### Catch up on Google’s latest announcements & why writing is good for everyone (Issue #337) Everything old is new again. That’s a core tenet of postmodernism, the mid-20th-century philosophy that upended ideas of originality and truth. It holds that contemporary culture is a remix, with endless layers of recycled stories, styles, and meanings. Nothing is truly original. Meaning depends on how we interpret what came before. That theory is now playing out everywhere, shaping how we see art, media, and even everyday life. Author Julio Vincent Gambuto speaks to contemporary remix culture in his article on HBO’s recent rebranding. In 2023, HBO dropped its name and became simply Max to compete with Netflix, filling its catalog with reality shows, kids’ programming, and unscripted filler. Now, less than two years later, it reversed course and reclaimed the HBO name. Gambuto argues this move isn’t mere nostalgia but a response to audiences craving quality and intentional storytelling — values rooted in HBO’s original identity. By circling back, HBO adapts to viewers overwhelmed by today’s flood of content. That impulse to revive what once worked is visible in marketing’s recent brand mascot revival trend. Marketing expert Chris Martin’s recent piece tracks how mascots like the Brawny Man and Cornelius the Cockerel are making a comeback, tapping nostalgia to cut through today’s crowded media noise. As with the HBO rebrand, Martin shows how revisiting familiar, trusted symbols helps brands and audiences navigate a fragmented cultural landscape. And graphic designer Benjamin Sledge shows how looking to simpler, analog habits offers relief from today’s relentless demands. As an Xennial (the micro-generation between Gen X and Millennials), he recalls a childhood spent riding bikes, breakdancing, and staying offline for hours. Today, he’s trapped in a loop between his computer, coffee maker, and bathroom. He’s now trying to reclaim non-digital habits as a way of reworking the past into his present routine. In a culture defined by the infinite scroll, the demand for more content fuels a constant recycling of familiar stories, styles, and symbols. It’s not just about nostalgia. In a postmodern world where originality is rare and meaning shifts through context, returning to what’s known is part of the remix. When everything is a copy, what makes something feel real? – Anna Dorn ### **📖 What else we’re reading right now** * Google’s big annual summit wrapped up on Tuesday; this synopsis hits all the major updates, and offers a key takeaway: “Yesterday marked the day Google stopped being a search company and became an ‘everything app’ company.” (Ignacio de Gregorio) * Last weekend, the Chicago-Sun Times printed an innocuous-seeming summer reading list; 10 out of 15 of the books listed were totally fake, AI-generated hallucinations. Writer Stewart Mason places the blame, rightly, not on the tools but on the people who use (or mis-use) them. * This is just one of those pieces that you need to read: Victoria Finucane writes movingly about miscarriage and having “an ordinary tragedy” that’s powerful precisely because it’s an experience shared by so many. ### **✍️ Your daily dose of inspiration** **“Everyone can and everyone should write.** Writing is good for us. Writing is human. There is nothing that makes someone a writer and someone else not a writer other than the act of writing. So please, sit yourself down and write if you want to write.” — Sarah Olson _Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter.__Sign up here_ _._ _Edited and produced by_ _Scott Lamb_ _ & __Carly Rose Gillis_ _Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us:__tips@medium.com_ _Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and_ _join a community that believes in human storytelling_ _._ * * * Why we’re yearning for nostalgia was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### An explainer on U.S. drug pricing, former President Biden’s cancer diagnosis, and using the Socratic Method at work (Issue #336) I grew up in Washington, D.C., surrounded by people who live and breathe politics. But I don’t remember any kind of shared civic spirit. Instead, I remember tribalism: reflexive opinions presented as inherently virtuous. And I could never bring myself to play along. For a long time, I saw my reluctance to participate in politics as a personal flaw. But German-American philosopher Hannah Arendt might have seen it differently. In a Medium story published by The Hannah Arendt Center, philosophy professor Roger Berkowitz draws from Arendt’s work to argue that joy — not outrage, not vigilance — might be the most radical response to political collapse. By “joy” he doesn’t mean cheerful activism or mindful news consumption. He means the kind of joy that shows up in music, in raising children, in watching a lover’s face. He explains that joy is “not naïve optimism,” but “rooted in the radical belief that the world, even as it is, is worthy of love.” And in dark times, that belief can be a way of staying human. Sociologist Elisabeth Becker-Topkara turns to another Arendtian way of resisting despair: continuing to speak. Writing from Heidelberg, where Arendt once studied, she reflects on the challenge of public dialogue in a fractured political climate. She describes moderating difficult conversations about Israel and Palestine by focusing first and foremost on seeking understanding — not to produce agreement, but to hold space for disagreement without dehumanization. For Arendt, speech wasn’t just about expression. It was how people remained visible to each other. Speaking, like joy, becomes a way of not shutting down. My refusal to engage with politics was never apathy. I cared a lot about resisting the pressure to pick a side, to echo the loudest voices, to perform certainty I didn’t feel. I wanted room for nuance, for conversation, for joy. I wanted to stay human. _–_ _Anna Dorn_ ### **📆 Medium stories to help you navigate today** * Trying to understand drug pricing in the U.S. and Trump’s recent executive order? Start here with this explainer from Dr. Jess Steier, which lays out why lack of price regulation and complex supply chains drive up prices, and how this latest move will (and won’t) effect what you pay at the pharmacy. * Epidemiologist Gideon M-K; Health Nerd addresses the question on many men’s minds in the wake of President Biden’s prostate cancer diagnosis: Should you get tested? The long answer is: This is one of the most complicated topics in epidemiology, and there are a lot of factors to consider. Short answer: “If you have a prostate and are aged 55–69, you might want to talk to your doctor about whether you should be getting regular PSA [Prostate Specific Antigen] testing.” * Dr. Allison Wiltz explains how the mixed media reaction to the burning of the Nottoway plantation in Louisiana is indicative of the U.S.’s unique relationship with these venues of historic tragedy. Although other countries usually convert sites of atrocities into awareness museums (or decimate them entirely), many plantations have been repurposed as commercially successful banquet halls or resorts. “They have become playgrounds for wealthy, predominantly White people, allowing them to bask in the allure of this period while overlooking the brutality of the system that produced it.” ### **🙋 Your daily dose of practical wisdom: ask more questions** Instead of always thinking you need to have the answers, try asking more curiosity-based questions at work and watch how it shifts your thinking — the Socratic method is one of the oldest tactics for deepening understanding, and it works just as well in the modern workplace as it did in ancient Athens. (John Polonis) _Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter.