Monthly Roundup #43: June 2026

roundupcultureeconomicsmental-healthmedia

Abstraction: Grab-bag of non-AI culture, economics, advice

Key points:

Endorses Alex Bores (NY-12 Democratic primary, RAISE Act champion) for Congress; notes ABC/Disney took down FiveThirtyEight and refused to sell it to Nate Silver at any price.
Mental-health awareness can backfire (Dasha Sandra/Inzlicht paper): awareness lowers disorder thresholds, trains symptom-scanning, and cements illness identity via concept creep, nocebo, prevalence inflation, and self-labeling.
Assorted data points: legalized sports betting cuts household food sufficiency 2.1% (10.5% among active gamblers); ~90%-fake-internet claim (Joe Lim/Floodify clipping at ~$1 CPM) judged overstated; Tabarrok/Groseclose paper rejects the Coase Conjecture using e-book prices.
Extended engagement with Scott Alexander's taste essays (Nostalgebraist's "hydrogen jukeboxes"): taste is partly staying ahead of overused cliches, ~50-75% of taste; Zvi argues great taste must also be "less filling" (accessible to novices, not just experts).
Life advice: respond fast to job applications, walk to generate ideas, "don't suffer twice," and "are you lying to me right now?" as an anti-manipulation question.

Connections: Zvi Mowshowitz · Scott Alexander · Alex Bores · Mental Health · Economics · Aesthetics