This was my first week of work at Duco Experts. It was fantastic, but it sure did take a lot out of me. I decided to stay in DC for the long weekend to take care of some much-needed chores here. I made a VERY long to-do list that combined catching up on some work stuff, more long-term planning, cooking, and various chores.
What happened? I woke up not feeling like doing any of it. I forced myself to finish some of it but then decided to go to Old Town Alexandria, where I bought myself lunch and did some shopping - including checking out Old Town Books. I purchased four books that I really want to dig into. So, I plan on making some gumbo with shrimp, andouille sausage made with venison, and pheasant (one of the chores was cleaning out the freezer) and doing just that. I’ll get back to the other work today. I’m also making some sous vide chashu for ramen. It’s a bit of a process, but overall pretty easy, and then I have pork for ramen anytime!
This is also the season when everyone is putting out their what to expect in 2024 reports. Thanks to the help of my new colleague Marena, we’ve pulled together a summary of fourteen that we’ve seen come out recently. The reports we looked at are below; you can read the summary here. We try to note where there is disagreement amongst analysts - the most I saw was around the impact of AI. I think a few need some panic responsibly merchandise.
Foreign Policy: Elections To Watch In 2024
Foreign Policy: 8 Simmering Threats You Shouldn’t Ignore in 2024
Foreign Policy: 10 Conflicts To Watch In 2024
The Economist: Tom Standage’s Ten Trends To Watch In 2024
Observer Research Foundation: What To Expect In 2024
Gates Notes: The Road Ahead Reaches A Turning Point In 2024
Latin America Risk Report: Ten Predictions For 2024 That Are 80% Likely To Happen
Morning Consult: The Year Ahead In Geopolitical Risk
Chamber of Progress: 2024 Tech Policy Outlook
Chatham House Digital Society Initiative: Towards A Global Approach To Digital Platform Regulation
World Economic Forum: These Are The Biggest Global Risks We Face In 2024 And Beyond
Reuters Institute: Journalism, Media, And Technology Trends And Predictions 2024
The New York Times: Elections And Disinformation Are Colliding Like Never Before In 2024
Atlantic Council: Global Foresight 2024
Have a great Sunday. Go Packers!
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What I’m Reading
Washington Post: China’s meddling in Taiwan election opens year of misinformation threats
Financial Times: The rising threat to democracy of AI-powered disinformation
The Hill: The free world should celebrate 2024 as a landmark year for democracy
International Republican Institute: Elections Calendar
The Record: FBI Director: More countries interested in 2024 election interference
New York Times: State Legislators Tighten A.I. Rules to Combat Deceptive Election Ads
Axios: AI legislation, lawmakers and companies to watch right now
WAMU 1A: What Dangers Do Social Media Bots Pose to Democracy?
USAID: Recommendations to Strengthen USAID's Strategy for Supporting Global Elections in 2024
Votebeat: U.S. Election Assistance Commission Fires Executive Director
- : X (Twitter) political advertising slowly makes a comeback
Alethea Group: Weaponization of Information: Lessons Learned in 2023 and What to Expect in 2024
Context: The deepfake elections are here
New York Times: TikTok Quietly Curtails Data Tool Used by Critics
Washington Post: Meet the woman who transformed Sam Altman into the avatar of AI
FedScoop: First crack at comprehensive AI legislation coming early 2024 from Senate Commerce Chair Cantwell
Washington Post: Substack’s woes deepen as tech blog leaves over Nazi content
Stratechery: Substack and Platformer, Moderation and Infrastructure, Bars and Culture
Nature: How online misinformation exploits ‘information voids’ — and what to do about it
Wired: The New Digital Dark Age
Jeff Jarvis: In the Echo Chamber. Thoughts after testifying to the…
Wired: A US-Sanctioned Oligarch Ran Pro-Kremlin Ads on Facebook—Again
Financial Times: EU urges Big Tech to promote opposition media in Belarus
European Fact-Checking Standards Network: Fact-checking and related Risk-Mitigation Measures for Disinformation in the Very Large Online Platforms
Euractive: Belgian presidency pitches EU Council overhaul over digital diplomacy
Financial Times: Ofcom poaches Big Tech staff in push to enforce new internet curbs
Politico Pro: Search, social media and mobile eyed for UK Big Tech probes
Campaign War Stories Podcast: Caleb Smith | The Only Man Alive to Serve Three Speakers
The Great Battlefield Podcast: Serving Pro-democracy Forces Through Research and Data with Mindy Finn of Citizen Data
The Business of Politics Show Podcast: A TikTok-fueled Victory In New Zealand – Sean Topham
Bloomberg: Mark Zuckerberg Pivots to AI From Metaverse to Further His Legacy
New Yorker: What We Lost When Twitter Became X
The Intercept: Israeli Group Claims It's Working With Big Tech Insiders to Censor “Inflammatory” Wartime Content
- : Tracking Chat-Based AI Tool Adoption, Uses, and Experiences
Atlantic Council DFR Lab: Pro-Bolsonaro social media accounts target Brazilian Supreme Court justice
Wired: Rumble Is Part of an 'Active and Ongoing' SEC Investigation
Northeastern University: Social Media's New Referees?: Public Attitudes Toward AI Content Moderation Bots Across Three Countries
Democracy Works: Democracy Works Releases New Version of Elections API
- : WhatsApp is Finally Starting to Dominate in the United States. Here’s Why.
Prof Galloway: Peak Hollywood | No Mercy / No Malice
Please support the curation and analysis I’m doing with this newsletter. As a paid subscriber, you make it possible for me to bring you in-depth analyses of the most pressing issues in tech and politics.
Why are you on substack if you are just regurgitating corporate media instead of helping independent writers?