What Are You Willing to Trade? Atul Gawande's Being Mortal on Choosing a Good Life Over Just More Time
Atul Gawande's Being Mortal argues medicine should aim for a good life to the end, not just more time. Here are his four questions for anyone seriously ill, and what the research behind them shows.
Who Pays for the Chips? 20VC on Why AI's Build-Out Is Moving From Debt to Shareholders and Staff
Jason Lemkin and Rory O'Driscoll argue AI spending has outgrown cash flow and debt, so big tech is selling stock and cutting staff. We check Anthropic's S-1, Meta's $95B raise and Microsoft's buyouts.
Right Person, Wrong Time? Mel Robbins's Blunt Relationship Advice for Her 27-Year-Old Daughter
Mel Robbins and her daughter Sawyer take on relationship questions: three signs someone isn't right, why skills can change but traits can't, the exhale-smile-hug test, money, stalemates and breakups.
Always Smelling You: Neuroscientist Noam Sobel on the Hidden Chemistry of Handshakes, Friendship and Tears
Noam Sobel shows humans constantly smell each other: we sniff our hands after handshakes, click friends smell alike, tears lower testosterone and a baby molecule calms men but rouses women.
Production Is Deterrence: Why a16z Says America's Real Bottleneck Is Factories, Mines and Power, Not Weapons
a16z's 2026 American Dynamism 50 says deterrence now depends on what America can build. Why founders are betting on factories, mines and power, and why defense makes a useful first customer.
The Sea Beats the Land: Historian Sarah Paine on Why Conquest Burns Wealth, and What Russia's War Reveals
Naval War College historian Sarah Paine says conquest burns wealth while the rules-based maritime order compounds it. Her toolkit explains Russia's war, sanctions as chemotherapy, and her warning to America.
Patient on the Goal, Impatient on the Day: An Ex-Amazon VP on How Jeff Bezos Really Ran Amazon
Ex-Amazon VP Ethan Evans on Jeff Bezos: decades-long patience, daily urgency, the one-character "?" email, why a B is sometimes enough, and how being right so often led to the Fire Phone.
Learn the Technique, Not the Recipe: Jacques Pépin's Simple Rule for Mastering Any Craft
Jacques Pépin cooked for de Gaulle, turned down the White House and taught America to cook. His rule for mastery: learn the moves, copy a recipe until you know the taste, then taste, adjust and correct.
A Real Day, a Real Night: Kristen Holmes's Four Habits for a Calmer Nervous System, and What the Studies Show
WHOOP scientist Kristen Holmes says health depends on switching cleanly between effort and rest. Her four habits (light, a 12-hour eating window, breathing, zone 2) seem to work through one thing: regular sleep.
Aim Just Past Your Skill: Steven Kotler on Training Flow, and the Numbers That Need Correcting
Steven Kotler says flow is trainable: it follows focus, and its key trigger is a challenge just past your skill. His advice holds up; some of his numbers, from DARPA's 230% to who coined ADHD, don't.
Trust Is the Product: Mark Cuban on Why Healthcare Costs Hide in the Contracts, and How to Drag Them Out
Mark Cuban says trust is the real product at Cost Plus Drugs, and US healthcare stays expensive because prices and contracts are hidden. His fixes: published markups, direct contracts and AI before you sign.
The Correct Life That Went Wrong: Tolstoy's Ivan Ilyich and the Question to Ask Before It's Too Late
Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich follows a judge who did everything properly and discovers, dying, that he never really lived. What the story says about lies, approval, honesty and a life well lived.