Reading List

The most recent articles from a list of feeds I subscribe to.

The global shadow economy behind Trump’s latest move on Venezuela

Following this week’s seizure of a sanctioned ship off the coast of Venezuela, the Trump administration says it will be targeting more oil tankers off the Venezuelan coast. This is, first and foremost, a dramatic escalation in the Trump administration’s campaign targeting Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, whom the White House accuses of facilitating drug trafficking […]

MacKenzie Scott’s billion-dollar bet on vibes

Every time a MacKenzie Scott grantee talks about receiving one of her multimillion-dollar gifts, there is always a hint of the same bashfulness, the same reverence, and the same glee.  Their eyes light up. They blush a little. There’s a giggle here and there.  “It’s disarming,” said Michael Lomax, head of the United Negro College […]

The meat industry is sabotaging one of modern medicine’s greatest miracles

Around a decade ago, the US implemented new rules to limit the widespread use of antibiotics in meat and dairy production, in an effort to combat the nation’s antibiotic resistance crisis. The regulations helped: Antibiotic sales for use on farms plunged by 43 percent from 2015 to 2017, and plateaued thereafter. But now, that progress […]

Will AI make research on humans…less human?

If you’re a human, there’s a very good chance you’ve been involved in human subjects research. Maybe you’ve participated in a clinical trial, completed a survey about your health habits, or took part in a graduate student’s experiment for $20 when you were in college. Or maybe you’ve conducted research yourself as a student or […]

Trump’s support is collapsing — but why?

The second Trump administration started off with a bang: riding the high of 2024’s historic levels of new multiracial and working class support, bullying law firms and universities, flinging out executive orders and DOGE restructurings like nobody’s business. A Republican-controlled Congress was ready to implement President Donald Trump’s agenda, and his deportation and tariff policies […]