Phrase I am very pleased to write in an email to collaborators today: "We can build the AI Thrutopia"

If the term "thrutopia" is new to you, here's some background:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/climate/what-on-earth-thrutopia-9.7206857

"A world where there is no N.S.F. funding for social science, but where the A.I. industry funds research... will skew public debate. To navigate the shock waves of A.I., we must restore social science research as an enterprise that starts from the public interest."

Important article by @nprofile1q..., @nprofile1q..., and James Evans

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/06/opinion/ai-social-sciences.html

Grateful for the chance to get back to sailing, which connects me to the deep time of human creativity, adventure, and wndless maintenance

#outdoormoments

How can Christian communities and technology experts build shared understanding and action for the common good?

Over the last two decades, I've been privileged to see many of the ways that scientists engage with communities of faith.

In 2026, something feels different, as Christian communities have learned to ask critical questions about technology and face the urgency of choosing a more wholesome path than the one that tech firms try to scare us into adopting.

“Canada’s willingness to support research that challenges commercial and political threats to democracy is deeply necessary at a moment where authoritarianism is on the rise around the globe”

https://www.ft.com/content/8cc488a5-54c2-41f9-8b87-327ff591be6a

- @nprofile1q...

"This year, The 19th also launches a development fellowship — a critical and historically underrepresented career pathway in news. It’s designed to expand who participates in shaping how journalism is funded, while equipping the fellow with experience in fundraising strategy, donor engagement and the business of nonprofit journalism. "

https://19thnews.org/2026/08/introducing-2026-2027-frances-ellen-watkins-harper-fellows/

What can tech policy folks learn from the nuclear age about the role of science in policy?

My read of the summer is Benjamin Wilson's new book "Strange Stability" about the backstage arrangements of nuclear physicists during the cold war.

The book checked off a bingo card of issues that could have easily been in the news today:

- warnings of existential risk from well funded insiders
- scientists who keep secret their industry ties
- definitions of science that uphold the politics of profit and war
- claims that only insiders can truly understand the scientific issues
- a popular movement against harmful tech valorizing its creators
- whistleblowers who profit from business interests they mildly critique in public

https://natematias.com/portfolio/2026-08-23-strange-stability/

Hypothesis: even relatively weak causal arguments with timeseries can be persuasive because debates over causation (as people squint at the chart) generates debate that spreads a catchy plot further to more people who believe it.

https://www.tylervigen.com/spurious/correlation/1079_good-air-quality-in-grand-rapids-michigan_correlates-with_associate-professor-salaries-in-the-us