Reflections: on Caring for an Aging Parent:

Chapter 5 - Finding a Place to Live

I loved Mom, but we knew, for everyone’s sake, that living with me and my wife wasn’t really an option. During shorter recovery stays with us she ignored some of our basic house rules and acts of common courtesy, which was frustrating. Given our personality, political, and lifestyle differences, having her live with us indefinitely would have been a recipe for conflict. But more than that, I didn’t think my wife and I could provide the physical support and medical care that Mom regularly needed.

I have a great deal of respect for families who can make multi-generational living work. It is not for everyone. If you are an older person wondering why your adult children may hesitate to have you move in, it may be because living with others requires adaptation from everyone. Growing older does not give you a free pass. This is especially true if you’ve been living by yourself for years and doing things you like to do when you like to do them. Living with people is difficult—all parties must be willing to adjust. No one has “earned the right” to be stubborn or stuck in their ways, nor, frankly, is it healthy.

As we sorted through Mom’s house, we were also beginning deeper conversations about independent living and assisted living. She did not want to leave her house, lose her freedom, or pay thousands of dollars per month for care. However, she agreed to visit one independent living place in Austin a few weeks before the urinary tract infection incident. At the time of that visit, she did not want to move out of Austin because all her doctors were there (she had quite a few), and she did not want to find new ones. After the urinary tract infection and rehab, she was open to moving closer to us in San Antonio.

Types of Places to Live In

Here are some of the options we learned about:

Independent living is essentially an apartment complex for older adults who can still do most things on their own. These facilities usually have a dining area and provide activities for residents. Many times, they may also have a doctor or nurses available in the facility. They may also have a full kitchen, to include oven and cooktop, in the apartment.

Assisted living is for those who need help with Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) or Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs). ADLs are the basic functions of daily life—things like bathing, dressing, toileting, eating, moving around, and getting in and out of bed. IADLs are the broader tasks that allow a person to live independently, such as managing medications, shopping, preparing meals, handling money, keeping track of appointments, using transportation, and dealing with household tasks. Normally, assisted living will have nurses in the facility, and may have a doctor as well. For safety reasons, assisted living rooms do not normally have ovens or cooktops.

What I learned is that many older adults can hold on to a sense of independence longer than they can actually hold on to the practical abilities that independence requires. A person may say, “I can still live on my own,” and what they mean is, “I do not want to surrender control.” But if they are missing medications, falling, unable to manage paperwork, living in filth, or unable to prepare food safely, then the issue is not whether they feel independent. The issue is whether they are safely independent.

Your price for assisted living will usually be based on a base rate (typically determined by the type, size, and location of the room you want) as well as how much help you need from the staff. The more ADLs you can handle on your own, the lower the price. There are usually ADL “levels of care,” or tiers, each with its own price. Some facilities use a four-tier system, some use a five-tier system, and I’m sure there are even six-tiered systems out there. The more help you require with ADLs, the higher your level/tier will be, and the more you will pay on top of the base rate. Unfortunately, it is not always clear what type of ADL care falls into each tier; instead, the tier you fall into it is often based on a holistic assessment and determination by a nurse.

Your ADL tier can also change. It could go up after a major surgery, when you need someone to help you get dressed until your arm gets better, and then it could go back down once you recover. Generally, though, as you age, your ADL needs will increase, which means your price will likely increase as well. Regardless of whether your ADL requirements and costs go up, the overall cost of assisted living, independent living, or memory care will also likely increase annually with inflation.

A nursing home, also referred to as a skilled nursing facility, is focused on intensive, 24/7 skilled nursing care. This is full support with multiple medical staff and orderlies. Though Mom had numerous medical issues, she did not need to go into skilled nursing.

The higher the level of care a facility, like a nursing home, provides, the more efficient the facility must be with their staffing and layout, which usually translates to more communal and open areas where staff can keep an eye on multiple people and rooms at the same time.

A memory care facility is specifically focused on individuals with Alzheimer’s or dementia. Sometimes, these residents may be in fairly good physical condition but still cannot safely live on their own, or sometimes even with others, because of risks to their own safety or the safety of others.

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When we started discussions with my mom about independent living and assisted living, we led with independent living, but we knew that she likely didn’t have the physical autonomy to be able to be there. Once she began to see that, we were able to transition our discussion more toward the support that assisted living could provide her.

One of the hardest parts of this process is that to an aging parent, assisted living can feel like surrender—of privacy, freedom, money, routine, and identity. To the adult child, it can feel like a plainly necessary step. Those two perspectives usually collide. We learned that the conversation went better when we framed assisted living in terms of support rather than loss. Meals. Medication help. Fewer risks if she fell. People nearby. More safety.

With my mom agreeing to explore locations to live in around San Antonio, we went on various websites that rated assisted living places, talked to family members who had walked this road before, and did a ton of research. Ultimately, we ended up narrowing it down to three locations near our home, and we visited each.

Each location did their best to “sell” us on their location. The more they put their sales hat on, the more I was turned off. The more genuine they were, the more I listened. If they were disorganized or late for our appointment, I was unimpressed and wondered if it was a sign of larger mismanagement.

If you’ve never been in an independent living or assisted living facility before, it can be depressing. People sit in wheelchairs, some staring off into the distance, a few doing older-people activities like arm circles and leg raises from their chairs. Very few people look happy. They generally stare at you as you walk by. I’m sure they are wondering if you’re someone’s child or if you’re about to “commit” your loved one to this facility. I should note, though, not all places are like this. In some, the residents would greet us and talk with us about things there—this was encouraging sign.

In the end, we narrowed it down to a place that we were pleased with and that had an immediate opening. In hindsight, we chose the best place possible. The staff were great, the residents were outgoing, and the location was 15 minutes away from our home, far closer than the two-hour drive to Austin.

But even in the past few months, the facility underwent new ownership, then new management.

And this is the trouble with assisted living and independent living facilities--there’s a lot of churn in ownership and management, so today’s best place may not be tomorrow’s best place. It’s hard to figure it all out. The best you can do is stay engaged and communicative with the staff so they know you’re paying attention to what they’re doing and how they’re treating your loved one. You can always move to another facility, as most are on a month-to-month lease, but that means doing more research, visiting other locations, and moving.

After Mom passed, I revisited her assisted living facility to pick up some mail. I thanked some of the staff there who had a positive impact on Mom and told them how grateful I was for their kindness and support. We talked about how hard it is to find a good facility, and I asked one of the staff members what they would do if they had to choose a facility for their loved one.

“I had to put my dad in a facility,” he said, “and despite being in this industry, I ended up having to move him because I realized we made a poor choice initially. My biggest advice is to go visit the facility numerous times and at different times of the day. If the staff have good attitudes and you see them around at all times, day and night, that’s a good sign.”

How to pay for It

Aside from the overall change of moving out of her house and losing some of her freedom, Mom’s biggest concern about moving to assisted living was the cost. The average cost in the U.S. for AL is about $5,500 per month, or $66,000 per year, though prices vary widely. It is expensive. And that’s just for base-level care. Depending on the additional ADLs you need help with the price will go up hundreds of dollars per month. The figure also varies based on location and quality of care.

When it comes to independent living, assisted living, or memory care, do not depend on the government to pay for this. Know this: Medicare does not cover assisted living.

Medicaid, however, might cover assisted living costs. Like most things regarding insurance, it’s complicated how and what they’ll pay for. Every circumstance is different. As I understand it, there are income limits and asset limits for Medicaid to be able to pay for assisted living. Your income must be at or below the poverty level, and you cannot have more than $2,000 in assets—this includes your home and bank accounts.

There are ways to prepare for this, but it’s not simply as easy as transferring your loved one’s assets to another family member, because Medicaid and the IRS pay attention to this. You should definitely talk with a financial professional to see what options are available to you.

To see what Mom could afford, I would need to understand what finances looked like. We’ll cover that in Chapter 6.

Advice

When it comes to choosing an independent living or assisted living location:

• Visit many locations.

• Visit at different times of day.

• Ask about staffing turnover.

• Understand the pricing structure and how care levels affect cost.

• Ask what happens if care needs increase.

• Ask how often rates increase.

• Do not let a polished lobby fool you.

• See what activities they offer.

• See what the dining area looks like and what food options are available (and what the actual food looks like!).

• Watch how staff interact with residents when they don’t think they are being evaluated.

• Proximity matters more than you think—being close enough to visit often is a real advantage.

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  Previous chapters:

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The Introduction was a brief background on the passing of my mom and why I’m writing this series.

In Chapter 1, we covered my mom’s growing hoarding problem and our attempts to help her out of that hole.

Chapter 2 told the story of when Mom’s urinary tract infection made her delirious and how I called the police to check in on her.

Chapter 3 discussed aging and medical care.

Now we dive into some things I learned while helping her through medical issues.

Reflections: on Caring for an Aging Parent:

Chapter 4 - Important Documents

Once we started going through Mom’s office paperwork, we realized she had not updated her will in years. Worse, the person named as executor of the will didn’t even know she was the executor.

Sadly, a similar situation happened when my aunt passed away a few years ago. No one knew where her will was located. After searching through the house, it was finally found, and that’s when my aunt’s friend discovered that she was named as the executor. That friend had asked my aunt years before to have her taken off as executor because she didn’t think she could adequately handle my aunt’s estate; my aunt said she would choose a different executor, but never did.

As a comparison, just think of your neighbor and what would happen if they passed away and had designated you as executor, without you knowing. You likely have no idea where their accounts are, what bills have to be paid, or whether you are mentally, physically, or practically prepared to administer an estate without any advance notice. That’s not a fair thing to leave someone with, especially unexpectedly. Naming someone as executor for your estate is not a casual thing. That person needs to know your wishes, where your documents are, and what they are walking into.

So, we met with an attorney and updated a number of Mom’s legal documents.

Though I took her to the appointment and was with her, I made it very clear that I was happy to step out if the attorney needed to discuss anything confidential with her. Honestly, I did not care about her possessions. I cared that the documents were in order for the day when we would have to act on her behalf.

The documents we updated included:

• General Power of Attorney – For me to make broad decisions on her behalf.

• Medical Power of Attorney – For me to make healthcare decisions on her behalf if she was unable to do so.

• Directive to Physicians - Otherwise known as an Advanced Directive. This document designates the conditions under which you want life-sustaining treatment provided. This includes things like a ventilator (for breathing), dialysis (for kidney function), a feeding tube (for eating), or other treatments.

• Will - to designate who would handle her estate upon her passing (otherwise known as the executor) and where her money and possessions would go.

A very important note here: Some people think that they can use a Power of Attorney to handle someone’s affairs after that person passes away, but this is incorrect. A Power of Attorney becomes invalid when the person dies.

I never had to use the General POA because we created a joint bank account while she was alive and because other situations did not arise that would require it. But it was useful to have it in reserve.

The Medical POA and Directive to Physicians proved much more important. The documents gave me legal authority to act, but more than that, they guided me toward what she would have wanted.

People sometimes ask me what I’ve learned from Mom’s passing and whether I’ve made any changes. I tell them that one of the very first things I did was put together a document listing all of my immediate family’s assets (checking, savings, investments, home, cars) and the associated banks and bank account numbers.

• I listed car, home, and life insurance policies—the companies they were held with and the account numbers.

• I discussed our mortgage and property taxes.

• I listed the location of important documents, how to find usernames and passwords, and how to access files on my computer.

• With my wife I discussed how income and pensions would change when I died, what insurance policies would kick in, and some future planning considerations with regard to Social Security.

• And I also discussed my funeral. Though, honestly, I know I won’t be around for it, so I’m pretty much leaving that up to whatever the family wants.

• I now update the document every six months, print off a copy for safekeeping, and also provide an electronic version to my immediate family members.

If that sounds like a lot of work, it was, at first. But once the structure was in place, updating it takes very little time. The peace of mind is worth the work.

I recognize that conversations about death with loved ones is not always easy. Sometimes the conversations are hampered by bad relations, other times it’s a sense of privacy (“We don’t talk about those types of things where I’m from.”), and sometimes it’s from embarrassment about debt or lack of income.

With regard to finances, not talking about them isn’t going to make it easier for your loved ones. If you are in debt and paying those debts will be the responsibility of someone else upon your death (either the executor of your estate or a co-signer), one of the most loving things you can do is have a conversation about it before you pass away. There may be things your loved ones can do to help you while you’re still alive, if you let them.

Advice

A bit of a repeat: have the difficult conversations with your family.

• Most importantly: you should have a will, and it should be up to date.

• Just as important, have a discussion with the person or people you are designating as executor (or co-executors) so they are aware of what you want.

• And, if you want to be even nicer to your loved ones, you’ll create a document that lists important things, like: bank accounts, financials, insurance policies, important logins, and document locations.

• Review beneficiary designations regularly.

• Update documents after marriage, divorce, deaths, births, moves, or major financial changes.

• Do not assume your loved ones know your wishes just because you have mentioned them casually.

Other things to consider:

• A life insurance policy—especially if your family depends on your income to pay bills.

• Advance directives are not just for old people.

Previous chapters:

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1. Switzerland Rejects Measure to Cap Its Population at 10 Million

Swiss voters rejected a national referendum that would have capped the country’s population at 10 million, a proposal aimed largely at limiting immigration. The measure failed by about 55% to 45%, with strongest support in rural areas and strongest opposition in cities and border regions. Its defeat preserves Switzerland’s current approach to immigration and avoids a potential confrontation with the European Union over free movement agreements.

Supporters of the cap argued that rapid population growth is straining housing, traffic, affordability, infrastructure, and environmental sustainability. Switzerland’s population has grown to about 9.1 million, up more than 25% this century, largely because of immigration from other European countries. Opponents warned that the cap would damage the economy by restricting skilled workers, entrepreneurs, engineers, nurses, and other labor the country needs as its workforce ages.

2. Hundreds of Billions in Loans Didn’t Make a Dent in Global Poverty

Microfinance was originally promoted as a market-based way to fight poverty by giving small loans to poor entrepreneurs who lacked access to traditional banks. Muhammad Yunus’s early work in Bangladesh helped turn the idea into a global movement, backed by development agencies, nonprofits, celebrities, and later major banks and investors. But decades later, the evidence is much weaker than the promise. Randomized studies have generally found that microfinance does not significantly improve most borrowers’ incomes, and in several countries rapid lending growth has contributed to repayment crises.

The industry has also changed dramatically. What began as small, affordable loans has become a $219.7 billion global business serving more than 140 million borrowers, with average loan sizes rising and some interest rates reaching extremely high levels. In places such as Cambodia, India, and Mexico, borrowers have faced heavy debt burdens, pressure from loan officers, land-secured loans, restructuring cycles, and in some cases homelessness, child labor, reduced food consumption, and suicide. Cambodia is presented as a severe example, where many poor families owe debts far larger than their annual income and risk losing land used as collateral.

3. Everyone Loves Chinese Cars, Except the Chinese

Chinese automakers are gaining momentum overseas, but their home market is weakening sharply. New-car sales in China fell 22% in May from a year earlier, marking the eighth straight monthly decline, while year-to-date sales are nearly 20% lower. The slowdown is being driven by reduced EV tax benefits and trade-in subsidies, higher gasoline prices after the Iran war, weak consumer confidence, deflation, and high youth unemployment. Even major players like BYD are seeing profits squeezed, while smaller EV makers such as XPeng continue to struggle in an overcrowded market.

The domestic slump is pushing Chinese carmakers to expand more aggressively abroad. China exported 784,000 vehicles in May, up 75% from the year before, as companies look for growth outside their saturated home market. BYD is shifting from price cuts toward technology and quality claims, including faster charging, long battery warranties, and accident-cost coverage tied to its driver-assistance system. Its founder has said the company aims to become the world’s largest automaker within five years.

The export surge is creating geopolitical and trade tension. The U.S. has largely blocked Chinese cars through tariffs and restrictions, and the Pentagon recently added BYD and NIO to a list of companies it says have links to China’s military, which both firms deny. Other countries are also becoming wary of the flood of Chinese vehicles, prompting Chinese automakers to pursue factories, partnerships, and joint ventures abroad, especially in Europe, to keep expanding despite trade barriers.

Economy

4. You Have No Idea What a Trillion Dollars Is—and We Have Proof

Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire after the stock market debut of his company SpaceX, with his net worth reaching approximately $1.11 trillion. How much is a trillion of something? Although million, billion, and trillion sound like evenly spaced steps, they are not. A billion is much closer to a million than to a trillion, and most people intuitively underestimate the gap: a million seconds is about two weeks, a billion seconds reaches back to 1994, and a trillion seconds reaches back to the Ice Age. A visual comparison helps show the difference: a stack of one million pennies would be about a mile high, one billion pennies would stretch nearly 1,000 miles, and one trillion pennies would reach to the moon and back twice.

Artificial Intelligence

5. AI Supercharges Deepfake Nudes—Unleashing a New Form of Bullying Among Kids

AI-powered “nudify” tools are making it easy for people, including teenagers, to create fake explicit images of classmates, teachers, and strangers from a single photo. These explicit deepfakes are becoming a new form of harassment and bullying, while schools, parents, police, and lawmakers struggle to keep up. Victims often face humiliation, threats, and the burden of trying to remove images from the internet, while perpetrators may face limited or inconsistent consequences, especially when they are minors.

The problem has grown quickly because the technology is cheap, accessible, and widely promoted through apps, websites, and social media. A survey cited in the article found that more than half of U.S. teens surveyed had created at least one nudified image, and one-third said someone had created and shared a nude image of them without permission. App-store investigations found more than 100 nudification apps with hundreds of millions of downloads, even as Apple and Google say they are removing or restricting such tools.

New laws such as the federal Take It Down Act criminalize publishing or threatening to publish nonconsensual intimate images, including AI-generated ones, and require platforms to remove reported content quickly. But enforcement remains uneven, and victims say the burden still falls heavily on them. The danger now extends beyond celebrity deepfakes: anyone with an image or voice online can be targeted, making explicit AI deepfakes a widespread safety, legal, and cultural problem.

6. AI Deepfakes Are Getting Weirder and Harder to Spot in the Midterms

Political campaigns are increasingly using AI-generated images and videos in ads and social media posts to promote candidates, mock opponents, and spread attacks, raising concerns that deepfakes could mislead voters during the midterm elections. Recent examples include fake or exaggerated depictions of candidates such as James Talarico, Mike Rogers, Spencer Pratt, Peggy Flanagan, and Graham Platner, sometimes with small disclaimers and sometimes in ways that blur the line between parody, attack ads, and misinformation.

The rapid improvement of free AI tools, weaker content moderation on social platforms, and voters’ tendency to believe content that confirms their existing views have created a “perfect storm” for political disinformation. Although about 30 states have laws against election-related deepfakes, experts say enforcement is difficult because of free speech protections and because calling out false content can spread it further.

Health

7. Insurers aren’t the main villain of the U.S. health care system

Noah Smith argues that health insurers are widely hated, but they are not the main reason U.S. healthcare is so expensive. Smith says private insurers may be inefficient or even unnecessary, but their low profit margins show they are not extracting the bulk of money from the system. If insurers keep roughly $10 to $15 of every $100 in premiums but earn little profit, most of that money is going toward administrative and operating costs rather than shareholder enrichment.

According to Smith, the problem is the high cost of healthcare provision itself. Hospitals, doctors, drug companies, medical suppliers, and other providers account for most of the excess spending compared with other wealthy countries. Insurers become the visible villain because they deny claims, enforce networks, and send patients bills, while providers deliver care without discussing the full price upfront. In that sense, insurers act as “sin-eaters” for the broader system--they absorb public anger while the higher prices charged by providers receive less attention.

Smith concludes that reforms focused mainly on punishing insurers will not make healthcare much cheaper. A more effective path would be reducing prices within the medical system itself, such as through stronger government negotiation with providers and drug companies, more competition, or other cost-control measures.

NOTE: Charts below from article show 1) how little UnitedHealth Group made in income as a percent of total revenue (12%), and 2) how Americans actually pay less out of pocket costs (at least through 2019) than other select countries.

8. Is the iPhone Birth Control? Causal Evidence from AT&T’s 2007–2011 Carrier Monopoly

The study found that the U.S. fertility decline may be partly tied to the spread of smartphones, especially the iPhone. Since 2007, the U.S. general fertility rate has fallen by 22%, and the authors say common explanations such as the economy, contraception, housing, and childcare costs do not fully account for the drop. Because the iPhone was initially available only through AT&T, the researchers use differences in AT&T mobile broadband coverage as a natural experiment to estimate the device’s effect.

Their analysis finds that access to the iPhone was associated with sizable birth declines among younger women, especially ages 15–19 and 20–24, with smaller but still significant effects among older groups. Overall, the authors estimate that iPhone diffusion may explain roughly one-third to one-half of the fertility decline among women ages 15–44. Survey evidence suggests a possible mechanism: smartphones reduced in-person interaction, increased pornography use, and lowered sexual frequency, all of which may have contributed to fewer births.

NOTE: To clarify, it’s not the electronic emissions from the smartphone that had the impact on birthrates, rather the constant access to and use of the smartphone and its apps.

9. UK bans under-16s from using social media apps including TikTok and YouTube

Britain plans to ban children under 16 from using major social media platforms, including TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, beginning early next year. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the move is meant to protect children from harmful content, excessive screen time and online contact from strangers. The U.K. would follow Australia’s model, placing enforcement responsibility on tech companies rather than children and threatening platforms with large fines if they fail to take reasonable steps to keep under-16s off their services.

Supporters say the ban is overdue because tech companies have not done enough to protect children, especially from harmful algorithms, online challenges, sexualized content and predatory contact. The government is also considering related measures, including limits on strangers contacting children through gaming and livestreaming platforms, restrictions on romantic or sexual AI chatbots for minors, overnight curfews and breaks in infinite scrolling for users under 18.

Critics argue that a blanket ban may be difficult to enforce and could push young people into less regulated online spaces. YouTube and Meta warned that children might lose access to supervised, age-appropriate online communities while migrating to riskier platforms. Others say the proposal focuses too much on age verification and not enough on the deeper problem of harmful algorithms and content design. The plan could also create tension with the U.S., which has raised concerns about free speech and burdens on American tech companies.

Entertainment

10. Two-Thirds of Americans Play Video Games Every Week According to New Report from the Entertainment Software Association

Video games have become a mainstream part of American life, with 67% of Americans ages 5 to 90 playing at least one hour per week. The average player is now 37 years old, showing that gaming is no longer just a youth activity. More than 212 million Americans play weekly, with participation spread across gender, age, employment status, and family life. Younger generations still play at the highest rates, but majorities of Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers also play, along with nearly a third of the silent generation.

Mobile gaming remains the most popular platform across all ages, while consoles and PCs are especially common among younger players. Puzzle games dominate mobile and PC play, while action, shooter, and arcade games lead on consoles. Players also see video games as a strong value compared with other entertainment options. Many younger players buy in-game content, usually spending around $20 a month, and most parents who allow in-game purchases require approval first.

11. What Americans think about board games

A YouGov poll of 1,131 U.S. adult citizens finds that most Americans have a positive view of board games, with 21% saying they love them and 44% saying they like them. Younger adults are the most enthusiastic, while older adults are less likely to say they love board games. Nearly half of Americans say they rarely play board games, 22% never play, and only 28% play at least monthly.

