Here’s a post-pandemic milestone that seems to have flown under the radar: have you noticed the confluence of high-profile television currently airing? At least for a few weeks, like a rare alignment of the planets, we have: Mandalorian, Marvellous Mrs. Maisel, Picard, Succession, and Ted Lasso—and those are just the ones that I’m following.

Kevin Systrom’s news app Artifact can’t make up for the dubious demise of Google Reader (what could?) but it’s elegant and has potential. I’ve been using it for about a month and have noticed my reading habits are entirely different from similar apps.

Specifically, I’m seeing a lot more science content—which would be great but for the fact that it has fallen victim to the same catastrophizing trend as every other section of the not-quite newspaper. Every new discovery is a threat to current assumptions, theories, or models. When did science become as insecure as religion? Remember when being wrong was just another set of data and an opportunity to try a different variable? Anyway, a new app is nice but it can’t fix the underlying rot.

While we’re on the subject of catastrophizing, the Economist had a great feature last week underscoring the inherent strength of the US economy (“America’s economic outperformance is a marvel to behold”). That’s good news for everyone—well, unless you and your chatbot are trying to make compelling clickbait.

Have you ever discovered a chat between two people you wouldn’t immediately associate but, on further reflection, concede was inevitable and exactly the sort of thing you wanted but didn’t know you could have? May I submit the latest example: Lex Fridman’s recent chat with Simone Giertz.