__Sign up here_ _._ _Edited and produced by_ _Scott Lamb_ _ & __Carly Rose Gillis_ _Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us:__tips@medium.com_ _Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and_ _join a community that believes in human storytelling_ _._ * * * Joy is the radical belief that the world is worthy of love was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### Two methods that take ~3 minutes Image created by Jason Combs Publications on Medium play a big role in helping find readers for your story. In this story, I’ll show you two ways to quickly find publications on Medium that are: 1. Active 2. Accepting submissions If you prefer watching, you can check out the video version here: https://medium.com/media/23cd09028a9fe45cce19f1364ccda643/href ### What is a Medium publication? A publication is a themed collection of stories. The theme can be just about anything you can imagine: product development, cooking, science, math, creative non-fiction. I’ve seen one about boba tea! They really run the gamut. The reason publications are so varied is that they are all run by a member of our Medium community, not Medium staff. These writers are so passionate about a specific topic that they want to run a publication and curate stories about one thing that they love. (Like boba tea.) Publications are a great tool for writers on Medium for a few different reasons. First of all, they help you**find your community** — both fellow writers and avid readers. When you publish in a publication on Medium, you’re going to be virtually hanging out with a bunch of people who love to write about the same thing that you do, whatever that passion is that you all share. It’s also a great way to find some regular readers, people who choose to follow a publication because they are interested in the same topic. Secondly, it’s a good way to **get feedback on your story** before you hit that publish button. Every editor is a little different, so editing styles range from very hands-on to more hands-off, but many on Medium are proactive and involved in the editing. Personally, my writing has benefited from going through the editing process with Medium editors from countless publications. There is the obviously good side of editing, like when an editor catches typos before you publish. But even if an editor rejects your story, that’s feedback. Yes, it’s negative feedback, which nobody likes, myself included, but even rejection can tell you something about your story — maybe it wasn’t quite the right fit for that audience, or needed slightly more editing than the editor was willing to provide. Take another look at the guidelines, read your story with fresh eyes, and try again. ### How to find publications for your Medium story Here are two quick ways (less than three minutes!) to find a Medium publication that is active and open to submissions. #### Medium’s huge list of publications accepting stories The first method is this list of publications open to submissions that we, Medium staff, maintain: Medium's Huge List of Publications Accepting Submissions As I write this story, there are over 400 publications on this list! On this list, we’ve linked to the submission guidelines page. We’ve also tagged the topic that this publication focuses on. For example: Wellness, menopause, life lessons, self-improvement, you name it, it’s on this list. Screenshot of several publications on our huge list Scroll down the list until you find one that fits your story draft or story idea. Or, just let yourself get inspired by the publications you see before you and the rich breadth of topics they cover. Click on the pub’s submission guidelines and learn what they’re looking for. #### Use Medium’s Explore Topics page The second method is using Medium’s Explore Topics page. Scroll on the Explore Topics page until you find one that looks like the topic that you have in mind. Screenshot of the Explore Topics page You can also use the search bar to look for a topic page. Screenshot of the search bar on the Explore Topics page Once you’ve found the topic that best suits your story, go to that page. For instance, say you have a draft about your great-grandmother’s favorite cookie recipe. You can check out the Food topic page and look for publications that frequently show up on that page. A screenshot of stories on the Food topic page Each topic page shows a collection of stories that were published recently with that topic. If a publication is showing up here, that means that it is active. Go ahead and click on a few publications on that topic page. Look for some kind of submission guidelines in the navigation bar. They might be called “Write for us,” “How to submit to publication name],” “New writers click here,” and so on. For example, Tastyble has a tab called [Write for Us. Screenshot of Tastyble navigation bar These guidelines usually provide instructions on how to submit, some expectations for how quickly they’ll get back to you, and some guidance around what kind of stories the editors are looking for. Remember, every publication is run uniquely because every editor has a unique way of doing things. Make sure to carefully read the submission guidelines for every new publication you’re considering. I also encourage you to read a few of the stories published in your target publication to get a sense of what the editor and readers of a publication might like. ### Submit your story Now you know two simple ways to find a good fit publication for your story. Once you’ve found a publication you like the look of, follow their process to be added as a writer. When you’re added as a writer, you can go to your draft page, select the three dots at the top right, and hit “Add to publication.” There you’ll see a list of the publications where you’ve been accepted as a writer, and can submit your story. Read more info about that process here. Just keep in mind that these methods will only provide possible contenders. You, the editor, and your story’s readers will determine if that publication is a good fit for your stories or not. You may find you prefer to work with some editors more than others. You may find one publication’s readers are more receptive to your stories than others. The only way to find out is to write, submit, publish, and try again. Enjoy the process! If you have any questions, let me know in the comments. * * * How to find Medium publications accepting submissions was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### Draft Day stats, Medium stories from new writers, and nuance beyond the headlines Photo taken by Pratibha Singh, modified by Jason Combs Last month, 350 people joined Draft Day 2025 in the live Zoom event, dug through their drafts folder on Medium, found a dusty draft, polished it up, and pressed publish on that story. Some did that more than once! Medium writers who participated in Draft Day published over 500 drafts altogether. We were joined by the editors of 24 publications who coached, encouraged, polished, and otherwise helped writers get their drafts over that publish finish line. The energy on Draft Day was electric, despite the fact that most of the event took place in a quiet Zoom Room where we were just heads-down, working on our writing. Every so often, someone would announce a draft had been sent off to its readers, and we’d all cheer that writer on, akin to someone crossing the finish line after a long, hard race. Those 350 Draft Day participants got something done that many people only ever dream of: they overcame their fears, got