Board games remain more broadly familiar than many other tabletop formats, though they trail mobile games in frequency of play. Monopoly is by far the most widely played game, followed by classics such as checkers, Scrabble, Connect Four, and Yahtzee. Modern games like Catan, Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, and Wingspan are much less familiar to the general public, though younger adults are more likely than older adults to have played newer games such as Catan, Bananagrams, Cranium, and Wingspan.

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The Introduction was a brief background on the passing of my mom and why I’m writing this series.

In Chapter 1, we covered my mom’s growing hoarding problem and our attempts to help her out of that hole.

Chapter 2 told the story of when Mom’s urinary tract infection made her delirious and how I called the police to check in on her.

Now we dive into some things I learned while helping her through medical issues.

Chapter 3 - Aging and Medical Care

A few years ago, I had a nagging hip problem. Despite seeing multiple specialists, the issue would not go away. When I finally came full circle back to my primary care doctor, he said, “It just looks like you’re getting older. These kinds of things happen when we age.” It was depressing to think that I might simply live the rest of my life with pain and limitation. In that respect, I could understand some of what my mom was facing. It is depressing when there is no clear hope of getting better.

Whenever I would get frustrated with my mom, I tried to remind myself of that experience. I do not know what it was like to live in her body and feel the pain she felt. I only know that I have had injuries that felt insurmountable, and I know how depressing it can be. I recovered and my mental state improved, so I’m not sure how I would act if the ailments didn’t go away but instead grew and compounded.

For Mom, the hoarding wasn’t just about wanting stuff, her physical inability to keep up with life also contributed to the problem. Because of her medical issues, from autoimmune problems to limited mobility, every day was physically and mentally taxing. That compounded the hoarding in two ways: she could not keep up with cleaning, sorting, and throwing things away, and she also bought more things to try to make life easier.

She was resourceful and crafty in her ways to get by or around limitations. She had more grabber reacher tools than I could count, scissors in every room, and pens in every room. She had neighbors pick up her mail when she could no longer do it herself. She learned that if she called 911 to send a policeman over to pick her up after a fall she might get a bill, but if she called the fire department she would not be billed. And, as she liked to tell me, “Those firemen are stronger and more handsome than the policemen.” I would roll my eyes and tell her I did not approve.

For the last year and a half of her life I went to most of her medical appointments with her. That helped me understand what the doctors were saying and advocate for her when necessary.

The week before she passed, we were seeing a new specialist for a new diagnosis. As is typical with a new doctor, there was a mountain of intake paperwork to provide medical history, insurance information, medications, surgeries, hospitalizations, and allergies. It was time-consuming and frustrating for both of us. I could also see signs of Mom’s memory slipping because she couldn’t remember certain information for the forms. Her handwriting was deteriorating and her hearing was also getting worse. I cannot imagine her handling all of that paperwork alone.

One thing I wish I had done much earlier was create one master document with all of her medical conditions, medications, and personal information. That idea only dawned on me after that appointment. That day, after the appointment, I went home and created it, determined never again to rebuild her medical history from scratch in a waiting room. My plan was simple, the next time we saw a new doctor, I would write “see attached” and hand them the packet. Unfortunately, I only got to use it once, a week later at the hospital where she died.

Below is a blank version of that document in case you’d like to use it. I’m sure there are others available online, so don’t consider this all-inclusive. My intent was not to create the perfect packet of information, but to spare myself from having to reconstruct her entire medical life in the middle of each crisis or waiting room.

Personal & Medical Information

128KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

Key topics include:

• Full name, date of birth, Social Security number, and insurance information

• Emergency contacts

• Primary care doctor and all specialists, including phone numbers

• Diagnoses and major medical history

• Surgeries and approximate dates

• Current medications, dosages, and prescribing doctors

• Allergies and reactions

• Preferred pharmacy

• Copies of medical power of attorney, advance directive, and DNR, if applicable

Interestingly, at that same appointment, after answering the many questions about her surgeries and diagnoses, Mom sighed and said, “I can’t wait to be in Heaven, so I don’t have to deal with all of this anymore.” She was serious. Those words came back to me in the ICU a few days later when I had to make very difficult decisions.

Multiple times Mom had to go into rehab, usually following major surgery, because it was not safe for her to return home until she had regained mobility. Getting into rehab meant insurance had to approve it based on what the hospital and therapists documented. That usually meant working with a discharge planner, filling out paperwork, and scrambling to understand which facilities had openings and what would actually be approved by insurance.

As a hospital decides it is time to discharge a patient (a decision often driven by medical stability and insurance) they usually want to know where that person is going next. That is not a small question. You are not just deciding where someone will sleep, you are deciding what level of care they need and who will provide it, what insurance will cover, what location is realistic, and whether they can function safely there.

Rehab is generally short-term with the goal being improvement. You go there because there is hope that therapy and support will restore some function and allow the person either to return home or move to a lower level of care.

Skilled nursing is different. It is less about short-term recovery and more about ongoing support for people who cannot safely care for themselves. Rehab has a finish line in mind. Skilled nursing often does not.

One complicating factor is that the same facility may offer both. Unless you are paying close attention, it can be easy to misunderstand whether your loved one is in a temporary recovery environment or sliding toward a longer-term level of support. This is an important distinction because it affects not only cost and logistics, but also expectations. One of the questions every family has to ask is, “Is this a temporary setback, or is this the new baseline?”

In our case, every rehab stay felt like warning. Hospitalization, rehab, discharge, repeat. Over time, I begin to realize that medical events in old age do not always come and go. Sometimes they ratchet life downward one click at a time.

I will warn you now, skilled nursing facilities can be a shock. Depending on what your insurance covers, you may be in a shared room with space for only two single beds, two nightstands, and a thin curtain to separate you from your roommate. You likely both have TVs mounted on the opposite wall that loudly battle with one another for your attention. Nurses and orderlies come in at various times, sometimes unscheduled in the middle of the night, sometimes long after you’ve pushed your button requesting them. Generally speaking, they are not happy places. I speak from experience.

After Mom had her shoulder replaced, she had to go into a skilled nursing facility. This was really the only option my mom had—I could not provide the attention, care and rehab at home that she could receive there.

The month that my mother was in a skilled nursing facility was torture for her. I had to meet with staff to advocate for her when they wouldn’t listen, would mess up her medications, or would treat her roughly. She had to request room changes due to a roommate who coughed incessantly. I’d visit her nearly every day after work, not just to check up on her, but to show the staff that there was someone watching them and keeping them accountable. One time, I walked into the room and immediately smelled the overwhelming odor of urine. I asked Mom about it, and she said her roommate had pushed the attendant call button more than 30 minutes ago for help to get out of bed to go to the bathroom, but no one had come. I went out, tracked someone down, and was able to get the problem resolved. To some degree, it wasn’t the staff’s fault; they were undermanned and overworked.

Just know this—you can and should do your homework when selecting a rehab or skilled nursing facility. There are websites that provide reviews that you should read through. Then, most importantly, make sure the staff know that you care about your loved one and are actively aware of and engaged with how they are doing.

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One thing that turned into a blessing, though it initially felt like a burden, was taking Mom to appointments. It disrupted my work schedule and required patience with the fact that she was never ready on time. I wish I could say I always relished those opportunities to serve her—brushing her hair, helping her with shoes, rubbing medicine on her shoulder—but that would not be true. There were times I saw it as service. There were many other times it was simply frustrating. Alas, welcome to the true me.

I took encouragement from my mother-in-law, who has cared for more people than I can count. She has cared for aging aunts, disabled cousins, and still cares for her own ninety-eight-year-old mother. People like her remind me that it is possible to show up day after day for people who are frail, messy, dependent, and not always easy to care for.

For me, it was a year and a half with my mom. There are people who do this for much, much longer. God bless them.

Advice

Planning for aging and end of life all starts with a conversation, which can be hard to do. Some families do not want to talk about health decline or death. That is unfortunate, because both will happen whether we talk about them or not.

Ideally, you should talk openly with loved ones about:

• Current and past health issues.

• Wishes regarding resuscitation.

• Wishes regarding your body after death—organ donation, cremation, burial.

• Funeral or memorial preferences.

Additional advice:

• Go to appointments with your loved one when you can.

• Build extra time into medical days. Everything takes longer than you think.

• Bring a notebook or use an app to take notes at every appointment.

• Keep one master medical document and update it regularly.

• Ask doctors to explain things in plain English so you understand what they’re saying.

• Do not assume “rehab” means full recovery. Ask directly whether rehab is expected to restore prior functioning.

• Ask who is making discharge decisions—the doctor, the therapist, the facility, or insurance—and what the discharge decision will be based on.

• Ask what specific abilities your loved one will need in order to return home safely.

• If you are told, “They’re not safe to go home,” take that seriously.

Previous chapters:

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By adding “significant” we somehow think we’re adding importance to the word “other.” By definition, an “other” lacks categorization or distinction, so how are they significant? I’m reminded of the classic line from the movie Talladega Nights, following an insult, “But I said, ‘With all due respect!’” In essence, by saying “significant other” you’re saying, “Respectfully, you lack categorization in my life.” I would never introduce someone as a “significant other.” The same holds true for “plus-one.”

Look, I get it if two people have yet to have a DTR (define the relationship) conversation to determine if they’ve crossed line from friend to boyfriend or girlfriend, or are dating exclusively. Still, I say we should be very clear on the status of the relationship, options include: date, good friend, or close friend. If your “significant other” is offended by being referred to by one of those terms, then you know it’s time to have that DTR conversation.

Ok, rant over, now on to the news.

International

1. The World’s Most Surprising Economic Success Story Is…North Korea (WSJ)

North Korea’s economy appears to be experiencing its strongest growth in years, especially in Pyongyang, where visitors describe new taxis hailed by smartphone apps, QR-code payments, electric vehicles, imported cars, restaurants, pet stores, gaming cafes, and new housing developments. Much of this visible progress is concentrated in the capital and benefits the elite, while poverty, malnutrition, repression, and human rights abuses remain severe outside Pyongyang.

The turnaround is being fueled by North Korea’s deepening ties with Russia and China. Arms sales, troop deployments to support Russia’s war in Ukraine, Chinese trade, cyber theft, and sanctions evasion have brought in money, materials, energy, and technology. These gains have allowed Kim Jong Un to pursue major construction projects, expand state-controlled markets, and promote a more modern consumer economy, while also strengthening his military and nuclear position. The result is a North Korea that looks wealthier and more technologically advanced than before, but also more entrenched, less likely to bargain away its nuclear program, and still deeply unequal and authoritarian.

2. The Fight to Break China’s Rare-Earth Dominance Moves to a New Front in Brazil (WSJ)

Brazil is emerging as a major focus in the global race to loosen China’s control over rare-earth supply chains. The country holds the world’s second-largest rare-earth reserves, but currently produces almost none of the global supply. Western miners and governments see Brazil’s clay-based deposits, cheap hydropower, lower labor costs, and proximity to U.S. markets as advantages that could help create an alternative source for minerals used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, electronics, and advanced weapons. Interest has surged since China imposed rare-earth export controls in 2025 and controls more than 90% of rare-earth processing and magnet production.

The harder challenge is building the higher-value processing, metals, recycling, and magnet-manufacturing capacity that China dominates. Brazil’s government wants foreign investment, but it does not want the country to become only a raw-material exporter or to be forced into a U.S.-led bloc against China. That neutrality creates both opportunity and uncertainty. Western companies such as Viridis, Meteoric, Aclara, and USA Rare Earth are moving quickly, but China is also investing in Brazilian mining and manufacturing. Brazil could become a rare-earth powerhouse, but whether it becomes a true Western supply-chain alternative depends on how far it develops domestic processing and whether it chooses to remain open to both Washington and Beijing.

3. India’s surprise baby bust is a warning to the world (Economist)

India is undergoing a dramatic demographic reversal. After decades of government messaging warning families against having too many children, the country is now facing a fertility slump, with its total fertility rate down to 1.9 children per woman, below the replacement level of about 2.1. Some Indian states now have fertility rates comparable to wealthy European countries, and the effects are already visible in falling births, shrinking school enrollment, and rising concern that India may grow old before it becomes rich.

Low fertility is no longer limited to wealthy countries; much of the middle-income world and even some poorer countries are now below replacement. The main drivers are lower child mortality, more education for girls, greater autonomy for women, and rising parental aspirations. As parents invest more in each child’s education, especially where public schools are weak, smaller families become both a social norm and an economic strategy. Television, smartphones, and exposure to urban middle-class lifestyles have helped spread those norms faster.

The consequences will be significant. India’s population will still grow for a while, but it may peak around 1.6 billion in the 2040s and then decline sharply. The same may happen across much of Asia, and global population may peak sooner than expected. While the causes of falling fertility are largely good, the transition will bring hard policy choices. Countries like India may face labor shortages, pension burdens, and rising old-age care costs before they have built enough wealth to manage them easily, making higher workforce participation, especially among women, and stronger public finances increasingly urgent.

4. Switzerland’s 10-Million Population Cap Is Worrying Executives (Bloomberg)

Switzerland is preparing to vote on a proposal that would cap the country’s population at 10 million. With the population already above 9.1 million, annual migration would likely need to fall by more than half to stay below the proposed ceiling by 2050.

Supporters, led by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, argue that immigration is straining housing, transportation, and public space, and that the country needs tighter control over who enters. Opponents warn that the cap could shrink the labor pool, damage productivity, worsen shortages in sectors like healthcare, hospitality, IT, and construction, and jeopardize Switzerland’s economic relationship with the European Union, where free movement of people is tied to broader market access.

Artificial Intelligence

5. How Much of the Internet Is AI Slop? (Stat Significant)

“Brain rot” dates back to Henry David Thoreau, who used it in Walden in 1854 to criticize society’s appetite for shallow entertainment. Today, the concern has returned in the form of AI slop, meaning low-quality, machine-generated text, images, and videos flooding digital platforms. Since ChatGPT’s release in 2022, AI-generated content has surged across websites, Amazon e-books, academia, and short-form video, with one study estimating that nearly half of newly published digital content may now be AI-generated.

Social media platforms reward cheap, attention-grabbing content, allowing AI slop to spread quickly and sometimes generate serious advertising revenue. Short-form video platforms appear especially vulnerable, with studies suggesting a large share of YouTube Shorts and similar content qualifies as low-quality “brain rot,” and a significant portion may be AI-created. But the same advertising system that helps fund this content may also create pressure to control it. Major brands do not want their ads appearing beside obviously synthetic, low-quality spam, so advertisers may push platforms to verify larger accounts and improve quality control. Platforms will probably never eliminate AI garbage entirely, but they will need to keep it below the point where users lose interest, advertisers lose confidence, and the business model starts to break.

And then there’s this from the Financial Times:

But, on the other hand, there’s also this (which can also be true):

6. Anthropic Urges Global Pause in AI Development, Flags ‘Self-Improvement’ Risk (WSJ)

Anthropic is warning that frontier AI systems may be advancing fast enough that labs should seriously consider a coordinated slowdown or temporary pause. The company says models could be moving toward “recursive self-improvement,” where AI systems improve themselves without human intervention, though it stresses that this has not happened yet and may not happen. Anthropic argues that society, policymakers, and alignment researchers may need more time to prepare before AI capabilities outpace oversight.

The proposal is controversial because Anthropic is both a major AI competitor and a company that has long emphasized safety. Supporters see its warnings as sincere concern about potentially transformative and dangerous technology. Critics argue the safety messaging could serve Anthropic’s business interests by encouraging regulation that slows rivals, especially open-source models, or by marketing its own systems as powerful enough to be risky. Some researchers warning that AGI or self-improving AI could arrive soon, while others argue today’s language-model-based systems are still far from human-level intelligence.

Anthropic says any slowdown would only work if it were global and verifiable, since companies or countries that continued development while others paused could gain a decisive lead. It compares the challenge to nuclear arms control, but notes that AI training runs are much easier to hide than missile silos. The company plans to convene policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders to explore how a credible slowdown, pause, or verification system might work before AI development reaches a point where institutions are unprepared.

Economy

7. Corporate America has never been this profitable (Sherwood)

AI is helping push U.S. corporate profitability to record highs, especially among the biggest technology companies. In the first quarter, S&P 500 companies kept nearly 15 cents of profit for every dollar of revenue, the highest level FactSet has tracked since 2009 and far above the long-term historical average. The shift is being driven heavily by the Magnificent 7, which now make up more than a third of the S&P 500’s market value and posted earnings growth far stronger than the rest of the index.

The broader profit boom is rooted in strong AI demand, huge megacap tech earnings, aggressive cost-cutting, layoffs, and efficiency campaigns across Corporate America. Both operating and net margins are now at their highest levels in at least two decades, meaning that companies are earning more from their core businesses and keeping more after expenses. But the trend also creates risk: a large share of expected S&P 500 earnings growth now depends on AI infrastructure winners, thus the market’s outlook is increasingly tied to whether today’s AI spending turns into lasting profits.

8. Do you really want that computer-science degree? (Economist)

Computer science degrees are surging across the U.S., but much of the growth is coming from online-heavy, less selective institutions rather than traditional tech powerhouses. BYU-Idaho is a good example—despite being located in a small college town with little tech-industry presence, it awarded more than 2,000 computer and information-science degrees in 2024, far more than just two years earlier and ahead of elite schools such as MIT, Stanford, and Carnegie Mellon. Similar spikes have occurred at institutions like the University of North Texas, Wichita State, and short-term credential providers.

Several forces are driving the boom. Tech wages remain attractive, with new computer-science graduates earning high starting salaries, and universities have adapted their business models through online programs, short-term credentials, and competency-based degrees that let students move quickly through coursework for a flat term fee. AI may be accelerating the trend by making it easier for students, especially online students, to complete assignments rapidly or cheat, with computer-science students among the heaviest users of generative AI tools.

All of this is leading to a growing mismatch risk. AI may be helping produce more computer-science graduates at the same time it is reducing demand for entry-level software engineers. Aspiring tech workers could therefore find themselves using AI to earn credentials for jobs that AI is also beginning to threaten.

9. Tech Layoff Wave Has Already Hit 100,000 Jobs This Year (Statista)

Tech layoffs are accelerating again after two years of cooling. More than 100,000 tech jobs had already been cut worldwide by early May 2026, including about 81,700 in the first quarter alone. That was the highest quarterly total since early 2023, followed by another roughly 20,000 cuts in the first six weeks of the second quarter. The shift marks a sharp reversal from 2025, when layoffs stayed much lower, and from 2024, when cuts steadily declined across the year.

The renewed wave is being driven by major companies, including Meta, PayPal, and Cloudflare, as the sector continues to emphasize efficiency, cost control, and heavy investment in artificial intelligence. Layoffs are still below the extreme peak of early 2023, when more than 160,000 jobs were cut in a single quarter, but the pace in 2026 suggests tech may be entering another major restructuring cycle. At the current trajectory, total cuts could approach the scale of the 2023 downturn, when more than 260,000 tech jobs were eliminated.

NOTE: I know I keep harping on this topic…but here’s a reminder:

10. America’s Social Security trust fund is disappearing (Economist)

Social Security’s main trust fund is nearing a major fiscal deadline. When the program began in 1940, more than 150 workers paid into the system for every retiree receiving benefits. Today, that ratio has fallen to fewer than three workers per beneficiary because of lower birth rates and longer lifespans. The fund’s reserves peaked at $2.8 trillion in 2017 but have since declined by about $400 billion as benefit payments exceed contributions. If nothing changes, the fund is expected to run out around late 2032 or early 2033, triggering an automatic benefit cut of roughly 23%.

Analysts have proposed modest payroll-tax increases, bringing more state and local government workers into the system, raising retirement ages for higher earners, and taxing benefits more heavily for wealthier retirees. But the political environment makes reform difficult. Past fixes relied on either large congressional majorities or bipartisan compromise, while today’s Congress is highly polarized and voters strongly oppose cutting Social Security. Polling shows Americans are far more likely to want Social Security spending increased than reduced. While the trust fund is partly an accounting mechanism, its depletion would have real legal consequences because benefits would automatically fall unless Congress acts. The likeliest outcome, absent early reform, is another crisis-driven rescue funded through more borrowing rather than a durable long-term fix.

Health

NOTE: This one gets my “Article of the Week” star (which I just made up):

⭐ 11. Don’t Get Too Comfortable. Your Quality of Life Depends On It. (WSJ)

Modern life, especially as AI makes tasks easier and more frictionless, may be removing the very challenges people need to stay healthy, resilient, and alive in a meaningful sense. It’s not that people are stressed, but that they may become stagnant. Human well-being depends on “progression,” meaning manageable challenge that builds future capacity in the body, behavior, and mind.

Progression shows up in three areas: 1) Physically, exercise improves health most when it gradually builds endurance, strength, or skill. 2) Behaviorally, even small actions can break cycles of avoidance and restore momentum, especially for people struggling with depression or low motivation. 3) Mentally, broad and exploratory thinking can improve mood, creativity, and flexibility, while repetitive rumination is linked to anxiety, depression, and lower vitality.

What we’re really talking about here is the difference between pursuing pleasure or growth. Scrolling, sugar, alcohol, and passive entertainment may soothe discomfort temporarily, but they do not make people stronger or more capable. Progression often involves effort, uncertainty, and discomfort, but it leaves people better equipped than before. In a world increasingly optimized for ease, the healthier question is not whether something feels good immediately, but whether it moves us forward.

12. The Boom in Autism Therapy Is Medicaid’s Fastest-Growing Jackpot (WSJ)

Medicaid-funded autism therapy has become one of the fastest-growing areas of U.S. healthcare spending, with state Medicaid payments for applied behavior analysis rising from $660 million in 2019 to $2.2 billion in 2023. The growth reflects rising autism diagnoses and demand for services, but it has also attracted entrepreneurs, investors, and private-equity-backed providers, sometimes faster than regulators could monitor billing practices. Federal auditors have found widespread documentation problems in several states, including cases where Medicaid paid for therapy while children were napping or watching videos.

Indiana became a major example of the problem because it reimbursed autism-therapy providers at 40% of whatever they billed, rather than using fixed rates. That system allowed some providers to charge extremely high prices. Piece by Piece Autism Centers, for example, received $29 million from Indiana Medicaid in 2023 to treat just 84 children, about $340,000 per child, with some reimbursements reaching $640 an hour for routine therapy. The company’s owner said it followed state rules and that Indiana did not object to its prices, while state officials now say the old system lacked proper oversight.

Some providers may be billing unusually high numbers of therapy hours per child, even though experts say treatment should vary by individual need and full-time clinic therapy is rarely necessary. Minnesota, Colorado, Florida, and Indiana all had providers billing 30 or more hours per week on average for many children, while federal prosecutors have charged some Minnesota autism-therapy operators with fraud.

