What I'm Reading - 4/20/25

Hello and happy Easter Sunday to all who celebrate. I’m on the shore where the morning weather is just warm enough to sit outside on the porch, and the pollen is at least tolerable. I spent two hours yesterday clearing a spot for dahlia tubers and wildflower seeds that included getting rid of a rather pesky Japanese honeysuckle stump. I haven’t felt that much joy and pride in a while. Then I went to the nursery to get some more potting soil and ended up with all sorts of plants. Fingers crossed they grow ok. I can’t wait to have cut flowers this summer.

I’m also reading a new book, Time Anxiety: The Illusion of Urgency and a Better Way to Live by Chris Guillebeau. I feel like all of these books have the same message about setting boundaries and saying no, but there are some good tips in here. It’s possible I haven’t gotten to it yet, but I’m surprised there’s not more in here about using AI to help reclaim some of your time.

Have a great Sunday!

What I’m Reading

Must-Reads

I’m going to be banging on this drum for a while about just how fast our use of things like search and social media are changing in this AI era.

Alex Kantrowitz

has a great piece this week outlining that even further about Why AI is the New Social Media.

AI Developments

1. AI & SOCIETY: The impacts of companion AI on human relationships: risks, benefits, and design considerations

Stories About Specific Countries

1. POLITICO: The Romanian election scenarios scaring Brussels

2. Chatham House: X is taking the Indian government to court over content moderation tools. Expect India to win.

Political & Social Commentary

1. Disjointed: A simple vision for the future of media organizations

2. Lawfare: Process as Punishment: An American History of Political Spectacle

3. Pew Research Report: Most Americans Say They Are Tuned In to News About the Trump Administration

4. The New York Times: Trump Administration Memo Proposes Cutting State Department Funding by Nearly Half

5. Financial Times: CNN’s Mark Thompson: ‘Our entire industry is going through a revolution’

6. Harvard Business Review: How People Are Really Using Gen AI in 2025

7. The Washington Post: Opinion | Covid created two very divided cohorts of Gen Z

8. The Up and Up: Special Edition: New Data On The Two Gen Zs

9. The Free Press: Joe Biden Made 600 Grants to Stop 'Disinformation.' Donald Trump Now Has a Plan for Them

10. Press Gazette: Facebook increasing as part of social traffic mix after algorithm change, data shows

Legal & Regulatory

1. MIT Technology Review: The State Department office countering foreign disinformation is being eliminated, officials say

2. The Verge: FTC v. Meta live: the latest from the battle over Instagram and WhatsApp

3. The Wall Street Journal: Exclusive | Former Trump Adviser Chris Krebs Vows to Fight After Being Targeted in Executive Action

4. POLITICO: It's Google's turn to get thrashed by the GOP

5. Axios: Google loses online advertising monopoly case

6. The Verge: Trump apparently wants to “just delay” a TikTok deal.

Miscellaneous Insights & Reports

1. Chris Guillebeau: Time Anxiety

Company Announcements

1. Poynter: TikTok to launch its own Community Notes-style fact-checking feature: Footnotes

2. Engadget: TikTok is adding Footnotes, its take on Community Notes