Subscriber Links Roundup #1 (May 3, 2023)

First batch

With more than 150 submissions, I received far more pieces of writing than I expected.

If I were to share all 150+ at once, choice paralysis suggests that the chance of any of them being read is small. So I’ll be sharing the submissions in batches of 40 or so throughout the next few weeks. 

I meant it when I said if you submitted something, I would share it (unless it was obviously unhinged or would create serious difficulties for me). If you don’t see your piece in any of the roundup posts over the next several weeks, it may have gotten lost in my inbox. I’ll do another call for subscriber writing in the future; please send it then. 

Writers all shared their preferred names, the links to their pieces, a 1 sentence description. Lots of interesting stuff here; check out someone whose writing you haven’t read before.

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Rachael Herbert-Varchetto, Poverty, Class Discrimination, Upward Mobility and Mindset 

This article attempts to tie together the thread of several biographical narratives that personal choice, supportive networks, and other people who care about you (with connections), are the real tools to helping people achieve greater wealth/wellbeing to climb out of poverty.

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Mark McNeilly, Cross-Domain Thinking Drives Insights & Innovation: Using ChatGPT to Apply Concepts from One Domain for Innovation in Another

Learn how to use ChatGPT to perform “cross-domain thinking,”; i.e., applying a concept or approach from one domain to your area of interest to rapidly produce multiple insightful ways to think about that area.

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Henrik Hiro Pettersson, meaninglessness of meaningless 

Commentary on current day "meaninglessness" that is oh so popular—the future is up to us because it is yet to happen.

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Adam Omary, Tickling Rats in the Name of Science

What the neuroscience of play teaches us about the evolution of morality. 

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Ben Kohlmann, Dangerous Ideas, Approved Beliefs

Stanford's recent appearance in the news was presaged by the campus culture at Stanford Business School following the 2016 election; this essay explores the post-election ideas that could not be discussed on campus and the ones that were required to be espoused. 

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Arien Wagen, Reimagining the University to Focus on Education

To attract students, universities should focus exclusively on making students more hirable and on encouraging independent critical thinking.

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Boris Tseitlin, Understanding the Normal Distribution for Real

In this piece I dissect the monster formula to gain intuition.

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Dr Kai Whiting, Stoicism Isn’t and Never Was (Merely) a Rich White Man’s Philosophy 

A piece debunking the idea that Stoicism is a rich white man philosophy.

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Rav Arora’s Substack

A fearless publication exploring unreported Covid truths, public policy, and mental health.

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Richard Johnson, On Sound Money

It’s a piece on sound money. I cover the evolution of money from antiquity to modernity. Rai stones to bitcoin.

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John Raisor, Trades

A short story submitted to Chuck Palahniuk’s storytelling contest.

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Virginia, Walking In The Wild

A piece about the mental health benefits of walking in nature.

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Travis Blake, Dracula's Ghost - Prologue

The prologue and first chapter of a novel being published on Substack.

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Frederick R Prete, Women Don’t Produce Eggs

A lighthearted but informative take on a high school biology teacher's claim that "women" don't produce eggs.

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Patrick Whalen, The Agamemnon Effect

Human sacrifice and the contemporary American hustle gospel.

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Marcus Malesela, The drops of different seas are alike

Our problem is not only that the world doesn't approve of us or understand us but that we do not accept ourselves as we are, and we don't accept others as they are.

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Bob Seawright, The Index Mindset

The advent of “indexing,” in investing and in life, is often a very good thing. It’s also dangerous.

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Mo Villagran, Use This Dead Simple Process to Deliver Successful Data Analytics Projects

I share my 7 dead-simple steps to deliver successful data analytics projects to help people in the field overcome low stakeholder engagement.

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Daniel Böttger, Seven Secular Sermons

A guided meditation on the mysteries of the universe that is also the longest poem ever written in the strict classical verse scheme Common Metre (like Amazing Grace).

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Chris Yabsley, Ordinary Men by Christopher. R. Browning: Thoughts and snippets. 

