Inventing America: Jefferson's Declaration of Independence
A review of Garry Wills's argument that we have spent two centuries reading Locke over Jefferson's shoulder.
Blog
Writing on security, software, philosophy, and politics.
Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America
A review of Garry Wills's account of the 272 words that swapped the nation's founding document while the nation watched.
Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed
Slobodian and Tarnoff treat Elon Musk as a coherent industrial formation with a lineage. A short defense of staying curious instead of rushing to a verdict.
The Ethics of Ambiguity
Simone de Beauvoir's portrait of defective existential attitudes, and how they haunt the memory of youth.
Nixon Agonistes: The Crisis of the Self-Made Man
Rank punditry dressed up as a review of Garry Wills's "Nixon Agonistes".
Don't Build Your Career on Land You Don't Own
Almost two decades of open-source history, gone without explanation or appeal. What that says about keeping your professional record on someone else's platform.
The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy
Why Lasch's warning about a managerial elite seceding from the rest of the country still reads like it was written about right now.
The Dark Web Monitoring Scam
An exposé of the dark-web monitoring industry, and why most of it is theater.
You Don't Tidy the House for Guests Who Can't Leave
Why product polish goes negative-ROI the moment switching costs lock you in.