He talks about countries as if they are billiard balls controlled by the laws of physics instead of political entities run by people with agency. Russia wasn’t compelled to invade Ukraine. Putin chose to attack. He could have chosen not to.

The idea of people being immersed in different media environments isn’t new. Jacques Ellul wrote about something similar in the pre-internet age, but the walls seem thicker online. In Ellul’s time people were exposed to different interpretations of events, but there was still a shared reality.

I’ve only read the first hundred pages of the book so far, but I’m interested in the idea of “bespoke realities.” Different groups are siloed into separate online environments with little interaction between them. It makes political dialogue difficult.

There’s a whole world of internet influencers I’ve never come across who have massive audiences. Do you know who Khaby Lame is? I didn’t, but he has 11 million followers on TikTok.

It’s hard to brood when you’re always looking at your phone.

Not weird

Benjamin Franklin would be surprised to learn Philadelphia was established in 1776.

I remember those guys. Their career was destroyed because they were caught lip-syncing on stage, but there was a backstory that made me feel bad for them. I forget the details. Were they brothers and did one commit suicide? They went on the Arsenio Hall show where they proved they could sing.