Imagine a butler whose sole purpose is to supply you with whatever you desire. He studies your dopamine output...and constantly supplies you with cigarettes. I wrote about why AI faces the same problem as social media: it's incentivized to feed our base desires www.riskgaming.com/p/ais-cigar...

AI’s Cigarette Butler Problem

Alignment, dopamine, and the danger of too much of what we want

riskgaming.com

Coco Gauff is about to step onto the court at Wimbledon. But the headlines have been entirely focused on an apology she recently received—one she accepted, but her fans strangely did not. I wrote about this confusion that happens when a private apology goes public.

It's election day in New York City! To celebrate, we had the leaders of @abundanceny.bsky.social on the Riskgaming podcast. We talked housing, subways, community boards, Robert Moses, and the politics of growth.

The details of my friend Alistair’s deportation are even more horrific than I previously thought. Recommend reading his brutally honest account:

Alistair Kitchen@alistairkitchen.bsky.social · last yr.

I was deported by the U.S. for reporting on the Columbia University student protests. www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

Hi everyone I was denied entry, detained, and deported from the USA over the last 48 hours because of my reporting on the Columbia student protests I arrived back in Melbourne hours ago and had my phone handed back to me upon landing

I wrote about Joni Ernst's "apology," the medicaid cuts, getting banned on X, and the legacy of my late Uncle Ravi

Thanks to all who joined up for our Riskgaming meetups in DC and Pittsburgh and our runthrough of Southwest Silicon in London. We’ll have more Riskgaming events throughout the summer, so stay tuned. Sign up at www.riskgaming.com to be the first to know

The internet didn’t used to suck this much. @dannycrichton.com and I talked to the great @noupside.bsky.social about middleware, community gardens, this website, and how to make the internet fun again. Transcript below! www.riskgaming.com/p/how-can-we...

How can we make the internet fun again?

Renée DiResta on the future of social media

riskgaming.com

We have probably not found aliens, yet. Science is all about uncertainty—but you wouldn't know it from the headlines. I wrote about how the media has decreased trust in science, and aided the Trump Administration's war on science, for the Riskgaming newsletter: www.riskgaming.com/p/the-nyts-...

The NYT’s alien headline is everything wrong with science journalism

Building trust means teaching us all to live with scientific uncertainty

riskgaming.com

I wrote about chess and a cheating scandal that happened today on Twitch and the apology that followed open.substack.com/pub/laurence...

Cheating at Chess

DrLupo, Marina Keegan, and a Twitch charity tournament gone awry

open.substack.com

It’s a big day for us at the Riskgaming Initiative—we now have our own website and substack, and to celebrate Danny has penned a brilliant and only slightly crazed manifesto on what the hell this is and why we’re doing it. Give it a read! t.co/JWL8b8DbCN

We should protest arbitrary deportations to El Salvadorian gulags because it's the right thing to do. But it's also a smart political tactic. You absolutely should attack your opponent's strength.

Yesterday a business school in Lithuania did a play-through of our China/EV Riskgaming scenario without us even knowing! Building a worldwide Riskgaming community like this is one of the great advantages of being open source.

The obsession with trade deficits, manufacturing jobs...Trump clearly has China envy. So we had @neilthomas123.bsky.social and @katelogan.bsky.social, two top China industrial strategy experts, on the pod. They played our riskgame and told us what we got right, wrong, and everything in-between

Maybe us Jews really do control the markets and the weather

I wrote about comms consultants, that guy big ballz, and how the right wing plays the apology game better than the left on twitter. (Also: I'm moving from a private newsletter to substack!) laurencepevsner.substack.com/p/on-comms-c...

TSA agents should be able to nominate well-behaved and efficient boarders to get lounge status

In LA they just sell you viral products straight from TikTok

Obsessed with this pickle tower, complete with a pickle juice waterfall, erected for a German election results watch party

a special 60-second teaser for our lovely Bluesky fans

We like to shame politicians for staying in their jobs too long and furthering gerontocracy. That means we should also do the reverse, and praise the ones that step aside for the next generation.

Tina Smith@smith.senate.gov · last yr.

I wanted you to hear directly from me that I have decided not to run for reelection to the Senate in 2026. I have loved my job, and after 20 years of hard and rewarding work in the public sector, I'm ready to spend more time with my family. I want to take some time here to explain my decision (🧵)

The motto of USAID is "From the American people." But we've invested too much in arguing that foreign aid is for the American people. My piece in the Atlantic on foregrounding the moral case for foreign aid: www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

The Wrong Case for Foreign Aid

As Republicans seek to demolish USAID, its defenders should appeal to a higher principle than self-interest.

theatlantic.com

The Moynihan Center at The City College of New York is excited to announce our 2025–2026 senior fellowship opportunities! We are now accepting applications for the Moynihan Public Scholars Fellowship and the Moynihan Postdoctoral Fellowship. 👇🏽 1/ moynihancenter.ccny.cuny.edu/news-events/...

The Moynihan Center | Call for Applications: 2025–2026 Senior…

Applications are now open for the 2025–2026 senior fellowship opportunities for Postdoctoral Fellows and Public Scholars.

moynihancenter.ccny.cuny.edu

I'm hosting a new riskgame (immersive simulation) on the perils and possibilities of biotech. You’ll get to step into the shoes of a scientist, diplomat, or epidemiologist when a crisis hits. Tell me if you'd like to join us in NYC or LA. Fills up fast -- DC already full!

Our commons are collapsing. The US pulled out of the Paris Accords, the WHO. China is cutting undersea cables. Antarctica is up for grabs. Online, fact checking is out, paywalls are up, and platforms are polarized. In person, we spend our time home alone. Third places, gone.

Real life Tashi Duncan getting to the Australian Open final is vengeance for the Challengers score snub at the Oscars

Madison Keys, American firepower, American hero

My latest for @mcsweeneys.net on the biggest promise that has already been broken: www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-a...

I Am a Disappointed Trump Voter Who Was Told It Would Be the Past by Now

Well, they say you should never trust a politician, and it seems I’ve been duped. For months before and since I cast my vote for Donald J. Trump—an...

mcsweeneys.net

I’m putting together a regular “Abundance & Ales” happy hour for people who support or are curious about the abundance agenda. Flatiron in NYC, first drink is on me. DM me your email to get details

Naomi Osaka: "[Muchova] crushed me when I wore my best outfit at the U.S. Open, so this was my little revenge" *crowd reacts* "Revenge is not a bad thing!" #tennis