over procrastination, and shared their story with the world. Together, we wrote about lessons from 42 years of running, experiencing temples and shrines in the forest of Nikko, the beauty in caregiving, the joy of solving math problems to get WiFi passwords, and, naturally, what makes one become a writer among many, many other topics. (Thank you to Normi Coto, PhD, Pratibha Singh, Cassie McDaniel, BL, and Rubi Joshi respectively!) Outside the event, we weren’t alone. Almost 30,000 people published their first story on Medium in April. Close to 100,000 writers overall published one or more stories on Medium last month. And if you’re feeling that itch? You’ve got the seed of an idea, but something’s holding you back? Head on over to story.new and start typing. Everyone’s got a story to tell, and only you can tell yours. — Zulie @ Medium ### By the numbers In a snapshot, here’s what readers, writers, and editors did on Medium in April 2025: * 9+ million: How many times Medium readers clicked on their Daily or Weekly digest * 53k: How many stories were submitted to Medium publications * 10,000+: How many readers clapped for the ten most popular stories on Medium ### Dispatches from the people who were there We all read the news, but some people _live_ the news. They either experience an event first-hand that the rest of us only hear about, or they have a personal or professional window into it that the rest of us don’t have. Some of those folks come to Medium to share their perspective on what’s going on. Want a deeper insight into a few of those headlines? Read on. * What Pope Francis was really like, from one-time staffer Daniel B. Gallagher * Tens of millions of people lost power in Spain and Portugal on April 28th. Charlie Brown was there when it happened * Lawyer John Polonis talks about the need to investigate the possible insider trading that occurred just before President Trump’s sweeping tariffs announcement ### Older gems that resurfaced this month Beyond headlines and news stories, there are some stories that our readers come back to months or years after they were first shared on Medium, because the wisdom or perspectives they hold are still valuable. Here are a few of the most-read stories this month that _aren’t_ new. * In January 2025, professional editor Maria Cassano shared the five phrases that tell her you used ChatGPT in your writing * In February 2020, The NYT Open Team infosec specialists Kristen Kozinski and Neena Kapur walked through how to remove your personal info online * In March 2022, veteran, author, and mental health specialist Benjamin Sledge addressed _why_ Russia invaded Ukraine ### First-time writers In honor of Draft Day, we want to share some meaningful stories from Medium writers who published their inaugural Medium story in April. Here’s to many more! * AI DevOps researcher Elena Cross wrote a slightly tongue-in-cheek take: “The “S” in MCP Stands for Security” * Medium writer AB Teacher Data shared an interesting take on their negotiations with a teacher’s union * Maria Keckler, Ph.D. explained how “strategic curiosity” is the skill you should have if you want to be an effective leader * Former binge-drinker Sober-ish broke down, from a scientific perspective, why your brain feels so awful after you quit drinking. (Short answer: because it’s healing.) * Congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh shared what the first month of running for office in Illinois’ Ninth District has been like * Freelance software engineer and consultant Hiroaki Jay Nakata wrote about how he broke the world record for proving a three-century-old math conjecture ### Hits off Medium While Medium is a home for readers to come and discover stories on the web and on the app, many of our stories find their audience when readers discover and share them on Reddit, X, LinkedIn, Facebook, email, or elsewhere. Here are some of the most _externally_ popular stories published on Medium this month. * Animator and Synthographer Fabian Mosele examines brainrot through the lens of AI-generated Italian Brainrot Animals (found and shared on Instagram, Google) * Professional gambler and licensed attorney Elihu Feustel breaks down a $352k gambling dispute between Caesars and suburban Chicago man Thomas McPeek (found and shared on Google, email, DMs) * Wizards of the Coast game designer Ari Nieh provided a detailed breakdown of how she fixed White, the least-loved card color for Magic: the Gathering (found and shared on Reddit, email, DMs) * Michael M, Software Dev/Data Analyst, wrote a searing defense of _From_, which he believes is the most brilliant sci-fi ever written (found and shared on Reddit) * Writer ahi wrote a 44-minute NSFW story set in the JayHoon alternate universe, which is based on the relationship between two members of South Korean boy band ENHYPHEN (found and shared on X) * Coder Ali ghahremani wrote a story about polymorphism in the programming language Rust (found and shared on Reddit, this-week-in-rust.org) ### Medium product updates In April, we made two publicly-facing improvements to Medium. * _Follow and subscribe to a writer in one click_ : It’s now easier to get email notifications about stories from writers you follow, and for writers to grow their audience. Previously, the options to follow and get notified about a writer’s new stories were available separately, but now you can easily do both in one spot. Read more about it here**.** * _Responses to unlisted stories are now public_ : We’ve fixed how responses work on unlisted stories. Instead of being unlisted like the story itself, now new responses will be visible to everyone reading the unlisted story. Writers will also get notifications when anyone responds. Many writers and readers let us know about this bug, so we’re thrilled to ship a fix. _For more great stories from Medium’s writers and publications, check out our_ _Staff Picks_ _. To learn something new from Medium writers every weekday, subscribe to_ _the Medium Newsletter._ * * * It happened on Medium: April 2025 was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### _Be your own healthcare quarterback, a poem of forgotten passwords, & career change encouragement (Issue #335)_ In writing about the on-going enshittification of tech jobs last month, Cory Doctorow mentioned a phrase that has been pinging around my brain ever since: “Vocational awe.” He defined it as “the feeling that your work matters so much that you should accept all manner of tradeoffs and calamities to get the job done.” Librarian and academic Fobazi Ettarh coined the phrase in 2018, writing about burnout and low salaries among librarians and library staff; it’s since come to be used as a critique for a wide range of industries where the moral importance of the mission can be used to ask for sacrifices from workers, from non-profits and nursing to education and journalism. For many people, there’s a hierarchy of needs at play at work. Finding a job that pays? Step one. Finding a job _you like_ that pays? Now we’re talking. All that plus a job that makes the world a better place? Jackpot. That’s the dream, right? But here’s where things get tricky: That third layer, the mission, can be used to undermine the first two. Employers — or whole industries — lean hard on the nobility of the cause to excuse low salaries, long hours, scope creep, and overwork. If your work is for a good cause, the logic goes, shouldn’t that be reward enough? That’s vocational awe in action, it turns purpose into pressure. And it’s especially potent in fields where the mission _is_ the draw — where people don’t just work a job, but feel called to it. So what can you do? Two useful pieces of advice: 1. **Calibrate your expectations.