Can AI Save Us From the Writers?
The internet turned intellectual life into reality TV. Now the machines are offering a way out.
Ten shelves · 50 essays
The Reading Room
I.
Tech
Election night mirages
As midterm election results come in tonight, percentages can flip in favor of… Tags: election, forecast, New York Times,…
Qwen 3.8 27B on my laptop can interpret model weights, too
[Note] Blogsmaxxing
Pluralistic: Separable (03 Nov 2026)
II.
Culture
The soundtrack for Wipeout XL (aka Wipeout 2097) was...
The soundtrack for Wipeout XL (aka Wipeout 2097) was crazy for a video game; it featured tracks from groups like Underwo…
What’s with the Anakin Posting, Chud?
Sylvia Plath’s verbal calisthenics. Nothing was off limits, including sonnets, villanelles, poems in terza rima, and even Audenesque quatrains
Annie Ernaux: “Alfred Nobel’s intentions were noble. But everything that follows — the mountains of mail, the endless requests — is a burden”
Edward Hopper bristled at the “lonely” label: “If you could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint”
III.
Life
I Feel, Therefore I Am: Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio the Consciousness of the Body
"Ultimately, we are puppets of both pain and pleasure, occasionally made free by our creativity."
Four useful questions
Polyvagal Theory and the Neurobiology of Connection: The Science of Rupture, Repair, and Reciprocity
The Art of Advancing with Age: Bertrand Russell on What Makes a Fulfilling Life
Love in the Time of Dinosaurs
IV.
Design
Planning with Agents: Divided Worlds, Boundary Objects, and Thicker Interfaces
Why we need richer, thicker interfaces and better boundary objects for collaborative planning with agents
August 2026
In Memoriam, Encountering World War I, and Thinkable Horrors
One Developer, Two Dozen Agents, Zero Alignment
Gas Town’s Agent Patterns, Design Bottlenecks, and Vibecoding at Scale
V.
Economics
Ireland fact of the day
Almost half of Ireland’s corporation tax haul comes from just three companies: Apple, Eli Lilly and Microsoft. Here is m…
Fisher and Resende in Brazil
Navigating the Chaos
CROSSPOST: JOHN GANZ: American NeoFascism: Where We Are At
Tuesday assorted links
VI.
Finance
Tuesday links: celebrity value extraction
On AI and Iran, Trump risks bombing himself in the foot
Risks to AI Capex from Overestimating Demand
How Are U.S. Household Finances Doing?
Research links: being manipulated
VII.
History
Why Italy ruled Europe but couldn’t rule itself
How geography shaped the country we know today (in 7 maps)
The Art of Blaming Israel For Everything
The future of Britain in 7 maps
Brotherist Without Being a Brother
The history of Britain in 7 maps
VIII.
Philosophy
Extreme Vegan Claims Aren’t Hyperbole
They are true
Sand Gods, Foom, and p(doom) (with Séb Krier)
Do we need to take reincarnation seriously? – Part I
AI Consciousness Debate: Michael Huemer vs. Simon Goldstein
Does Christianity Make Sense?
IX.
Psychology
Sometimes It Hurts to Ask
But you should probably do it anyway
Separating the art from the artist
Aligned, but with whom?
Cornell 7, Illicit Activities, Violence Interventions
Fake it ‘til you make it (and then keep faking it)
X.
Science
He Won the Fields Medal. He Says AI Beats Him.
Richard Borcherds and Eric Weinstein on AI and mathematics
Mark Solms: Consciousness Isn't in the Cortex
Mark Solms: Consciousness Isn't in the Cortex
Off-grid data centers have 60-80% higher emissions
Scott Aaronson: “I Heard That a Robot Solved the Math Problem You Worked On”
Culture · Feature
10 Years of Kottke.org Membership
An important KDO milestone whooshed by the other day and I was so heads-down on tuning up the new search engine (more on that below) that I missed it. So: it’s been 10 years since I started the KDO membership program! (Quick recap of the value proposition from the membership page FAQ: “kottke.org is...
From the Stacks
Browse the full archive → Five rediscoveries from the back issues, rotated by the day
Read slowly. There is no hurry.