Brian Gongol
@briangongol.bsky.social
Make money. Have fun. Clean up after yourself. Mind your business.
Pinned
More than borrowed books
On public stadium financing, Ben Franklin's contributions to Philadelphia, and what self-respecting communities ought to think about their libraries
issues.eveningpostandmail.com
On public stadium financing, Ben Franklin's contributions to Philadelphia, and what self-respecting communities ought to think about their libraries (480 words) ⤵️
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/more-than-...
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/more-than-...
This might be the single worst take, on any topic, in the history of humankind.
Apple pie is bad. This is not really debatable. So is key lime pie, while we’re on the topic. Pecan pie is the 🐐 tho.
November 25, 2025 at 7:52 PM
This might be the single worst take, on any topic, in the history of humankind.
Shared with endorsement.
Friendship bonds are virtually always formed by shared experience. Everybody needs those friendships, and powerful people are no exception.
My favorite example: Warren Buffett *needed* Charlie Munger beside him to become the best version of himself. Find your Charlie.
Friendship bonds are virtually always formed by shared experience. Everybody needs those friendships, and powerful people are no exception.
My favorite example: Warren Buffett *needed* Charlie Munger beside him to become the best version of himself. Find your Charlie.
I think what breaks a lot of these guys is not having actual friends anymore. People who spend time with you because they like you, not because they hope you’ll make their dreams come true. Their only “peers” are their rivals, who they can be chummy with but desperately need to one-up.
November 25, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Shared with endorsement.
Friendship bonds are virtually always formed by shared experience. Everybody needs those friendships, and powerful people are no exception.
My favorite example: Warren Buffett *needed* Charlie Munger beside him to become the best version of himself. Find your Charlie.
Friendship bonds are virtually always formed by shared experience. Everybody needs those friendships, and powerful people are no exception.
My favorite example: Warren Buffett *needed* Charlie Munger beside him to become the best version of himself. Find your Charlie.
I'll take a world of roll-on deodorant, sweat-wicking fabrics, and no-smoking rules over the hazy illusion of better times in the past, even if that means I have to fly next to some bozo in a "Who Farted?" shirt.
A roundtrip LAX-JFK flight in the late 60s was around $3K in today’s dollars. The people who wore suits on those flights were the people who regularly wore suits. Complaining about informally-dressed fliers is complaining that the wrong sorts of people are flying today.
November 25, 2025 at 5:17 PM
I'll take a world of roll-on deodorant, sweat-wicking fabrics, and no-smoking rules over the hazy illusion of better times in the past, even if that means I have to fly next to some bozo in a "Who Farted?" shirt.
I've sincerely considered writing one on America's transition from an agricultural economy, through a relatively very short spell as an industrial one, to a service economy, and how that mapped directly onto our bizarre use of food for conspicuous consumption, ca. 1950-1980.
Need an agent, though.
Need an agent, though.
would love a good book on agronomy and geopolitical power, tbh.
Years ago I did a sorting project for a uni archive of all its old Ag center pamphlets. They offered easy-to-follow scientific advice for every conceivable crop or animal. All little things, but it adds up.
Many of these went back to the 40's or 50's and could be understood by the barely-literate.
Many of these went back to the 40's or 50's and could be understood by the barely-literate.
November 25, 2025 at 6:05 AM
I've sincerely considered writing one on America's transition from an agricultural economy, through a relatively very short spell as an industrial one, to a service economy, and how that mapped directly onto our bizarre use of food for conspicuous consumption, ca. 1950-1980.
Need an agent, though.
Need an agent, though.
Shared with endorsement.
“Capitalism forces you to wake up at 7am against your body’s natural rhythms” no that’s Taylorism and if you don’t like living in a society that coordinates effort to ensure a better outcome for all then I don’t think you’ll love the alternatives
November 24, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Shared with endorsement.
On Lehman Brothers, cold fronts, and the principles that really matter to public understanding of science and technology ⤵️
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/when-butte...
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/when-butte...
When butterflies screw up forecasts
On Lehman Brothers, cold fronts, and the principles that really matter to public understanding of science and technology
issues.eveningpostandmail.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:38 AM
On Lehman Brothers, cold fronts, and the principles that really matter to public understanding of science and technology ⤵️
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/when-butte...
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/when-butte...
I am all for the maximal free movement of goods, ideas, money, and people.
But I'm also for calling out the small-mindedness of parents who would ruin a childhood to do something like this.
But I'm also for calling out the small-mindedness of parents who would ruin a childhood to do something like this.
