Category: Worth Your Time

1. The Totally Very Real White Genocide in South Africa [Listen and learn]
2. Facebook is requesting access to your private photos for AI features (but may not tell you)
3. Dave McWilliams on the origins of money as a social construct/coordinator [listen]
4. The Dutch increased the drinking age from 16 to 18 years in 2014. It was a good idea.
5. Sacre merde! Paris gets slammed by a storm
6. Why the Democrats keep losing US elections. Listen.
7. We’re getting older. How will the economy cope? Fail? Listen.
8. The strange economics of credit cards. Listen.
9. Rick Steves Is Tired of Hearing ‘Have a Safe Trip’.  Listen.
10. When effective altruism went “full paperclip” — Listen.

H/T to PN

1. AI in the field: It won’t help with irrigation efficiency.
2. Listen to learn about the fraud and profiteering by Medicare insurance companies ripping off taxpayers, part one and two.
3. The government of Amsterdam claims that it has reached its autoluw (“nearly car free”) goals with its 30km/h regulation. This is a cowardly betrayal of worthy goals — fewer cars (moving/parked) and more car free streets. A typical example of overpromise and underdeliver… on behalf of cars that only a minority use, let alone need. (I counted over 200 bikes parked on my block and 25 cars. That 8:1 ratio needs to show up at the ballot box.)
4. Mr Money explains tariffs very well.
5. Watch an insightful discussion between Jon Stewart and Trevor Noah
6. “Kids” (10-25 years) think different from “adults,” who often misunderstand that difference. Listen in.

1. New lab discovery: a nanomaterial that can collect water from air without energy at a rate that’s double the old rate. Promising, but still need data on cost and scaling.
2. Trump is attacking Harvard and other universities for teaching people. He’s pulling their research funds, “pausing” visas of foreign students (for ALL universities!), etc. I think that Harvard et al. should respond by spreading their teaching as widely as possible. This has been happening for awhile, but now’s the time for Americans to learn about governance, corruption, etc. Bonus — listen to this podcast on that (part 2) but also (part 1) a very good discussion of GPT’s failing at poker.
3. “More than 1,400 doctors, scientists and health experts… recommend that children should not be given their own smartphones before the age of 14 and should be barred from using social media until they are at least 16.”
4. Listen to the origins of “Growth – GDP is the Magic Number.” Important point: We humans did FINE as a species before GDP (or growth) existed, so there’s no fundamental need for either.
5. Why restore a classic boat that should be scrapped? Watch.
6. Watch: Trump et al. deregulate crypto so they can rip off everyone. Lots of other scammers are going to jump in. Fun times ahead! Related: Trump cancels
7. Russ Roberts discusses his 1,000 episodes of EconTalk
8. Wilders, as expected, brought down the Dutch cabinet with his usual excessive demands (this time, migration). Plan on about a year of uncertainty as new elections are organized. The good news is that he’s told his ministers to resign immediately, rather than stay on, which will save all of us from their incompetence (Marjolein Faber is #1 for this).
9. Regardless… Read: Bad new: Dutch government policy continues to destroy affordable rentals. Good news: They decided against destroying English-language courses at universities, which matters directly to my job security. Here’s an analysis of the near future in Dutch higher education.
10. Watch this cri de coeur for better urban cycling infrastructure in the US.

H/T to BS

1. Hull speed is all about hydrodynamics. Watch.
2. An excellent discussion of trade and tariffs. Listen.
3. How dating apps have gone wrong. Listen.
4. So here’s the first case of an AI blackmailing developers to stop from getting turned off. Read. Reminds me of this classic video (9 years old!)
5. The Maddening Mess of Airport Codes! Watch
6. Fascinating: The World for Sale Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources. Listen
7. The engineer who made the Panama Canal happen. Listen.
8. Is Your Phone Controlling Your Life? Listen.
9. Care vs Growth. Listen.
10. Read: Kraken launches tokens to trade US shares outside the US. Disruption incoming.

Podcasts:

1. Henry Blodget on AI, Dot-Coms, and What’s Changed In 25 Years
2. Made in America? Shoe Companies Already Tried That.
3. American Civil War: Aftermath & Legacy
4. The origin and caveats to the “3.5% rule of social change”

Read:

1. Trump eliminates Energy Star program, which only had a 350:1 benefit cost ratio. So much winning losing!
2. AI companion apps pose “unacceptable risks” to teens … because these fake friends tell you you’re amazing. What a shit show!
3. Trump meme coin probe launched amid massive losses. Related: Most of the top $Trump holders are foreign nationals who are (obviously) bribing a US president for influence. He will sell the US for pennies on the dollar!
4. A new SuperWood that’s stronger than steel yet renewable and workable.
5. Molly White: I have to say, it seems wild to me to acknowledge that Trump is abusing his office in blatantly corrupt ways and respond by… introducing a bill to chip away at the types of corruption he’s engaging in, rather than addressing it directly through impeachment. 
6. Tech bros “at work” — YouTube is using AI to track your eyeballs and then serve ads when you’re most engaged [oh, great]. Uber recreates bus lines at “cheaper than our normal price [but way more than a bus]” prices [re-inventing the wheel].

