The Top 5: Are we worried about too much?
We're going on a little holiday break -- Merry Christmas!
Dear Friends,
Thank you for subscribing and being part of our community this past year. We’ve been away from Substack over the last few days because Melissa was hospitalized for a kidney stone, but she is doing better. We released our last Wear We Are episode of the year yesterday, and The Morning 5 this morning. We have one more Morning 5 tomorrow until we take our holiday break. We thought we’d leave you with a final Top 5 before 2023.
We both chose our favorite Top 5 article for the year. Let us know your favorites in the comments! Or if we missed a great essay or story, leave a link!
Michael’s pick: “How Stewart Made Tucker” by Jon Askonas in The New Atlantis
Melissa’s pick: (It’s a tie because they’re about the Uvalde and Buffalo shootings) “Waiting at a Texas Hospital for Children Who Never Arrive” by Rachel Pearson in The New Yorker and “What the Racist Massacre in Buffalo Stole From One Family” by Troy Closson and Gabriela Bhaskar in the New York Times
Also, don’t forget that we have a 30% off special for a one-year subscription. It’s the perfect gift for someone who already “has it all” and you can rest easy that they’ll enjoy their gift throughout the year. Your subscriptions truly keep this work going, and we appreciate that you trust us with your time and attention.
The Top 5 articles for your week:
“Was The World Collapsing? Or Were You Just Freaking Out?” (NYT)
Because, “In 2022, you could find the swings in discourse between apocalypse and dismissal, panic and caution, in politics, in the media, on Twitter and Instagram, over text, in person, within and between ideological factions, about war in Europe, about the state of American democracy, about illiberalism and the prospective retreat from globalism, about violence, about Covid, about artificial intelligence, about inflation and energy prices and crypto collapse contagion.”
“Conservation of Effort” (The Shimmering Void)
Because this essay on whether or not AI will replace artists is cathartic for me (Melissa) as I am nervous about the role of AI in creative spaces (you can listen to Episode 47 for more on my concerns). Ben Follington writes, “Rather than a world without human artists, I expect we're on track for a world where human art is only valuable when the author has put in the years to develop an immaculate sense of personal taste2. Most laypeople can't think of an interesting prompt in the first place, let alone the keyword soup required for a deliberate style. There is a skill to navigating latent space (especially via the clunky prompting interfaces of today) and those with taste who cultivate this skill will be very well positioned in coming years. More advanced models will provide us with more control of the output, and to wield that control usefully will probably require LVL 100 taste”
“Geopolitics and geostrategic competition in 2023” (Noahpinion)
Because in another trend this year, the idea and discussion of geopolitics is en-vogue again. I (Melissa) have enjoyed Noah Smith’s Substack over the last year.
“The Homeownership Society Was a Mistake” (The Atlantic)
Because Jerusalem Demsas provocatively argues, “At the margin, pushing more people into homeownership actually undermines our ability to improve housing outcomes for all, and crucially, it doesn’t even consistently deliver on ownership’s core promise of providing financial security.”
“Politics and Anger” (Eyes on the Right)
Because Damon Linker looks at anger in our politics over the past year and in particular why its role has grown.