Monthly Archives: January 2019
“When people feel uncertain, [they’d rather listen to] somebody who’s strong and wrong than somebody who’s weak and right.”
During a time of high anxiety and chaos, it’s no wonder that explanations from a lifelong technocrat who has always shied away from public speaking would be no match for the professional loud talkers on radio and cable TV. The reality is, as Bill Clinton once said, “When people feel uncertain, [they’d rather listen to] somebody who’s strong and wrong than somebody who’s weak and right.”
The UX divide
News as free advertising
He was, in the best sense of the word (truly the best to an interviewer anxious to learn the innermost secrets of political maneuverings), totally amoral. He cared for nothing. Once, on a morning that we had an interview scheduled, I picked up the Washington Post over breakfast in my hotel room to see his name in big headlines and read a huge story about his role in a truly sordid Washington scandal. I expected to find a broken, or at least a dejected, man when I was ushered into his office. Instead, he gave me a big grin—he had the most infectious grin—and, when I didn’t bring up the subject of the story but he could tell it was on my mind, he said, “It’s just free advertising, kid, free advertising. Just as long as they spell my name right.”
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/28/the-secrets-of-lyndon-johnsons-archives
Retail Arbitrage
Instead of mining the natural landscape, surveillance capitalists extract their raw material from human experience.
The main thing we talked about was you and your brother
Later, after it all, I texted Barkley and asked him: “Why my dad? Why did he matter so much to you?” And recently, I called him up and asked: “What did you even have to talk about?”
“Well, I think — first of all, clearly, he was a fan,” Barkley said. “But I think the main thing we talked about was you and your brother.”
https://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2018/12/14/lin-wang-charles-barkley
jonasreads 