Entertainment

13. Kids these days are listening to more songs from the good old days (Sherwood)

Older music is having a major streaming revival, especially among younger listeners. While music from the 2020s still leads among listeners ages 13 to 24, its share has fallen since 2021, and more young people now say they listen most often to music from the 1990s or earlier. The 1990s, in particular, has become the fastest-growing decade for streams. Streaming and social media are driving the shift. Unlike earlier eras, when listeners were limited by radio, record stores, CDs, or vinyl, today’s platforms make more than a century of music instantly available. TikTok and other social platforms can turn old songs into viral sound bites, sending tracks by artists such as Radiohead, Coldplay, Fleetwood Mac, and Michael Jackson back into mainstream attention. Still, current music continues to dominate the biggest individual songs on Spotify, with most of the platform’s top-streamed tracks released after 2010. As AI-generated music expands and listeners search for something more familiar or authentic, older music may increasingly become a source of future hits.

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Chapter 2 - The Tipping Point

It was a Thursday when we finished going through her office. On Saturday I called to check on her, but the call went to voicemail, which was not unusual. Then on Sunday one of her neighbors texted to say she had not heard from Mom. Again, not always unusual. So I texted and called her again and got no response.

A reasonable option would have been to ask one of her neighbors to go check on her. But they had already done that so many times over the years that I no longer felt right putting that burden on them. Quite frankly, they were burned out. It had begun to scare them, either because the house was disgusting or because they feared that one day they would find her dead. I do not blame them. My mom leaned on her neighbors far more than she should have, and I remain grateful for the help they gave her over the years while my brother and I lived elsewhere. In some ways, that is what neighbors are for. But there are limits.

So instead of asking a neighbor, I called the police and requested a welfare check. The responding officer called me when he arrived. I gave him the code to the garage keypad (something I was glad to have) and talked him through the layout of the house. Sure enough, he found her laying on the floor of her bedroom. She was awake and talking, but she was not making sense.

They took her to the emergency room, and I drove up to Austin to see her. That is when I learned how profoundly a urinary tract infection (UTI) can affect the mind of an older person.

When I asked Mom what had happened, she told me a fantastical story about camping in the woods, being chased, and many other outlandish things. She provided elaborate details about her adventures, each more bizarre than the previous. To her, the story was entirely real.

When she finished, I said, “No, Mom, that’s not what happened. I called the police because we hadn’t heard from you. They found you on the floor of your bedroom. You had been down there at least a day or so.”

“No,” she said, while wagging her finger at me. “That’s not what happened. You think you know what happened, but I really know what happened.”

I knew enough not to argue with someone whose mind was not functioning clearly, so I dropped it. What I did do, though, was ask her to tell me the story again, and I recorded it on my phone.

Over the next few days, the antibiotics began clearing the infection, and as they did, her mental clarity returned. At one point she asked, “What was it you said happened to me?” I told her, and she shook her head because it conflicted with the fading memories in her own mind.

I pulled out my phone and said, “Mom, I want to play you something. This is you explaining what happened.” We listened to the earlier recording. When it was over, I asked, “Which version makes more sense to you—what you said then, or what I am telling you now?”

When she realized her version of reality did not make sense, and that mine did, she became scared. And understandably so. It would be frightening for anyone to realize that their own brain had deceived them about reality.

She cried. I comforted her and told her we would work through it together.

That was the beginning of the whirlwind effort by my wife and me to find a place where she could be better cared for.

But first, in the next chapter, we’ll talk about medical issues in older age.

Advice

• If an older loved one is suddenly confused or delirious, consider a urinary tract infection and get it checked immediately.

• If something feels “off,” don’t brush it off too quickly.

• Make sure you have a way to access the home in an emergency.

• Know how to request a welfare check and don’t feel guilty for using that option when needed.

• If an older loved one lives alone, prolonged silence can be a warning sign.

• Keep a list of neighbors, friends, or nearby contacts who know the person’s routines.

• When someone is delirious, don’t waste energy arguing with them. Focus on getting them treated and safe. Once they are clear-minded again, gently explain what happened so they understand the seriousness of it.

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Let’s get the ugly part out of the way first.

Mom was a hoarder. As is likely true for most people in that situation, holding on to things started small and then snowballed. I cannot tell you exactly when it started for her. I only know that over the years, whenever I visited her house, I began to notice things piling up in certain places—things that needed to be put away, organized, read, recycled, or thrown away. Over time, the piles grew.

It wasn’t just the hoarding that became a problem, it was the general uncleanliness too. Stains were left untreated. Dishes piled up in the sink. Basic housekeeping seemed almost nonexistent.

There was a point about four years ago when things became unhealthy and unsanitary. I will spare you the details, but it was atrocious. My brother and his wife flew in, and they, along with my wife and me, sat down with Mom to express our concern. We were logical and emotional in our plea to her to be willing to change. As I later learned, interventions rarely work. And neither did ours. She made promises, but nothing came of them. I consulted friends and professionals, and unfortunately there was not much we could do unless she was willing to accept help.

When we offered to come in and help clean, she generally refused. One reason was that when we helped early on, we moved too quickly for her to supervise every item being sorted and discarded. It wasn’t intentional; we were all working full-time jobs and could only come in on weekends, so we attacked the problem with efficiency and purpose. For Mom, it was overwhelming.

Sometimes other family members had a little more success getting her to allow them in. But despite their best efforts, they were mostly rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Her stubbornness and talkativeness would eventually wear them down.

In the summer of 2023, Mom fell and had to go to the hospital with a urinary tract infection, and then on to rehab. During that time, my family and I were out of the country. Her neighbors confided in me that the home had gotten worse and that something needed to be done.

While out of the country, I coordinated with Letty and Lee Inabinet from Visiting Angels in San Antonio to go into her home and at least get the kitchen and bedroom back into livable shape. But I knew we needed Mom’s permission first, so they went and met with her at rehab. She expressed concern about other people going through her things. I had worked with Letty while I was in the Air Force, and I trusted both her and Lee completely. I told Mom that. Letty was wonderful with her, assuring her that they would only clean and organize. Mom agreed. The Visiting Angels team deep-cleaned the main rooms, then returned to rehab to show her photos and reassure her. I remain deeply grateful to the Letty and Lee. If you are in the San Antonio area and need help of that kind, they are the kind of people you want.

Unfortunately, once Mom returned home, she reverted to old habits.

Eventually, after I retired from the military, I realized the only thing I could do was come alongside her and help on a weekly basis, in accordance with her wishes. Thankfully, my military pension gave me the flexibility to scale back and work part-time in my new job at UT San Antonio. I am grateful for the flexibility the folks at UT San Antonio gave me while I was helping my mom. I have no idea how I, or anyone working full-time, could handle something like this.

So from January through May of 2024, just about every week, my wife and I drove to Austin one day a week to go through things in her house with her.

My wife and I are very Type A people. I retired as a Colonel, and my wife has managed her job as a realtor while also managing our family and home through my many military absences over the years. I say all that not to brag, but to say that if there are two people in the world who know how to organize things and get things done, it’s us.

And yet the process of going through Mom’s house almost broke me. Not because we did not know what to do, but because nearly every decision required her approval.

We started in the kitchen. There was stuff everywhere. I did not know where to begin. I opened one drawer, then another, then another. I decided to gather like items, starting with spatulas. I found twelve of them, held them up to Mom, and asked which one she wanted to keep.

She analyzed every spatula. After fifteen minutes, we had negotiated her down to keeping three. But she did not want anything leaving the house, so we had to make two separate piles: one for things that might be given away and one for things that might be thrown away. After spatulas came whisks. After whisks came wooden spoons. And on, and on.

After a few weeks of trips, we finally got the kitchen somewhat organized and cleaned. If organizing was difficult, cleaning was even worse. There were cockroach droppings on every shelf, on dishes, and in cups. We went through gallons of dish soap and cleanser. The pantry contained food that was more than fifteen years old, yet even throwing that away required negotiation.

After the kitchen, we moved to the dining room, which we needed as a staging area for things we had sorted but that she still had not decided whether to donate, recycle, or trash. As we left each week, we gave her assignments, like going through one stack of sorted items and deciding what to throw away. Rarely did she complete them.

From the dining room we moved to her bedroom. By the time we finished going through her clothes, we had filled more than ten moving boxes with dresses, many still in original packaging from an online store.

We had small victories along the way: decluttering a cabinet, seeing the floor in places, and clearing a path wider than a foot. Some things became a game: counting the number of each like item we found to see which there were more of (scissors actually outnumbered spatulas), and seeing what the oldest item in the pantry might be (I found a bottle of alcohol at the back of the top shelf that was from the 1980s).

When Mom was not looking, my wife and I would quietly take things outside and put them into trash bags that we brought back to our house. Why back to our house? Because she would check her outdoor trash can after we left to see what we had thrown away. Call me dishonest if you want, but it was for her good. It was stuff any other person would have called trash.

There were even times when she remembered something that had been in the house but that we had thrown away behind her back weeks prior. She would ask us about it, and depending on what we thought her response would be—or our own frustration level—we would feign ignorance or tell her we had thrown it away. We could not do that too often, or she would lose trust in us. Again, call me dishonest if you want, but she simply was not keeping up with life in a way that ensured her health and safety.

It is difficult to do the right thing for someone when they do not see it as right. It is even harder when they get upset with you. In many ways, over the past few years, the parent-child relationship flipped. I found myself caring for her in ways she once did for me.

This kind of thing is not in the manual of life. Grow up, go to school, get a job, get married, have kids, retire. That is the arc of life as people tend to imagine it. No one really tells you about the stretch where you may need to care for your parents, many times while also continuing to shepherd your own children through life. This is what they call the “sandwich generation.”

Please do not misunderstand me. I am not bitter. I have no regrets about the time I spent with Mom. I am grateful she let us help her, and grateful we had the chance to do it. I am simply saying that the world does not usually explain that this too may be part of life, just as it does not tell you that marriage will involve struggles or that loved ones may have serious health issues. But that is reality.

I will also say that after raising me for nearly 20 years, I feel that the least I can do for my parents is help care for them for whatever period, and in whatever way, they need (and will allow). As difficult as it may be, it seems selfish to do otherwise.

By May, after four months of weekly trips, we finally reached her home office, where all of her important paperwork was “filed”—in stacks, spread around the room. Some piles had collapsed into others. There was a thick layer of dust on everything.

If there was one upside to Mom’s hoarding, it was that she had kept a lot of important paperwork along with the junk. I initially tried to go through each paper there in the house, deciding whether it was important and where it belonged. But she wanted to see each piece of paper too.

Eventually, I just threw the papers into boxes and bags and brought them back to our house. I spent evenings and weekends going through everything page by page. In the end, I was able to figure out where she had bank accounts, credit cards, and other essential information. The downside was that our living room began to smell like her house, which neither my wife nor I liked.

As tedious and lengthy as that process of going through paperwork was, if I had waited until after she passed to do it, it would have been a million times harder. Because I was finding things while she was still alive, I could ask her about them. I also had the luxury of time. If she had died before I had gotten through all the paperwork, I would have been trying to identify all of that information while simultaneously handling every other part of the estate.

Then, the same week we finished going through her office, I had to call the police to check on her.

Advice

To Hoarders

My guess is most hoarders fall into one of two categories: 1) you do not see yourself as a hoarder, or 2) you understand you have a hoarding problem but you don’t know how to break out of it.

If you find yourself in the first category—that is, you do not think you are a hoarder—but there are people in your life telling you that you are, then you likely are a hoarder. Quite often, others see our faults and shortcomings before we do.

Please understand: this is a problem. It is not normal to hold on to things to the degree that you do, especially if it is impacting your health and safety. If people closest to you are expressing concern, please listen.

If you know you are a hoarder but do not know how to get out of it, seek counseling. It is an addiction. Recovery takes time and effort. Maybe you keep things because you do not think your situation can improve, or maybe you do it because of finances, health, or the sheer size of the problem. There are people and organizations who can help, if you let them.

Additional advice:

• The goal is not perfection, it’s health, safety, and dignity.

• If the whole house feels overwhelming, start with one drawer, one counter, or one corner. Progress over perfection.

• Let someone you trust help you make decisions and help you go through things.

To family and friends of a hoarder

I am sorry. I wish I had an easy solution, but I don’t.

Even when my wife and I showed up every week, Mom was rarely willing to let much go, and even after she moved into assisted living she never truly changed the hoarder behavior. As we learned, interventions rarely work. Like most things in life, lasting change has to come from within.

Additional advice:

• Document what you are seeing. Photos and notes help you track changes over time.

• Don’t assume one difficult conversation will solve anything.

• Pace yourself. Protect your own sanity. Burnout is real.

• Get outside counsel when needed—social workers, counselors, doctors, or elder-care professionals.

• Focus first on health and safety hazards, not aesthetics.

• Accept that “better” may be more realistic than “fixed.”

Future chapters will be released each week.

• Chapter 1 - The Buildup

• Chapter 2 - The Tipping Point

• Chapter 3 - Aging and Medical Care

• Chapter 4 - Important Documents

• Chapter 5 - Finding a Place to Live

• Chapter 6 - Managing Finances

• Chapter 7 - Managing Tasks and People

• Chapter 8 - The Purge

• Chapter 9 - Finding a Place for Puppy

• Chapter 10 - Life in Assisted Living

• Chapter 11 - Her Final Hours

• Chapter 12 - Afterwards

• Final Reflections

  ---

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She had been to the ER many times in the previous couple of years, whether for falls, pain, or other complications. Each time, her problems were diagnosed, care was provided, and a path forward was prescribed. So when I showed up at the hospital on Saturday, November 30, I assumed this visit would be like the others.

Just a few hours later, when a nurse leaned over and asked me, “Does she have a DNR?” I realized this visit was different. (A DNR is a do-not-resuscitate order; it is a document that allows a person to choose not to receive life-saving measures in certain situations.)

Then, a few hours after that, when a nurse began doing chest compressions while straddled over Mom, I had to make the decision to cease further medical intervention.

Three times that night she experienced episodes, each more difficult than the last, that tested my wisdom, maturity, and love. I tell people that I feel like it took me 50 years to have the wisdom to make the decisions I made that night. I am not sure I would have been wise enough to ask the right questions or make the right decisions 30 years earlier.

My brother and I loved Mom, and I know she deeply loved us. She cared for us like only a mother could. I miss her, and I miss that she wanted to be around us. As moms go, you really could not ask for much more. My brother and I put together an obituary for her. I hope it did a decent job of conveying how much we loved her.

This is a series of reflections on the years leading up to her passing, the final hours of her life, and the things I learned while caring for an aging parent.

It started as a therapeutic exercise—simply writing down what her final hours entailed. Then it expanded into the last couple of months, then the last couple of years. Along the way, I realized there were lessons throughout that might help others who are going through, or will one day go through, similar situations. Eventually, it became an twelve-chapter document.

Why I wrote this

I’ve titled this series Reflections on Caring for an Aging Parent. Most of us have lost or will lose a parent sooner or later. Sometimes it’s unexpected and fast; other times it stretches for years and requires incredible sacrifice to care for a sick or elderly family member. Both are difficult in their own ways. In this vein, my purpose in these posts is to share lessons learned from our experience. The topics include hoarding (what to do if you are a hoarder, and what to do if you have a family member who is one), aging and medical care, important documents, finding a place to live, finances, dealing with someone else’s stuff, re-homing a pet, and a good deal of personal reflection on the passing of Mom.

I understand that there are differences in every life and death. You may have had a different experience or learned a different lesson. If you feel like sharing that in the comments section for others, feel free to do so. If you don’t, that’s fine too. I know how personal and private those experiences can feel.

Years ago, a pregnancy book was published with the title What to Expect When You’re Expecting. If I were to come up with another title for this series, it might be something similar, but from the other end of the bookshelf: What to Expect When You’re Expecting…to Die. I am not trying to be glib here. I have simply found that a little levity is necessary during hard times. In the way that the original What to Expect book was informative, I hope this writing is as well, because this writing isn’t just about caring for a loved one, it’s also about what we each need to be doing to prepare for our own death. And, let’s face it, each of us is going to die, so we should be prepared for it.

Thus, I think of the audience for these reflections through two overlapping lenses: time and relationship.

Time

• Some readers are not in this season yet. I hope you tuck a few of these lessons away for future use.

• Some readers are in the middle of this right now. I hope something here helps you navigate the road you’re walking.

• Some readers have already walked this road. My hope for you is shared solace. You are not the only one. It was hard. Thank you for what you did.

Audience

• Those dealing with aging parents.

• Hoarders, or family and friends of a hoarder.

• Those dealing with medical, housing, or financial challenges related to aging.

• Those serving as caregiver, power of attorney, or executor.

• Those facing end-of-life decisions for a loved one.

• Those wanting to prepare now for the practical realities of aging, decline, and death.

I hope you find some useful nuggets in here, whether for now or later. I also hope the narrative keeps you engaged. If it doesn’t, feel free to skip ahead to the “Advice” section in each chapter.

Credit for much of this content, either directly or indirectly, also goes to friends and family who have volunteered in hospice and cared for aging relatives. Throughout the many decisions we had to make, people were there to serve as sounding boards and offer advice. We are grateful for their wisdom.

Caveats

Let me make a few caveats up front.

First, I am not an estate planner, certified financial planner, attorney, doctor, nurse, or therapist, so the lessons I offer here come simply from experience in my situation with my Mom. I strongly recommend meeting with appropriate professionals to discuss your own situation.

Second, I am going to air some dirty laundry about Mom. I do this not to disparage her; my brother and I loved Mom deeply. I do this to connect with those of you facing similar circumstances. We are all adults here. We can acknowledge that people have faults and still have virtues. We can be lovable at times and a pain in the rear at times.

If you are in any doubt about how I felt about Mom, know this: she had shortcomings, but our family loved her deeply. That is how love works. People are not always easy to be with (my wife tells me this). Love means working through difficulty. We would not have done the things we did to help her if we had not loved her.

Third, you may read some of this and think that we should have done certain things differently. You are probably right. You may have had experience or insight we did not have. We were simply trying to make the best decisions we could, one step at a time. We sought counsel from friends, family, and professionals, and then we moved forward.

Below is what we’ll be covering over the next few months. I’ll post one new chapter each week. Chapter 1 is available now; to read it, click the link below.

• Chapter 1 - The Buildup

• Chapter 2 - The Tipping Point

• Chapter 3 - Aging and Medical Care

• Chapter 4 - Important Documents

• Chapter 5 - Finding a Place to Live

• Chapter 6 - Managing Finances

• Chapter 7 - Managing Tasks and People

• Chapter 8 - The Purge

• Chapter 9 - Finding a Place for Puppy

• Chapter 10 - Life in Assisted Living

• Chapter 11 - Her Final Hours

• Chapter 12 - Afterwards

• Final Reflections

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1. NASA boss announces three Moon Base missions scheduled for later this year, at least 12 to come (NY Post)

NASA plans to begin building toward a permanent Moon Base with three lunar missions later this year. The missions will deliver key payloads to the lunar surface, including equipment for the Lunar South Pole, a large commercial payload, and instruments to study the Reiner Gamma swirl. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said these are the first of more than a dozen planned missions as the agency shifts from returning to the Moon to building a lasting presence there.

The Moon Base effort will unfold in three phases: 1) learning, building, and testing; 2) early habitation; and 3) sustained human presence. NASA hopes to reach early habitation by 2029. The finished base could span hundreds of square miles and require infrastructure such as power grids, communications towers, rovers, drones, and landing-site support. NASA is leaning heavily on private companies, awarding major contracts to Blue Origin, AstroLab, Lunar Outpost, and Firefly Aerospace to develop and deliver vehicles, drones, and other lunar systems. NASA wants a broad commercial ecosystem rather than a few highly specialized pieces of hardware, while also pushing industry partners to solve delays, supply-chain issues, and performance problems.

Society

2. America’s Toxic Divide Reaches the Jury Room (WSJ)

Juries are becoming harder to manage as broader social distrust, political polarization, and rigid personal viewpoints spill into deliberation rooms. Surveys show rising distrust in the justice system, growing bias against large corporations, and more willingness among prospective jurors to follow personal beliefs over a judge’s instructions. In both civil and criminal cases, lawyers are adjusting strategy around jurors’ trust levels, political leanings, and likelihood of nullification.

Jobs

3. New York City Unions Keep Winning Six-Figure Salaries (WSJ)

Unionized workers in New York City are winning unusually large pay increases as the city’s cost of living keeps climbing. Hotel housekeepers, nurses, doormen, and commuter rail workers have all secured or are reviewing contracts with sizable raises, preserved healthcare benefits, and in some cases pension gains or new funds to help with housing and child care. Hotel workers won the largest pay increase in their union’s nearly 100-year history, with most wages rising 50% and housekeepers eventually earning more than $100,000 a year. Employers and fiscal watchdogs warn that higher labor costs may be passed on through hotel prices, healthcare costs, transit fares, taxes, or borrowing.

4. This Summer’s Teen Job Market Is the Toughest in Decades (WSJ)

Teenagers are facing an unusually difficult summer job market, with demand for limited openings far outpacing supply. Challenger, Gray & Christmas projects teens will get about 790,000 jobs in May, June, and July, which would be the lowest summer-hiring total since the government began tracking the data in 1948.

The biggest weakness is in entertainment and leisure, where hiring announcements are down 70% from last year. Those jobs at resorts, hotels, amusement parks, restaurants, and activity centers are typically where teens find summer work. Inflation and higher fuel prices are pressuring small businesses and leisure employers, making them more cautious about staffing. There are a few bright spots, especially lifeguard jobs, which are advertised at much higher levels than last year.

The teen job search has also become more competitive and adult-like. Parents are using networks, social media, references, and direct outreach to help their kids find openings, while employers often prefer older teens who can stay longer and require less training. At the same time, fewer teens are looking for work than in past generations because college prep, sports, extracurriculars, and content creation compete for their time. Teen employment routinely topped 50% in the 1970s and 1980s, but now sits around 35%.

Economy

5. The Stock Market Has Never Been So Good When People Have Felt So Bad (WSJ)

Consumer sentiment and the stock market are moving in opposite directions in a way that breaks with historical patterns. Americans are unusually pessimistic, with the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index falling to its lowest level in roughly 70 years of surveys. High prices, a weaker labor market, the Iran war, and higher gas prices have all contributed to the gloom. Normally, that kind of consumer mood would line up with a weaker stock market.

Instead, stocks are surging. The S&P 500 has risen for eight straight weeks, the Dow has hit record highs, and market valuations are extremely elevated. By Robert Shiller’s cyclically adjusted price/earnings ratio, the S&P 500 is above 40, a level seen only around the dot-com bubble. That makes the current split striking: in 2000, high stock prices came alongside widespread optimism about jobs, growth, low inflation, globalization, and the promise of the internet.

The disconnect may have several explanations. Stocks may be overvalued and ignoring economic weakness, which would mean consumers are reading the situation more accurately. Or markets may be anticipating better conditions ahead, including an end to the war, lower inflation, and stronger growth. The most unsettling possibility is that both consumers and investors are reacting to the same force: AI. Investors see AI as a way for companies to cut labor costs and boost profits, while households worry it could make jobs harder to find. In that sense, a booming market and unhappy consumers may not be contradictory at all.

6. 30-year US Treasury yield hits highest level in 19 years (CNN)

Inflation fears are driving a sharp sell-off in government bonds, pushing Treasury yields to levels not seen in years. The 30-year U.S. Treasury yield has climbed to 5.2%, its highest since 2007, while the 10-year yield has risen to about 4.67%. The main pressure is coming from the Iran war’s energy shock, which has sent oil and gas prices higher and is beginning to filter into food, airfare, and broader consumer prices. Since bond prices fall when yields rise, investors are demanding more compensation for the risk that inflation will stay elevated and erode returns.