** In “The Burnout Puzzle: The Role of Expectations, Boundaries, and Ego,” Harvard Business School executive Carin-Isabel Knoop (on Humans in the Digital Era) uses the analogy of the difference between a thermometer (rising a falling with the temperature) and a thermostat (detecting changes and adjusting): “The difference between burnout and resilience lies in how we manage our internal thermostat.” 2. **Understand the bigger picture (including yourself).** I love the question that Sara Wachter-Boettcher posed at the end of her story from last year, “Making meaning” and the struggle between finding meaning in work and being consumed by it: “Where _can_ my work support the things that give me meaning — and what are the ways that it _can’t_?” It is possible to both believe deeply in the mission _and_ believe you deserve better. Those things aren’t in conflict. In fact, they’re both essential to making the mission actually work. — Scott Lamb ### **What else we’re reading** * A nurse in the U.S. walks through how and why medical errors happen in the healthcare system, and gives this sage advice: Be your own quarterback for your healthcare, never assume the system is working for you. (Andrea Romeo RN, BN) * Jessie J. Smith just received her doctorate in Information Science/AI ethics (congrats!), and documented her 297-week journey through academia on Medium by sharing the weekly “mission statements” she wrote for herself along the way — an inspirational experiment any of us could learn from, but also really interesting for seeing how her considerations re: AI and machine learning evolved during that nearly six year period. * A lovely poem for the often-online amongst us (aka all of us), We Made a Bed from Forgotten Passwords by Ismael S Rodriguez Jr (The Bulletproof Poet). Here’s the first stanza: > We made a bed from forgotten passwords, > threadbare phrases left behind by sleepy minds — > a mattress stuffed with half-remembered logins, > security questions whose answers > we stopped knowing long ago. ### **Your daily dose of practical wisdom** Do you want to change your career? Just do it, says Amy Ma, even if the statistics seem initially disheartening. “Don’t be afraid of probabilities. Even 99.999999% is not 100%. If you’re worried about the outcome, stop thinking about the outcome. Just do it for fun, for your mental health, for the chance to live without regrets.” _Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter.__Sign up here_ _._ _Edited and produced by_ _Scott Lamb_ _Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us:__tips@medium.com_ _Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and_ _join a community that believes in human storytelling_ _._ * * * Are you trapped by “vocational awe”? was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### Tapping into a community of designers who love to write and writers who love to design. Image created by Jason Combs So, you’re a designer. You make things clear. Make things beautiful. You wrestle with complex challenges for brands and users; you spend your days immersed in pixels, prototypes, and problems that need solving. How about words? Not just the microcopy you use in your designs — real thoughtful, long-form writing. That’s certainly a tool you should consider adding to your stack. For me, the journey with writing began nearly two decades ago, back when I was just getting started in design. My head was full. Too full, maybe. You know how it is when you’re learning a ton of new stuff — exciting, but overwhelming. Writing was how I untangled it. It became my way to capture those insights, to make sense of them, and solidify them in my own mind. It started as a personal practice, a way to document my growth, but it quickly evolved into a consistent habit that has profoundly shaped my career in ways I could have never imagined it would. That simple act of regularly putting my thoughts and experiences into words, and connecting with a broader community through that writing, has opened up so many doors throughout my career. It’s led me to meet countless inspiring people from all over the globe, brought unexpected invitations to speak at conferences, and has been instrumental in helping me find and hire many of the talented designers I work with today. And Medium has obviously been a big part of that over the years. If you’ve heard of Medium but aren’t quite sure what it is, or more importantly, what it can do for _you_ as a designer, you’re in the right place. This isn’t just another platform to scroll through endless feeds; this is a space where you can build your brand, connect with your peers, sharpen your skills, and share your unique perspective. Let’s dive in. ### What exactly is Medium and how does it work? Medium is a platform for people with good ideas to share. While the rest of the internet keeps getting busier and louder year after year, Medium feels like a quiet place — a place for longer-form writing and deeper reflection. Here’s the gist: * **Anyone can write:** From seasoned industry leaders to those just starting out, Medium is open to all voices. * **It’s all about discovery:** Medium uses a combination of human curation and algorithms to surface interesting stories to readers based on their interests and reading history. * **Publications:** These are like specialized magazines within Medium. Many are run by individuals like myself (with the UX Collective), while others are official blogs for major companies (think Microsoft Design). Getting your work and writing into a relevant publication can significantly boost your visibility. For designers, this means you have a built-in audience who is interested in design, tech, and creativity, and a platform designed to make your thoughts reach others. ### Why should designers bother writing on Medium? You’re busy. You’ve got actual design work piled up. Why add writing to the mix? The benefits may change depending on where you are in your career, but here are a few: **Building your portfolio beyond the pixels:** * For early-career designers: Writing about your process, the thinking behind your design choices, or even a full case study may add another dimension to your portfolio. It demonstrates your ability to articulate your ideas, a crucial skill for any designer. Think of it as the “director’s commentary” for your design work. * For more senior designers: You’ve got a wealth of experience but you might not be able to talk publicly about your work due to non-disclosure agreements, or you might simply lack the time to put together a full portfolio. Writing allows you to share your expertise and thought leadership on an ongoing basis while staying connected with the broader design community. **Building community:** I’ve lost count of how many great designers I’ve met because of the Medium community. Writing and publishing your thoughts can create opportunities to find mentors, collaborators, or even land your next job opportunity. Your journey into design, your career pivots, the lessons you’ve learned — these are stories only _you_ can tell, and they can inspire and guide others. **Sharpening your craft:** Writing is a powerful tool for professional development — it’s a secret weapon most designers don’t use enough. The act of writing forces you to clarify your thoughts. Explaining a complex design decision or a research finding helps you understand it better yourself. This skill translates directly into better design presentations and stakeholder communication. **Advocating for what matters:** Design isn’t monolithic. Your background, experiences, and passions shape your design