For too long, #community became the cargo shorts of life. The utility and value were obvious, but nobody wanted to be seen in it. Something flipped — fast. Here's the #psychology behind the tip: moistcargoshorts.substack.com/p/it-gets-ea... (Subscribe for too many cargo short references.)

It Gets Easier After the Parking Lot

On run clubs, malls, loneliness and giving ourself permission to need people again

moistcargoshorts.substack.com

Interesting stat: "More than 70% of all the wealth in the country is held by people over 55, per Federal Reserve data." Older Americans power a gray-shaped economy www.axios.com/2026/02/12/j...

Older Americans are driving a gray-shaped economy

Nearly all of the job growth in January came from the health care and social assistance sectors.

axios.com

Modern social life has a participation problem. We don't go to events anymore. We perform at them. I recently wrote about why everything feels like karaoke now (hyperbole alert) — and what we're losing in the process. 🧵👇 #CultureCommentary

Everything is karaoke now. It’s not enough to attend — you have to perform. Sing, dress up, post it, prove it. But community isn’t built on intensity spikes. It’s built on boring Tuesdays at the same lunch spot. Let's talk about the trend of "events that do too much." #psychology #culture

Why Everything Is Karaoke Now

Modern social life is a performance with no intermission

moistcargoshorts.substack.com

Agrivoltaics: "not just a land-sharing concept, but a systems-level solution to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.”

‘Agrivoltaics is not just a land-sharing concept, but a systems-level solution to some of the world’s most pressing challenges’

Scientists have conducted a six-sphere literature analysis of agrivoltaics, considering sustainability, soil–crop productivity, socioeconomic resilience, solar power generation, spatial efficiency, an...

pv-magazine.com

6-7 Makes No Sense. That's Why it Works. Let's talk about nonsense as a powerful bonding tool. moistcargoshorts.substack.com/p/6-7-makes-...

6-7 Makes No Sense. That's Why it Works.

Let's talk about nonsense as a powerful bonding tool.

moistcargoshorts.substack.com

Are platforms divisive—or just very good mirrors? A new Journal of Communication paper suggests political polarization emerges from a feedback loop: media adapt to audience demand, audiences adapt back, and small in-group biases get amplified. academic.oup.com/joc/advance-... #journalism #media

Political polarization as a co-adaptive process

Abstract. Political polarization is often characterized as a consequence of changes in media content or technology. We argue, in contrast, for an account t

academic.oup.com

The Super Bowl marketing has gone too far. Columbia Made a Beer with Bear Poop for the Super Bowl www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/go-outside/c...

Columbia Made a Beer with the Bear Poop for the Super Bowl

Long-standing outdoor apparel company Columbia Sportswear is getting into craft beer collaboration, dropping a new brew in partnership with Oregon-based

blueridgeoutdoors.com

In a world engineered to remove every bump, some people are putting them back. It's life, but on hard mode. On purpose. What is friction-maxxing? What is it doing for us and what is it not? moistcargoshorts.substack.com/p/friction-m... #HumanBehavior #Psychology #DigitalLife #AttentionEconomy

In a world engineered to remove every bump, some people are putting them back. It's life, but on hard mode. On purpose. What is friction-maxxing? What is it doing for us and what is it not? moistcargoshorts.substack.com/p/friction-m... #HumanBehavior #Psychology #DigitalLife #AttentionEconomy

"Why it matters: The intoxicated suspect was a raccoon." www.axios.com/local/richmo...

Raccoon gets drunk at Ashland ABC store and passes out in bathroom

Talk about a trashed panda.

axios.com

Labubu, Pokémon Go, and the realization that both have us running on a dopamine hamster wheel that's more similar than might appear: moistcargoshorts.substack.com/p/labubu-pok... #PsycSci #popculture #Labubu #PokemonGo #InternetCulture #DopamineLoops

Labubu, Pokémon Go and Other Tiny Creatures Controlling Our Lives

Or, successfully hacking into the little wet computers that control the world

moistcargoshorts.substack.com

It turns out the parking lot is a surprisingly sharp x-ray of how we treat one another. This is a fascinating little window into the norms we follow—and quietly break—every day. www.zmescience.com/science/news... #PsycSci

Why Don’t People Return Their Shopping Carts? This Researcher Watched Hundreds of Videos to Find Out

What happens in parking lots reveals how we think about obligation, decency, and one another.

zmescience.com

Powerful piece from High Country News about how heavy metal, culture and community are helping Blackfeet teens carry each other through grief and toward hope. If you care about music, youth mental health and Indigenous voices, this is absolutely worth your time. www.hcn.org/issues/57-11...