The sell-off is also tied to deeper worries about government deficits, higher defense spending, and the possibility that central banks may have to keep rates high or even raise them again. Those concerns are not limited to the United States. Long-term bond yields in the U.K. and Japan have also hit major highs as investors reassess inflation and fiscal risks around the world. In the U.S., rising yields threaten to lift mortgage rates, auto loans, business borrowing costs, and other forms of credit across the economy.

Stocks are starting to feel the pressure as well. Higher bond yields can make equities less attractive and change how investors value future corporate earnings. The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all fell Tuesday, with the S&P and Nasdaq notching a third straight day of losses. Before the Iran war, the 10-year yield was just below 4%; now it is near 4.7%, and analysts are watching 4.8% as a key danger zone.

7. The Risk Premium for Holding Stocks Over Bonds Is Vanishing (WSJ)

Stocks have surged even as the bond market is flashing warning signs. The equity risk premium, which compares the S&P 500’s earnings yield with the 10-year Treasury yield, has nearly vanished. That means investors are getting only a small expected-return advantage for owning stocks instead of much safer government bonds, a setup that looks similar to the period after the dot-com bubble burst.

The main cause is the global bond sell-off tied to inflation fears from the Iran conflict and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices have jumped sharply, expectations for rate cuts have faded, and the 10-year Treasury yield has climbed from just under 4% before the conflict to around 4.57%. At the same time, stock prices have risen, pushing the S&P 500’s earnings yield lower and making valuations look stretched.

Investors are split on whether the rally is justified. Skeptics argue that stock prices now require years of very strong earnings growth, especially from AI-related companies, to make sense. Optimists believe the AI boom is still early and could keep lifting profits and productivity. For now, the market’s outlook depends heavily on two things: whether Middle East tensions ease enough to bring oil prices down, and whether investors get both lower interest rates and stronger corporate earnings. Without both, stocks may look increasingly expensive.

Education

8. Harvard Votes to Cap A’s in Effort to Curb Grade Inflation (WSJ)

Harvard’s faculty approved a new cap on A grades in undergraduate courses as part of a long-running effort to curb grade inflation. Beginning in fall 2027, each course will be limited to A’s for 20% of students, plus four additional A’s to account for smaller classes. The cap does not apply to A-minuses, which administrators expect may become the most common top grade. Faculty supporters argue that the change will make grades more meaningful, encourage stronger academic engagement, and protect the value of a Harvard degree.

The move follows evidence that A’s have become dramatically more common. About 60% of grades in 2024–25 were A’s, compared with about 25% in 2005–06. GPA compression has also made academic distinctions harder to award, with Harvard’s top-GPA Sophia Freund Prize going from one or two winners in earlier years to a 55-way tie in 2025. Faculty also voted to replace GPA with percentile rank for internal honors and prizes.

9. New College Grads Confront a Tight Job Market but Still Have an Edge (WSJ)

The job market for young adults has weakened, but the headline unemployment numbers may make college graduates look worse off than they really are. The unemployment rate for 22- to 27-year-olds with bachelor’s degrees rose to 5.6% in March, up from 3.6% before the pandemic. That increase is sharper than the rise for all workers in the same age range, suggesting that recent graduates are facing a rougher transition into work, especially as employers slow hiring and anxiety grows over AI replacing entry-level skills.

But unemployment only counts people actively looking for work, which changes the comparison. Young adults without bachelor’s degrees are more likely to have left the labor force altogether, meaning they are not counted as unemployed. Their labor-force participation has fallen since 2019, while participation among young college graduates has actually risen. Looking at the share of people who are working, college graduates have held nearly steady, while young adults with high-school through associate degrees have seen a clearer decline. College graduates still have better employment prospects than less-educated peers, but the college advantage is not as strong as it used to be. A bachelor’s degree remains valuable, yet its wage premium has slipped as more workers earn degrees and the credential becomes less distinctive.

Artificial Intelligence

10. These 5 charts show how ChatGPT has flooded our lives (WP)

ChatGPT’s broad social impact is just…“more”: more written, creative, legal, scientific, and online content generated at lower cost and higher speed. Since its release in late 2022, AI tools have made it much easier to produce work that resembles books, lawsuits, music, scientific papers, and web content. This has shifted the burden to readers, judges, moderators, platforms, and audiences who must sort useful human work from low-quality or machine-generated volume.

The clearest examples are in publishing and law. Weekly English-language e-book releases on Amazon have nearly tripled since ChatGPT’s launch, and one study found that more than half of new books by late 2025 contained AI-generated text. In federal courts, self-represented non-prisoner filings rose to about 17% of cases, up from a historical average of 11%, with researchers attributing the increase to AI. That may expand access to courts, but it also creates more work for judges and raises the risk of fake AI-generated citations.

The same pattern is spreading across music, science, and the web. Deezer estimates that more than 40% of uploaded tracks are now fully AI-generated, or about 75,000 songs a day. ArXiv has tightened submission rules after a rise in low-quality or non-scientific papers, including some with fake citations or hidden prompts aimed at manipulating AI-assisted reviewers. Researchers also estimate that as much as a third of new web content in some months is partly or wholly AI-generated.

NOTE: Below are two of the five charts:

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1. Eric Church Commencement Address at UNC

2. Jonathan Haidt Commencement address at NYU (Atlantic)

Here’s just one snippet from his speech that I thought was great: “So how should you live these next postgraduate years, these years of transition? By repeatedly turning your attention toward doing hard things… And I’m not just talking about your career. Devote your precious attention to taking chances in relationships, too.”

3. No One Cares About Your GPA, and More Career Advice for New Grads (WSJ)

Answer your boss’s emails, stop talking about your GPA, and do not assume classroom accommodations will translate neatly into office life. Grades matter less once everyone around you also had good grades, especially in an era of grade inflation and AI-assisted coursework. What matters more is showing reliability, judgment, and the ability to work within real deadlines. Advancement depends on relationships as much as performance. Mentors can give advice, but sponsors are the people who advocate for you when opportunities appear. And while young workers may enter as the office experts on new technology, that status will not last long. Another class of even younger, more AI-native workers is already on the way.

And while we’re talking about education…

Education

4. The Perverse Tyranny of a Perfect Transcript (Atlantic)

Harvard has a grade inflation problem. In 2025, the prize for the graduating senior with the highest GPA ended in a 55-way tie because all of those students had perfect grades. That is hard to square with a grading system where an A is supposed to mean “extraordinary distinction,” especially when flat A’s now make up about two-thirds of all grades. To bring some meaning back to transcripts, a Harvard grading committee has proposed capping flat A’s at roughly one-third of undergraduate grades.

The proposed fix would not cap all A-range grades, only flat A’s. Students could still earn A– grades freely, but the top mark would be reserved for work that is genuinely exceptional. The proposal is controversial, with many students worried it will make college more stressful and competitive. But the argument is simple: grades should mean what colleges say they mean. If everyone gets the mark for extraordinary work, then it no longer marks anything extraordinary at all.

5. Princeton Changes Its 133-Year-Old Honor Code Over AI Cheating Fears (WSJ)

Princeton is ending one of its oldest academic traditions because AI has made cheating feel too easy and too hard to police. Since 1893, students took exams without proctors under an honor code built on trust. Starting this summer, instructors will be present for all in-person exams, after faculty and students raised concerns that cheating had become widespread. It’s not just Princeton. Colleges everywhere are trying to figure out what academic integrity means when students can use AI to write papers, solve problems, or quietly check answers during exams. The fear is that once students believe everyone else is cheating, cheating starts to feel both normal and necessary.

6. The Average Student-Loan Defaulter Is Nearly 40 Years Old (WSJ)

Millions of student-loan borrowers have fallen into default since pandemic-era repayment protections ended, and the typical defaulter is older than before. The New York Fed estimates that more than 3.5 million borrowers defaulted between October and March, with the average defaulted borrower now nearly 40 years old, about 2½ years older than before the pandemic. Borrowers age 50 and older are now at greater risk of default than younger borrowers, and Gen X borrowers carry the highest average student-loan balances.

Many borrowers who defaulted on student loans are also behind on other debts, including auto loans, credit cards, and mortgages. Defaults are occurring nationwide but are more common in the South, and many newly defaulted borrowers were not delinquent before the pandemic. Some are likely parent borrowers who took out loans for their children.

The Trump administration is restructuring the federal student-loan system after the Biden administration focused more on reducing monthly payments and expanding paths toward forgiveness. The end of the SAVE plan and transition to new repayment options, including the Repayment Assistance Plan launching in July, could raise monthly payments for many borrowers. That creates the risk of additional defaults, especially as defaulted borrowers may eventually face wage, tax refund, or Social Security garnishment, though those garnishment plans have been delayed.

7. A Changing Job Market Leans Against Men (WSJ)

The labor market is increasingly favoring women because recent job growth has been concentrated in healthcare and social assistance, a sector where women outnumber men three to one. Over the past year, that sector added 656,500 jobs; without that gain, the private sector would have lost jobs overall. Meanwhile, male-heavy sectors such as manufacturing, transportation, and warehousing have been losing jobs, partly because of tariffs and weaker manufacturing performance.

Men’s employment-to-population ratio has declined over decades, while women’s has held up better and even strengthened among prime-age workers after the pandemic, helped in part by hybrid work. Since the end of 2024, payroll jobs held by women have increased by 421,000, while jobs held by men have slipped slightly.

Longer term, the divide may widen because women are earning college degrees at higher rates than men, and college-educated workers have much stronger employment outcomes. Future job growth is also likely to favor healthcare roles, including jobs men have historically avoided or entered only slowly. Some growing occupations, such as dental hygienists, medical assistants, home health aides, and nurses, remain culturally coded as female even when they offer strong pay or stability.

Life

8. High Tech, Low Play: The Life of American Children (IFS)

American children are spending large amounts of time online from very young ages while facing tight restrictions on real-world independence. Even three-year-olds average 4.5 hours per week on internet-connected devices, and by age 17 that rises to nearly 20 hours per week. Device access begins early, with nearly half of three-year-olds using tablets, iPads, or Kindles, while smartphones become the dominant device by age 11 and reach 90% ownership by age 17. Parental controls are often limited, especially on smartphones, where content filters are used by only a minority of parents and decline further among teenagers.

At the same time, children are given relatively little freedom to move around or play outside without adults. By age 14, most children are still not allowed to travel beyond their own street without supervision, and even by age 17, more than 60% are not allowed beyond their neighborhood. Unsupervised outdoor play remains low, averaging only about half an hour per week at age 5 and about 2.4 hours per week by age 17. This limited mobility also affects children’s social lives, since teens who cannot leave home or the yard have only slightly more unsupervised time with friends than much younger children. Social class strongly shapes these patterns. Parents with graduate degrees are more likely to set screen-time limits, require device drop-off rules, delay smartphone access, and support giving children more independence.

9. The Global Fertility Crisis Is Worse Than You Probably Think

Derek Thompson

The Global Fertility Crisis Is Worse Than You Probably Think

Why has the number of births declined everywhere, all at once…

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a month ago · 162 likes · 11 comments · Derek Thompson

Birthrates are falling almost everywhere, and faster than most experts expected. The old story was that rich countries would have fewer children while poorer countries kept growing; however, that no longer holds. Fertility is now below replacement across much of the Americas, Europe, and Asia, and it is dropping quickly in places such as Latin America, North Africa, the Middle East, and even parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. The world may have already passed “peak child,” even though total population will keep rising for a few more decades because of demographic momentum.

Some of the decline can be explained by lower child mortality, better education for women, more contraception, more work opportunities, and greater freedom to decide whether to have children. But the newer collapse below replacement seems harder to explain. Technology, social media, delayed marriage, expensive housing, the shift to service economies, and an “educational arms race” all seem to be pushing people toward fewer children or none at all.

The consequences could end up being enormous. Fewer children may ease pressure on resources and make cities more livable, but very low fertility also threatens pension systems, schools, hospitals, local communities, and national identity. Countries can try to offset decline with immigration, but that brings its own political and cultural tensions. AI and robotics may help soften the economic blow by increasing productivity, but they cannot replace the social fabric that disappears when schools, pubs, neighborhoods, and whole regions empty out.

NOTE: I previously shared a video about South Korea’s future population and cultural demise. I thought this quote from the above article about Japan was intriguing as well:

Japan right now is around 98% ethnically Japanese. If we wanted to keep the population of Japan constant in 200 years through immigration, in 200 years Japan will be 5% Japanese and 95% non-Japanese. This is not about bringing in a few immigrants. This is about changing your country. That country will not be Japan. You may say, “I’m perfectly fine. I’m not attached to the idea of Japan in the abstract.” But I can see a lot of Japanese say, “This is not about being a xenophobe. This is not about being anti-immigrant. This is about not having a country anymore.”

Population decline, and trying to reverse it, is a tricky thing. It takes (depending on the age at which you expect a human to work) about 16 years for a person to become old enough to contribute to the economy. That’s a long delay.

10. California Wants More Babies, So It’s Giving Away 40 Million Diapers (WSJ)

California is trying to make life a little cheaper for new parents by giving every newborn 400 free diapers when they leave the hospital. The state plans to start with 40 million diapers this year, prioritizing mothers on Medicaid, and Gov. Gavin Newsom is asking lawmakers for $12.5 million to expand the program next year. The move is meant to speak directly to affordability, especially as diapers remain a major expense for families with newborns. But it is also a very small answer to a much larger problem. California births are down 20% from a decade ago, and the state’s high cost of housing continues to push middle-class families out.

Newsom has taken steps on affordability through free prekindergarten, expanded Medicaid, insulin pricing efforts, and now diapers. But housing remains the central challenge. Since he took office, the median home price has risen 50%, and the state permitted fewer homes last year than it did in 2018.

11. Strangers Next Door: The Decline of Neighborhood Socializing and the Class Divide in Belonging (AEI)

Americans are spending more time at home than they used to, but they are interacting with their neighbors far less. In 2012, nearly six in ten Americans said they talked with neighbors several times a week. Today, only four in ten say the same, and nearly one in five say they do not talk to their neighbors at all. The decline is especially sharp among young adults, many of whom now see being a “good neighbor” less as helping people nearby and more as respecting privacy and keeping distance.

The survey found that neighborhood life increasingly breaks along class and religious lines. College-educated Americans tend to trust their neighbors more, socialize more often, and feel more comfortable asking for help, whether that means borrowing spare keys, getting help moving furniture, or asking someone to watch their children in an emergency. Religious attendance also matters. People who attend religious services regularly are more likely to know their neighbors, spend time with them, and work together on local problems.

One of the clearest patterns in the report is that communities work better when people actually have places to gather. Americans with access to parks, coffee shops, libraries, restaurants, churches, and other “third places” are more likely to walk around their neighborhoods, strike up conversations, and feel connected to the people nearby. The report argues that the weakening of neighborhood life is part of a larger erosion of American social connection, one shaped not just by technology and remote work, but by disappearing civic habits and fewer opportunities to interact face to face.

12. ‘Population autopsy’ finds Americans are dying younger than other wealthy countries — the deadliest 2 culprits revealed (NY Post)

America’s life expectancy gap with other wealthy countries is widening sharply. A large analysis of more than 63 million deaths found that nearly 12.7 million U.S. deaths between 1999 and 2022 could have been avoided if American death rates had matched those of 17 peer nations. Annual excess deaths more than tripled during that period, rising from about 346,000 in 1999 to more than 905,000 in 2022.

Two forces are driving much of the gap: cardiometabolic disease and “deaths of despair.” Heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, kidney disease, and related metabolic conditions account for the largest share of excess deaths, with U.S. rates worsening after 2009 even as peer countries continued to improve. By 2022, U.S. death rates from circulatory and metabolic diseases were far higher than in comparable wealthy nations.

The fastest-growing problem is deaths tied to drugs, alcohol, and suicide, especially among men and younger Americans. These “deaths of despair” are the main reason the mortality gap has widened among people under 45. COVID-19 intensified the trend by disrupting care, worsening mental health, increasing social stress, and accelerating problems that were already present.

You can read the report here.

NOTE: I’m currently reading Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari. It’s an anthropological review of humanity that explores ethics, philosophy, religion, and more. In it, he points out, “For the first time in history, more people die today from eating too much than from eating too little, more people die from old age than from infectious disease, and more people commit suicide than are killed by soldiers, terrorists and criminals combined.” That’s a staggering point.

Health

13. GLP-1 Users Are Taking a Bite Out of the Restaurant Business (WSJ)

GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are starting to change how Americans eat out. People taking drugs like Zepbound and similar treatments are eating smaller portions, visiting restaurants less often, and cutting back on alcohol. That is creating a new problem for restaurants already dealing with higher costs and more cautious customers.

The impact is not hitting every chain the same way. Fast-casual places like Chipotle, Panera, and Sweetgreen may benefit because they offer customizable meals, bowls, salads, protein options, and lighter portions. Restaurants built around big servings, fried food, pizza, desserts, or alcohol may have a harder time. Some chains are already adapting by highlighting protein, offering smaller portions, or creating lighter menus.

Sports

14. The Future of Elite Youth Sports Is Here—and It’s a Mess (WSJ)

Florida has become the closest thing high-school sports has to a transfer portal. Thanks to school-choice rules and the rise of NIL money, top athletes are moving from school to school in search of better teams, more exposure, stronger coaches, and a clearer path to college offers. Some elite players now attend multiple high schools in just a few years, treating each move as part of a larger recruiting strategy. The system has created real opportunities for athletes with major talent, but it has also turned high school into something that looks more like a business than a school experience. Coaches are accused of recruiting players, NIL deals can blur into pay-for-play, and state officials say the rules are hard to enforce. Meanwhile, students who transfer repeatedly may lose academic rhythm as counselors try to piece together credits from multiple schools.

Traditional community teams are being replaced by rosters of short-term stars, small schools are losing their best players, and coaches worry that athletes are being taught to leave rather than persevere. For families chasing life-changing college money, the calculation is simple: get better film, better exposure, and a better deal.

But for most high-school athletes, the odds of reaching that payoff remain slim.

NOTE: My advice—spend that time and money focusing on your education, which will most definitely have a payoff.

15. How Sports Became Our Civic Religion (And why poor, deindustrialized towns produce the most passionate fans.)

The Free Press

How Sports Became Our Civic Religion

For tickets to our live recording with Jon Meacham in Philadelphia, click here and register. Use code TFP for a 20 percent discount…

Listen now

2 months ago · 14 likes · 12 comments · Shilo Brooks

In this episode of Old School, Shilo Brooks sits down with sportswriter Wright Thompson to explore what the ESPN mainstay has learned from decades of covering elite athletes such as Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan. Does greatness require rage, dysfunction, or “daddy issues”? And what does GOAT culture teach young men about winning—and losing?

NOTE: A great episode that touches on ethics, morality, character, fatherhood, what’s important in life, and the ritual of sports--this interview has it all (to include some adult language).

In the interview Thompson mentioned three sports articles that are some of his favorites; here they are:

• Death of a Racehorse by W.C. Heinz (published in 1949)

• What Do You Think of Ted Williams Now? by Richard Ben Cramer (published in 1986).

• Holy Ground by Wright Thompson (a memoir to his father)

International

16. See How China Is Gaining Power in Contested Waters (WSJ)

China is using fishing boats, coast-guard ships, and maritime militia vessels to expand its reach across Asian waters without crossing the line into open conflict. In the Yellow Sea, about 200 Chinese fishing boats recently pushed farther east, some coming within 150 miles of Sasebo, Japan, a major U.S. naval hub. Similar activity is showing up near South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines, often around contested islands, shipping lanes, and strategically important waters. Analysts say China is using these fleets to pressure neighbors, complicate U.S. and allied military planning, and gradually normalize its presence in disputed areas. That includes increased coast-guard patrols near the Senkaku Islands, a heavier presence around Scarborough Shoal, and new construction at Antelope Reef in the Paracel Islands.

NOTE: Many great infographics in this piece, below is just one:

17. Xi’s China: Dazzling Technology, Military Muscle—and an Economic Mess (WSJ)

China has become more militarily powerful, technologically ambitious, and industrially dominant under Xi Jinping, but that strength masks deep economic strain. Xi has prioritized national security, military modernization, and self-sufficiency in areas such as AI, semiconductors, electric vehicles, robotics, and advanced manufacturing. That strategy has helped China narrow gaps with the U.S. in some strategic sectors, but it has also diverted attention and resources away from reforms that could support jobs, household income, consumer confidence, and the middle class.

The property bust has destroyed wealth, weakened consumer sentiment, and wiped out jobs that have not been fully replaced. Local governments are cutting spending on basic services while increasing investments in science, technology, and security priorities. Xi’s model is producing national strength without broad prosperity. China can project power through its military, exports, and strategic industries, but many ordinary workers are facing fewer opportunities, lower wages, and greater uncertainty. The country’s policy focus remains tilted toward “things” like factories, weapons, and technology capacity rather than people through stronger social safety nets, household support, and job-creating reforms.

18. Russia is starting to lose ground in Ukraine (Economist)

The failed May ceasefire shows how far Ukraine and Russia remain from any real end to the war. Both sides accused the other of violations, and battlefield data showed no meaningful pause in fighting. But beneath that grim continuity, the momentum may be shifting. Russia is still paying an enormous price--estimates put Russian deaths somewhere between 280,000 and 518,000, with total casualties possibly reaching 1.5 million. That means a striking share of Russia’s fighting-age male population has been killed or wounded.

Russia has gained only tiny amounts of territory this year, while Ukraine has recently begun taking some ground back. Drones have made the battlefield harder to move through and harder to map, slowing Russian advances and exposing troops behind the front. Russia may still try for a summer offensive, but for now the war looks like it may be at a possible turning point.

Space

19. SpaceX is only ~200 satellites away from having launched as many satellites as the rest of the world combined

Government

20. Why Congress Is Struggling to Do the Bare Minimum (WSJ)

Congress managed to reopen most of the Department of Homeland Security after a 76-day shutdown, but the vote was less of a breakthrough than a temporary patch over a much deeper institutional breakdown. Public approval is near historic lows, the House is operating with razor-thin margins, and small factions can now derail leadership at almost any moment. The result is a Congress that lurches from shutdown to shutdown, passes few laws, and increasingly watches the president govern around it through executive orders, tariffs, and military action.

The dysfunction is not confined to one chamber or one party. House Republicans blame Senate Republicans for sending over last-minute bills they dislike; Senate Republicans are exasperated by House factions that cannot stay aligned; Democrats accuse the House GOP of chaos and deference to Trump; Republicans accuse Democrats of obstruction. Votes are held open for hours while leaders pressure holdouts, major funding deadlines are missed, and basic governing has become a recurring test of whether Congress can keep the lights on at all.

Congress appears to be normalizing its own failure. Government shutdowns, temporary funding patches, massive last-minute spending packages, and executive workarounds have become routine features of Washington rather than emergencies. Lawmakers are retiring or resigning in unusually high numbers, and Republicans are openly warning that a dysfunctional majority risks becoming a minority after the midterms. Congress can still pass things when forced to, but it increasingly does so only after exhausting nearly every sign of institutional health.