philosophy. Medium is a place to share that — whether you’re passionate about accessibility, inclusive design, sustainability, or any other topic that’s meaningful to you. ### Navigating publications On Medium, you’ll find everything from tactical UI tips, tooling how-tos, to high-level design strategy. And a key part of what makes this ecosystem special is **Publications**. Think of them as curated collections of articles around specific themes. There are a few benefits of getting your work accepted by existing publications on Medium. Publications already have an audience (often a bigger and more specific one than yours), which means your work gets in front of more of the right eyeballs, faster. Plus, when a respected publication gives your writing the nod, that sends people a positive signal about your work. And often, their editors are pretty good at making sure stories get seen, doing a lot of the promotional heavy lifting for you. For designers, there’s a rich variety of pubs on Medium: * Broad design publications: These cover a wide range of design topics (e.g., _UX Collective_, _UX Planet_ _,__Bootcamp_, _UX Magazine_, _Prototypr_, _Web Designer Depot_, _Design Nexus_, _Signifier_). They often have large readerships and are great for general design articles. * Niche publications: Focused on specific areas like UX research, UX writing, service design, or topics adjacent to the field of design (e.g., _Entrepreneurship Handbook_ _,__Data And Beyond_ _,__Women in Technology_ _,__Better Marketing_ _,__The Writing Cooperative_). * Company-specific design blogs: This is a fascinating aspect of Medium. Many leading tech companies (e.g., _Adobe Design_ _,__Microsoft Design_, _Lyft Design_,___Vanguard Creative_, _Wix UX_, _or even_ _Medium Design_) host their official design blogs on Medium. They use it to share their design culture, processes, case studies, and attract talent. Before you pitch your story to a publication, read the type of content they run. Does your article make sense for them? Look for their submission guidelines — usually a “Write for Us” or “Contribute” page. Then, make sure you’re sending them a solid, polished piece. Publications can be an incredible way of connecting with a broader audience on the platform. ### How to get started: what should you write about? The blank page can be daunting. Here are some ideas to get your gears turning: * **Your process:** Walk through a recent project (with permission, of course). What were the challenges? How did you approach them? What were the outcomes? * **A tool or technique you love (or hate):** Did you just master a new Figma feature? Have strong opinions on a particular research method? * **A lesson learned:** Reflect on a mistake or a surprising insight from your design work. It’s ok to talk about your failures and what you learned from them. * **A trend you’re seeing:** What is an observation you made that you haven’t seen many people talking about? And how can you back that up with real data and insights? * **A how-to guide:** What are some tips and tutorials you can share on how you get work done? These can be extremely helpful for designers who are starting now in their careers. * **A case study:** What’s a project you’ve done that you’re really proud of, and that you think is worth documenting? * **Book reviews or conference recaps:** Share key takeaways from design books you’ve read or an event you attended. The key here is to start small. You don’t need to write a magnum opus for your first article. A 300–500 word piece on a focused topic is a great way to begin. And don’t forget the visuals: as designers, we know the power of a well-chosen image or a clear screenshot. When writing for an audience of your peers, incorporating visuals isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s essential. Add images, diagrams, mockups, or even short prototypes of the experiences or concepts you’re describing. This makes abstract ideas more tangible, breaks up text, and helps readers more easily assimilate your points. Think of it as showing, not just telling. If you’re not sure where to start, reading on Medium is a great way to get inspiration — here’s some of my favorite recent stories from UX Collective. ### Staying human in the age of AI With the rise of AI writing tools, the value of _your_ actual voice, your real stories, your screw-ups, and your wins are even more valuable. The need for genuine human perspectives has never been higher. Lean into what makes your voice uniquely yours. The projects that went sideways. The late nights. What it _felt_ like. That’s the stuff a robot can’t make up. Let your personality shine through, whether you’re witty, analytical, or passionately expressive. Focus on providing nuance and critical thinking that goes beyond surface-level observations; explore the grey areas, ask tough questions, and weave your insights into real-world examples, even allowing for a bit of vulnerability. ### Your design voice matters Medium offers a pretty unique platform for designers to step beyond their design tools and share their thoughts, learnings, and career stories with a global community. Just as writing helped me capture and understand the whirlwind of new ideas when I first started in design all those years ago, it can do the same for you. Take that leap. Open up that new draft. Find that one topic that’s been quietly buzzing in the back of your mind, the one that makes your heart beat a little faster. Your voice, your unique experiences, your individual way of seeing the world as a designer — it’s time to let your voice be heard. **Start writing****.** * * * How to publish your design ideas on Medium was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### The tyranny of 30 & the window of tolerance (Issue #334) Last week, Just Norah wrote in Rooted about the quest for healthier instant noodles. The pantry staple, pioneered by Japanese-Taiwanese inventor Momofuku Ando in the 1950s, is a beloved touchstone for home cooks in Asia, and across the globe. Recently, cooks and companies alike have attempted to curb the nutritional downsides of instant noodles. K-pop idols have recommended a double boil that removes some salt and oil; companies have popped up selling protein ramen, “all natural” ramen, and cheffy air-dried noodles, with varying levels of success. (Norah recommends rice-based instant noodles for their nutritional benefits.) This got me thinking about the ways in which snack companies have recently tried to cash in on consumers’ desires for higher-nutrition, lower-processed foods of late. Recent studies have increased consumers’ fears of ultra-processed foods, a category that includes everything from ramen to Doritos to Weetabix. Combined with our current obsession with all things protein, this has left us with high-protein ramen, Khloé Kardashian’s dubious protein popcorn, and a whole lot of anxiety at the grocery store. As Norah writes, the nutritional labels on instant ramen and many other foods lack specificity, though it seems possible that soon, the U.S. will follow a handful of other countries by adding warning labels to ultra-processed foods. In this country, ultra-processed foods are heavily relied on in food deserts, where fresh food is less available; getting people to eat healthier foods is a complex combination of cost and access, not merely labeling, as food historian Juneisy Hawkins has written: “Access to fresh food matters, economic status matters, issues in the supply chain matter, systemic problems in the food system matter.” — Marian Bull ### **🔪 Also today** * America’s is obsessed “30 under 30 lists,” but the focus on 30 as an arbitrary dividing line comes