Brian Gongol
@briangongol.bsky.social
Make money. Have fun. Clean up after yourself. Mind your business.
Pinned
Not so diversified anymore
On Y2K, retirement savings, and why it's worth paying attention to the heavy concentration of bets the stock market is making now on tech firms
issues.eveningpostandmail.com
Column #1,175: For both of the two largest index funds, and for many others, more than 20% of their value is being carried in holdings of just four companies: Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon.
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/not-so-div...
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/not-so-div...
I think I'm done trying to shame young people out of becoming hooked on AI cheating. I'm just going to start telling them about the early days of Napster and how it all just...went away.
My rule of thumb: If it's an awesome free product, it will either go paid or go away.
My rule of thumb: If it's an awesome free product, it will either go paid or go away.
December 7, 2025 at 7:06 AM
I think I'm done trying to shame young people out of becoming hooked on AI cheating. I'm just going to start telling them about the early days of Napster and how it all just...went away.
My rule of thumb: If it's an awesome free product, it will either go paid or go away.
My rule of thumb: If it's an awesome free product, it will either go paid or go away.
I just love these little examples of human ingenuity in action.
People carry an astonishing amount of produce on mopeds. The carriers are often slight women to allow mopeds to carry more produce weight.
December 6, 2025 at 6:46 PM
I just love these little examples of human ingenuity in action.
By junior high, students should be reading full-length books of their own choosing, reading certain assigned full-length books, and spending time with anthologies.
The anthologies should be like gateway drugs. You want something that gets them hooked and coming back for more.
The anthologies should be like gateway drugs. You want something that gets them hooked and coming back for more.
As a parent of a now middle-schooler, I'm really hoping and expecting that by the time she hits 8th grade she's reading novels in school. But that's not happening everywhere in D.C., as I learned from this informative op-ed in @51st.news: 51st.news/opinion-dcps...
Opinion: DCPS middle-schoolers should be reading novels
Many parents like myself were shocked by a recent change to the English curriculum at Alice Deal Middle School.
51st.news
December 6, 2025 at 10:02 AM
By junior high, students should be reading full-length books of their own choosing, reading certain assigned full-length books, and spending time with anthologies.
The anthologies should be like gateway drugs. You want something that gets them hooked and coming back for more.
The anthologies should be like gateway drugs. You want something that gets them hooked and coming back for more.
On Sinclair Lewis, Homer Simpson, and why the AI hype cycle shouldn't lead us to believe that computers are really thinking and living for themselves:
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/dont-lose-...
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/dont-lose-...
December 6, 2025 at 5:14 AM
On Sinclair Lewis, Homer Simpson, and why the AI hype cycle shouldn't lead us to believe that computers are really thinking and living for themselves:
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/dont-lose-...
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/dont-lose-...
In 1996, the top 10 of the S&P 500 included Coca-Cola, Exxon Mobil, General Electric, Merck, P&G, Johnson & Johnson, and Walmart.
Today, only two of the top 10 are non-tech stocks.
We are not well-diversified.
www.finhacker.cz/en/top-20-sp...
Today, only two of the top 10 are non-tech stocks.
We are not well-diversified.
www.finhacker.cz/en/top-20-sp...
December 5, 2025 at 8:24 PM
In 1996, the top 10 of the S&P 500 included Coca-Cola, Exxon Mobil, General Electric, Merck, P&G, Johnson & Johnson, and Walmart.
Today, only two of the top 10 are non-tech stocks.
We are not well-diversified.
www.finhacker.cz/en/top-20-sp...
Today, only two of the top 10 are non-tech stocks.
We are not well-diversified.
www.finhacker.cz/en/top-20-sp...
Just one of the dozens of ways in which we chronically under-value indoor air quality as a society.
Keep indoor combustion to the absolute barest of minimums!
Keep indoor combustion to the absolute barest of minimums!
Are you one of the 38% of U.S. households with a gas or propane stove? If so, spend the $50 needed to get an induction stove! New study: "if you use a gas stove, you’re often breathing as much nitrogen dioxide pollution indoors from your stove as you are from all outdoor sources combined.”