Nature

21. The Colorado River Is on the Brink of Disaster (WSJ)

The Colorado River system is running out of water, and the states that depend on it still cannot agree on how to divide the shrinking supply. A February deadline to reach a new deal passed without agreement, leaving the federal government warning that it may impose its own solution—one that would likely mean painful water cuts across the Southwest. When the Colorado River compact was signed in 1922, officials overestimated how much water the river could reliably provide. Since then, population growth, farming demands, and long-term drought have pushed the system beyond its limits. The two largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, are now roughly 75% below their peak storage levels after years of states drawing down reserves to cover shortages.

Tensions are especially high between the upper basin states—Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico—and the lower basin states—Arizona, California, and Nevada. The lower basin has historically used more water, while the upper basin argues it should not bear the brunt of future cuts. Meanwhile, this year’s weak snowpack in the Rockies has made the outlook even worse. Officials expect Lake Powell to receive the lowest inflow since it was created in the 1960s, and emergency releases from upstream reservoirs are only buying time. As one water expert put it, there simply is not enough water left to fill the gap.

NOTE: Story contains many great infographics.

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1. U.S. Debt Tops 100% of GDP (WSJ)

The United States has crossed a major fiscal milestone: publicly held national debt now exceeds 100% of GDP for the first sustained period since the aftermath of World War II. As of March 31, publicly held debt stood at roughly $31.3 trillion, slightly larger than the country’s annual economic output. The federal government is currently spending about $1.33 for every dollar it collects, with annual deficits nearing 6% of GDP and projected to remain elevated for years. While economists caution there is nothing magical about crossing the 100% threshold itself, the number symbolizes the long-term fiscal pressures building across the American economy.

As debt rises, interest payments consume a growing share of federal spending—now roughly one out of every seven federal dollars. Higher debt also makes the economy more sensitive to interest-rate increases, crowds out private investment, and can place upward pressure on borrowing costs across mortgages, auto loans, and credit markets. Economists warn that over time, excessive debt can reduce productivity growth and limit economic flexibility, even for a country like the United States that benefits from issuing the world’s reserve currency.

Unlike the temporary spike during the COVID-19 pandemic, today’s deficits are increasingly structural, driven by aging demographics, entitlement spending, repeated tax cuts, and political unwillingness to make major fiscal adjustments. Congressional Budget Office projections show debt potentially reaching 120% of GDP within a decade and 175% by the 2050s absent major policy changes. Stabilizing debt levels alone, not reducing them, would likely require trillions of dollars in tax increases, spending cuts, or much faster economic growth than currently projected. The broader anxiety among economists is the growing sense that the political system lacks the willingness to confront it seriously.

NOTE: Yes, as I’ve been saying, our political system must confront this issue sooner rather than later. It’s only continuing to get worse. We either face pain now, or much more pain later.

2. The Great $110 Trillion Wealth Transfer Won’t Happen Any Time Soon (WSJ)

For years, the coming “great wealth transfer” has been portrayed as a massive handoff of baby boomer wealth to millennials and younger generations. The reality may look much slower and far less transformative. Older Americans now control roughly $110 trillion in wealth, with baby boomers alone holding nearly $90 trillion, but longer lifespans, rising healthcare spending, luxury retirement lifestyles, and wealth transfers between spouses are delaying when much of that money actually reaches younger heirs.

The result is that inheritances are arriving later in life. Americans who once commonly inherited wealth in their 50s are now more likely to receive inheritances in their mid-60s, meaning many heirs are already approaching retirement themselves before substantial transfers occur. While millennials are often portrayed as the primary beneficiaries of future inheritances, projections suggest Generation X will actually receive the largest share of inherited wealth over the next decade. Even then, the distribution will remain highly unequal, since many middle- and lower-income families have little or no wealth to pass down at all.

3. Can a country get too rich? (Economist)

NOTE: I hear a lot about Nordic countries and happiness (Norway is currently the 6^th happiest country in the world). It appears, at least for Norway, that happiness comes at a cost.

Norway has become one of the wealthiest countries in the world thanks to decades of oil revenue and a massive sovereign wealth fund now worth roughly $2.2 trillion. The country enjoys extraordinarily high living standards, generous public services, and GDP per capita near the top globally. Yet growing debate inside Norway suggests that extreme wealth may also be creating complacency, inefficiency, and economic stagnation. A bestselling Norwegian book titled *The Country that Became Too Rich* argues that easy oil money has weakened incentives for both politicians and citizens to make difficult decisions or maintain long-term economic discipline.

As the sovereign wealth fund has ballooned, government spending increasingly relies on investment returns rather than taxation. That dynamic, critics argue, allows politicians to postpone reforms and simply spend more when problems emerge. Healthcare costs, infrastructure projects, and public renovations have become notoriously expensive, while economic cost-benefit analysis often takes a back seat to political convenience. Large portions of state revenue are also directed toward foreign aid and charitable causes at levels far exceeding many peer countries. Meanwhile, households have accumulated some of the highest debt levels in Europe, reflecting confidence that national wealth will cushion economic risks.

The effects are showing up in the labor market and broader economy. Youth unemployment is significantly higher than in neighboring Denmark, dropout rates are elevated, and many highly educated Norwegians end up working low-skill service jobs despite extensive free higher education. Productivity growth has stalled, real wages are beginning to decline, and the Norwegian krone has weakened. The broader concern is not whether Norway can continue funding its welfare state—it likely can for decades—but whether a society sustained primarily by accumulated wealth gradually loses the pressures and incentives that drive innovation, accountability, productivity, and personal ambition.

4. These Are the Hiring Hot Spots Where College Grads Are Landing Good Jobs (WSJ)

A growing number of cities across the American Sunbelt are emerging as some of the strongest job markets for recent college graduates, even as the broader entry-level labor market remains difficult and uneven. New research from ADP ranked metro areas based on hiring rates for college-level jobs, wages, and affordability, and found that Southern cities dominate many of the top spots. Birmingham ranked first, followed by Tampa, with other strong performers including Raleigh, Tulsa, Nashville, and Charlotte. Recovery in graduate hiring is happening selectively, favoring regions with strong growth industries and relatively manageable living costs. Many young graduates increasingly see Southern cities as places where they can access opportunity without the crushing housing costs associated with traditional coastal hubs.

The rankings also reveal how rapidly local labor markets are shifting. San Jose surged despite recent tech layoffs, helped by renewed AI-related hiring and exceptionally high salaries, while Columbus emerged as a Midwest standout thanks to expansion in advanced manufacturing, healthcare, finance, and defense-related industries like drone production. Meanwhile, former high-flyers such as Austin, Phoenix, and Boston slipped in the rankings.

Prediction Markets

5. Why Almost Everyone Loses—Except a Few Sharks—on Prediction Markets (WSJ)

NOTE: Last week, I shared a Bloomberg article on this topic, here’s a WSJ one for you. I think the topic bears repeating.

Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket market themselves as democratized forecasting platforms where ordinary users can profit from predicting sports, politics, celebrity appearances, and economic events. In practice, however, the overwhelming majority of users lose money while a tiny group of sophisticated professional traders capture most of the gains. A Wall Street Journal analysis found that 67% of profits on Polymarket went to just 0.1% of accounts, while more than 70% of users lost money overall. On Kalshi, the company acknowledged that unprofitable users outnumber profitable ones by nearly three to one. Trading volume has exploded, rising from $1.8 billion to $24.2 billion year-over-year, attracting quantitative trading firms, algorithmic market makers, and high-frequency traders that use expensive live data feeds, AI systems, and automated trading infrastructure to exploit less sophisticated participants.

Prediction markets increasingly resemble a hybrid of gambling, day trading, and high-frequency finance. Professional firms staffed by statisticians, coders, and quantitative traders dominate many markets through speed, discipline, and superior data access. Some firms reportedly execute tens of thousands of trades daily and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars annually on infrastructure. Critics warn that these markets are vulnerable to insider trading and behavioral biases such as “long shot bias,” where inexperienced traders overestimate unlikely outcomes. Mention markets in particular were found to systematically overprice “yes” outcomes, producing returns worse than many casino slot machines. Supporters counter that uninformed traders improve market liquidity and forecasting accuracy, arguing that prediction markets function similarly to other regulated financial exchanges.

Technology

6. You Have No Idea How Much You Still Use BlackBerry (WSJ)

BlackBerry may have disappeared from the smartphone spotlight years ago, but the company quietly reinvented itself as a major player in the software infrastructure powering modern vehicles and critical industrial systems. Its subsidiary, QNX, now provides the operating system embedded in roughly 275 million cars worldwide, supporting essential safety and driver-assistance functions such as collision warnings, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot detection, and lane-keeping systems. The software is designed for extreme reliability, making it attractive not just to automakers but also to hospitals, factories, robotics companies, and medical-device manufacturers where system failure is unacceptable.

Originally acquired in 2010 to help modernize BlackBerry phones during the company’s decline against the Apple iPhone ecosystem, QNX quietly evolved while much of the company’s attention remained focused on its collapsing handset business. As tech giants like Google and Apple entered automotive infotainment, QNX pivoted away from competing for dashboard screens and instead focused on the deeper software layers controlling safety-critical vehicle functions. That strategic shift proved pivotal as cars increasingly became “computers on wheels.”

A company once considered obsolete is now profitable again, with QNX generating roughly half of BlackBerry’s revenue and helping deliver the company’s first stretch of consecutive profitable quarters in years. BlackBerry’s stock remains far below its historic peak, but executives increasingly frame the company not as a failed phone maker but as a hidden infrastructure provider embedded across modern transportation, automation, and healthcare systems. Most consumers never see the software or know it exists, but millions rely on it every day without realizing it.

Health

7. Don’t Get Too Comfortable. Your Quality of Life Depends On It. (WSJ)

NOTE: I agree with this article wholeheartedly.

Modern life increasingly eliminates friction. AI, convenience technology, endless entertainment, and instant gratification make it possible to avoid discomfort almost entirely. Yet the same frictions people try to escape, like effort, challenge, uncertainty, and adaptation, are often the very things that keep human beings healthy. A growing danger is not stress or burnout, but stagnation: lives optimized for comfort that slowly erode resilience, vitality, and long-term well-being.

The core idea is “progression,” not in the sense of relentless productivity or constant achievement, but in the biological and psychological benefits that come from forward movement and adaptation. Research increasingly shows that when people consistently engage in manageable challenges, the body and brain respond positively.

• Physical progression through exercise and progressive overload improves cardiovascular health, cognition, mood, and stress regulation.

• Behavioral progression—taking action even when motivation is low—helps disrupt depression and avoidance cycles.

• Mental progression, especially exploratory thinking and openness to novelty, improves creativity, flexibility, and emotional resilience, while repetitive rumination and mental loops are strongly associated with anxiety and depression.

The difference between pleasure and progression is a big one. Many modern habits—doomscrolling, passive entertainment, sugar, alcohol—can temporarily improve mood without making people stronger, healthier, or more capable afterward. Progression often involves discomfort, uncertainty, or effort, but it leaves behind expanded capacity. That may help explain why reaching goals often produces only fleeting satisfaction, while sustained engagement in meaningful challenges predicts better health, greater resilience, and even lower mortality risk over time. In an age increasingly designed around efficiency and convenience, human beings are not optimized by ease, we are optimized by challenge and adaptation.

8. Young New Yorkers Have a New Hot Spot: Sunday Mass (WSJ)

For years, many churches worried about declining attendance and aging congregations. In parts of New York City, especially among young adults, the opposite is happening. At St. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village, Sunday evening Masses are overflowing with Gen Z worshipers packed into pews, aisles, balconies, and folding chairs. Much of the growth has been driven by informal young-adult communities like “Pizza to Pews,” a meetup started by two twenty-somethings that draws hundreds of young Catholics to dinner before walking together to Mass. Some attendees travel from outside the city simply to participate.

According to Barna Group data, Gen Z churchgoers now attend services more frequently than millennials, Gen X, or boomers, with attendance rates rising notably since 2020. Young adults describe several forces pulling them toward faith communities: loneliness after the pandemic, political and economic uncertainty, desire for stable values and in-person connection, and dissatisfaction with hyper-online social life. Practices once seen as old-fashioned are being rediscovered by people who often had little religious upbringing themselves.

Church participation has also become deeply social. Young worshipers linger after services to exchange numbers, organize dinners, or join prayer walks through Central Park. Some document their routines on TikTok, blending church attendance with lifestyle culture in ways that feel accessible rather than institutional. Dating has become another major dynamic, with religious matchmaking platforms and social scenes growing rapidly.

For Fun

9. Kentucky Derby 2026

NOTE: In case you missed it, Golden Tempo won the Kentucky Derby---coming from last place to first in an amazing surge. Amazing!

10. Radiohead but it’s all jazz musicians

A Toronto-based soul and R&B artist, Kubla, sings Radiohead’s Creep in the style of jazz.

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Economy

1. Corporate America Is Minting Money—and Not Just in Tech and Finance (WSJ)

Large U.S. companies are reporting strong profits and revenue growth despite economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, and weak consumer sentiment. Early results from S&P 500 firms show earnings expected to grow more than 13% year-over-year for a sixth straight quarter, with gains expanding beyond tech into sectors like finance and materials. Many companies are benefiting from real sales growth, efficiency gains, and pricing power—even in industries affected by higher costs, such as airlines.

However, this strength is uneven. Consumer-facing sectors are lagging as households feel pressure from inflation, high energy prices, and broader uncertainty, contributing to record-low consumer sentiment. Spending remains resilient among wealthier individuals, creating a “K-shaped” economy where strong corporate performance masks underlying disparities. Larger firms continue to outperform smaller and more consumer-dependent businesses, reinforcing a widening gap in economic outcomes.

2. Aircraft Technicians Make Six Figures and Airlines Can’t Find Enough of Them (WSJ)

The aviation industry is facing a growing shortage of aircraft maintenance technicians as a large share of the workforce nears retirement. More than 40% of mechanics are over 60, and demand is rising as airlines manage aging fleets and a backlog of new aircraft orders. The shortage is expected to reach thousands of workers in North America, pushing wages up sharply and making the role an increasingly attractive, high-paying career path that doesn’t require a traditional college degree.

Despite strong pay and job security, the pipeline of new workers remains limited due to low awareness, training bottlenecks, and high dropout rates in certification programs. Schools also struggle to retain instructors who can earn more in the field. In response, airlines and companies are expanding training programs, offering bonuses, and improving working conditions, but the industry still risks losing significant experience and expertise as older technicians retire.

3. America’s Pandemic Car Bubble Is Now Trapping Buyers in Debt (WSJ)

A growing number of U.S. car buyers are “underwater” on their loans, owing more than their vehicles are worth, with the problem worsening in recent years. About 30% of trade-ins now carry negative equity, with borrowers owing an average of $7,200, up sharply from five years ago, and some cases far higher. This trend is largely driven by pandemic-era vehicle price spikes, when buyers overpaid amid shortages, and are now trying to trade in depreciated cars.

To manage high costs, many buyers are taking on longer loans and rolling old debt into new ones, increasing total borrowing and monthly payments. This cycle compounds financial strain, raising the risk of defaults and repossessions, which are already climbing. While some consumers remain financially stable, those with negative equity face growing difficulty securing loans and escaping mounting debt.

4. The $50 Movie Ticket Has Arrived (WSJ)

Movie theaters are increasingly adopting airline-style pricing, charging significantly higher prices for premium experiences as overall attendance declines. Tickets for top formats, like IMAX showings of major releases, can reach $50, reflecting a shift toward maximizing revenue from dedicated moviegoers willing to pay more. While theaters are earning more per customer, total ticket sales remain down more than one-third from pre-pandemic levels, as many consumers turn to streaming platforms instead.

To offset fewer visitors, theaters are expanding premium screens, adding surcharges for popular films, and relying more heavily on concessions, where spending has surged. This strategy, however, risks turning moviegoing into an occasional luxury rather than a regular habit, raising concerns within the industry about affordability and long-term demand, especially as studios release fewer films and tensions grow over pricing and distribution strategies.

5. World’s Top Producer of Condoms Raises Prices as Iran War Rattles Supply Chains (NYT)

Karex, the world’s largest condom producer, plans to raise prices by up to 30% as the Iran war disrupts global supply chains. The conflict, especially the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, has driven up oil and gas prices, sharply increasing costs for essential materials like synthetic rubber, nitrile, and packaging. Some inputs have doubled in price, forcing the company to pass costs on to consumers.

Karex, which manufactures about one in five condoms globally for brands like Durex and Trojan, warned that continued disruptions could halt production if even a single key material becomes unavailable. Despite rising demand, particularly in developing countries, the company fears shortages, potential job losses, and even panic buying if the conflict persists.

Energy

6. U.A.E.’s OPEC Exit Deals Major Blow to Cartel Amid Middle East Oil Squeeze (WSJ)

The United Arab Emirates has announced it will leave OPEC and the broader OPEC+ alliance, delivering a major blow to the cartel’s ability to manage global oil markets. The move comes amid heightened geopolitical strain from the Iran war, which has disrupted exports through the Strait of Hormuz and deepened divisions among member states. As OPEC’s third-largest producer, the UAE’s exit removes about 13% of the group’s production capacity and one of its few members with significant spare capacity—undermining its influence during a critical supply shock.

Frustrated by production limits and strained relations with Saudi Arabia, the UAE is seeking greater independence to expand output and pursue its own energy strategy. Its ability to bypass Hormuz via overland routes, combined with relatively low production costs, gives it flexibility to increase exports and stabilize revenues as regional instability disrupts tourism and broader economic activity.

NOTE: The following charts from the 2025 OPEC Annual Statistical Bulletin do a good job of showing the leverage the UAE has and how its production has been limited by OPEC to a greater degree than Saudi Arabia’s production.

Prediction Markets

7. Most Prediction Market Traders Are Losing Money While Bots Rack Up Gains (Bloomberg)

Prediction markets are often promoted as an easy way to make money, but most participants are losing—frequently by large amounts. Data from Polymarket shows that since early 2025, over 100,000 accounts lost at least $1,000, nearly double the number that achieved similar gains, with total losses among typical users reaching about $131 million. Research indicates that around 69% of traders lose money, while profits are heavily concentrated among a tiny top tier.

The gains are largely captured by a small group of high-frequency, bot-like traders who dominate trading volume and exploit timing and pricing advantages rather than superior predictions. Retail traders, despite often correctly forecasting outcomes, tend to enter markets too late and at worse prices, leading to losses. The structure of these markets, where a wrong bet can result in a total loss, combined with the dominance of sophisticated players, makes consistent profits unlikely for most users.

8. Did a Mystery Trader Tamper With the Temperature to Win Big on Polymarket? (WSJ)

Prediction markets are facing growing scrutiny after multiple incidents suggesting manipulation of outcomes used to settle bets. The latest controversy involves weather-based wagers on Polymarket, where suspicious temperature spikes at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport triggered large payouts. Investigators at Météo-France are examining whether the data was tampered with after anomalies showed sudden temperature jumps not reflected at nearby stations, allowing traders to profit thousands of dollars from unlikely bets.

Traders have previously raised concerns about manipulation in markets tied to geopolitical events, including incorrect data used to settle bets on the war in Ukraine and pressure placed on journalists whose reporting influenced outcomes. Because many of these contracts rely on external data sources, any error or interference can directly affect payouts. In response, platforms have begun tightening rules. Polymarket recently banned insider trading and participation in markets where users could influence outcomes, aligning more closely with regulated competitors like Kalshi. Still, its international platform remains largely unregulated, leaving ongoing concerns about integrity, oversight, and the vulnerability of these markets to manipulation.

9. Enforcement update: Kalshi continues crackdown on political insider trading (Kalshi)

Kalshi disclosed three enforcement cases involving political candidates illegally trading on markets tied to their own elections, flagged through new safeguards designed to prevent insider trading. The cases involved candidates in Minnesota, Texas, and Virginia who placed bets on their own races or candidacies, violating exchange rules. Two cooperated with investigations and received smaller fines and five-year suspensions, while a third who failed to cooperate was fined more heavily and also suspended.

Kalshi emphasized that even small trades can undermine market integrity and that violations will be penalized, with more serious cases potentially referred to regulators like the Commodity Futures Trading Commission or the Justice Department. The enforcement actions underscore the platform’s effort to proactively monitor and prevent manipulation in politically sensitive markets.

Artificial Intelligence

10. America’s Largest Landowner Is Using AI to Digitize the Forest (WSJ)

Weyerhaeuser, the country’s top logging company and largest landowner, is investing heavily in artificial intelligence to modernize forestry, aiming to boost profits by $1 billion by the end of the decade through efficiency gains rather than higher lumber prices. The company is applying AI across its operations, from monitoring mill equipment and optimizing truck routes to matching production with real-time market demand. More advanced initiatives include building a “digital twin” of its vast timberlands using satellite imagery, drones, and lidar to track individual trees and improve long-term forest management decisions.

AI is also transforming how forests are planted and harvested. Models analyze drone footage to measure seedling survival rates faster and more accurately than manual counting, while experiments with semi-autonomous logging equipment allow operators to control machinery remotely. The company is developing systems that guide which trees to cut or preserve, using algorithms to maximize long-term value. These efforts reflect a broader push to bring automation and data-driven decision-making to an industry that has historically relied on manual labor and experience-based judgment.

Education

11. Students are speeding through their online degrees in weeks, alarming educators (WP)

A growing trend in higher education, often called “degree hacking” or hyper-accelerated degrees, allows students to earn college credentials in months instead of years by leveraging online, competency-based programs. At schools like the University of Maine at Presque Isle and Western Governors University, students can transfer large amounts of prior credit, complete coursework at their own pace, and take unlimited classes per term for a flat fee, dramatically reducing both time and cost. Some students have completed bachelor’s and even master’s degrees in a matter of weeks or months for just a few thousand dollars.

Supporters argue these programs provide flexible, affordable pathways for working adults who need credentials quickly, especially those with prior experience. Critics, however, question whether such rapid completion undermines the depth and value of a degree, raising concerns about learning quality, academic integrity, and long-term credibility. While the model is expanding and helping many advance their careers, it is also sparking debate over what a college degree should represent.

12. States Are Learning the Wrong Lesson From the ‘Mississippi Miracle’ (Atlantic)

In this piece, Rachel Canter argues that Mississippi’s dramatic rise in reading and math performance, often called the “Mississippi miracle,” was not driven by the science of reading alone, but by a broader system of strict accountability and high expectations. Beginning in the early 2000s and accelerating after 2008, the state implemented policies that graded schools, intervened in failing districts, and enforced consequences for poor performance. Its 2013 literacy law required students to meet reading standards before advancing, backed by frequent assessments and parent notifications, ensuring pressure across the entire system to improve outcomes.

Equally important was strong implementation by the state education system, which took a more active role in enforcing reforms and supporting schools. While other states have tried to replicate Mississippi’s success by adopting phonics-based instruction, many have avoided the strict accountability measures that made the reforms effective. The result is that without sustained pressure, clear standards, and consistent execution, similar efforts elsewhere are unlikely to produce the same gains. Mississippi’s success reflects a long, disciplined process, not a quick policy fix.

