We all know fast food isn’t great for us. And watching TV isn’t super healthy. Those health impacts add up – and they have a societal cost. But we rarely measure it – and certainly not at the company level. But a new paper shows that we can journals.sagepub.com/eprint/TAMZN...

Prototyping a Methodology for Estimating the Economic Externalities Resulting From Commercial Products’ Influence on the Health of Their Users - Stephen J. Downs, Sara J. Singer, Carol Passarelli, Ina...

Purpose Determine feasibility of estimating economic externalities associated with influences that products of individual corporations have on their customers’ ...

journals.sagepub.com

Nice write-up of our new paper from Stanford Health Policy: healthpolicy.fsi.stanford.edu/news/what-do...

What Do Your Favorite Brands Actually Cost Society?

Is it possible to measure the impact that food and entertainment have on our health? Researchers believe they've found the formula.

healthpolicy.fsi.stanford.edu

We all know fast food isn’t great for us. And watching TV isn’t super healthy. Those health impacts add up – and they have a societal cost. But we rarely measure it – and certainly not at the company level. But a new paper shows that we can journals.sagepub.com/eprint/TAMZN...

Prototyping a Methodology for Estimating the Economic Externalities Resulting From Commercial Products’ Influence on the Health of Their Users - Stephen J. Downs, Sara J. Singer, Carol Passarelli, Ina...

Purpose Determine feasibility of estimating economic externalities associated with influences that products of individual corporations have on their customers’ ...

journals.sagepub.com

"Its attempts to upsell Charpentier on extra Snickers for her Blizzard were perfectly polite."

WIRED@wired.com · 2d ago

Your next drive-thru order might be taken by a bot. And you might not even notice. www.wired.com/story/ai-con...

For decades, people have talked about the toxic food environment and how it’s stacked against most people. For decades, little’s changed policy-wise, even in this #maha moment. I increasingly think there’s only one way out. That way is litigation. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/o...

Opinion | Want a Better Food System? Use the Anti-Tobacco Playbook. (Gift Article)

A teenager’s lawsuit against the food industry shows us the path to a better food system.

nytimes.com

This. Great piece arguing that our failure, not just to price in societal costs that businesses generate, but to not even try, is unacceptable. Product impact on health is a classic example.

Hamilton Nolan@hamiltonnolan.bsky.social · last wk.

It is kind of amazing that we have settled on a version of capitalism that leads us into a trash can due to a decision not to price in the public costs of private profits. www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/enshittifi...

A popular story from our newsletter last week was this report, from Ben Steverman, in @bloomberg.com, on the "fun shortage" -- the increasing decline of facilities to support recreational, social interaction: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

The Fun Shortage Is Real, and It’s Making America Miserable

With fewer places to relax and socialize, and steeper prices for entry, having fun is quantifiably harder than it used to be.

bloomberg.com

The most popular story from our newsletter last week was this piece, from Bryan Walsh at @vox.com, on the dramatic gains public for teenagers over the past few decades. And what we might have lost ... www.vox.com/future-perfe...

The forgotten success story of America’s teenagers

Today’s teens are much safer than 1990s teens. Why doesn’t anyone talk about it?

vox.com

great reflection of the challenges of alignment

Faster Than 20@fasterthan20.com · last wk.

A recent experiment in trying to save water sent me down a little rabbit hole about how hard it is to live your values, both in life and at work, and the balance between staying true to your larger intentions while being open to the unexpected. fasterthan20.com/2026/07/the-...

Our latest newsletter is out and we look at our societal failure to translate greater resources and know-how to better population health outcomes, reflecting on two new papers. mailchi.mp/13b090cfe1f9...

We're excited to launch the latest in our series of speculative design projects, partnering with @hcde.uw.edu. The Value of a Commute (www.buildingh.org/commute) looks at the frequent misalignment between people's values and their commuting choices -- and how to intervene in a harmful loop.

The Value of a Commute — BUILDING H

buildingh.org

The US is the undisputed leader of the "morbidity gap," the difference in years between how long people live and how long they are healthy. The data argue for greater focus on living well instead of worrying about living longer. medium.com/@robertroybr... #aging #longevity #health

People Live Longer But Less Healthy as ‘Morbidity Gap’ Grows

Poor health isn’t confined just to “older people,” new research finds

medium.com

The most viewed story from our newsletter last week, was @dkthomp.bsky.social's piece on the all too solitary nature of pursuing one's health: www.derekthompson.org/p/the-cult-o...

Why the Healthiest Generation Is the Loneliest

Americans have never been healthier, or more alone. These things might be related.

derekthompson.org

Another popular story from our newsletter last week was this piece, from Gary Taubes in @theatlantic.com, on the controversies about ultraprocessed foods: www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/...