at the cost of devaluing the accomplishments of people later in life; a lot of life’s most important skills — patience, perspective, discernment — can only come with more time and experience. (Jason Shen) * There’s a tension at the core of AI coding tools: LLMs tend to provide lengthy, complex solutions to user prompts, which also happen to cost more to generate and then iterate on. (fred benenson) * Manipulative insincerity — saying “yes” or “good job” just to keep things status quo — can be toxic at work, but it’s also starting to show up in the way LLMs respond to inputs from users. Spotting false praise early is key in either scenario; genuine praise tends to be specific and timely rather than vague, and behavior-oriented rather than personal. (Kim Scott) ### **🏃‍♀️ Your daily dose of practical wisdom on pacing yourself** If you’re trying to do something hard or new, you need to know your own “window of tolerance” — a metaphorical opening that expands or shrinks based on how much you can tolerate at any given time. When you’re rested, the window might be wide, but shrinks when you’re under stress; knowing it well means knowing when to push yourself. Image credit: Sonny Hallett _Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter.__Sign up here_ _._ _Edited and produced by_ _Scott Lamb_ _ & __Carly Rose Gillis_ _Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us:__tips@medium.com_ _Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and_ _join a community that believes in human storytelling_ _._ * * * The quest for healthier instant noodles was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### The life of a book + working in public (Issue #333) Meta recently released a research paper proposing an AI model called Audiobox-Aesthetics. It’s designed to predict how people might rate the aesthetic quality of audio by assigning scores across four categories: production quality, production complexity, content enjoyment, and content usefulness. Each clip would be divided into ten-second chunks, normalized for loudness, and evaluated by a transformer-based system trained on listener ratings. Former Pandora analyst Jeffrey Anthony is skeptical that beauty can be quantified. Beauty, he argues, isn’t something you can extract from a waveform. It depends on context and sequence, not clean averages. “Aesthetic meaning,” he writes, “is not something that emerges from a statistical averaging of disjointed moments.” He concedes the model could be useful for optimizing platform recommendations, but stresses that it can’t understand why a song moves a person. AI-generated images raise a similar concern for writer and activist Cory Doctorow. He argues that true art isn’t defined by fidelity or polish, but rather the accumulation of unconscious choices, each one shaped by a particular hand and mind. Without that thread of human intent, AI-generated images might be technically impressive, but they don’t communicate. Doctorow sees a lack of human intent as a fatal flaw of AI. But in my experience, intention can still guide the process. During a deep Midjourney phase a few years ago, I started generating portraits of my novel’s characters, just to see them more clearly. I crafted highly specific prompts, adjusted the outputs, and iterated through hundreds of versions until I got what I wanted. It wasn’t about handing over creative control, but about using available technology to help actualize my vision. The images helped me describe the characters in sharper detail. It felt intuitive, not mechanical. Anthony and Doctorow argue that AI can imitate the look or sound of beauty, but it doesn’t understand what makes it matter. Meaning comes from perspective, they say. I would retort that AI might not create with perspective, but it can reflect ours. And using these tools doesn’t always mean surrendering meaning. Maybe the better question isn’t whether AI can make beautiful things, but whether it can help us see our own beauty more clearly. — Anna Dorn ### **➡️ Stories we’ve been sharing** * On May 2, the Trump administration called for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts, and thousands of arts organizations across the U.S. had their grants canceled. Here’s a searchable, alphabetical list of those affected; chances are you’ll recognize some of the names on here. * Writer and illustrator Sophie Lucido Johnson shares the process behind creating her newest book, warts and all: “If you are interested in writing a book, I think you should do it. Here’s the story of this one.” * A surprising conclusion from a researcher after skimming thousands of academic studies, but is applicable to all of life: “Don’t judge the usefulness of your actions until you have given them enough time to surprise you.” ### **☕️ Your daily dose of practical wisdom on remote work** Work from home? Take your laptop to a public place the next time you’re on deadline. The ambient sounds of a library or cafe are a better distraction than the comforts of your own home. _Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter.__Sign up here_ _._ _Edited and produced by_ _Scott Lamb_ _Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us:__tips@medium.com_ _Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and_ _join a community that believes in human storytelling_ _._ * * * Can AI see beauty? was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### The “illusion of competence” + a guide to Eurovision (Issue #332) In April, biotech startup Colossal Biosciences unveiled two genetically engineered wolf pups, claiming they had brought the extinct dire wolf back to life. _Time_ put the pups on its cover. The word _Extinct_ was crossed out in red. The internet lost its mind. But two recent articles on Medium convincingly argue that the startup didn’t actually “de-extinct” the dire wolf. Instead, Colossal just made 20 genetic edits to a gray wolf embryo. Geneticist Sam Westreich, PhD calls the result a “mutant gray wolf,” meaning a modern wolf with a few cosmetic traits from its extinct relative. Biostatistician Liv L. Dobbs describes the project as a “poster child for GMOs,” suggesting savvy branding more than scientific rigor. Both Westreich and Dobbs argue that Colossal is less trying to revive a species and more trying to go viral. Backed by venture capital and valued at $10 billion, the company has promised to bring back the woolly mammoth, the dodo, and now the dire wolf. But as Westreich explains, the real product is not the animals themselves but the underlying gene-editing technology. By demonstrating the ability to modify multiple genes at once, Colossal positions itself to license the method for other uses, such as designing human embryos — a prospect that raises major ethical concerns. Dobbs warns that when companies overstate scientific achievements, they blur the line between innovation and illusion. Westreich is even more direct: This wasn’t about conservation, it was about attracting investors. The idea of de-extinction is emotionally charged. It reframes extinction as a technical challenge, not a permanent loss. It makes the past feel editable. But projects like Colossal’s risk turning real ecological grief into biotech spectacle. What happens when we confuse scientific progress with brand storytelling and believe the headline over the genome? — Anna Dorn ### **Three stories that will make 👏 your** 👏 **life** 👏 **easier** * Really trying to learn something new? These four simple steps will give you a framework for better learning: Focus, connect it to your life, vary mediums, and explain it back to someone else. Trying this with the next book I read. * The second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest is today. Curious about how the contest works, or, say, _why on earth Australia is competing?