Life

13. We’re All Talking to Each Other Less Than We Did a Decade Ago (WSJ)

People are speaking significantly less than they did a decade ago, largely due to the rise of digital communication and lifestyle changes that reduce everyday interaction. Research from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Arizona found that average daily word counts dropped from about 16,600 in 2005 to 11,900 in 2019—a decline of roughly 28%, with further decreases likely after the pandemic. Younger people show slightly sharper declines, but the trend spans all age groups, driven by factors like smartphones, texting, fewer shared living arrangements, and reduced community engagement.

This decline has broader implications for social connection and cognitive development. Conversation builds attention, responsiveness, and social skills, and reduced speaking, especially among parents with young children, may hinder language development and increase loneliness. While experts caution that more data is needed, they suggest small behavioral shifts, like talking more in daily life or engaging more with children, could help reverse the trend.

14. Sabastian Sawe just broke the 2-hour marathon barrier in $450 Adidas “supershoes” (Sherwood)

Sabastian Sawe became the first person to run a sub-two-hour marathon in an officially recognized race, finishing the London Marathon in 1:59:30—an extraordinary pace far beyond elite 5K standards and more than a minute faster than the previous world record set by Kelvin Kiptum in 2023. Just seconds later, Yomif Kejelcha also broke the barrier, marking a historic moment in distance running.

All three top performers, including Tigist Assefa—who set a women-only world record of 2:15:41—wore the same cutting-edge shoe from Adidas, giving the brand a major victory over rival Nike, which had long pursued the sub-two-hour milestone.

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Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote a musical about her—Evita. In 1996, the musical was turned into a movie starring Madonna as Eva. The titular song of the musical was Don’t Cry for Me Argentina, which you can watch Madonna sing here:

The song speaks to the complexities of her rise from poverty to power, as she reassures the people that, through her transformation, she is still there to support them. It’s a plea to the Argentinian people to show understanding for all she’s been through, and ultimately, not mourn her death.

I’m reminded of the song as I watch what Javier Milei, the current Argentinian president, is attempting to do.

Eva Perón became one of the defining faces of Peronism by championing the working class and turning the state into an instrument of social protection and mass loyalty. She helped create the emotional and political style of Peronism itself—direct appeals to “the people,” strong symbolism, organized labor as a pillar of power, and a government expected to care for ordinary Argentines.

The current President, Javier Milei, by contrast, has taken a different path. Since taking office in December 2023, he has pushed a libertarian, pro-market agenda centered on cutting state spending, deregulation, labor reform, and weakening the old Peronist model of unions, subsidies, and state-led economic management.

His policies have led to a strong GDP rebound and reduced inflation. For now, he has achieved meaningful stabilization.

But he has plenty of critics, and some believe that Milei has abandoned the people. Public backlash over austerity measures, along with corruption allegations and stagnant incomes, has eroded his approval ratings.

And so, the lyrics of Don’t Cry for Me Argentina echo in my mind.

It won’t be easy, you’ll think it strange
When I try to explain how I feel
That I still need your love after all that I’ve done

….

Don’t cry for me, Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise, don’t keep your distance

In Eva Perón’s pleas to the Argentinian people, I can’t help but wonder if, reimagined, the lyrics could serve as a plea from Milei—that he has not forgotten the people and that his austerity measures are in their long-term best interest, if they’d only trust him and have patience.

No doubt there are many who see Milei’s approach as “mad”—it’s hard not to when you see images like this:

But keep in mind that the inflation rate in Argentina was nearly 300% in 2024, so perhaps a mad approach was required. Even now, at a more “normal” rate, inflation in Argentina sits around 32%. And you thought our U.S. inflation rate was bad at 3.3%.

Time will tell if Milei’s approach works—whether he “kept his promise”—and whether the people have the patience to see it through or instead “keep their distance.”

If not, there’s always the potential for a second, or third, chance.

In a bit of a political twist, Eva’s husband, Juan Peron, was overthrown as President of Argentina in a coup in 1955. Then, almost 20 years later, in 1973, he was elected president again. By that time, he had remarried, and his new wife, Isabel, became vice president alongside him1. When Juan Peron died in 1973, Isabel became president but was later overthrown in another military coup in 1976.

So, when it comes to Latin American politics, the people can be fickle, cycles happen, and anything’s possible.

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Economy

1. Wealth-Tax Fever Is Spreading to Less-Wealthy States (WSJ)

Maine has enacted a new 2% surtax on income over $1 million, joining a broader trend among Democratic-led states seeking to raise revenue from top earners. The measure increases the top tax rate to 9.15% and is expected to generate about $150 million over two years, funding priorities like healthcare, education, housing, and property tax relief. Supporters argue the tax is necessary amid economic uncertainty and federal spending cuts, while pointing to growing numbers of millionaires in the state. Critics warn the policy could backfire by discouraging investment, pushing wealthy residents to relocate, and hurting small business owners whose income may temporarily exceed $1 million.

NOTE: This topic made wonder which taxpayers generally pay the most taxes at the federal level. This recent CATO Institute article does a good job of breaking it all down. Of note: “At the federal level, the top 10 percent of income earners pay more than 60 percent of all taxes and 72 percent of income taxes, shares that have been increasing over time.”

As a percent of income, our taxes are progressive—meaning the more you make, the higher you’re taxed:

If we wanted to increase taxes—and I’m not saying that we should—perhaps the focus should be on corporate income tax instead of individual tax.

Here’s the above info in dollars versus percentages:

Here’s what that’s looked like over time:

Regardless, increasing taxes doesn’t solve the overall problem of overspending—something we’ve done every year since 2001.

The cumulative effect of which has led to an ever increasing debt:

Leading to our debt payments to be more than our GDP:

And in case you’re wondering, the Congressional Budget Office has some great infographics that show where our mandatory and discretionary spending is going and how it’s changed over time:

2. Around 14% of Enrollees in ACA Plans Failed to Make Payments, Data Shows (WSJ)

Rising premiums following the expiration of pandemic-era subsidies have led to a sharp drop in participation in plans under the Affordable Care Act. About 14% of enrollees this year failed to pay their first premium—far above the typical mid-single-digit drop-off—with some states seeing nonpayment rates of 25% or more. Overall enrollment has already declined from its peak, and projections suggest it could fall by as much as 17% to 26% as higher costs push people out of the market.

The increases have forced many individuals to abandon coverage or switch to cheaper, less comprehensive plans, leaving them financially vulnerable in the event of serious illness. As healthier individuals are more likely to drop out, the remaining insured population becomes costlier, driving insurers to raise premiums further—a cycle that risks destabilizing the market.

3. Why Gasoline Is So Much Cheaper in the U.S. Than Overseas (WSJ)

U.S. gas prices have climbed above $4 per gallon due to the war in Iran, reaching a four-year high, but they remain lower than in most developed countries. The U.S. is relatively insulated from global shocks because it is the world’s largest oil producer. The main reason for cheaper U.S. gasoline is lower taxation. Taxes make up only about 60 cents per gallon in the U.S., while in many European countries they account for 50–60% of the total price. As a result, countries like Germany see prices far higher, and even neighboring Mexico has significantly higher fuel costs. Beyond tax levels, policy differences also matter. The U.S. primarily uses fuel taxes to fund roads, while many other countries use them more broadly, including for public transit and environmental initiatives. Although some U.S. states have begun adding carbon-related costs, these measures remain more limited than in Europe, contributing to the persistent price gap.

So, what about California’s gas prices?:

As this piece points out, California’s nation-leading gas prices (over $5 per gallon) are driven by a combination of state-specific factors, including high taxes, strict environmental regulations, costly refining requirements, and an isolated fuel market. Refinery closures have worsened the situation, eliminating nearly 20% of the state’s refining capacity and forcing California to rely more on overseas suppliers, particularly in Asia, to produce its specialized gasoline blend. This reliance introduces delays, higher costs, and greater vulnerability to global disruptions, increasing the likelihood of price spikes during supply shortages or geopolitical conflicts.

Education

4. Why Everyone Hates the Ivy League (WSJ)

In 2025, only 42% of Americans expressed “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education, up slightly from recent years, but still down from 57% in 2015, according to Gallup. In response, last spring, Yale University President Maurie McInnis asked a group of faculty to examine why Americans were losing confidence in higher education—and to propose remedies to restore it.

The committee concluded that the declining public trust stems from concerns about political bias, unclear admissions standards, and rising costs. The committee argued institutions should refocus on their core mission—creating and disseminating knowledge—rather than broader societal goals, and take responsibility for contributing to this erosion of trust.

To address these issues, the group recommended making admissions more transparent and merit-based, potentially including minimum testing standards, while reducing preferences for legacy applicants, donors, and athletes. It also called for efforts to promote intellectual diversity on campus, such as reviewing curricula and hiring practices to ensure a wider range of perspectives, along with introducing civic education for students.

On affordability, the committee highlighted the growing disconnect between tuition costs and household income, urging expanded financial aid and higher income thresholds for free tuition eligibility. It also pointed to excessive graduate student debt in certain fields and recommends targeted support. Overall, rebuilding trust will require greater openness to criticism, clearer academic standards, and a renewed emphasis on universities’ foundational purpose.

You can find the report here.

Food & Drink

5. San Diego Now Has So Much Water That It’s Selling It (WSJ)

Arizona and Nevada are exploring an unconventional solution to the worsening crisis of the Colorado River: tapping desalinated ocean water from California. With the Colorado River, which serves 40 million people, declining due to overuse and climate pressures, water levels at key reservoirs like Lake Mead have dropped dramatically. In response, the states are negotiating agreements with the San Diego County Water Authority to effectively “trade” water access—funding desalinated supply in exchange for a portion of California’s Colorado River allocation. This could provide enough water for roughly 500,000 people while helping offset ongoing shortages.

After severe drought in the early 1990s, the San Diego region diversified its supply through infrastructure, desalination, and conservation, cutting dependence on imports from 95% to 10%. Despite higher costs, reduced consumption and expanded supply have left San Diego with surplus water, now seen as both a buffer and a revenue opportunity.

6. US court strikes down 158-year home distilling ban (The Spirits Business)

A federal appeals court struck down a 158-year-old prohibition on distilling spirits at home, ruling that the government cannot justify a blanket ban simply to protect tax revenue. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found that the restriction violated constitutional limits on Congress’s taxation powers, rejecting the argument that banning home distillation was necessary to prevent tax evasion. The court warned that such logic could justify banning many ordinary activities, from home businesses to remote work.

The case was brought by the Hobby Distillers Association and individual hobbyists who wanted to produce spirits for personal use, similar to the already-legal practice of home brewing beer or making wine. The ruling allows distillation at home regardless of location, overturning longstanding restrictions that applied to houses, garages, and adjacent property.

However, the decision does not fully legalize home distilling. Individuals must still obtain a federal permit from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, meaning the regulatory framework remains in place even as the location-based ban has been removed. The ruling is seen as a significant step toward broader legalization, but further legal and regulatory changes would be needed to put home distilling on equal footing with home brewing.

Life

7. If America’s So Rich, How’d It Get So Sad? (Derek Thompson)

In Thompson’s words:

American sadness this decade has been forged by the fact of, and the feeling of, a permanent unrelenting economic crisis, amplified by a uniquely negative news and media environment, and exacerbated by the rise of solitude and the declining centrality of trusted institutions. Inflation has made today’s life harder to afford, while the ambient awareness of other people’s triumphs on social media had made tomorrow’s success feel harder to achieve. The ongoing collapse of confidence in the establishment has made Americans feel unusually adrift and dissatisfied with institutions outside of their control, while the chosen self-isolation of modern life has demolished communal trust, as we increasingly experience other people’s minds through the toxic surreality of our screens rather than through the embodied reality of strangers who are, for the most part, just as nice as we are.

He offers this chart:

It’s an informed article definitely worth reading.

My advice: Put down the phone, stop watching 24-hour news, go outside, and go do things with people, in person. Get to know your neighbors, make friends with people who have different opinions than you, and assume the best in others.

8. Women in Their 20s May Not Be Having Babies, but by 45 Most Probably Will (NYT)

Fertility in the United States has been steadily declining since the Great Recession, reaching a new low, but the drop is less about people having fewer children and more about having them later…or so this article posits.

This is the chart shown in the article, which makes it appear that the increased number of births occurring by women 35 and older are offsetting the decline in births by women under age 35:

However, one reader of the article looked at the actual numbers (not percentages), and this is what he found:

Thus, the increase in births by those 35 and older are not offsetting the declining number of births by those women under 35.

Artificial Intelligence

9. AI’s New Training Data: Your Old Work Slacks And Emails (Forbes)

As companies shut down, their internal digital records—emails, Slack messages, code repositories, and project logs—are emerging as valuable assets that can be sold to AI firms for training data. One example saw a defunct company earn hundreds of thousands of dollars by selling its “operational exhaust,” highlighting a growing market where real-world workplace data is prized for building more capable, task-oriented AI systems. This shift comes after AI labs largely exhausted publicly available internet data and now need detailed, authentic examples of how work actually gets done.

The surge in demand has sparked a “gold rush,” with startups facilitating these transactions and even creating marketplaces for companies to sell their data. At the same time, a new industry of “reinforcement learning gyms” is emerging, using this data to simulate workplace environments where AI agents can practice tasks like scheduling, communication, and problem-solving.

The trend raises significant privacy concerns. Even with anonymization efforts, experts warn that sensitive employee information could be exposed or inadvertently reproduced by AI systems. Critics argue that workers never expected their internal communications to be repurposed this way, and regulators are being urged to scrutinize the practice as the line between useful data and personal privacy becomes increasingly blurred.

10. Gen Z’s AI Adoption Steady, but Skepticism Climbs (Gallup)

Gen Z’s use of generative AI remains widespread and steady, with about half using it at least weekly, but attitudes toward the technology have grown more negative. Over the past year, excitement and hopefulness have declined, while anger and anxiety have increased. While those who use AI more often tend to view it more positively, overall sentiment is shifting toward skepticism, especially regarding its impact on learning, creativity, and critical thinking.

Many in Gen Z worry that AI’s short-term convenience may come at the cost of long-term skill development. Large shares believe it could harm their ability to think deeply, generate ideas, and learn effectively, and most say it is likely to make future learning harder. In the workplace, young workers are particularly wary, with far more saying the risks of AI outweigh its benefits and expressing greater trust in human-produced work than AI-assisted output.

At the same time, Gen Z recognizes AI’s importance for the future. Many students expect they will need AI skills for education and careers and are increasingly confident they will be prepared, even as schools expand access and set clearer rules. The overall picture is a generation that uses AI regularly but is increasingly cautious about its broader consequences.

NOTE: Even more great charts in article than just these:

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Twelve years ago, my family and I experienced one of the most unique stage shows that we had ever seen, or that we’ve seen since. It was called The Intergalactic Nemesis.

In The Intergalactic Nemesis, comic book images are shown on the screen while actors on stage speak the lines you’d normally read in the comic panels; meanwhile, sound effects are played by someone else on stage. Think of a 1930s radio drama, along with still images, played out in front of you.

It is quite an engaging storytelling experience.

Originally performed and recorded as a radio drama in 1996 in an Austin coffeehouse, the show eventually grew to broadcast quality, and they ended up going on the road as a live stage play. They were even on Conan O’Brien’s show and NPR’s All Things Considered. Kansas State even put together a study guide for the show, providing background on the creator and the genre. We saw the show in 2014—almost 20 years later—as they toured the country. We loved the show.

To me, this is another story of something that started small, then grew after continued work and time, into something people might think happened overnight. Sadly, though the show is no longer being performed in person, you can watch episodes here. And, you can get their graphic novels (comic books) here.

But wait, there’s more!

In a surprise twist, while researching the creator, Jason Neulander, I found out that he’s put together a new show, this one based on Treasure Island, called Jane Hawkins and the Pirate’s Gold! It looks like they’ll be touring this fall and it’s a family-friendly show.

The Austin Chronicle describes it as, “The live version of Treasure Island Reimagined will do something very similar [to The Intergalactic Nemesis], bringing to…life the exploits of young Jane Hawkins, a 12-year-old working in a sleepy seaside inn on the coast of Scotland in 1754. Her world is turned upside down when a mysterious stranger washes up at the inn, sending her on a journey of peril and plunder.”

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The following series of articles are all related in a circular way. To best understand the relation, I recommend watching this YouTube video explaining how South Korea faces a future of economic decline, shrinking cities, cultural erosion, and a vanishing workforce:

Much like South Korea, the U.S. economy is increasingly operating in a self-reinforcing cycle driven by rising incomes and demographic decline. As wages grow—especially among educated, dual-income households—more people move into higher income tiers, but higher living costs (housing, childcare, education) simultaneously make raising children more expensive, leading many to delay or forgo having kids. This contributes to falling fertility rates and an aging population, which shrinks the labor force over time. With fewer workers available, economic growth becomes more dependent on productivity gains rather than job creation, reinforcing demand for skilled, higher-paid labor and further boosting incomes at the top. That, in turn, sustains the high-cost environment that discourages family formation, continuing the cycle of rising incomes, fewer births, and a tightening labor supply that reshapes long-term economic growth.

1. More Americans Are Breaking Into the Upper Middle Class (WSJ)

New data shows a shift in the U.S. income landscape, with the upper-middle class expanding while the core middle class shrinks. More families are moving into higher income tiers, driven by rising wages, especially among college-educated, white-collar workers, and dual-income households. As a result, fewer Americans fall into lower-income categories than in past decades, and a growing share now earns well above traditional middle-class levels.

Despite this upward movement, many households don’t feel wealthy. Higher costs for housing, childcare, and education continue to strain budgets, even for high earners. While individuals are often doing better than their parents, there is lingering concern about whether future generations will maintain that progress. The result is a paradox where more Americans are objectively better off, yet still feel financially pressured and uncertain about long-term stability.

2. Did Millennials or Boomers Have It Harder? We Went Searching for the Answer (WSJ)

Comparisons between millennials and baby boomers show a more nuanced picture than the common narrative that one generation had it easier. Millennials’ incomes, adjusted for inflation, are roughly comparable to boomers’ at similar ages, and recent gains have put many millennials in a stronger financial position than often assumed. Both generations faced economic challenges early in adulthood—millennials with the Great Recession and pandemic, and boomers with high inflation and interest rates. However, millennials have struggled more with rising costs in key areas like housing and education, particularly student debt, which delayed wealth-building early in their careers.

Despite these challenges, millennials have made significant financial progress over time. Many have benefited from strong stock and housing markets, and their household net worth now exceeds that of boomers at similar ages. At the same time, boomers remain the wealthiest generation overall, largely due to decades of asset appreciation and earlier entry into the housing market. The broader takeaway is that economic experiences vary widely within each generation, and while both faced real challenges, long-term outcomes have been more similar—and in some cases better for millennials—than the generational debate often suggests.

Many more charts in the article than just the ones below.

3. The Economy Is Growing, Jobs Aren’t. Why That Might Be OK. (WSJ)

Economic growth is continuing even as job creation stalls, creating an unusual dynamic where productivity has become the primary driver of expansion. Slowing immigration, an aging population, and declining birth rates have sharply reduced labor-force growth, with the workforce shrinking by over 500,000 in the past year. As a result, the number of jobs needed to maintain stable unemployment has dropped dramatically—potentially to near zero—helping explain why unemployment hasn’t surged despite minimal hiring.

In this environment, gains in worker productivity (output per hour) are carrying the economy. Productivity has grown at about 2.1% annually in recent years, a noticeable improvement over the pre-2020 period and stronger than many peer economies. Factors driving this include post-pandemic workforce reshuffling into more efficient roles, increased automation, longer job tenure, and early impacts from artificial intelligence. While AI’s full effect remains uncertain, economists expect it to contribute meaningfully over time, especially as firms adapt workflows and invest in complementary changes.

This shift marks a departure from historical growth patterns, where both labor expansion and productivity contributed. With labor-force growth potentially flat, future gains in living standards will depend heavily on sustained productivity improvements. If productivity growth remains strong, it could offset demographic headwinds; if not, the U.S. risks slower growth similar to countries with shrinking workforces.

4. Why More People Are Dropping Out of the Job Market (WSJ)

The U.S. labor market showed solid job growth and lower unemployment, but labor-force participation continued to decline, falling to 61.9%—its lowest level since 1977 outside the pandemic. This long-term drop has been driven primarily by demographic shifts, especially the retirement of baby boomers, along with reduced immigration that has limited the influx of younger workers. Early retirements, accelerated during the pandemic and supported by rising home and investment wealth, have further reduced participation among older Americans.

Fewer workers can slow long-term economic growth unless productivity rises to compensate. While recent productivity gains have helped offset the impact, economists warn that may not continue indefinitely. Despite the overall decline, participation among prime-age workers remains strong, which is good—so perhaps the issue is less about people giving up on work and more about structural factors like aging and a shrinking labor supply, which could eventually lead to labor shortages and slower population growth.

5. Why the U.S. Fertility Rate Has Hit a Record Low (WSJ)

U.S. fertility rates fell to new record lows in 2025, with the general fertility rate dropping to 53.1 births per 1,000 women and the total fertility rate declining to 1.57—well below the replacement level of 2.1. Despite this, total births held steady at about 3.6 million for the sixth consecutive year. The long-term decline is driven largely by sharp decreases in births among teens and women in their 20s, while births among women in their late 30s have now surpassed those in their early 20s for the first time, reflecting a continued shift toward delayed parenthood.

Much of this trend is tied to uncertainty around finances, relationships, and the broader future, even though many still want children. Teen birthrates have dropped dramatically—down more than 70% since 2007—due to public health efforts and increased contraceptive use. With births no longer significantly outpacing deaths, the U.S. is approaching a point where population growth will depend on immigration, mirroring a broader global pattern of declining fertility across developed countries.

Health

6. Why the U.S. Spends So Much on Healthcare (WSJ)

Healthcare in the U.S. is the most expensive in the world, driven primarily by much higher prices for the same services and products. Prescription drugs cost significantly more because the government does not broadly negotiate prices like other countries do. Hospital consolidation has also given large systems more power to charge higher rates, while administrative costs—such as billing and insurance processing—consume a much larger share of spending than in other nations.

Labor costs further increase expenses, as American doctors and nurses earn more than their international counterparts. At the same time, Americans are using more healthcare, including costly hospital services and new high-priced drugs, which has accelerated overall spending. Together, higher prices, heavier administrative overhead, higher wages, and increased utilization explain why U.S. healthcare costs far exceed those of other countries.

Lots of great charts in this WSJ article. Just a few of them below.

Artificial Intelligence

7. Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age: Ideas to Keep People First (OpenAI)

AI is advancing so quickly and powerfully that it could fundamentally reshape the economy, and proactive planning is essential to manage both its benefits and its risks. In this vein, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has proposed a sweeping blueprint for how governments should respond to the rapid rise of AI, arguing that its impact will be so transformative that it requires a new social contract. He warns that advances in AI could soon lead to major disruptions, including cyberattacks, biological threats, and widespread job displacement, making urgent policy discussions necessary. His plan reflects a belief that existing economic and regulatory systems are not prepared for what’s coming.