Meet the 'moral migrants' relocating from West to Russia with a 'Shared Values' visa
Meet the 'moral migrants' relocating from West to Russia with a 'Shared Values' visa
Imagine moving to a country you've never been to before, with a culture you have no knowledge of and with a language you're unable to speak. You're with your whole family, including three children. And your new home, not your old one, is at war with its neighbour.
news.sky.com
November 23, 2025 at 4:32 AM
I am all for the maximal free movement of goods, ideas, money, and people.
But I'm also for calling out the small-mindedness of parents who would ruin a childhood to do something like this.
But I'm also for calling out the small-mindedness of parents who would ruin a childhood to do something like this.
I have to courteously but firmly disagree with this take. If forced to fundamentally change our legislative branch, I would *add* a house of Congress to Article I rather than subtracting one.
Allocate the seats proportionally by something new: Occupation, education, age, or something else.
Allocate the seats proportionally by something new: Occupation, education, age, or something else.
And to add I do think that the senate should be abolished and we should have a proportionally based unicameral legislature if we care at all about democratically elected representative government.
November 22, 2025 at 2:24 AM
I have to courteously but firmly disagree with this take. If forced to fundamentally change our legislative branch, I would *add* a house of Congress to Article I rather than subtracting one.
Allocate the seats proportionally by something new: Occupation, education, age, or something else.
Allocate the seats proportionally by something new: Occupation, education, age, or something else.
Fun fact: 28 of the states have bigger populations today than the entire USA in 1790.
The whole point of Federalism is scalability. Individual states should have lots of capacity and lots of differentiation, with the Federal government around to unify *only* what expressly requires unity.
The whole point of Federalism is scalability. Individual states should have lots of capacity and lots of differentiation, with the Federal government around to unify *only* what expressly requires unity.
When you argue for electing presidents by popular vote, you're buying into the very modern idea that the president is a monarch, the embodiment of the nation, a single person who symbolizes America. The Founders, wisely, didn't want that. The presidency was never supposed to be this poweful. /2
November 22, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Fun fact: 28 of the states have bigger populations today than the entire USA in 1790.
The whole point of Federalism is scalability. Individual states should have lots of capacity and lots of differentiation, with the Federal government around to unify *only* what expressly requires unity.
The whole point of Federalism is scalability. Individual states should have lots of capacity and lots of differentiation, with the Federal government around to unify *only* what expressly requires unity.
"Much-needed rollbar" is the understatement of the week. I'm reflexively trying to duck down into my chair just from looking at this on screen.
Vintage Friday: The designation is a mouthful, but the Swedish Pansarvärnspjästerrängbil 9031 (Pvpjtgb 9031) was quite a nimble little vehicle. Mounting a 90 mm recoilless rifle and intended to slow down Soviet mechanized forces, this unit is an early one, as it lacks the much needed rollbar.
November 21, 2025 at 5:25 PM
"Much-needed rollbar" is the understatement of the week. I'm reflexively trying to duck down into my chair just from looking at this on screen.
Never discount the possibility that cluttering up your digital footprint with a bunch of AI slop will turn out, down the road, to look like decorating your entire house in yellow linoleum and green shag carpeting.
Today's hot trends almost always look dated and dumb in retrospect.
Today's hot trends almost always look dated and dumb in retrospect.
November 21, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Never discount the possibility that cluttering up your digital footprint with a bunch of AI slop will turn out, down the road, to look like decorating your entire house in yellow linoleum and green shag carpeting.
Today's hot trends almost always look dated and dumb in retrospect.
Today's hot trends almost always look dated and dumb in retrospect.
Shared with endorsement. The same goes for all kinds of things that are distributed unequally: We also need social scripts that show how to be a good person when you are unusually intelligent or gifted in other ways.
The rogue genius and the abusive auteur should experience social correction.
The rogue genius and the abusive auteur should experience social correction.
More people are very wealthy than ever before, and it’s important to give a clear social script for how to be a good person in that position. The culture of aristocratic paternalism has died and that space has been left vacant. Encouraging pro-social behavior means abandoning relentless cynicism.
November 20, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Shared with endorsement. The same goes for all kinds of things that are distributed unequally: We also need social scripts that show how to be a good person when you are unusually intelligent or gifted in other ways.
The rogue genius and the abusive auteur should experience social correction.
The rogue genius and the abusive auteur should experience social correction.
This kind of behavior needs to be crushed, ruthlessly and immediately, by the legal community itself. Fail to do that and the problem will spread faster than any weed.
