Book Blurbs

Kids Don't Read, Feel Good Friday

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. Maybe Holden Caulfield would have admired his modern day adolescent counterparts, because it sure seems like they don’t really want to hear about all that kind of crap, or much else, for that matter. If you must share the details of a protagonist, a brief AI-summarized blurb will do (and please limit summaries to those figures who possess main character energy). For many of today’s teens, reading a novel is a novel activity. It’s easy to blame the trend on social media and other tech distractions, and those are certainly a factor. But, as I’ve noticed in my own kids’ education, teachers also don’t seem to be assigning as many books. Literature is no longer considered lit. I’ve always been a big fan of the impact of first lines of novels, from Toni Morrison’s 124 was spiteful, to García Márquez’s It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love, to Snoopy’s It was a dark and stormy night. Sadly, I think Dana Goldstein may have added to this literary canon with the first line in her latest piece for the NYT (Gift Article): “In American high schools, the age of the book may be fading.” Kids Rarely Read Whole Books Anymore. Even in English Class. “Twelfth-grade reading scores are at historic lows, and college professors, even at elite schools, are increasingly reporting difficulties in getting students to engage with lengthy or complex texts.” (Back in our day, when we said, “I’m still working on my novel,” we meant writing one, not trying to read one.)

2

The High Costco of Living

I’ve shared countless stories about the American economy being driven by the highest income earners. But it’s worth noting that this trend is not just limited to the luxury market. Even brands known for pushing bulk items to cost-conscious buyers are reorienting themselves in the age of the ever-expanding divide. “Costco’s latest earnings were strong across almost every major metric. But they were particularly strong amongst one crucial demographic: The company’s ‘Executive Members’ now account for a whopping 74.3% of all Costco sales, ticking up slightly from last quarter. These Executive Members are Costco’s whales — affluent, high-frequency shoppers ... A retailer once built around broad middle-class value is now powered overwhelmingly by its most affluent, most loyal, most economically insulated members.” Inside America’s Costco economy.

3

Regulation Relegation

Trump just signed an executive order that attempts to prohibit states from regulating AI. I doubt having 50 different regulations governing a massively growing technology is an efficient way forward. But what we’re going to get instead is a version of self-regulation (translation: no regulation) pushed by lobbyists and stakeholders. Chuck Hagel in The Atlantic (Gift Article): “Proponents of AI preemption equate competitiveness with deregulation, arguing that state-level guardrails hamper innovation and weaken the United States in its technological competition with China. The reality is the opposite. Today’s most serious national-security vulnerabilities involving AI stem not from too much oversight, but from the absence of it.” Banning AI Regulation Would Be a Disaster. (By the time we get around to regulating AI, it may have already started regulating us.)

4

Weekend Whats

What to Watch You Must: We’re late to the party, but my wife and I have been binge-ing The Mandalorian. It’s not a perfect series, but it’s almost impossible to get enough of the character that came to be known as Baby Yoda (even though it’s not Yoda as a baby). If you haven’t already seen Andor, do that instead.

+ What to Holiday: The Norwegian holiday-themed series Home for Christmas on Netflix is excellent, and a third season just dropped.

5

Extra, Extra

Requesting Oral: “Across the country, a small but growing number of educators are experimenting with oral exams to circumvent the temptations presented by powerful artificial intelligence platforms such as ChatGPT.” WaPo (Gift Article): Professors are turning to this old-school method to stop AI use on exams.

+ Peace of Cake: “President Trump has made it well known that he is coveting the Nobel Peace prize, and rarely passes up the opportunity to say he has solved eight conflicts around the world in eight months. But despite the efforts, the results have been mixed: some outcomes are precarious, and the president’s role in brokering a deal is disputed. Others have simply unraveled.” (Yeah, but when they unravel, he can make peace in the same conflict again, thereby doubling his total number of peace deals!)

+ It Gets Bettor: “Last week, CNN announced a deal with Kalshi, a federally regulated online exchange where Americans can wager on current events, from basketball games and congressional elections to whether it will rain tomorrow in New York City. This marked Kalshi’s first partnership with a major news organization and, according to several close observers of the media business and gambling industry, could foreshadow a deluge of similar deals.” The New Yorker: America’s Betting Craze Has Spread to Its News Networks. (In 2025, just bet on the worst-case scenario for any news story. It’s a sure thing.)

+ Landman: “Mr. Hamm is a wildcatter, an oil prospector who drills wells in unproven areas, taking big bets that can turn into black gold or financial ruin. Not long ago, it seemed as if Mr. Hamm and his allies in the oil industry were losing. They were deeply out of favor in Washington — and on Wall Street — shunned for contributing to climate change and failing to deliver the returns investors wanted.” Well, times change. And fortunes often follow. NYT (Gift Article): The Oilman Who Pushed Trump to Go All In on Fossil Fuels.

+ Indiana Stones: “The president’s threats of retribution ultimately failed.” The State That Handed Trump His Biggest Defeat Yet.

+ Driving to the Rim: “Each day, the NBA legend sat in the same spot on a wooden bench in a historic 1930s courtroom, glued to the trial revolving around the antitrust lawsuit his race team and one other had brought against NASCAR, accusing the stock car series of illegal monopolistic conduct.” Michael Jordan was already a basketball legend. Now, he’s one in NASCAR too.

6

Feel Good Friday

There are a lot of year-end photo collections. This is the one you need today. Hopeful Images of 2025.

+ If you missed this story, don’t. David Guavey Herbert: Playing Santa Does Strange Things to a Man. What It Did to Bob Rutan Was Even Stranger.

+ “Aria Moreno was excited when she walked into class on Hofstra University’s campus in Long Island. It was late August, her fourth week of medical school, and Moreno had volunteered to undergo an ultrasound as part of the day’s lesson on the gastrointestinal system. It probably saved her half a kidney.”

+ “Mr. Dirks did not have cell service, so he said he reached for a Garmin satellite messenger to send an SOS. He was unable to use Bluetooth to connect it to his phone, so he typed out his plea on the Garmin’s tiny keyboard.” Stuck in Quicksand, a Hiker in Utah Has His SOS Answered. (Reason 987,347 that I’m indoorsy.)

+ “While journalism as a major has seen shrinking enrollment for years and is even being dropped by some schools entirely, Baker, a senior at Stanford University, has doubled down on old-school investigative reporting, and it is paying off spectacularly.” Stanford’s star reporter takes on Silicon Valley’s ‘money-soaked’ startup culture.

+ American Lindsey Vonn became the oldest skiing downhill World Cup winner at St Moritz in Switzerland on Friday.

+ Letterman on Kimmel. So enjoyable.

+ How Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Are Made. (This is the first time my glucose monitor alarm was set off by a video.)