The proposal includes bold ideas such as a public wealth fund that would give citizens a stake in AI-driven growth, taxes on automated labor, and a shift away from payroll taxes as jobs decline. It also suggests a four-day workweek enabled by AI productivity gains, universal access to AI tools, and automatic expansion of social safety nets when job displacement rises. The plan even addresses extreme scenarios, including how to contain autonomous AI systems that could act beyond human control.

Definitely recommend reading considering it’s coming direct from the OpenAI CEO.

8. Claude Mythos Is Everyone’s Problem (The Atlantic)

Anthropic has revealed a highly advanced AI model, Claude Mythos Preview, that it believes is too dangerous for public release. The system is capable of identifying thousands of serious software vulnerabilities, including flaws in every major operating system and browser, some of which had gone undetected for decades. Unlike earlier AI tools that improved hacking through speed and scale, this model appears to represent a leap in capability, potentially rivaling or exceeding elite state-sponsored cyber operations. In response, Anthropic is limiting access to a small group of major tech companies so they can strengthen defenses before broader deployment.

9. Anthropic Model Scare Sparks Urgent Bessent, Powell Warning to Bank CEOs (Bloomberg)

U.S. financial regulators are increasingly concerned that advanced AI could trigger a new wave of cyber threats. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell held an urgent meeting with major bank CEOs to warn about risks tied to Anthropic’s new model, Mythos. The system is reportedly capable of identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities across major operating systems and web browsers, raising fears about what could happen if such tools are used maliciously. In response, Anthropic has limited access to the model and is coordinating with select firms and government officials to strengthen defenses before broader release.

The concern extends beyond the U.S., with regulators in countries like Canada and the U.K. also engaging financial institutions on the issue. Officials view AI-driven cyber risk as a potential systemic threat, especially given the interconnected nature of global banking. While banks already hold capital to guard against operational risks like cyberattacks, the rapid advancement of AI is introducing new uncertainties that are harder to measure and defend against, increasing urgency across the financial system.

10. We’re Using So Much AI That Computing Firepower Is Running Out (WSJ)

The rapid surge in demand for artificial intelligence, especially more advanced “agentic” systems that perform tasks autonomously, is outstripping the available computing power needed to run them. This shortage of compute capacity has led to outages, product delays, and companies being forced to prioritize certain services over others. AI usage has exploded, with token consumption (a measure of compute usage) rising dramatically, and firms scrambling to secure scarce GPU resources and data-center capacity.

The bottleneck is being driven by long infrastructure lead times, limited power availability, and surging demand for high-performance chips like those made by Nvidia. Prices for GPU access have climbed sharply, and companies are making difficult trade-offs—cutting projects, limiting user access, or raising prices. Even leading AI providers have struggled with reliability, as seen in frequent outages and reduced uptime, prompting some customers to switch providers.

This capacity crunch reflects a familiar pattern from past tech booms, where demand grows faster than infrastructure can keep up. Unless computing supply expands significantly, the shortage could slow AI adoption and limit the effectiveness of tools that businesses are increasingly relying on for productivity gains.

11. These Cities and States Are Taking Aim at Data Centers (WSJ)

Growing backlash against data centers is spreading across the U.S., driven largely by the rapid expansion of AI-related infrastructure. Maine is on track to potentially become the first state to temporarily halt new data-center construction, while lawmakers in more than 10 states and numerous local governments are considering or have already enacted similar bans. Most of these measures are temporary, reflecting rising concerns at the community level.

Despite this pushback, data-center development continues to surge, especially in states like Virginia and Texas, which lead the nation in the number of facilities. The boom is being fueled by demand for large-scale, AI-driven “hyperscale” data centers.

12. The Real Energy Cost of AI, Explained With Steaks and a Data Center Trip (WSJ)

AI data centers could use up to 12% of all U.S. electricity by 2028. But how much power does it take to create one video and what really happens after you hit “enter” on that AI prompt? WSJ’s Joanna Stern visited “Data Center Valley” in Virginia to trace the journey and then grills up some steaks to show just how much energy it all takes.

NOTE: I highly recommend watching this video to better understand energy consumption from AI use.

Technology

13. Kids Are Discovering the Joys—and Pains—of the Landline (WSJ)

A growing number of American families are turning to low-tech solutions like landlines to delay giving children smartphones. Parents see these devices as a way for kids to communicate with friends while avoiding the risks of social media, including anxiety, bullying, and excessive screen time. New internet-enabled phones designed for kids—such as screen-free devices with parental controls—are gaining popularity, reflecting a broader effort to introduce technology in stages rather than all at once.

14. The secret, never-before-used CIA tool that helped find airman downed in Iran: ‘If your heart is beating, we will find you’ (NYP)

The CIA used a newly revealed technology called “Ghost Murmur” to locate and help rescue a downed American airman in Iran. The system combines quantum magnetometry with AI to detect the faint electromagnetic signal of a human heartbeat from long distances, even across vast terrain. Developed by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works division, the tool was used operationally for the first time in a remote desert environment, where minimal interference made it easier to isolate the signal. The technology proved critical in identifying the pilot’s location after traditional tracking methods, including a survival beacon, failed to provide precise positioning.

Prediction Markets

15. Polymarket’s $269 Million Question: Did U.S. Forces ‘Enter’ Iran? (WSJ)

A major dispute on Polymarket exposed a key weakness in prediction markets. Traders wagered $269 million on whether U.S. forces would “enter Iran.” No large-scale operation took place, but a limited special forces rescue mission was ruled to meet the contract’s terms. That decision triggered payouts and frustration among participants who believed the bet was meant to reflect a more significant military intervention.

As prediction markets expand into areas like geopolitics, disagreements over definitions and interpretation are becoming more common. Platforms rely on systems like UMA to resolve disputes, where token holders vote on outcomes. Critics argue that large stakeholders can influence decisions, while supporters say complaints mainly come from losing traders. Ambiguous real-world events, especially in war, make it difficult for these markets to function as reliable forecasting tools.

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Then I wondered how hard it would be to make my own site that would do the same thing as Series Graph.

What I found was that it was both easier and harder than I thought it would be. Here’s what my site, Episode Graph, looks like:

If you just want to go to my site and don’t care at all how I made it, go here and skip the rest of this post.

But, I’ll tell you up front that there are some issues with my site, so don’t plan to use it as a substitute for Series Graph. Here are the limitations of my site:

• My site has trouble getting information for certain TV episodes, so some ratings will be missing. This could be rectified if I paid money for a proper API feed (more on that later).

• The “dark mode” colors aren’t right, making that mode difficult to read. To change it to “light mode,” click on the asterisk/moon icon to the right of the search bar.

• My site may stop working. I actually wrote this post weeks ago, but I had used up all my “credit” from my free Netlify account (read more about how I use Netlify here) and had to wait until a new billing cycle kicked off for the site to become active again. My free account came with 300 credits, the next level up costs $9 per month and gives you 1,000 credits per month. I want to try to keep all of this at the free level, so I didn’t upgrade. I’ll be honest, I didn’t know how many credits I was eating up each time I uploaded a change to my site, though I do know that it took quite a few iterations to get the site I have now. Either way, when I exceed my free credits, all sites I’ve created on Netlify (to include my Olympics spinner and geography game) stop working until the next month, as you can see below.

How I made my site

I went to Claude’s Codex and typed in this prompt:

ok, i want you to make an html site that allows me to look up tv series or movies and see the imdb ratings of each episode (or movie) in graphic form similar to the Series Graph app/website. can you do that?

Codex said it could do this, but that I’d need to get access to an API and would need to upload files to Github.

I vaguely knew what these two things were, so after some back-and-forth with Codex, I was given background and instructions.

APIs

API stands for Application Programming Interface. In plain English, it is a set of rules that says: 1) what you can ask a system to do, 2) how to ask it, and 3) what kind of answer you will get back.

From Claude:

Websites use APIs by sending requests to external services and receiving data back in a structured format (usually JSON), which they then display to users.

For example, when a website shows weather, maps, or login options, it sends a request like “get current weather for this location” to another service’s API, receives the data, and uses it to update the page in real time.

Think of an API as a request for data from another organization that stores that data. For instance, if you wanted the latest stock prices, you’d sign up for an API to get stock prices from an organization that track them, like Bloomberg. If you wanted hotel pricing and availability data, you might sign up for an API from Expedia. Or, if you wanted to get weather data, you might sign up for an API from Weather.com.

You get the idea—basically anyone out there who has information on the web will likely offer you the ability to sign up for an API to get their data. Some agencies offer their data for free, like the government, and others require you to pay for the data—IMDB falls into this latter category, charging $150,000 per year. Obviously movie data is a big business!

I did not have an extra $150K lying around, so I asked Codex what other options were available, and we settled on The Open Movie Database (OMDb) API, which was free for a limited number of queries.

Unfortunately, I quickly used up my allotted queries in building my site and playing with it, so for now I pay $1 per month to get unlimited queries but limited data (as I later learned).

GitHub

GitHub is a website and platform for storing, managing and collaborating on code. Codex originally wanted me to have the code stored on my computer, which would mean every time someone accessed my Episode Graph website it would go to my computer to run the code. My previous two projects, Your Vibe Code Guide to the Olympics and Your Vibe Code Guide to World Geography, both had static data, so no outside information was required. This project, however, would require going and looking at data that would constantly be updated (new TV episodes and movies come out every day).

I am not a fan of running a website from my computer, so Codex told me that Github is a good alternative. And, that it is—especially since it offers a free option for my limited use. There are also paid options depending on your needs:

So, with that background, off I went. I had never used APIs or Github before, so I asked Codex to walk me through every step of signing up, and uploading code.

Though this all may sound complicated, it actually wasn’t. I did this all one night sitting on the couch watching another episode of The Lincoln Lawyer—which, as an aside, is a great series, both as TV and in book form (and so is the semi-related Bosch series)!

Within a couple of hours, I had a fully functioning site.

It started out with a basic line graph:

But I wanted the option for boxes, so I went back into Codex, told it what I wanted (along with an image from the Series Graph website), and within a couple of minutes it gave me new files to upload to Github.

Once that loaded, I wasn’t happy with the large size of the boxes, so I asked it to make a slider tool enabling the user to make the box sizes as large or small as they wanted:

Note that you can choose between boxes or a line graph—it kept both options. From there, I asked Codex to provide “average” lines on the line graph. It wrote new code to show linear average, moving average, or no trend line at all, then I uploaded the new code to Github.

You might also notice that when you type a movie or TV show title in the search bar that the left panel of the site shows a list of all possible movies or shows with that title that you can choose from. I did not choose this option, Codex put it there in the initial version.

The information at the top and the sortable list at the bottom of the page were all created on the first iteration of the site by Codex as well…I didn’t even have to ask for them either.

However, this is where things started to get hard.

I wanted a button to toggle between light mode and dark mode, so Codex built that functionality in via a moon/asterisk button to the right of the search bar.

But, dark mode is horrendous:

I played around with Codex for quite a while trying to fix this issue, but eventually gave up because it was taking too long.

Also, it was around this time that I realized that some episode ratings were missing and I couldn’t figure out why.

I queried numerous other TV series in my new app and inevitably certain episode ratings would be missing from those also. For the next few nights, I worked for hours with Codex to try and diagnose and fix the problem. Ultimately, what I narrowed it down to (I think) is that the $1/month OMDb API does not give me all TV and movie information; if I want all TV and movie information, I’d have to pay $150K per year to IMDB for their API.

So, there my imperfect site sits.

I think what strikes me as most interesting about these projects is how easy they are to code with no coding experience. Some of these websites or apps, like Series Graph, are popular because of how they’ve coded their site to display information or be interactive. If I, as a novice, can take a screenshot of cleverly done website and just ask Codex to make it for me, then where does the competitive advantage lie? Are site designs considered Intellectual Property? If all the information on the internet is available for vacuuming up and repackaging, where’s the limit?

As a coda to this post, while doing some research for a Global Hot Spots (areas of conflict in the world) course that I’m developing, I came across a site that looks very much like it was developed with the help of AI—World Factbook Archive—which is designed to be a replacement for the now-defunct CIA Factbook. The website, though glitchy at times, has suspiciously similar components to some of the coding projects I’ve had Claude do for me. I’ll admit, though, the website is well done with lots of great graphics and interactive tools. The interesting part of it is that all of the past CIA Factbook data was uploaded to GitHub, and since it’s static and no longer being updated, anyone could create a similar website without using an API.

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Drop in federal workforce

The federal workforce shrank sharply in 2025 after the DOGE-era push for government efficiency, falling 10.3% and dropping to about 2.68 million workers by February 2026, the lowest level in nearly 60 years. Roughly 348,000 employees left through resignations, retirements, layoffs, or other departures, while federal hiring fell more than 55% from the year before. Some of the largest staffing reductions occurred at Veterans Affairs and the Treasury, and agencies like USAID were especially hard hit. Now, the administration appears to be shifting from cuts to selective rehiring, aiming to fill gaps created by last year’s downsizing. In some cases, agencies that were heavily reduced are hiring again, though not necessarily to rebuild prior functions.

Drop in crime

At the same time, and unrelated, the country has one of its clearest good-news stories in years— violent crime and homicide are dropping sharply. Researchers disagree on the precise mix of causes, but better policing, restored post-pandemic routines, and broader social changes all appear to be helping.

Rise of technology, efficiency, solitude and prices

Though the chart below actually comes from the WSJ article discussed above, I thought it was a good bridge to this piece by Derek Thompson that blends the topics of technology, efficiency, solitude and prices. His core argument is that businesses built around shared, in-person experiences—restaurants, theaters, childcare, bookstores, and other social spaces—are labor-intensive and therefore become more expensive over time, while businesses that keep people alone—streaming platforms, delivery apps, social media, and smartphone entertainment—scale efficiently and become more profitable. As a result, our current economy increasingly rewards anti-social business models, making solitude cheaper and more convenient than connection.

This dynamic is known as the Baumol Effect, or Baumol’s cost disease, in which some sectors can boost productivity through automation and technology, but others still require roughly the same human labor they always have. A farmer or tech company can serve far more people with fewer workers, but a teacher, server, actor, or musician cannot compress human interaction in the same way. As wages rise across the economy, these social, labor-heavy services become harder to afford, which helps explain why institutions that bring people together are under pressure. His conclusion is that if social connection matters, society may need to subsidize or otherwise support the spaces and services that make hanging out, gathering, and building community easier. Not sure how I feel about further subsidization by the government, as I continue to have grave concerns about our nation’s debt and social security’s solvency (see article farther below), but I do think that we need to engage in more activities that bring people together for healthy activities.

Speaking of not leaving your home…

Amazon is expanding faster delivery options across the U.S., introducing one-hour delivery service in hundreds of locations and three-hour service in more than 2,000. The offerings focus on everyday items such as household essentials, health and beauty products, and over-the-counter medications. One-hour delivery is $9.99 for Amazon Prime members and $19.99 for non-Prime members. Three-hour delivery is $4.99 and $14.99, respectively.

Wait, social media is bad for your health?

Speaking of people’s health, the legal pressure on Meta and Google’s social-media platforms is intensifying. A California jury found Meta and Google liable for $3 million in damages to a 20-year-old woman, identified as K.G.M., who argued that addictive features on their platforms contributed to her app addiction. Meta, through Facebook and Instagram, was assigned 70% of the damages, while YouTube was assigned 30%. TikTok and Snap were also named in the lawsuit but settled separately out of court. Both Meta and Google said they disagree with the verdict and plan to appeal.

The case is part of a much broader wave of litigation against major social media companies over claims that their platforms harm users’ mental health. That pressure is growing: in a separate New Mexico case, Meta was also ordered to pay $375 million after a jury found it violated state unfair trade practices tens of thousands of times. The broader concern is reinforced by usage trends among young people. A 2025 Pew study found that about 36% of teenagers said they were online using a social media or video app almost constantly, with YouTube and TikTok among the most widely used. In testimony, the plaintiff said she began using YouTube at age six and Instagram at age nine and described being unable to stop.

Oh, and if that wasn’t bad enough, reports that Meta contractors reviewed intimate footage from AI glasses have surfaced. Meta’s Ray-Ban AI glasses were initially a breakout success in sales, but that growth comes with major privacy and labor concerns. The glasses let users capture first-person video and use AI to interpret what they see, yet some of that footage is reportedly sent to offshore contractors for data labeling. Workers in Kenya said they were required to review deeply private material, including people undressing, using the bathroom, watching pornography, exposing bank cards, and even filming sexual activity.

Artificial Intelligence

This wouldn’t be a news update if I didn’t include something about AI.

At the infrastructure level, AI is concentrating enormous power in a small number of firms. Nvidia’s growing role as investor and ecosystem architect can be seen in the charts below. And, Amazon’s huge AI spending bet points in the same direction: the firms with the deepest balance sheets are trying to turn capital into strategic advantage.

In other AI news, Anthropic is facing new scrutiny after accidentally releasing more than 500,000 lines of code connected to Claude Code, an incident that has alarmed lawmakers because of Claude’s growing role in U.S. national security work. Representative Josh Gottheimer warned that repeated leaks could undermine America’s competitive edge if rivals are able to replicate the system, while also criticizing the Trump administration for blocking Claude from government contracts, arguing that doing so could hurt the U.S. in its AI competition with China.

The episode has sharpened concerns not just about internal security at AI firms, but also about how vulnerable advanced models may be to foreign exploitation. Gottheimer pressed Anthropic on whether it has weakened safety protections and warned that Chinese-linked actors, including DeepSeek, could use model distillation or cyberattacks to benefit from Claude’s capabilities. Anthropic has tried to minimize the incident, saying no customer data or credentials were exposed and that the release stemmed from human error rather than a breach, but the leak is likely to intensify debate in Washington over how AI systems tied to defense and intelligence should be secured and regulated. Alas, human error…the weakest link in cyber security.

Yep, I’m still concerned about our economy

A year ago, I posted an article, It’ll get worse before it gets better, about the economy. Well, it’s not getting any better. I have serious concerns about our nation’s debt, which continues to go up:

And relatedly, I also have serious concerns about Social Security, which is heading toward a funding crisis because payroll taxes from current workers are no longer enough to cover benefits for retirees. The system is drawing down its Treasury credit balance, but that reserve is projected to run out around 2033, or possibly sooner, at which point benefits would automatically be cut by about 23% unless Congress acts. The central problem is that people are living longer, while lower birthrates and fewer immigrants mean there are not enough younger workers paying into the system.

Several broad fixes are on the table, all of them politically painful. Options include raising the retirement age, increasing taxes on high earners or on everyone, reducing initial benefits for future retirees, slowing cost-of-living increases for current beneficiaries, or even replacing the current earned-benefit structure with a flat anti-poverty payment. Lawmakers will almost certainly end up using some mix of higher taxes and lower benefits, with the burden likely falling more on higher earners and future retirees…though Congress has so far shown little urgency in confronting the issue. So, bottom-line: We’ve got seven years.

Private-credit problems

In other disappointing economic news, the private-credit boom that fueled major growth on Wall Street is now showing signs of strain as investors rush to pull money out of funds. Large redemption requests—such as investors trying to withdraw 14% from a major fund—are forcing firms to limit payouts, delaying access to capital and exposing liquidity constraints.

For us laypeople, what does that mean?

Private-credit funds made a lot of loans during a period when money was easy, interest rates were lower, and investors were eager to chase higher returns. Many of those loans went to riskier companies, including firms with weaker finances. Now that borrowing costs are higher and the economy is less forgiving, some of those companies are struggling more, which makes investors wonder whether the loans inside these funds are really as safe or valuable as advertised.

Once that doubt starts, it feeds on itself. Investors think, “If these loans weaken further, I may want out now rather than later.” But because private-credit funds cannot easily sell those loans quickly for cash, people worry they could get stuck waiting to withdraw. That fear causes more people to ask for their money back, which creates even more concern. So the root cause is a mix of weaker underlying loans, higher interest-rate pressure, and a growing loss of confidence.

There is also a structural reason. Private credit grew very quickly, and more of the money came from wealthy individuals and other noninstitutional investors who can be quicker to react when sentiment turns. When times were good, that rapid growth looked like strength. Now it means the industry is more exposed to mood swings. So, at bottom, this is happening because the market expanded fast, took on risk, and is now being tested in a tougher environment.

Other news about other markets

More and more (and more and more) articles are coming out about the dangers of prediction-markets. In case you’re not aware, a prediction-market is a website where people put money behind their predictions about future events, and the shifting prices show what the crowd thinks will happen. They are all the rage right now. Here’s a screenshot from Polymarket on just a few (of hundreds) of bets you could make:

Prediction-markets bring numerous problems. College students are describing sports betting as a growing social and financial problem. Campus prediction-market frenzies are being fueled by rumors and side information leading to speculative behavior becoming normalized among young people before strong guardrails are in place.

And it’s not just happening on campuses.

After U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, attention turned to prediction-market platform Polymarket, where traders had wagered heavily on when the attacks would occur. Roughly $529 million was traded on strike-related contracts, and six newly created accounts reportedly earned about $1 million in profits by betting the U.S. would strike Iran by Feb. 28. Some of the bets were placed hours before the attacks, raising suspicions among blockchain analysts that the trades could reflect insider knowledge rather than simple speculation.

All of this points to the same problem: once money can be made from an event, people gain incentives not only to predict outcomes, but to manipulate information, pressure participants, or blur the boundary between analysis and exploitation.

Expanding on Iran

Speaking of Iran, last week, I posted about the dangers of chokepoints and how they can turn into chokeholds. Interestingly, later that day, WSJ published a piece titled, The Islands That Give Iran a Stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz. Chokeholds, Strangleholds…great minds think alike, I suppose. However, in my analysis, I focused on mainland Iran, I didn’t really talk about the islands. The WSJ article is worth the read as it goes into more detail about Iran’s islands.

Mixing it up in Mexico

Meanwhile, in Mexico, cartel control across much of the country continues to blur the line between criminal power and territorial governance. Mexico’s major drug cartels expanded their territorial control beginning in the 1980s to manage cocaine trafficking from Colombia into the United States and protect their operations from government interference. Their influence has grown further in the past decade with the rise of fentanyl. Today cartel groups operate across nearly all of Mexico’s 32 states, prompting increased pressure from the United States, where several major cartels have been designated foreign terrorist organizations, to curb their power.

No more wining

China’s anti-drinking crackdown is reshaping the global wine trade. Policies banning alcohol at government and Communist Party events, combined with anti-corruption campaigns, have eliminated a major source of demand that once fueled luxury wine imports. As a result, foreign wine imports have fallen dramatically, now sitting at roughly half their 2018 peak, and major producers are left with massive unsold inventory.

Machines inside humans and humans inside machines

As Elon Musk’s Neuralink brain chip continues to push the boundary of human-machine integration by allowing a patient to navigate video game control purely through thought control, Cortical Labs, an Australian company, is developing computers powered by human neurons. Rather than using traditional GPU servers, these “biological data centers” would run on the company’s CL1 units, each of which contains about 200,000 human brain neurons grown on a multi-electrode array chip. The neurons receive electrical signals, respond to them, and effectively produce computing output. The company recently drew attention by demonstrating that this system could play a version of the video game DOOM.