Switching to electric stoves can dramatically cut indoor air pollution
A new study links gas and propane stove emissions to asthma and other health risks. Transitioning to electric could reduce exposure by over 50%.
news.stanford.edu
December 5, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Just one of the dozens of ways in which we chronically under-value indoor air quality as a society.
Keep indoor combustion to the absolute barest of minimums!
Keep indoor combustion to the absolute barest of minimums!
The essence of being civilized is in improving ourselves in all the ways we can, not in fixating on those things that characterize us from birth. (380 words) ⤵️
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/be-more
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/be-more
Be more
On human nature, self-improvement, and why fixating on characteristics like masculinity is a great way to sell books but an inadequate way to improve society
issues.eveningpostandmail.com
December 5, 2025 at 4:33 AM
The essence of being civilized is in improving ourselves in all the ways we can, not in fixating on those things that characterize us from birth. (380 words) ⤵️
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/be-more
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/be-more
Dubliners (Joyce)
Pygmalion (Shaw)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (Wilde)
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Joyce)
The Path to Freedom (Collins)
Pygmalion (Shaw)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (Wilde)
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Joyce)
The Path to Freedom (Collins)
Introduce yourself by naming five books by Irish writers that you have read.
December 4, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Dubliners (Joyce)
Pygmalion (Shaw)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (Wilde)
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Joyce)
The Path to Freedom (Collins)
Pygmalion (Shaw)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (Wilde)
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Joyce)
The Path to Freedom (Collins)
Boy, that last point is, like, 85% of the ballgame. And young men need to hear it.
my actual dating advice to young men is 'tidy up before a girl comes over, be interested in things woman are interested in, learn to listen, and above everything else *have female friends.*'
December 3, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Boy, that last point is, like, 85% of the ballgame. And young men need to hear it.
Whenever I encounter a particularly emphatic commentary on a subject like AI and the future of education (like this one: x.com/karpathy/sta...), I'm amazed by how rarely the discussion even bothers to consider the cognitive aspects of learning.
It's always about the tech. Never about the brain.
It's always about the tech. Never about the brain.
December 3, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Whenever I encounter a particularly emphatic commentary on a subject like AI and the future of education (like this one: x.com/karpathy/sta...), I'm amazed by how rarely the discussion even bothers to consider the cognitive aspects of learning.
It's always about the tech. Never about the brain.
It's always about the tech. Never about the brain.
Simultaneously true:
① Video content is absolutely cooking some people's brains, even more intensely than audio or written content
② *Someone* needs to take responsibility for solving that problem
③ Government interventions always come with unintended consequences, often very bad ones
① Video content is absolutely cooking some people's brains, even more intensely than audio or written content
② *Someone* needs to take responsibility for solving that problem
③ Government interventions always come with unintended consequences, often very bad ones
YouTube says it will comply with Australia's teen social media ban reut.rs/3MffIIn
YouTube says it will comply with Australia's teen social media ban
Google's YouTube shared a "disappointing update" to millions of Australian users and content creators on Wednesday, saying it will comply with a world-first teen social media ban by locking out users aged under 16 from their accounts within days.
reut.rs
December 3, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Simultaneously true:
① Video content is absolutely cooking some people's brains, even more intensely than audio or written content
② *Someone* needs to take responsibility for solving that problem
③ Government interventions always come with unintended consequences, often very bad ones
① Video content is absolutely cooking some people's brains, even more intensely than audio or written content
② *Someone* needs to take responsibility for solving that problem
③ Government interventions always come with unintended consequences, often very bad ones
I think it's fairly instinctual for some people to look at certain immutable characteristics (including gender) to form a foundation for identity.
But isn't the whole process of civilization about overcoming instincts and replacing them with things we (as a species) have discovered to work better?
But isn't the whole process of civilization about overcoming instincts and replacing them with things we (as a species) have discovered to work better?