Heavy metal is healing teens on the Blackfeet Nation - High Country News

In response to youth suicides, teachers show students the power of headbanging at Fire in the Mountains festival.

hcn.org

Good read on the IEA leader Fatih Birol in the NYTimes: Why Everyone Wants to Meet the ‘World’s Most Boring Man’ www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/c... #energysky

Why Everyone Wants to Meet the ‘World’s Most Boring Man’

nytimes.com

Grokipedia just launched — and it’s already quoting Wikipedia: www.theverge.com/news/807686/... In the rush to automate everything, the best site to copy on the internet remains powered by people with consensus, transparency, and curiosity.

Elon Musk’s Grokipedia launches with AI-cloned pages from Wikipedia

Ironic.

theverge.com

"We’ve known about sophisticated nut theft operations since at least 2006." Until recently, I had no idea people still robbed trains... frequently. Also nut thievery is apparently quite lucrative! Please, someone, tell Netflix! www.freightwaves.com/news/record-...

Record Pistachio Harvest and Freight Fraud's Billion-Dollar Blind Spot

California just wrapped up a record 1.5 billion pound pistachio harvest, but cargo theft hit record highs in 2024 and nuts remain prime targets. We've documented sophisticated nut theft since 2006, $1...

freightwaves.com

"Exxon Mobil sued California late Friday claiming that two new state laws that aim to fight climate change would violate the oil company’s free speech rights." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/25/c... #energysky

Exxon Sues California Over New Climate Disclosure Laws

nytimes.com

BHP’s Mike Henry on the mining industry’s ‘new reality’: "There’s never been a more interesting time to be in the industry, with so much in flux currently.” www.semafor.com/article/10/2...

BHP’s Mike Henry on the mining industry’s ‘new reality’

The CEO counts on frank feedback and a continuous improvement culture to navigate volatile politics.

semafor.com

several days later and how does the louvre not have any video released of the baguetteaway

Another good read on AI (I promise it's not all I'll post about): "It's just tech, everything doesn't have to become some weird religion that you beat people over the head with, or gamble the entire stock market on." www.anildash.com/2025/10/17/t...

TED Talk: The Emerging Science of Finding Critical Metals www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUn0...

The Emerging Science of Finding Critical Metals | Mfikeyi Makayi | TED

YouTube video by TED

youtube.com

"All I said was, is statistically speaking, you're probably not living your best life," I half-whisper as I'm kindly asked to leave another party.

Axios: How to measure the economy when the government isn't doing it www.axios.com/2025/10/11/s...

How to measure the economy when the government isn't doing it

Companies and investors are scrambling for alternatives to the data put out by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

axios.com

New adventure begins: You won't hear nearly as much about coal in this space anymore. I’ve joined Watershed Analytics as Senior Director of Editorial Services: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

#newbeginnings #editorialleadership #mediainnovation #smartbrevity #communicationsstrategy | Taylor Kuykendall

✨ Excited to officially share what’s next! ✨ After more than a decade at S&P Global, this week I joined Watershed Analytics as Senior Director of Editorial Services — a role at the intersection of jo...

linkedin.com

Starting a new role, so I’m shaking things up — not with a new playlist, but by going way back. Kicking off a full listen of Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Albums — a reminder that rediscovery can be just as inspiring as discovery. #NowPlayingAtWork #MusicDiscovery #CreativeEnergy

My last two pieces on the coal sector before heading to a new job: Part 1: Lawsuit against asset managers could shake up US coal, broader investment www.spglobal.com/market-intel... Part 2: Complex market factors glossed over in 11-state suit against coal investors www.spglobal.com/market-intel...

Private equity is buying up energy utilities: but will this multibillion dollar bet on powering the AI boom pay off for investors and what will it do to residential power prices? Read @financialtimes.com on.ft.com/4pZWeXs

Private equity bets big on utilities

[FREE TO READ] Investors seek to profit from rising energy demand driven by AI data centres

on.ft.com

Denmark might ban social media for kids under 15. Can we extend it to any adults who say "6, 7", whether ironically or otherwise? For real though, The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt is worth a read if you want to dive into why this is a serious issue. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Denmark plans social media ban for under-15s as PM warns phones ‘stealing childhood’

Mette Frederiksen links social media use to anxiety, depression and lack of concentration

theguardian.com

Foreign adversaries are using multiple AI tools to power hacks: OpenAI www.axios.com/2025/10/07/o...

Foreign adversaries are using multiple AI tools, OpenAI warns

The warning comes as part of the company's latest threat report that uncovered phishing and malware abuses.

axios.com