What I'm Reading - 3/30/25

As I write this, it’s a beautiful, cloudy, warm day on the Eastern Shore, and my itch to garden is going strong. I ordered some dahlia tubers for the first time, which I’ve wanted to try for a long time. Last weekend, I started seeds for green onions, shallots, dill, spinach, and carrots. Chives I never got around to taking out of my window pots have sprung to life like winter never happened. I got these great railscapes that hang on the porch railing spindles that I hope to put some more flowers in - maybe lavender so I can bring it in during the winter months - and some herbs.

These are the dahlia’s I ordered from Heirloom Soul Florals. The variety is called cafe au lait. Don’t they look gorgeous?

I can’t wait to have cut flowers all summer. Otherwise, I’m catching up on work and taking some online classes to improve my carousels and reels for Instagram. This week I’m heading to Rochester to guest lecture and participate on a panel before heading to Wisconsin for my niece’s baptism.

Have a great Sunday!

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What I’m Reading

Must-Reads

This week’s must-listens are interviews with OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Substack’s Hamish McKenzie. Listen to both for insights on navigating rapid change in the AI and information environments.

1. Stratechery on Spotify: An Interview with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman About Building a Consumer Tech Company

2. The Good Fight on Spotify: Hamish McKenzie on How Substack is Transforming Public Discourse

AI Developments

1. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Shapiro Administration Leads the Way in Ethical Use of AI

2. The New York Times: OpenAI Unveils New Image Generator for ChatGPT

3. Simon Willison’s Weblog: Introducing 4o Image Generation

Stories About Specific Countries

1. Reuters: Meta to seek disclosure on political ads that use AI ahead of Canada elections

2. POLITICO: Musk’s X suspends opposition accounts in Turkey amid civil unrest

3. The Information: OpenAI and Meta Seek AI Alliance With India’s Reliance

4. ABC News: Papua New Guinea shuts down Facebook in test to stop 'pornography, misinformation, hate speech'

5. CBC: Elections Canada has been in touch with social media platforms about election misinformation

6. The New York Times: Jair Bolsonaro Ordered to Face Trial in Brazil for Attempting a Coup

Political & Social Commentary

1. Now What?
   : Democracy funders ponder "now what?"

2. Axios: The Democrats' 10 theories driving the party's crisis

3. The Atlantic: Elon Musk’s Soap Operas for Conspiracy Buffs

4. Mixed Signals from Semafor Media on Spotify: Secrets of YouTube with CEO Neal Mohan

5. The Brian Lehrer Show | WNYC: What You Learned From Being Rejected

6. World Happiness Report: World Happiness Report 2025

7. The Hill: Inside the White House’s social media strategy

8. The Verge: Waymo plans robotaxi launch in Washington, DC in 2026

9. Pew Research Report: Fewer Americans now support TikTok ban, see the platform as a national security threat than in spring 2023

10. Hollywood Reporter: In Warning Sign for Hollywood, Younger Consumers Are Choosing Creator Content Over Premium TV and Movies

11. Bloomberg: Musk’s X Set for Ad Sales Gain on Effort to Curry Trump Favor

12. MSNBC: Trump’s executive order on elections is a blatant power grab

Legal & Regulatory

1. Publishers Weekly: AAP Urges White House to Prioritize Copyright in AI Action Plan

2. Fox News: Trump urged by Ben Stiller, Paul McCartney and hundreds of stars to protect AI copyright rules

3. TechPolicy.Press: Scientists Respond to FTC Inquiry into Tech Censorship

4. TechCrunch: Group co-led by Fei-Fei Li suggests that AI safety laws should anticipate future risks

5. Votebeat: Trump orders an overhaul of how elections are run, inviting a likely legal challenge

6. Team Punchbowl News: Punchbowl News Special Edition: An interview with FCC Chair Brendan Carr

7. AP News: Judge allows newspaper copyright lawsuit against OpenAI to proceed

Miscellaneous Insights & Reports

1. Mediapost: In A First, YouTube Tops Nielsen Viewing Sources In February 03/25/2025

Company Announcements

1. OpenAI: OpenAI Academy