Made of people
Doing its part to try and pin the government shutdown on Democrats, the USDA says it may withhold billions in SNAP benefits already approved by Congress. / The Hill
How the threat of a colossal Buc-ee’s gas station—derided as “an invasive species from Texas”—tore at the fabric of a small Colorado town. / The Washington Post [$]
Tesla warns stockholders that the value of the company may be tied to its CEO’s name, and he could leave if they don’t approve his $1 trillion pay package. / Quartz
Related: “Without the Musk partisan effect, Tesla sales between October 2022 and April 2025 would have been 67-83% higher, equivalent to 1-1.26 million more vehicles.” / National Bureau of Economic Research
Why it’s so easy to put AI slop on Spotify: For starters, it’s because distributors often handle the uploading, and no one expects an individual to do it. / Hearing Things
Also entering their AI slop eras: realtors and expense reports. / WIRED, Ars Technica
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“I like the idea that it probably shames bands from playing the same set every night.” For musicians and fans, setlist.fm is a blessing and a curse. / The New York Times [$]
History is an endless succession of advancements that de-skill humans, and the introduction of AI is no different—except now we’re faced with considering which skills make us human. / The Atlantic [$]
See also: Visualizing how the average American worker has changed over 250 years, from the agricultural era to manufacturing to whatever it is we do now. / The Wall Street Journal [$]
Paul Ford looks forward to the AI crash and the end of the frenzy: “Because it’s when the real nerds can come out.” / WIRED
A brief history of articles claiming a new technology will kill the web—now it’s AI, but that “would be like a parasite that kills the host body.” / Zeldman
Shake Shack joins the growing set of fast-food chains that force anyone placing an online order to agree not to take the company to court. / The Lever
Cancellation, the body, and the father form the “unholy trinity” of male types in the literary manosphere. / Cleveland Review of Books
Rooster fans: The opening round at our weeklong, first-ever Horror Popup is today. / The Tournament of Books
How a night of watching couples summon spirits inspired Norman Rockwell’s famous Ouija board painting. / The Saturday Evening Post, Wikimedia
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