November 20, 2025 at 1:11 AM
This kind of behavior needs to be crushed, ruthlessly and immediately, by the legal community itself. Fail to do that and the problem will spread faster than any weed.
Shared with endorsement.
In negotiations, it's almost always best to leave the other side an "out". The emergent problem is that the regime in question, through its own will, keeps foreclosing on every "out" that the rest of the world might want.
This bodes very, very badly for our future.
In negotiations, it's almost always best to leave the other side an "out". The emergent problem is that the regime in question, through its own will, keeps foreclosing on every "out" that the rest of the world might want.
This bodes very, very badly for our future.
"russia is not possibly dumb enough to..." okay but are you sure. the people making decisions are insulated and face perverse incentives that have nothing to do with common sense or national security
⚡ German forces have run urban warfare drills in Berlin amid growing concerns that Russia could regain the capability to strike NATO territory by 2028.
November 19, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Shared with endorsement.
In negotiations, it's almost always best to leave the other side an "out". The emergent problem is that the regime in question, through its own will, keeps foreclosing on every "out" that the rest of the world might want.
This bodes very, very badly for our future.
In negotiations, it's almost always best to leave the other side an "out". The emergent problem is that the regime in question, through its own will, keeps foreclosing on every "out" that the rest of the world might want.
This bodes very, very badly for our future.
I mostly agree with this notion, but with one caveat:
I only wish more writers understood the difference between "Long form because the content calls for it" and "Long because it feels good to say that I wrote a lot of words". Self-editing still matters.
I only wish more writers understood the difference between "Long form because the content calls for it" and "Long because it feels good to say that I wrote a lot of words". Self-editing still matters.
btw i post so many links to longer form content because i believe we can get our attention spans back but only if we actually do it, not if we sit around complaining on short form platforms about how bad our attention spans are
November 19, 2025 at 5:10 AM
I mostly agree with this notion, but with one caveat:
I only wish more writers understood the difference between "Long form because the content calls for it" and "Long because it feels good to say that I wrote a lot of words". Self-editing still matters.
I only wish more writers understood the difference between "Long form because the content calls for it" and "Long because it feels good to say that I wrote a lot of words". Self-editing still matters.
On public stadium financing, Ben Franklin's contributions to Philadelphia, and what self-respecting communities ought to think about their libraries (480 words) ⤵️
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/more-than-...
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/more-than-...
More than borrowed books
On public stadium financing, Ben Franklin's contributions to Philadelphia, and what self-respecting communities ought to think about their libraries
issues.eveningpostandmail.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:01 AM
On public stadium financing, Ben Franklin's contributions to Philadelphia, and what self-respecting communities ought to think about their libraries (480 words) ⤵️
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/more-than-...
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/more-than-...
Truly beyond my understanding why anyone takes a massively increased risk of burning down their house in exchange for a turkey that tastes, at best, 25% better than the conventional roasting method.
Especially when smoked turkey is just sitting right there in the grocery aisle, a full 500% tastier.
Especially when smoked turkey is just sitting right there in the grocery aisle, a full 500% tastier.
November 18, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Truly beyond my understanding why anyone takes a massively increased risk of burning down their house in exchange for a turkey that tastes, at best, 25% better than the conventional roasting method.
Especially when smoked turkey is just sitting right there in the grocery aisle, a full 500% tastier.
Especially when smoked turkey is just sitting right there in the grocery aisle, a full 500% tastier.
It's not that we should expect to get all of our news from no-name journalists.
It's that we should be getting it from those who care about credibility instead of celebrity.
The former is hard to win and easy to lose. The latter comes just as easily to bad behavior as to the good.
It's that we should be getting it from those who care about credibility instead of celebrity.
The former is hard to win and easy to lose. The latter comes just as easily to bad behavior as to the good.
November 18, 2025 at 4:50 AM
It's not that we should expect to get all of our news from no-name journalists.
It's that we should be getting it from those who care about credibility instead of celebrity.
The former is hard to win and easy to lose. The latter comes just as easily to bad behavior as to the good.
It's that we should be getting it from those who care about credibility instead of celebrity.
The former is hard to win and easy to lose. The latter comes just as easily to bad behavior as to the good.
Digital archaeology, live on your screen...
LIVE NOW: Searching for endangered and #lostmedia on #VHS that we can safeguard at @archive.org. IS THIS ANYTHING? is live now on Twitch!
twitch.tv/uncommonephe...
twitch.tv/uncommonephe...