_ Here’s a guide for first-time watchers. * Finding an alternative to AI-generated imagery is easier than you think; artist Jason McBride offers up 12 free alternatives, including making your own collages (easy, crafty) and simply emailing an artist to see if you can include their work (simple, surprising, collaborative). ### **⚡️ Your daily dose of practical wisdom on battling writer’s block** When you’re staring down the terrifying emptiness of a blank page, nothing helps quite like having a model — from storyboarding with index cards to an index of ideas in your notes app, a reliable model is a creative’s best friend. _Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter.__Sign up here_ _._ _Edited and produced by_ _Scott Lamb_ _Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us:__tips@medium.com_ _Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and_ _join a community that believes in human storytelling_ _._ * * * No, dire wolves are not back from extinction was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### How to stay grounded, advice on non-stick pans, and some new gleeks for your Wordle strategy (Issue #331) What happened to the five-minute song? Most hits today clock in at around three minutes, streamlined for maximum replay value and minimal risk of a skip. Culture writer Daniel Parris set out to answer a deceptively simple question: What’s the ideal song length? He expected a tidy number. Instead, he found a gap between data and behavior. Using listener data from AccuRadio — a human-curated streaming service that logs over 1.8 billion trackplays a year — he noticed a surprising pattern. Songs over seven minutes were rated higher and skipped less. But those stats were genre-skewed. Longer tracks tend to attract fans of genres that favor extended runtimes, like jazz and prog-rock, while pop and hip-hop listeners expect a quick hit before their thumbs wander. According to Parris’s analysis, 90% of streaming activity now falls within the two-to-five-minute range. This isn’t just personal preference, it’s structural. Streaming services pay per play, not per minute. Ten short tracks are more profitable than one long one. Algorithms favor songs that are short and addictive. As genre conventions tighten, so do runtimes. The “toilet track” — a longer song that gave radio DJs time for a bathroom break — has vanished, because there’s no commercial reason for it to exist. But streaming isn’t the only platform rewriting the rules. Music critic Shaad D’Souza observed last year in The Guardian __ that TikTok has become the industry’s launchpad for new music. When Universal Music Group pulled its entire catalog in protest over low pay and loose content protections, it broke the machine. Suddenly, TikTok creators had nothing to soundtrack their videos. Labels lost their main marketing pipeline, and new songs had nowhere to go viral. Because TikTok rewards short, catchy, and repeatable audio clips, artists and labels now write songs with those formats in mind. UMG and TikTok have since reached a new agreement, but the fallout revealed just how deeply the music industry had come to rely on TikTok — not just to promote songs, but to shape them from the start. Together, these two pieces show how platforms influence not just what music gets heard, but what music gets made. Streaming encourages brevity. TikTok rewards virality. That doesn’t necessarily make the songs worse. But it does narrow the range of what gets through. Both pieces made me wonder: Is my taste mine, or just platform conditioning? — Anna Dorn ### **1️⃣ One-line recommendations: Useful, applicable, mini advice** * Overwhelmed? Plant your feet and take a single, slow, deliberate breath in and out. (nancy colier) * For best results (and to avoid fumes), the best way to preheat your non-stick pots and pans is over low to medium heat, and never for more than 20–30 seconds. (Dim Nikov) * Switch up your Wordle strategy with any one of these five delightful, preposterous words — it’s not a gleek, these are real! (Jack Shepherd) ### **⏰ Your daily dose of practical wisdom on timeboxing** To get better at managing your schedule, a good rule of thumb is to take how long you think something (a task, a project) is going to take you, and then go ahead and triple it. (Nir Eyal) _Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter.__Sign up here_ _._ _Edited and produced by_ _Scott Lamb_ _Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us:__tips@medium.com_ _Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and_ _join a community that believes in human storytelling_ _._ * * * What’s the ideal song length? was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### The only reliable way to spot AI + an editing tip (Issue #330) Cognitive behavioral therapy calls them distortions: thoughts that lie, spiral, catastrophize. The ones that whisper you’re unlovable, a loser, an embarrassment. For writer and law student Chandrayan Gupta, they were relentless. Even after years of medication, depression clung to him. It wasn’t until he began CBT that things started to shift. He learned to identify distorted thoughts, like Just because I feel like a failure means I am one, and challenge them with facts. The tool was simple: two columns, Evidence For and Evidence Against. Over time, logic helped quiet the noise. Still, some beliefs remained. Gupta continues to feel love is out of reach. He knows the thought is irrational, but just can’t stop believing it. I’ve run into the same limitation with CBT. As someone who went to law school like Gupta, I’m good at logic. I can spot a distortion, build the case against it, cross-examine the thought like a witness. And still, part of me believes it. That gap between knowing something and being able to live differently with it is central to the work of psychologist Steven C. Hayes, featured in issue #324. In a recent article, Hayes critiques the traditional reliance on diagnostic categories like “depression.” Gupta carried that diagnosis for years, but the label alone couldn’t explain why his beliefs were so hard to shake — or how to loosen their grip. Hayes calls for a shift from labeling what people have to understanding how they relate to their thoughts and emotions over time. That idea underpins process-based therapy, and it’s most clearly expressed in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which Hayes co-developed. While CBT helps us name distorted thinking, ACT explores how those thoughts function and how we can respond to them in more flexible, values-driven ways. Essentially, ACT is about not _changing_ our behavior, but listening to it. Together, Hayes’s model and Gupta’s story show two sides of the same puzzle. Gupta shows how powerful it is to name your thoughts and challenge them. Hayes offers a path when challenging them isn’t enough. One gives clarity. The other gives motion. And both leave us with the same question: what if healing isn’t about correcting your thoughts, but learning to live with them? — _anna dorn_ ### **🖍️ Also today…** * When your kid outgrows a toy, use it to make art of your own. (Wildseer) * “The greatest educational fallacy… is that you can get it without stress.” — Jim Stockdale, _Thoughts of a Philosophical Fighter Pilot_ * The only reliable way to spot AI today, according to essayist Linda Caroll? Volume. “It’s a very, very rare human being who can churn out stories every day or even two or three stories every day without using AI.” ### **✍️ A dose of practical wisdom** “Revise toward brevity — remove words instead of adding them.” — Verlyn Klinkenborg, Several Short Sentences About Writing _Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter.__Sign up here_ _._ _Edited by_ _Scott Lamb_ _Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us:__tips@medium.com_ _Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and_ _join a community that believes in human storytelling_ _._ * * * Maybe healing isn’t about correcting your thoughts, but learning to live with them was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### Rules for dinner parties + the meaning of confidence (Issue #329) “I need a deadline,” a friend of mine used to say when they were struggling to get something done. They knew they _could_ do it, but if given seemingly infinite time they never would. I feel the same way. All the time. (Right now, actually, I’m writing this on a 30-minute deadline before a meeting.) My “timeboxing” habit — aka setting aside 30min or one-hour blocks for various tasks so I actually get them done — started during the pandemic, when time felt expansive and neverending (in an overwhelming and kind of depressing way!). Since then, I’ve used my calendar more or less as a reminder service, with to-dos stacked on top of each other for 30 minutes each. It’s a way to turn Parkinson’s Law (work expands to fill available time) to my advantage. Way back in the Medium archive, design leader David Sherwin shared his personal approach to developing short “sprints” for yourself so you can do things you care about. He adds some nuance to the habit, encouraging you to set super small chunks of time aside to get things done — think, 10 minutes or less. This compressed span of time is a true “time box.” “The more time you give yourself in a time box,” he writes, “the less likely you’ll be able to finish the task.” Sherwin notes that 10 minutes obviously isn’t enough to complete a complex task (like writing an entire newsletter) but it is enough to do one highly defined piece of it — like developing an outline. In Harvard Business Review, Neha Kirpalani cites one more advantage to mincing your day into small bits and noting them on your calendar: you’ll remember what you did. You’ll be able to look back at it tomorrow, next month, or next year. You’ll be able to, in Kirpalani’s words, better reflect upon and better articulate how you’ve spent your life. — _Harris Sockel_ ### **📖 My open tabs…** * Kristina Bogović, who edits AI for a living: “If AI is going to talk to us, it should speak in ways that don’t just inform — but also respect, soothe, and connect.” * Talent is like a wave: “it draws you in and lifts you up when you first realize that you have a natural skill.” (Anne Kullaf) * A rule for dinner parties in 2025, according to Priya Parker, author of _The Art of Gathering_: No one can say “I’m fine” or “I’m good,” and “If you laugh so hard you cry, you get the first bite of dessert.” ### **💡 Your daily dose of practical wisdom** “You learn to be confident not by realising that you’re great, but by learning that everyone else is just as stupid, scared and lost as you are. We’re all making it up as we go along, and that’s fine.” — School of Life _Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter.__Sign up here_ _._ _Edited by_ _Scott Lamb_ _Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us:__tips@medium.com_ _Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and_ _join a community that believes in human storytelling_ _._ * * * Put the smallest things on your calendar was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

#### A history of album art + the excesses of rationalism (Issue #328) When I first joined Medium, our CEO would occasionally Slack me about decisions I’d made. “I’m curious why…” he’d begin, before mentioning a story I’d curated or post I’d drafted. Honestly, this freaked me out at first. I took “I’m curious” to mean “I’m suspicious” or “I vehemently disagree but am trying to be polite.” It took me a solid year to figure out that, actually, he was literally just curious — and explaining the reasoning behind my decisions made me better at my job. In retrospect, I’m glad I had to do that. On Medium, behavioral researcher and author Maria Keckler, Ph.D., has a similar memory of a colleague (in Keckler’s case it was the VP of Operations at her former company) who led with curiosity. “What struck me most was what she didn’t do,” Keckler writes. “She didn’t jockey for airtime. She didn’t interrupt or grandstand or push her point. […] **Influence didn’t have to look like volume or certainty. It could look like curiosity, with an edge of empathy and wisdom**.” This is a pattern I’ve noticed among the friends and coworkers I respect most: they’re highly curious, but somehow generous about it, too. They ask clarifying questions so they’re sure they understand. They ask why and usually aren’t satisfied with the first answer. In another story from the Medium archive, Markham Heid argues that curiosity is the secret to happiness. Not only does psych research point to the fact that curiosity correlates with a decrease in cognitive and physical decline as you age, but “social curiosity” (an interest in people who are different than you) leads to stronger relationships. Curiosity is self-perpetuating, too: “The more you interact with new experiences or information,” a psychology professor quoted in the story explains, “the more you realize you don’t know, which makes further exploration more attractive.” Keckler recommends using AI to prompt curiosity. (I’ve done this, and it’s somewhat useful.) If you want to take a beat to think more deeply about something, use an LLM as a brainstorming intern. Give it the outline of what’s happening, and ask: * “What perspectives am I not considering?” * “What’s an uncommon counterargument?” * “What could go wrong or be misinterpreted?” _—_ _Harris Sockel_ **💿 We’re also reading…** * A Mayo Clinic doctor’s appointment booking hack: “Try to schedule your appointments earlier in the day. And an earlier appointment has less risk for the doctor to be getting behind. Sometimes the first appointment after lunch is ideal. Ask the scheduler for these time slots when you are making your appointment.” (Dr. Ed) * A brief history of advertising in NYC, which, according to Larissa Hayden: The Lecture Vault, became the industry’s epicenter because (due to geography) it was one of the United States’ early commercial centers — and wherever there are lots of people with money, there will inevitably be people spinning up innovative and surprising ways to sell them stuff. * The history of album art by former SoundCloud product designer Matthew Ström: Alex Steinweiss, a freelancer at Columbia Records in the ’40s, was convinced that the at-the-time boring brown record sleeves were tanking sales, and that record sleeve art would boost sales. Execs told him to prove it, and he did with this, the first piece of album art in history: _Steinweiss’ cover art for Columbia’s ‘Smash Song Hits by Rodgers & Hart,’ 1940_ ### **📐 Your daily dose of practical wisdom** “Rational insight is a powerful tool, and one of our worst excesses. When it becomes the only tool it brings about a mixture of certainty and naivety that makes minds brittle.” — Simon Sarris _Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter.__Sign up here_ _._ _Edited by_ _Scott Lamb_ _Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us:__tips@medium.com_ _Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and_ _join a community that believes in human storytelling_ _._ * * * Curiosity is self-perpetuating was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.