Scott Galloway on the masculinity crisis: ‘I worry we are evolving a new breed of asexual, asocial males’
Scott Galloway on the masculinity crisis: ‘I worry we are evolving a new breed of asexual, asocial males’
When his book Notes on Being a Man was released last month, it raced to the top of the bestseller lists. The US author, tech entrepreneur and podcaster explains his theories on dating, crying – and the rise of Donald Trump
www.theguardian.com
December 3, 2025 at 6:40 AM
I think it's fairly instinctual for some people to look at certain immutable characteristics (including gender) to form a foundation for identity.
But isn't the whole process of civilization about overcoming instincts and replacing them with things we (as a species) have discovered to work better?
But isn't the whole process of civilization about overcoming instincts and replacing them with things we (as a species) have discovered to work better?
Air travel was getting far too convenient ahead of the holidays?
Airbus says more than 600 of its A320 planes may need inspections for a metal plate “quality issue.”
December 3, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Air travel was getting far too convenient ahead of the holidays?
The Driftless Area is absolutely gorgeous in late fall. A stark contrast with the well-glaciated plains around them (at least in Iowa).
Driftless Area landscape on November 17 of this year. The woods on the steep valley sides have the reddish brown tinge of oak leaves in late fall. Sentinel 2 image.
December 2, 2025 at 3:58 AM
The Driftless Area is absolutely gorgeous in late fall. A stark contrast with the well-glaciated plains around them (at least in Iowa).
And Le Corbusier wept.
December 1, 2025 at 11:04 PM
And Le Corbusier wept.
I have a large library at home which I intentionally keep in a semi-chaotic order for the *express* purpose of creating moments of serendipity for myself, visitors, and especially my kids.
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
Bookselling is like the most "people go to the store and buy what looks cool to them without a particular agenda" type business left, and your purchases have a huge influence on what is ordered, what is displayed, and what is recommended.
November 29, 2025 at 7:11 PM
I have a large library at home which I intentionally keep in a semi-chaotic order for the *express* purpose of creating moments of serendipity for myself, visitors, and especially my kids.
"The world, regardless of race, or colour, or condition, admires and approves a real thing. But sham, buffoonery, mere imitation, mere superficiality, never has brought success and never will bring it."
- Booker T. Washington, writing about LLMs without realizing it
- Booker T. Washington, writing about LLMs without realizing it
November 29, 2025 at 4:07 AM
"The world, regardless of race, or colour, or condition, admires and approves a real thing. But sham, buffoonery, mere imitation, mere superficiality, never has brought success and never will bring it."
- Booker T. Washington, writing about LLMs without realizing it
- Booker T. Washington, writing about LLMs without realizing it
This might be the single worst take, on any topic, in the history of humankind.
Apple pie is bad. This is not really debatable. So is key lime pie, while we’re on the topic. Pecan pie is the 🐐 tho.
November 25, 2025 at 7:52 PM
This might be the single worst take, on any topic, in the history of humankind.
Shared with endorsement.
Friendship bonds are virtually always formed by shared experience. Everybody needs those friendships, and powerful people are no exception.
My favorite example: Warren Buffett *needed* Charlie Munger beside him to become the best version of himself. Find your Charlie.
Friendship bonds are virtually always formed by shared experience. Everybody needs those friendships, and powerful people are no exception.
My favorite example: Warren Buffett *needed* Charlie Munger beside him to become the best version of himself. Find your Charlie.
I think what breaks a lot of these guys is not having actual friends anymore. People who spend time with you because they like you, not because they hope you’ll make their dreams come true. Their only “peers” are their rivals, who they can be chummy with but desperately need to one-up.
November 25, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Shared with endorsement.
Friendship bonds are virtually always formed by shared experience. Everybody needs those friendships, and powerful people are no exception.
My favorite example: Warren Buffett *needed* Charlie Munger beside him to become the best version of himself. Find your Charlie.
Friendship bonds are virtually always formed by shared experience. Everybody needs those friendships, and powerful people are no exception.
My favorite example: Warren Buffett *needed* Charlie Munger beside him to become the best version of himself. Find your Charlie.
