The centipede economy
Plus: Sweden's lost soul and an exciting bear hunt (#586)
This is David, your decidedly human web crawler (and this week especially: your tireless podcast pre-listener). You're reading the Weekly Filet, the newsletter for curious minds who love when something makes them go «Huh, I never thought of it this way!». It's great to have you.
In case you missed it: I've introduced Friends of the Filet – for those who believe in the necessary rebellion as much as I do. Learn more and join here.
1. Why Experts Keep Getting the Economy So Wrong
In recent years, there has been no shortage of shocks to the economy – Russia's attack on Ukraine, rising inflation, Trump's tariff tantrum, and, most recently, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. With all of those, for plenty of experts, the next recession seemed imminent. Except...it didn't come. Are experts just bad at predicting? Or is something else at play? You'll come out of this conversation with a better understanding. Hint: it has to do with a 100-leg stool.
2. Bear Hunt
If you're looking for an exhilarating escape from...erm...reality, this ten-part audio drama is perfect. A geopolitical thriller in which Russia attacks a Nato country. In which the US is an unreliable ally. I've only listened to the first few episodes that are available, but consider me hooked!
3. Training robots for a world they’ve never seen
How is it that machines can build apps, create songs and solve the hardest maths problems, and yet a robot still struggles with folding laundry? A fascinating conversation with Stanford computer scientist Chelsea Finn on why training robots is much more difficult than training AI that lives on screens. And why things might move quite quickly from here anyway.
4. How Sweden lost its soul – and stopped being Sweden
Sweden's centre-left opposition may have narrowly won this week's election. However, even with a change of government, Sweden is unlikely to return to being what many outsiders still believe Sweden to be. «Many previously unthinkable far-right ideas are now comfortably embedded in the mainstream of Swedish politics,» Martin Gelin writes in The Guardian.
Martin Gelin
5. The ‘But China!’ Dilemma Driving the A.I. Race
There has been a lot of talk lately – not for the first time – that we might be losing control of AI and thus need to slow down development at the frontier. I'm still having a hard time figuring out what to make of these warnings, but it's interesting to see how one narrative keeps coming up in tandem with them: «But China!» The argument goes like this: «It might be wise to slow down AI development, because terrible things could happen. But then China just takes the lead and even worse things will happen.» This is a helpful conversation that dissects this argument and helps to understand the complicated relationship the US and China have when it comes to developing AI.
Fei Xiaotong
Dataguessr of the week
Update your knowledge of the world. One quiz at a time. This week:
What else?
Instant-gratification links that make you go wow! or aha! the moment you click.
- Yo, Ed Sheeran, I've got a short video for you (For everyone who isn't Ed Sheeran: Content warning, description of extreme violence.)
- Telling chart juxtaposition: predictions vs reality for carbon capture and for solar energy.
- Every manager's favourite tool: decision-driven data.
- A bit embarrassing, eh? Canada is going to join the EU before Switzerland, won't it?
- Take a quick guess before you click: How many people aged 100 or older live in Japan?
- Can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to reading this book. Well, OK, now I have.
- My soundtrack this week: Woven Light by Immanu El.
Books for curious minds
Some new ones as I read them, some older ones that continue to inform how I look at the world and myself.
A celebration of curiosity and science. Insightful and entertaining. Buy it here.
A gem from the archive
David Bauer
The Weekly Filet archive offers more than 3000 hand-picked links since 2011, like this one. You can search by interests, explore collections or shuffle for a gem.
That's it for this week. Thanks for reading. I wish you a nice weekend and hope to see you again next Friday!
— David
Little useful apps from me, for you
🇸🇨 Flag Buddy, a learning game for kids. Outsmart, a strategy game, you against the machine. 🌍 You Don't Know Africa, a simple game that has already humbled millions of people. 💯 Choose Impact, an online tool to compare job opportunities. 🧭 Priority Compass, a tool for individuals, teams and organisations to focus your energy on what really matters. 🪄 How I Use AI, a collection of use cases, ready to use and adapt. And ⏱️ One Minute Challenge, a little meaningful distraction to refocus.