A Fancy Name for Junk Food

Does the war on “ultra-processed foods” make any sense?

theatlantic.com

For our latest newsletter, we look into different visions of the future of homes — and, inspired by @dkthomp.bsky.social and LM Sacasas, explore what these visions might say about how we pursue health. Plus why we need more sunlight exposure and more ... mailchi.mp/c43b588d90f2...

Good overview of the @amjpublichealth.bsky.social work on ultraprocessed foods by @jessgrose.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/2026/06/17/o...

Opinion | The Deck Is Stacked Against Healthy Eating

nytimes.com

One of the most popular stories in our newsletter last week was this report, from Rhitu Chatterjee of @npr.org, on a new study on remote work and mental health: www.npr.org/2026/06/08/n...

People love working from home. But does it love them back? A new study says no

A study finds that people in remote jobs are more socially isolated, anxious and sad compared to people not in remote jobs. But demanding everyone return to the office isn't the answer either, say res...

npr.org

For our newsletter last week, we delved into Pope Leo’ encyclical on AI, which manages to be both a reasonable and radical assessment of how societies shape technology in the modern world. www.buildingh.org/news/2026/6/...

Newsletter | Pope Leo XIV Is a Big-Time Systems Thinker — BUILDING H

When an emerging technology is so significant that it promises (threatens?) to transform societies, the way we live and even what it means to be human, it is no surprise that religious leaders will fe...

buildingh.org

Pope Leo XIV wrote a lengthy encyclical about AI and it’s a fascinating exposition on technology, society, market capitalism and well-being. For our latest newsletter, we dig into the Pope’s arguments — which are simultaneously reasonable and — in today’s world — radical. mailchi.mp/2c73983bda70...

Another article we featured in last week's newsletter on GLP-1s was this piece by @arianaec.bsky.social on "Ozempic personality": www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...

What is ‘Ozempic personality,’ and why does it make life feel ‘meh’?

Doctors and patients across social media are reporting a kind of emotional flattening while on GLP-1 drugs.

washingtonpost.com

The most clicked story in our newsletter last week was this report on how a major study using data from Apple found a connection between hearing loss and walking speed: www.wsj.com/health/welln...

Walking Slower? Why Your Ears, Not Your Knees, Might Be the Problem

Apple’s hearing study used real-world data from more than 57,000 iPhone users to make an important health connection.

wsj.com

Are GLP-1s essentially an inoculation against modern life? That’s the question of our latest newsletter. Plus: social media at a crossroads, the strange tale of Blue Zones and more. mailchi.mp/4c33a7b38165...

There's been controversy about how to define ultraprocessed foods. Maybe it doesn't need to be that complicated: healthyeatingresearch.org/research/ult...

how it started: AI will cure cancer how it's going: AI will upsell fast food

The Verge@theverge.com · 3mo ago

Taco Bell is experimenting with an AI-driven menu board, which will use the technology to “dynamically change the layout, content, and visuals on a car-by-car basis.” Read more from @emroth08.bsky.social:

Really thoughtful piece on the science, legal and policy contexts surrounding social media and harms.

J. Nathan Matias@natematias.bsky.social · 3mo ago

@ethanz.bsky.social interviewed me on the social media lawsuits. My answer: “lawsuits can make products safer... [but] I worry that that we will jump out of Big Tech’s frying pan into the fire of untested, so-called safety products that enrich the same VCs" www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...

And check out her follow-up piece, out today, on GLP-1s and children, in which she asks the right question: "why are we here?" www.nytimes.com/2026/05/06/o...

Opinion | We’ve Missed the Point on GLP-1s for Children

nytimes.com

Another popular article from our newsletter last week was @juliabelluz.bsky.social's examination of where we are with GLP-1s -- and how their use is outpacing the science: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Opinion | The Great American GLP-1 Experiment (Gift Article)

Millions of Americans are experimenting with the drugs. Science can’t keep up.

nytimes.com

The featured story in our newsletter last week was this article, from @val-pfeifer.bsky.social and @mehlmr.bsky.social on how we're speaking fewer words aloud each day than we used to... journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Sliding Into Silence? We Are Speaking 300 Daily Words Fewer Every Year - Valeria A. Pfeifer, Matthias R. Mehl, 2026

journals.sagepub.com

Great read. A sad tale of commercialization and of missing the forest through the trees. For me, the interesting lessons were always about creating conditions and developing cultures that support sustainable, healthy living so that, as Buettner puts it, health "ensues" instead of being pursued.

Eric Topol@erictopol.bsky.social · 3mo ago

What is the status of the Blue Zones 25 years after they were claimed? @shelleywood.bsky.social and I did an extensive look into this question, one of the forces behind the current longevity movement @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2026/05/04/a...

The most read story from our newsletter last week was @dkthomp.bsky.social's analysis of what happened to American happiness: www.derekthompson.org/p/if-america...

If America's So Rich, How'd It Get So Sad?

Or: How the 2020s broke our brains

derekthompson.org