I'll take a world of roll-on deodorant, sweat-wicking fabrics, and no-smoking rules over the hazy illusion of better times in the past, even if that means I have to fly next to some bozo in a "Who Farted?" shirt.
A roundtrip LAX-JFK flight in the late 60s was around $3K in today’s dollars. The people who wore suits on those flights were the people who regularly wore suits. Complaining about informally-dressed fliers is complaining that the wrong sorts of people are flying today.
November 25, 2025 at 5:17 PM
I'll take a world of roll-on deodorant, sweat-wicking fabrics, and no-smoking rules over the hazy illusion of better times in the past, even if that means I have to fly next to some bozo in a "Who Farted?" shirt.
I've sincerely considered writing one on America's transition from an agricultural economy, through a relatively very short spell as an industrial one, to a service economy, and how that mapped directly onto our bizarre use of food for conspicuous consumption, ca. 1950-1980.
Need an agent, though.
Need an agent, though.
would love a good book on agronomy and geopolitical power, tbh.
Years ago I did a sorting project for a uni archive of all its old Ag center pamphlets. They offered easy-to-follow scientific advice for every conceivable crop or animal. All little things, but it adds up.
Many of these went back to the 40's or 50's and could be understood by the barely-literate.
Many of these went back to the 40's or 50's and could be understood by the barely-literate.
November 25, 2025 at 6:05 AM
I've sincerely considered writing one on America's transition from an agricultural economy, through a relatively very short spell as an industrial one, to a service economy, and how that mapped directly onto our bizarre use of food for conspicuous consumption, ca. 1950-1980.
Need an agent, though.
Need an agent, though.
Shared with endorsement.
“Capitalism forces you to wake up at 7am against your body’s natural rhythms” no that’s Taylorism and if you don’t like living in a society that coordinates effort to ensure a better outcome for all then I don’t think you’ll love the alternatives
November 24, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Shared with endorsement.
On Lehman Brothers, cold fronts, and the principles that really matter to public understanding of science and technology ⤵️
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/when-butte...
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/when-butte...
When butterflies screw up forecasts
On Lehman Brothers, cold fronts, and the principles that really matter to public understanding of science and technology
issues.eveningpostandmail.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:38 AM
On Lehman Brothers, cold fronts, and the principles that really matter to public understanding of science and technology ⤵️
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/when-butte...
issues.eveningpostandmail.com/p/when-butte...
I am all for the maximal free movement of goods, ideas, money, and people.
But I'm also for calling out the small-mindedness of parents who would ruin a childhood to do something like this.
But I'm also for calling out the small-mindedness of parents who would ruin a childhood to do something like this.
Meet the 'moral migrants' relocating from West to Russia with a 'Shared Values' visa
Meet the 'moral migrants' relocating from West to Russia with a 'Shared Values' visa
Imagine moving to a country you've never been to before, with a culture you have no knowledge of and with a language you're unable to speak. You're with your whole family, including three children. And your new home, not your old one, is at war with its neighbour.
news.sky.com
November 23, 2025 at 4:32 AM
I am all for the maximal free movement of goods, ideas, money, and people.
But I'm also for calling out the small-mindedness of parents who would ruin a childhood to do something like this.
But I'm also for calling out the small-mindedness of parents who would ruin a childhood to do something like this.
I have to courteously but firmly disagree with this take. If forced to fundamentally change our legislative branch, I would *add* a house of Congress to Article I rather than subtracting one.
Allocate the seats proportionally by something new: Occupation, education, age, or something else.
Allocate the seats proportionally by something new: Occupation, education, age, or something else.
And to add I do think that the senate should be abolished and we should have a proportionally based unicameral legislature if we care at all about democratically elected representative government.
November 22, 2025 at 2:24 AM
I have to courteously but firmly disagree with this take. If forced to fundamentally change our legislative branch, I would *add* a house of Congress to Article I rather than subtracting one.
Allocate the seats proportionally by something new: Occupation, education, age, or something else.
Allocate the seats proportionally by something new: Occupation, education, age, or something else.