1. Very insightful… and sad article about the “industry” of caring for elders in the US. I recognize a LOT of my 92-year old dad’s experiences.
2. Trump has ended the “de minimus” exemption for shipments from China/US, destroying the business model of Temu and Shein (and many entrepreneurs “drop shipping” from China). I expect companies will route around that exemption, but Trump’s blanket tariffs  will still be disruptive. His insanity will only end when US imports fall to its level of exports (or zero, I suspect), which will cost Americans (and global producers) dearly. The good news? All other countries can trade with each other.
3. Pope Francis reduced corruption at the Vatican Bank, but didn’t end it.
4. Video: Death to nickels!
5. Podcasts:
   1. What strategy should you pursue to be the next pope?
   2. ADHD in kids and adults
   3. One of the better episodes of Dutch News, ft. penguins!
   4. The surprising innovations in Canadian agriculture
   5. How should governments regulate markets? (Lots of good economics)
   6. Paul Sellers goes all mod with his woodworking: April Fools

H/T to MJ

 

Podcasts:

1. The long-term implications of Trump’s trade war
2. Related: The supply chain is breaking
3. The decay of US economic data
4. The differences between Chaos and Complexity
5. Politics, institutions and individual actors
6. MBS’s Neom project (in Saudi Arabia) falls apart

To read:

1. Malta can no longer sell citizenship
2. The Dutch government considers the implications of the AMOC (Gulf Steam) collapsing — an event I’ve been concerned about since XX
3. You have two cows…. (comparative politics)

 

Thanks for the comments and email on last week’s IS post. Glad you find them useful. Here are some more!

1. Listen to a fun history of smuggling in the UK. (NB: The “Boston Tea Party” was thrown by American smugglers upset at a fall in British taxes on tea, which lowered their profit margins!)
2. Listen: How Trump Could Restructure US Debt. (He’s got practice, after 6 bankruptcies)
3. Listen: Chairman Mao & the Cultural Revolution
4. The Real Trump Trade Is ‘Sell America’
5. Listen to the history of the Rolling Stones.
6. Listen: Oil: Conflict, Chaos and Climate Change
7. Listen to this nice explainer on supporter chants at English football matches
8. “According to a new study published in Nature, emissions from 111 fossil fuel companies have caused an estimated $28 trillion in climate damage between 1991 and 2020, with five top emitters—Saudi Aramco, Gazprom, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and BP—responsible for approximately $9 trillion of that total.” The market cap of those five is around $2.4 trillion, so they’ve destroyed far more value than they are worth. These firms should be declared “socially bankrupt” and shut down, along with their oil reserves, of course!
9. Trump is making money as fast as he can with crypto, including this cringe “auction to eat dinner with the King.” I wouldn’t even pay tree-fiddy.
10. A company won an X-prize for carbon sequestration via crushed rock, which also helps farmers. That’s a nice win-win, but the cost per ton (now $300) will only fall to $100 with “development.” Better to not emit in the first place?

Do you use any of these links? If so, then send me an email or comment here, so I can understand if/how you care. I publish these links b/c I like to remember some stuff, but maybe I will stop if nobody cares…

1. This conversation sounds a bit like an advertisement, but it’s on an interesting topic: employee-owned firms.
2. Trump is a chaos machine and who knows where we will be in his “War on Logic” with respect to tariffs, but this article gives some insights into the chaos he’s spewing.  What’s missing is the elephant in the room: The Chinese firms supplying (in my guesstimate) 90% of the parts in the global watch industry.
3. Unfun fact from a student’s paper: More than 54% of Netherlands is used for agriculture, which contributes to 4.1% of GDP. That’s an opportunity cost.
4. Listen: The new head of the EPA doesn’t think CO2 influences climate chaos, but I’m not surprised at the ignorance of a guy who uses “stangulating” “advancements” in his deceits.
5. So this podcast (2/2) definitely changed my opinion of Margaret Thatcher, for the worse.
6. Watch this excellent documentary of the rise of DJs and dance music.
7. Really thin wood planing, Japanese style.
8. A US entrepreneur explains the complexity of supply chains. (The Trump admin seems clueless.)
9. Paris said au revoir to cars. Air pollution maps reveal a dramatic change.
10. Listen: A(n) history of US taxes (more than just Intuit corruption)

1. Corruption (n.): The abuse of public office for private gain. See also: Trump pardoning convicted felon who “donated” $$ to him (video). Rule of law, RIP.
2. And there’s more (of course — I am only scratching the surface of Trump’s war on America): On March 27, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at reshaping the Smithsonian Institution… The order targets funding for programs that Trump claims contain “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology” … The order directs the Smithsonian to prioritize exhibits that “celebrate American heroes” and “promote patriotic education.” Double-plus good!
3. Listen: Nick Denton’s Big Bet against the United States
4. Nice resource! Resources, Rights and Cooperation: A Sourcebook on Property Rights and Collective Action for Sustainable Development [PDF]
5. Listen: Sheilagh Ogilvie on Epidemics, Guilds, and the Persistence of Bad Institutions
6. Trump loves fossil fuels and has changed policy to subsidize them, so banks are piling in with cheap finance, to make sure that the world is fucked.
7. Damn, I didn’t see this coming, but there’s some logic to recent actions and statements: Is Silicon Valley Turning Fascist?
8. Wow. Trump’s “tariff economics” are incredibly stupid.