A year later Rayid invited me to Chicago, to be a member of the next generation of wizards — the people, still students then, who he hoped would pick up the work he started. Not just in elections, but in using data science for all social good, and not just for
Above (because I just figured out how to actually embed the player) is Part 2 of our conversation about having, making, and keeping social relationships. (Part 1 is here.) Enjoy! The conversation is lighthearted, and I know just tonally that makes it a shift from the written posts, but I
Part 1: Problems Chapter 1: What Does it Mean to be Most Important? Like any rocket, real or imagined, the ship that will carry us will be made of many pieces. However, the first one to build is clear. The engine of our rocket, the idea that will lift everything
[Author's Note: I know this isn't on the usual cadence, but I couldn't wait until Thursday. DOGE enters the CIA today. This is a message that needs to go out.] An enormous amount of the research I do is to answer questions that other
Don't tell anyone this, but did you know that if you ask people to be on your podcast, they'll just talk to you? This continues to blow my mind. In anticipation of another heavy subject – and the innate importance of social relationships – the next two weeks
If you're just joining, Part 1 is here, [Authors's note: I am discovering I had a lot more to say about this than I anticipated. Here, at least, I think we're out of the setup, and into the meat of it.] At the end
It is a job that I’m very proud of, and very fond of. When I accepted this job, I felt like it was one of the largest steps yet in the direction of my now twenty-year-old goal. In the years leading up to it, I had continued to look
Part 2! (Part 1 is here.) Now you'll finally get to learn what happens with the vampires. Rosie Cima as Rockstar: The Interview. Part 2 - The Most Important Podcast(Part 2) Finally, some rock and roll! I talk to my old friend and ex-roommate Rosie Cima about
Welcome to Part 2; Part 1 can be found here. The expert whose interest I had attracted was a 6th-grade science teacher. He said, essentially, I hate your intervention – but I like the idea so much that I'm going to make one of my own. And what he
[Author's Note: not even three years after this piece is set, TIP, the NSF, and the United States with it, are being rocked by an administration that does not care what is true – and thus, an administration that sees science as the enemy. People have already been fired
We made it to Sunday! Because even I can't write about Nazis all the time, here's something a little more fun: an interview with long-time friend, ex-roommate, journalist, and band leader Rosie Cima. There are lots of interviews with Rosie out there, but I think this
Whether we're organizing our friends against our enemies, turning our enemies into our friends, or simply hauling ourselves off of the couch, no single one of us can do this work alone. I was given a PhD, probably in part so that I would hurry up and leave,