May your writing week be better than Kafka's.

Friends: We've updated the pitching guidelines for @AtlasObscura and Gastro Obscura, and built out extensive notes on what's worked for us, what we're interested in, and more to set freelancers up for success. It's all here: docs.google.com/document/d/148….

The lack of attention to AI progress from certain quarters will probably look foolish. *But* also politics isn't just a rounding error to AI. This progress is coming at a moment where our political institutions are very uhhh addled.

I’ll be at SXSW tomorrow on this panel! Come by if you’re around! Atlas Obscura Hark Audio Airbnb work x work

Calling the development of AI an "Intelligence Explosion" is kind of like calling the Industrial Revolution a "Horsepower Explosion," narrowly emphasizing how steam engines increased raw physical power. Yes, horsepower rose—but that's not primarily why growth accelerated.

This is the inside of a GPT/LLM as it reads your text and "thinks" about what to say next

The ugliest chart I’ve seen in a long time. A catastrophic failure for economic growth, affordability, grid reliability, and climate action.

· Time ·

I remain pretty convinced that Apollo program Hasselblad photography remains a civilizational high water mark re: vibes / accidental art. And the lesser known ones are in some ways greater.

Витимский мост. Единственная на сотни километров дорога, соединяющая два региона страны орков - Бурятию и Забайкальский край.

U.S. GDP: Inflated by Finance, Not Real Production Real, tangible GDP should reflect energy used for transformation plus labor—actual goods and services produced. The graph shows electricity generation, a key driver of production. China’s soared, fueling real output, while the

I love every project to make posters for all the national parks. They're all awesome.

okay I checked the r/Andor subreddit these funko pop guys are two weeks away from recreating 1950's postcolonial theory from first principles

When you think about how much the likelihood of permanent AI-enabled techno-authoritarianism in the US just dropped

This is really fascinating. Forest and grassland converted to crops in 19th cent. 20th cent urbanization. But also notice some re-forestation in TX and South East. After 1920, total forested land is fairly stable. This was a lot of fun to make. Data from Hanqin Tian et al.

What a pleasure it was to talk to Dylan Thuras about #PanamericanaPBS and encountering the unexpected for the Atlas Obscura podcast. siriusxm.com/player/episode…

Oh

Author Dylan Thuras joins me on my show again today at 9:25am.

That's from the Turkish Air Force

Jay Anderson my favourite meme