The company is pitching the technology as a possible low-energy alternative to conventional AI infrastructure, which has become increasingly expensive and power-hungry as major tech firms expand their data-center footprints. Cortical Labs says each CL1 unit uses less power than a handheld calculator. Its Melbourne facility is expected to house 120 units, while its Singapore project, built with data-center company DayOne at the National University of Singapore, will begin with 20 units as a prototype. If testing goes well, the partnership could eventually scale to as many as 1,000 units in a commercial DayOne facility.

And speaking of data centers…

The startup, Deep Fission, is developing a system that places small nuclear reactors in narrow boreholes drilled about a mile into the earth, using water pressure and surrounding rock to replace much of the expensive above-ground infrastructure that makes conventional nuclear plants costly and slow to build. Each borehole reactor is designed to generate 15 megawatts, and a field of them could power major electricity users such as AI data centers. The company says this design could produce electricity at about six cents per kilowatt hour, and the Department of Energy selected it for its Reactor Pilot Program as officials look for faster, cheaper nuclear options to meet rising power demand. Supporters see the concept as a possible breakthrough for nuclear deployment, especially for data centers and military bases, while critics in Kansas worry local communities will bear the risk. The inventor argues the surrounding geology makes the design exceptionally safe, and the company’s disposal plan is simply to seal spent fuel in place at the end of a reactor’s life.

The non-trophy generation

Large age gaps in marriage used to be more common among very wealthy men, which helped fuel the “trophy wife” stereotype. Earlier research found that America’s richest men were often married to significantly younger women, especially if they remarried. But newer census-based analysis suggests that pattern has faded. By 2024, men in the top 1% of earners were no more likely than average to have wives at least ten years younger.

The same shift appears on the women’s side. High-earning women are not especially likely to choose much younger husbands, and in the past they were actually somewhat more likely to marry slightly older men. Today, the biggest age gaps are more common among lower earners than among the rich or middle class.

The main explanation is that education and social environment matter more than wealth. People who spend more time in school tend to meet and date peers close to their own age, and those people also often go on to earn higher incomes. Age-gap marriages therefore appear to be less about status and money than about education, social networks, and changing cultural norms.

The non-coffee generation

Dutch Bros, the third-largest coffee chain in the U.S. behind Starbucks and Dunkin’, actually sells very little hot coffee. While Starbucks still dominates nearly half the U.S. coffee-chain market, Dutch Bros is gaining traction—especially with Gen Z consumers drawn to its highly customizable cold beverages and colorful energy drinks like the “Shark Attack Rebel.” About 90% of Dutch Bros drinks are served cold, and customizable energy drinks now account for roughly 25% of its $1.6 billion business.

The company’s strategy centers on extensive drink customization and youth-focused branding. Customers can mix more than 40 flavors across coffee, energy drinks, teas, lemonades, and sodas, often adding toppings like cold foam or boba. Dutch Bros also studies trends in grocery stores, coffee bars, and even cocktail culture to create new flavors. Its strong loyalty program—responsible for about 73% of transactions—helps drive repeat visits and engagement with younger customers through social media and merchandise promotions.

Let me cut to the chase—this headline is a filler. I didn’t have the bandwidth to create a good one.

Work-email openings are mostly social filler rather than sincere expressions of concern. Phrases like “I hope you are well” or “I hope this email finds you well” usually mean nothing beyond polite throat-clearing, while slight variations can signal things like distance, laziness, dated professionalism, or simply what day of the week it is. This Economist piece humorously decodes these common opening lines by contrasting their literal meaning with what they supposedly “really” communicate.

For example, “Nice to e-meet you” is old-fashioned, “Hope all well” is compressed and perfunctory, and weekday-specific greetings like “I hope your week is going well” is another thinly disguised substitute. Other lines, such as apologizing for an “out-of-the-blue” email or claiming to “cut to the chase,” are equally empty or self-defeating. Here are a few to whet your appetite:

Meanwhile, this WSJ piece bemoans the corporate jargon that most annoy readers. Many complained that phrases such as “bandwidth,” “circle back,” “deep dive,” “leverage,” and “pivot” replace simple language with vague or pretentious wording meant to sound strategic or professional. In practice, these terms often obscure meaning, inflate routine tasks, or create confusion rather than clarity.

Several readers argued that such language can distort workplace communication. Expressions like “growth mindset,” “hard stop,” or “hit the ground running” may create unnecessary pressure, while phrases such as “take this offline,” “reach out,” or “socialize the idea” can serve as evasive ways to avoid direct discussion. Others mocked jargon that unnecessarily complicates plain concepts, such as “decisioning,” “negative growth,” or “utilize” instead of simply saying “decide,” “decline,” or “use.”

Maybe a movie star?

Movie stardom is far rarer and more fragile than most people assume. Only a small share of actors who even get credited film roles ever headline a movie, and most who do never repeat that success. When the pool expands to include the broader working-actor population, the odds get even worse. Even for those who break through, sustaining quality is difficult: many lead actors never appear in a well-regarded film, and even elite stars usually have only a moderate percentage of acclaimed projects. The Stat Significant piece also argues that the traditional Hollywood star system is weakening. Big-budget movie stardom appears to have peaked in the mid-2000s, and the actors audiences most want to see are still mostly older, established stars.

As usual, great analysis and charts from Stat Significant. Here are just a couple of charts:

On the bookshelf

It’s been a while since I’ve included this section on the newsletter, though it’s not for lack of reading. In fact, last year was my most prolific reading year yet—I finished 56 books, a little more than one a week. As I was not much of reader for the first 30 years of my life, I feel like I have a lot of ground to make up. The more I read, the better I get at it, the more I enjoy it, and the more I realize how many great books I missed out on early in my life. So many great stories and so much incredible information is out there just waiting to be absorbed.

This past year, I challenged (OK, “assigned”) each of my students to pick a book off the “Top 100 books you should read before you die” list to read. They were to read it, highlight passages that stood out to them, passages showing great wordplay, key points in the story, things they liked or didn’t like, or something that confused them. I too would read the book they chose, would highlight portions as well, then one-on-one we would discuss it.

Some books chosen were shorter and easier, others were longer and harder. Likewise, the discussions varied in depth. I especially appreciated the students who had read their entire book (some had not) and made significant highlights—we usually had great discussions on writing and life.

In an age of screen overload, do yourself a favor and read a book. It may be difficult at first, especially if you haven’t done it in a while, but it will get easier if you keep after it.

And if you’re ever looking for a book recommendation, reach out and we can talk through your interests and what books may be a good fit for you. My reading interests vary, so I’m sure we could find something that you might like.

As a quick plug, I recently read three of Cormac McCarthy’s books: The Road, No Country for Old Men, and Blood Meridian. Two books—The Road and No Country for Old Men—have both been made into movies. His greatest work, though, is considered Blood Meridian. All three of these are incredible reads. They are not feel-good reads, but they are unique, as McCarthy’s writing style. Afterward reading them, I did some research on McCarthy which led me down a rabbit trail that touched on: Polysyndeton, Santa Fe Institute, The Kekulé Problem, and the many real-life people that some of the characters in Blood Meridian are based on.

I’m currently reading Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow. It’s a biography of George Washington that does an excellent job of portraying Washington in a clearer light. Before that, I read The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III; it’s a fascinating look into American politics in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. These last two books are rather long, but they open your eyes to the politics in D.C.—both during the forming of our country and 200 years later. If you want some recommendations for lighter reading, just let me know.

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I’d like to tell you about Aspen—he was the best dog you could ever ask for. He was smart, playful, loving, ornery, and we miss him. We got him in late 2009, when he was still a pup, and had to put him down in 2023—it was one of the hardest things we’ve had to do as a family and was especially hard on my wife.

We named him Aspen because he was white, like the bark on Aspen trees, and because we enjoy Colorado, which has a town named Aspen. He was a Goldendoodle, which was a fairly newish breed in the mid-2000s, but now you see them everywhere. I wanted a German Shepherd, but I was overruled by other family members. I’m glad they won out.

As the dog of a military family, Aspen saw so much transition and change that anytime we packed our bags, even for a weekend trip, he’d get nervous and lay next to the piled up bags. He’d lay completely still and flat—except for his eyes, which would dart left and right to track the movements of the family as they walked back and forth. When we’d open the door to walk out of the house with our bags, he’d be the first out the door, as if to say, “I’m going too!”

Six months after we got him, we took a road trip from Florida to Alaska, driving across the southern U.S., then up the West Coast into Canada. He traveled with us in our minivan, his area taking up as much space as our two sons combined.

Along the way, we stopped at the Grand Canyon to stretch our legs, see the view, and take Aspen for a walk. I kid you not, a bunch of Japanese tourists with cameras saw this giant white puffball on a leash and immediately started snapping photos. Aspen responded with a toothy, open-mouthed, tongue-sticking-out smile and soaked in all the attention. He could be a bit of a showboat at times. In fact, once, he was even on the front page of the newspaper for a Fourth of July parade. Aspen made the newspaper picture; my son, however, was cropped out.

After the Grand Canyon, he got to see Yosemite. Then, in Canada, we got on a ferry where he had to stay below deck in the car in his crate. For the next couple of days, whenever we hit a port—whether noon or midnight or anytime in between—we’d let him out to go potty, then usher him back to his crate. Then we all got back into the car to drive through the Yukon and into Alaska.

In Alaska, he loved the snow in the winter and the grass fields in the summer. His best friend was our neighbor’s dog, Nalia, a large Alaskan Malamute. The two of them loved to wrestle, and it wasn’t uncommon for it to end with blood stains after one or both of them had played a little too rough and bitten the other around the nape of the neck a little too hard. They were never angry at one another; it was always playful.

He was an incredibly smart dog. Early on, he learned to tap a bell hanging from the handle on our back door to signify that he needed to go outside to go to the bathroom. Because his urine would kill the grass, I installed pebbles in an area on the side of the house—his “doggy litter” area, if you will. At first, it worked great.

Then he became too smart for his own good. He trained us to open the back door anytime we heard the bell ring, even if it was just because he wanted to wander around the backyard to smell things. And since he didn’t like the feeling of the gravel on his paws, he’d walk toward that area of the yard when we let him out; then, as soon as we closed the door, he’d sprint away to the grassy area to go to the bathroom.

To say he was the best dog is not to say he was a perfect dog.

Once, in Alaska, we had to take him in for emergency surgery after realizing that a wool sock he had eaten had gotten stuck in his intestines. I’m not sure I could’ve choked down (pun intended) the $1,000+ vet bill had I not loved that dog. And that’s nothing to say of how I later had to manually pull the other sock out of the exiting hole of his digestive system (I’ll spare you the details on that one). The things you do for the ones you love.

He was a bit of a Houdini at times. Though he never ran away, sometimes he would escape from our backyard, only for us to find out he’d gone when he pawed at our front door from outside. We’d open the door, and he’d be like, “Hi folks, I’m back.” and would trot back inside. To which we’d respond, “We didn’t even know you were gone!” I’m reminded of Billy in The Family Circus comic strip:

I imagined that, like Billy, Aspen had wandered the neighborhood, checked out some things, then decided he was ready to come home, so he did.

From the beginning, we had a rule that he was not allowed on our couch.

But something changed along the way, and it just started happening. He was not a lap dog. With a dog his size, it was like an elephant coming to sit on the couch—the process of getting on was cumbersome, followed by circling before sitting and then constant stretching and maneuvering to claim more couch real estate. If my wife or I ever got up from the couch to grab something from the kitchen, we’d return to find our place filled with whatever part of his body was not taking up the other 90% of the couch.

Couches, beanbags, beds… he had an elevated sense of self. The floor simply wasn’t good enough for this dog.

Sometimes he had a rough night partying and didn’t quite make it fully into bed. We can all relate.

And sometimes he had a rough day at the office:

I thought this picture of him waiting for Santa was nice too; he heard there were openings on the sleigh team and wanted to interview.

He loved going on walks, but he was terrible at going on runs. He wanted to smell every single blade of grass, which doesn’t really make running feasible.

Walks also meant us humans carrying poop bags and picking up his poop. And poop he did. Nope, he couldn’t go in our backyard; instead, he had to wait until we were 100 yards from home and make us humans carry his filled poop bags back for him like royal servants. I’m still not sure who trained whom. We carried innumerable bags of poop home from walks around the neighborhood over the years. It was embarrassing for us humans, and I think he was proud of that.

He had a particular gait that made him look like he was just kind of loping or bebopping along. Thus became one of his nicknames—Bebop.

Eventually, his list of nicknames grew so long that we only called him Aspen when he was in trouble or we needed him for something. His nicknames included:

• Bebop – which, of course, led to other nicknames, like:

• Beeeeeeeebops Las Vegas - said like “Vivaaaaaa Las Vegas!”.

• Bipity Bops – Inspired by the song from the Cinderella cartoon with the lyrics “Bipity Bopity Boo”.

• Bibity – A shortening of the above.

• Polywoggers – Along with his gait, his tail had its own personality, wagging in numerous directions… thus poly, meaning “many.” We’d usually call him this after his tail knocked something over, as in, “Polywoggers, watch your tail!”

• Poop eater – Self-explanatory.

• Dogger breath – Also self-explanatory and usually preceded by “poop eater.”

• Monkey dog - When he did something goofy. As in, “You monkey dog, stop rolling in the dirt! We just gave you bath.”

• Squirrel chaser – Squirrels are, well, squirrely. And though he liked to chase them, they were simply too fast to catch. But the most annoying part to him was when they’d cackle at him once they got up in the tree. “Squirrel chaser,” I’d say, “you’ll never win, they can climb trees.”

• Deer harasser – We have a lot of deer in our neighborhood. And while we were busy picking up his poop on walks, this giant white fluffy 70 pound dog would attempt to slowly sneak up on the deer. I have no idea what he thought he’d do when he got them, but then again, I don’t think he ever really intended to catch them. He would only half-heartedly jump at them when he got close. Then, as they’d bound away from the “great white killer,” he’d turn back to us and smirk, then continue bebopping along on his walk.

For everyone in our family, though, his most enduring trait was that of stress sponge. He was so docile that you could just lay next to him on the floor, petting his soft fur, letting him soak up the stress of the day. There were many days that I felt God put him into our lives to do just that. He would lay there as long as we would. I miss the feel of his fur.

He was also the neighborhood’s friendliest dog. Though he’d bark at other dogs in passing, it was not aggressive. It was as if he was saying, “Hey, what’s up, dude!” If they didn’t respond back with a bark or friendly wag of the tail, he’d pause and look at me as if asking, “What’s wrong with that guy?”

When we were in Alaska, we had a giant field behind our home. We’d go out to the field and throw a ball for him to fetch. He’d run to get it a couple of times, but after that, we’d end up having to go get the ball we threw.

When he was younger, he was very fast. In that same Alaskan field, the boys and I would play a game with him where we’d have him sit in place, then we’d start walking away, and, after we’d gotten a certain distance from him, we’d start running. As soon as we started running, he’d come chasing after us.

He’d always catch me—and catching usually meant swiping at my legs, causing me to trip and land face-first on the ground. I’d laugh and he’d come over and lick my face. He loved the thrill of the chase and the taste of victory.

As he grew older, he became slower, weaker, and increasingly in pain. There was less walking and more lying around. What he really loved was just sitting outside, watching passersby like an old man.

Alas, his compounding health issues just became too much, and we had to put him down. It was one of the toughest days for our family. There are harder things to bear in life, no doubt, but the loss of a pet is difficult—especially when that pet was Aspen.

To make matters worse, one of my sons and I were out of town and had to watch virtually as he passed. But it was harder on my wife, who held him as he took his last breath and felt his heart beat for the last time.

Undoubtedly, he was the best dog a family could’ve asked for.

So, Aspen, you big fluff ball, in your honor, we raise a bag of poop to you. We miss you, Bebop, you poop-eating dogger-breath polywogger monkey dog. Know that the squirrels still cackle, the deer continue to invade, and you’ll forever have a place in our hearts.

Aspen, the best dog a family could ask for.

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But this post isn’t about land invasions or airborne assaults on foreign soil.

Instead, since I’ve been seeing a growing number of stories about the Strait of Hormuz, global shipping chokepoints, and the Taiwan Strait, I thought I’d tie them all together. I hope you find this helpful.

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For years, it was easy to assume that globalization, digital networks, and advanced technology had reduced the importance of physical geography. But recent events are showing the opposite. Even in an era of AI-enabled warfare and precision strikes, narrow waterways and physical supply routes still determine outcomes. Roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply flows through the Strait of Hormuz, and even limited disruption there has already caused sharp spikes in energy prices.

History shows the danger of trying to solve these disruptions militarily—misjudging second- and third-order effects has led to costly failures in the past.

The Gallipoli Lesson

The Gallipoli campaign during World War I is a case in point, as Niall Ferguson points out in this great piece. The Allied powers attempted to seize control of the Dardanelles Strait to reopen a vital supply route and gain a strategic advantage. What followed was a costly failure—poor planning, underestimated resistance, difficult terrain, and logistical breakdowns led to a prolonged stalemate and eventual withdrawal.

The campaign didn’t just fail militarily; it produced unintended economic and political consequences as well, and those consequences were both immediate and far-reaching. Economically, the failure to reopen the Dardanelles meant that grain shipments from Russia remained blocked, contributing to price volatility and fears of food shortages in Europe. Britain had to intervene heavily in markets—subsidizing shipping, restricting exports, and even attempting to influence commodity prices—measures that distorted normal economic activity and reflected how quickly wartime pressures can override market systems.

Politically, the fallout was just as significant. The failed campaign weakened the British government, forcing Prime Minister H. H. Asquith to form a coalition government and contributing to a loss of confidence in leadership. Winston Churchill, who had championed the operation, was removed from his post and saw his reputation severely damaged (though it was salvaged in WWII). Beyond Britain, the campaign failed to stabilize Russia, which remained economically strained and politically fragile. These were conditions that ultimately contributed to the Russian Revolution. In short, what began as a strategic effort to solve a military and economic problem ended up weakening alliances, destabilizing governments, and compounding the very risks it was meant to resolve.

Chokepoints, it turns out, are complex multi-armed systems that can quickly tighten into a chokehold. Intervening under pressure rarely unfolds as planned, and often produces outcomes far different from what decision-makers expect.

Global shipping chokepoints

Global trade—worth more than $11.5 trillion annually by sea—depends on a handful of maritime chokepoints. About 80% of global trade by volume and 55% by value moves across oceans, concentrating risk in narrow corridors like Hormuz, Suez, and key Asian straits.

Not all chokepoints carry equal risk. As seen in the image below, Closing Hormuz blocks energy flows with few alternatives, but affects about 6% of global maritime trade. By contrast, disruptions in the Taiwan Strait (~13%), the Suez Canal (~16%), or South China Sea (~24%) would impact a far larger share of global commerce. The most severe scenario, blocking Southeast Asian routes, could affect up to 26% of global trade, forcing massive detours and cascading delays.

Even when rerouting is possible, it comes at a cost: longer routes, higher insurance, and slower delivery times that ripple through supply chains and consumer prices.

The impact of just-in-time logistics

Even limited disruption, such as a quarantine, would force ships to reroute, sometimes adding up to 1,000 miles to journeys, which would raise costs, delay deliveries, and cut off access to key ports. This is especially problematic in a just-in-time (JIT) logistics system, where companies keep minimal inventory on hand and rely on precisely timed deliveries to keep production moving. Designed for efficiency and cost reduction, JIT leaves little room for delay. When shipments arrive late, production lines can halt, downstream deliveries are disrupted, and shortages ripple outward. What begins as a routing adjustment at sea can quickly translate into factory slowdowns, empty shelves, and rising prices. In a more severe scenario, these compounding delays can cause entire supply chains to seize up across industries ranging from electronics to energy, exposing how efficiency-driven systems often sacrifice resilience in the face of disruption.

Rare earths and microchips

Control over rare earths is becoming just as strategically important as control over energy and trade routes. These minerals, essential for everything from EV motors and wind turbines to advanced electronics and military systems, are heavily concentrated in one place: China, which dominates global production and processing. That concentration is now driving a coordinated push to diversify supply chains. Japan and France, for example, recently agreed to deepen cooperation on rare earth sourcing and refining, including a new facility expected to supply a significant share of Japan’s future demand for key materials like dysprosium and terbium. These efforts reflect a broader shift, as countries invest in alternative suppliers, recycling, and joint ventures to reduce reliance on China, which has already demonstrated its willingness to restrict exports for strategic or political leverage. The result is a growing recognition that rare earths are not just industrial inputs, but are also geopolitical tools that are increasingly central to economic security and global power competition.

The Taiwan Strait

The Taiwan Strait has emerged as economically consequential chokepoint. Approximately $2.45 trillion in goods—more than 20% of global maritime trade—passes through it each year. It is also the center of the global semiconductor industry, with Taiwan producing over 90% of the world’s most advanced chips, including 99% of those used for cutting-edge AI systems.

The broader trade exposure is enormous. Taiwan’s ports handle hundreds of billions in goods, while China alone moves roughly $1.3–$1.4 trillion in trade through the strait. U.S. allies are heavily dependent as well: about 32% of Japan’s imports and 30% of South Korea’s imports transit the strait, much of it energy and high-tech components.

China is increasing pressure on Taiwan through military activity, economic leverage, and “gray zone” tactics that fall short of full invasion. These include potential blockades or restrictions on shipping that could disrupt trade without triggering immediate war.

One advantage of the Taiwan Strait is that alternative routes are available, unlike the Strait of Hormuz. This Economist article does a great job of modeling and mapping potential impacts.

However, if conflict and blockade expanded throughout the South China Sea, the consequences would be far worse.

At the same time, uncertainty in U.S. policy and competing global commitments are creating openings for China. Subtle changes in diplomacy or priorities could weaken deterrence, raising the risk of miscalculation. The situation is further complicated by the fact that major powers cannot fully concentrate on multiple theaters at once, increasing the chance that one crisis creates opportunities in another.

In conclusion

The global economy is highly efficient, but also highly concentrated and fragile. A small number of chokepoints carry a disproportionate share of trade, energy, and critical inputs. Disruptions in any one location can cascade quickly across regions, industries, and financial systems.

Countries are responding by stockpiling resources, diversifying supply chains, and investing in domestic production, but these adjustments take time and raise costs. In the near term, the system remains exposed. The question is not whether chokepoints matter, but which one becomes the next breaking point, and how far the shockwaves will spread when it does.

Though this isn’t an article about land invasions or airborne assaults on foreign soil, I do think it appropriate to end with this quote from Lyle Goldstein in his U.S. Naval Institute article comparing Gollipoli and Hormuz:

A closely related point, of course, is that U.S. forces fighting on Iran’s sovereign territory would once again confront the anger of a people defending their homeland. It is no coincidence that the father of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, arose out of the single extraordinary battle at Gallipoli. After the bitter lessons learned from wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, U.S. strategists should be wary of brazen challenges on foreign soil.

The lesson is simple: chokepoints are inevitable, but chokeholds are not. They emerge when efficiency replaces resilience and when alternatives are ignored. Like in wrestling, the key is not to overpower the hold, but to avoid being caught in it in the first place.

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