Just Duet

An American Song, California's Drenched

I was walking on a snowy trail wearing some spongy Walkman headphones the first time I heard a cassette tape playing Fast Car by Tracy Chapman. Songs often take you back to a specific moment in your life, and I'll always remember the first time I heard that song. Luke Combs wasn't yet born during my slow walk with Fast Car, but the same song conjures a memory for him, too. He's riding shotgun in a Ford F-150 and his dad pops a cassette into the tapedeck as he takes his only child for a ride through the roads of their North Carolina home town. As Combs, now a country music star explains, "It was my favorite before I knew what a favorite song was." Both of those moments took place in what feels like a lost America, when art and culture didn't have to cut through the static of viral, social media rage; when everything wasn't just about politics, we weren't so relentlessly divided, and before nonsensical takes that wouldn't even qualify for the 'letters to the editor's section of a local newspaper were elevated to top story status on national cable news. During last night's Grammy Awards, Luke Combs, now a country music star, played his number one selling cover version of Fast Car with a special guest: Tracy Chapman. It took Combs back to that Ford F-150. Maybe it took Chapman back to busking at the Harvard T Station. It took me back to that snowy walk and a different time in America. Maybe the surprise perfomance was a reminder that the American duet is still playing beneath the din, among regular people who actually interact in real life, freed from their social media silos of homogeneity. Maybe, for a second, I bought the idea that the lyrics of the song could be applied to our two Americas: Maybe we make a deal. Maybe together we can get somewhere. Whatever it was, for the duration of a song, I didn't believe all the divisive rhetoric. I believed Luke Combs and Tracy Chapman performing Fast Car together. A great American song, a beautiful American moment.

+ Taylor Swift set a new Grammy record, Miley Cyrus was among the night's biggest winners, Celine Dion showed up, Jay-Z criticized the Grammys for Beyoncé’s Album of the Year losses, Joni Mitchell performed, and Killer Mike got arrested after winning 3 Grammys. After being released, he told the Atlanta Journal Constitution: "I'm three Grammys good." Same here.

2

AI's Rounding Error

"These programs have been hailed as the first glimmers on the horizon of artificial general intelligence — that long-prophesied moment when mechanical minds surpass human brains not only quantitatively in terms of processing speed and memory size but also qualitatively in terms of intellectual insight, artistic creativity and every other distinctively human faculty. That day may come, but its dawn is not yet breaking." Noam Chomsky, Ian Roberts and Jeffrey Watumull give humans a solid chance against the AI we're all either so worried or so hopeful about. Very interesting stuff in the NYT (Gift Article): The False Promise of ChatGPT. "Whereas humans are limited in the kinds of explanations we can rationally conjecture, machine learning systems can learn both that the earth is flat and that the earth is round. They trade merely in probabilities that change over time." (What I'm worried about are those who will use AI to convince more people that the earth is flat—and other wrongheaded, and often dangerous, ideas.)

+ The Verge: Semafor reporters are going to curate the news with AI. (Bring it on!)

3

The Sure Thing

"I’d launch into a long assessment of it. I’d be certain—absolutely positive—that I was right. My father would listen, head cocked a little to the side, often smiling a bit, sometimes raising his eyebrows after an especially bold point. For some reason, I would feel encouraged—not wary—and I’d bash ahead into bolder assessments. Eventually, I’d run out of steam and finish up, with some sort of gesture meaning 'case closed.' There would be a moment of silence. And then my father would say—gently, because there was zero need to say it any other way: 'And what is the best argument of the other side?'" Caitlin Flanagan in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Colleges Are Lying to Their Students. They aren’t teaching them "how to think." (When I used to lecture my dad about a topic and I was absolutely certain I was right, there'd be a moment of silence. And then it just stayed silent. And he went back to reading the paper.)

4

Weight for It...

"Novo Holdings, the parent company of Danish pharma giant Novo Nordisk, agreed to buy New Jersey-based contract manufacturer Catalent for around $16.5 billion in cash. This deal is about boosting production of Wegovy, the anti-obesity drug whose demand has far outpaced supply." So now we're over-consuming anti-obesity drugs?

5

Extra, Extra

Betting the Spread: Antony Blinken is back in the Middle East trying to push a new ceasefire deal. Meanwhile, Iran proxies are starting to respond to US airstrikes that took place over the weekend. It's a concerning moment to say the least. Here's the latest from CNN.

+ Spreading the Bet: There was a time the NFL wouldn't get near Vegas. Now they're hosting the Super Bowl near the Strip. It's all part of a much broader trend. Sports gambling is accepted, and everywhere. "There’s been a surge of young problem gamblers since sports betting was legalized. On 60 Minutes, an addiction therapist warns AI-powered sports betting has spurred a public health emergency."

+ King Charles has Cancer: "During The King’s recent hospital procedure for benign prostate enlargement, a separate issue of concern was noted. Subsequent diagnostic tests have identified a form of cancer." King Charles diagnosed with cancer.

+ Tear Down That Wall: "Senators on Sunday released a highly anticipated $118 billion package that pairs border enforcement policy with wartime aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies, but it quickly ran into a wall of opposition from top House Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson."

+ Drenched: "'This is one of the most dramatic weather days in recent memory,' the National Weather Service said in an online update Sunday night. 'The current focus for the most dangerous portion of this system has now shifted to LA County where multiple flash-flood warnings are in effect.'" The wind was crazy here in the Bay Area. We lost a tree and a lot of branches in my backyard. And SoCal could be getting it worse. Hundreds of thousands are without power as atmospheric river churns down California. Here's the latest.

+ Electoral Collage: "Meta’s oversight board has found that a Facebook video wrongfully suggesting that the US president, Joe Biden, is a pedophile does not violate the company’s current ruleswhile deeming those rules 'incoherent' and too narrowly focused on AI-generated content." It's gonna be a long election season.

+ SAP Done Being Suckers? SAP "is one of several large companies — joining Google, AT&T, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America — that have swung from flexible to firm stances on in-person attendance, signaling that the days of ubiquitous remote work are over. Companies have abandoned efforts to entice workers back with free lunches, charitable donations and concerts. Employers are now taking more punitive approaches, and some workers would rather quit than comply." WaPo (Gift Article): Companies’ hard-line stance on returning to the office is backfiring. (I'm thinking of making myself move from the bed back to the couch.)

6

Bottom of the News

"The report read like background notes for an airport thriller: A Bond-villain-like corporation would set up shop as a legitimate business, managing a series of nominally independent subsidiaries responsible for different parts of weapons production in locations around the world." WSJ (Gift Article): Could a Rogue Billionaire Make a Nuclear Weapon? (If so, can we at least pick the billionaire??)