November 18, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Digital archaeology, live on your screen...
I'm worried about the national budget deficit, but I think I'm even more worried about the national shame deficit.
Email from a student who turned in a ChatGPT essay. Not even looking at the ChatGPT output in the apology 🥴
![Dear [Professor’s Name],
I want to sincerely apologize for my actions regarding my midterm submission.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:fs6z2b756buwsdsjkle6utfi/bafkreiecvhzfgr4tlwyy2mvpbvjncqkysytwsxvidaoressh7peonoso3y@jpeg)
November 17, 2025 at 9:49 PM
I'm worried about the national budget deficit, but I think I'm even more worried about the national shame deficit.
I cannot begin to say how many goosebumps this photo gives me.
There are more than a million wild alligators in Louisiana. You couldn't pay me to set foot in a plant-covered marsh in that state without a cash offer well into eight digits.
There are more than a million wild alligators in Louisiana. You couldn't pay me to set foot in a plant-covered marsh in that state without a cash offer well into eight digits.
They clog waterways, overrun marshes and make it harder for animals to find food.
The 10 worst plant invaders on the Louisiana coast: Bushkiller, water hyacinth and more
They clog waterways, overrun marshes and make it harder for animals to find food.
bit.ly
November 16, 2025 at 6:53 AM
I cannot begin to say how many goosebumps this photo gives me.
There are more than a million wild alligators in Louisiana. You couldn't pay me to set foot in a plant-covered marsh in that state without a cash offer well into eight digits.
There are more than a million wild alligators in Louisiana. You couldn't pay me to set foot in a plant-covered marsh in that state without a cash offer well into eight digits.
Let's be honest: Automotive safety has come a long way since some of us were being toted around in the rear-facing seats of Oldsmobile station wagons.
The Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser:
Where Your Kids' Legs Are the Crumple Zone!™
The Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser:
Where Your Kids' Legs Are the Crumple Zone!™
Everyone likes to go on about how sedans were fine for families in the 90s but we also weren't keeping kids in rearfacing carseats until they were at least 2, forward facing ones until they were at least 5, and boosters until they were 8-10 in the 90s.
November 14, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Let's be honest: Automotive safety has come a long way since some of us were being toted around in the rear-facing seats of Oldsmobile station wagons.
The Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser:
Where Your Kids' Legs Are the Crumple Zone!™
The Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser:
Where Your Kids' Legs Are the Crumple Zone!™
Shared with endorsement. Likewise, I find it baffling how hard Facebook, for example, tries to dehumanize its own platform by pushing endlessly for features like user avatars that look hopelessly unreal.
Who wants to see an unrecognizable cartoon copy of themselves "living" in Zuck's fantasy world?
Who wants to see an unrecognizable cartoon copy of themselves "living" in Zuck's fantasy world?
It's so strange how the tech guys think what all of us really want is conversations with others who have no internal mental states. It's like narcissism as a service.
Nightmarish idea for a startup tbh
November 14, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Shared with endorsement. Likewise, I find it baffling how hard Facebook, for example, tries to dehumanize its own platform by pushing endlessly for features like user avatars that look hopelessly unreal.
Who wants to see an unrecognizable cartoon copy of themselves "living" in Zuck's fantasy world?
Who wants to see an unrecognizable cartoon copy of themselves "living" in Zuck's fantasy world?
After a video from @spectrum.ieee.org showed up in my Facebook feed this morning, featuring some lines from @emilymbender.bsky.social that made me stand and applaud, I went in search of her verified socials so I could give her a follow.
Then I read this, which deserves a prize in its own right:
Then I read this, which deserves a prize in its own right:
November 13, 2025 at 5:29 PM
After a video from @spectrum.ieee.org showed up in my Facebook feed this morning, featuring some lines from @emilymbender.bsky.social that made me stand and applaud, I went in search of her verified socials so I could give her a follow.
Then I read this, which deserves a prize in its own right:
Then I read this, which deserves a prize in its own right:
On John Stuart Mill, aurora photos on social media, and why human thinking will always be a little different than what we can program computers to do:
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/lights-in-...
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/lights-in-...
Lights in the sky
On John Stuart Mill, aurora photos on social media, and why human thinking will always be a little different than what we can program computers to do
issues.eveningpostandmail.com
November 13, 2025 at 8:24 AM
On John Stuart Mill, aurora photos on social media, and why human thinking will always be a little different than what we can program computers to do:
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/lights-in-...
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/lights-in-...