A Twitter thread extracting the best parts of the book ‘Ordinary Men’, supplemented with some thoughts of my own.

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Luka Zhupa, Alchemy of Air

A book summary of Alchemy of Air. Why the invention of synthetic fertilizer is one of the coolest and most impactful inventions of the 20th century, that almost no one knows about.

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Michael Rossmann, The Freedom of Missing Out

A book about letting go of fear and saying yes to what matters

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Gordon Comstock, The New Racist Thing: Dungeons & Dragons

I helpfully respond with “woke approved” characters who might meet their new standards. 

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David Roberts, Carpe Diem 

An exploration of my bouts with personal loneliness using kinship with a literary character as a jumping off point. 

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Infovores, "The Future of Nuclear War"

I interview a global policy expert on Russia-Ukraine, semi-secret proliferation in Asia, and other topics.

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Karen Rabbitt, Never Give Up

Wisdom to live a simple, forgiving, Jesus-centered life.

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Andrew Kooman, The curious incident of the double-yolked eggs.

High cholesterol omelettes and a deeper spiritual truth.

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Mike Evans, The Belfast Blazers: The Journey of an American Basketball Coach in Ireland

The true story of a coach who convinced rivaling Protestant and Catholic youth to play together on a basketball team to promote peace and understanding.

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Clare Ashcraft, Is Democracy in Peril? Where the Left and Right Agree and Disagree

I write about political polarization, bridging the political divide, and media bias; in this piece I attempt to describe the major concerns of the left and right, over the past year, so that people may begin to understand the perspective opposite their own.

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Martí Cañellas, fosburyflop.substack.com

In my blog I explain how Complexity Sciences impact training, fitness and life. 

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Freya India, Wait, why are 12-year-olds worrying about wrinkles?

In this piece, I set out to discover why so many young girls are terrified of ageing today, touching on factors from cyborgian beauty standards to the influence of the manosphere to the mantras of liberal feminism, ultimately revealing a singular, pervasive message: girls are products with a shelf life. 

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Dale Saran, "Le roi est mort; vive le roi"

It is the story of one man's quiet heroism after WW2 and my struggle to understand it.

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Alex Petralia, What Makes a Leader versus Just a Manager?

Leaders operate in the abstract space (ideas, consensus) while managers operate in the physical space (reality) - both are important.

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L. Scott Urban, A General Model for Overcoming Addiction

An attempt at giving genuine advice for overcoming addiction, using a fairly silly framework.

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Chinmay Bhat, chinmaybhat99.substack.com

Summarizing Ideas from 20th century European psychoanalyst/philosophers (Freud, Jung, Adler).

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Brett Andersen, Intimations of a New Worldview.

I draw on mainstream scientific research to argue that there is a general process involved in the ongoing creation and complexification of everything, that our participation in this process is biologically and psychologically optimal, and that our participation in this process represents our participation in the process of creation itself. 

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Brett Powers, The phantoms we all chase CAN be obtained

The essay explores the idea that there are certain goals we all wish to obtain, such as happiness, certainty, and respect, yet when we actively pursue those goals, they become harder and harder to reach.  It is only in doing other things that these goals are then obtained.

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Devo, The Cottage

This piece is about growing up at my family cottage and how the city life sucks sometimes.

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Winny Knust-Graichen, The Parker Palm Springs - Where You're Free to Explore and Dream

Visiting a beautiful bucket-list destination, the Parker Palm Springs, inspired me to start a personal blog to share photography and details about my stay at this "crown jewel" resort.

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Scott Tower, Dream Life Architect - Book

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Ross Blankenship, Don’t Call It a Midlife Crisis

Studies have shown that the "midlife crisis" is only experienced by 10-20% of people and that happiness consistently tracks a U-shaped pattern in relation to age across cultures, bottoming out in the mid-to-late 40s; is it a crisis, an inflection point, or perhaps an evaluation of life for the first time?

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Ella Nixon, The Romantic Resurrection

The death of art, AI and what comes next.