The Present Age Weekly Recap: April 15, 2022
Galaxy brains, free speech, Elon Musk, and opinion journalism
Welcome to the weekly recap. In this post, I’ll be linking to my work from the week, sharing some stories from others I thought were interesting, and providing a few casual thoughts on [gestures at everything]. If you’d like to receive this weekly email ONLY, please go to your account page and under “Email notifications” uncheck every box except “TPA Weekly Recap.” If you don’t want to receive the weekly recap, leave all boxes except “TPA Weekly Recap” checked.
Busy week for me on and off The Present Age. Let’s review!
On Monday, I wrote a bit about how out of place I sometimes feel in the world of newsletters, which like other media within the attention economy, seems to incentivize reflexive contrarianism over thoughtful analysis.
On Tuesday, I wrote about a ridiculous segment on MSNBC’s Morning Joe that uncritically stated that social media companies censor conservatives and that the left is attacking free speech. I brought receipts, as they say.
On Wednesday, I published a piece for DAME Magazine about the state of opinion journalism. I’m really happy with how that turned out and hope you have the time to check it out.
On Thursday, Ryan Broderick (who runs the fantastic Garbage Day newsletter) interviewed me for an article he wrote for Fast Company about Elon Musk’s offer to buy Twitter. Check it out.


Posts from others that I want to draw attention to:
Don Moynihan has a great post about how easy it would be for the government to simply let us know how much we each owe in taxes… and how the tax preparation industry has successfully lobbied to keep it as confusing and unnecessarily complex as it is.
Michael Hobbes put out a great video this week. I linked to a shortened version of it in my Tuesday newsletter, but he’s expanded a bit on it. Check it out here:
Lyz Lenz has a story about… you know, maybe it’s better if you just read it. It, like so much of her writing, is just really good:
Today’s tunes:
“After Taxes” by Johnny Cash
Worth a watch for a chuckle: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/I-IWatticYc