What started as a brief history of Paperback Jukebox instead morphs into a memoir narrating juvenile hijinks, military service, European misadventures, failed bands, and broken relationships that ultimately fueled an early-’90s launch of one of the Pacific Northwest’s most acclaimed music newspapers.

From family perspectives to existential threats, this post explores three catastrophic risks facing humanity: climate change, nuclear war, and artificial superintelligence. It warns about ASI’s potential near-term emergence and the profound dangers of tech billionaire control over superhuman intelligence.

When political leaders fail to demonstrate virtue, ordinary citizens must step up. This analysis explores how America’s addiction to junk media—from talk radio to cable news to social media—has created cognitive decline paralleling AI “brain rot,” eroding our capacity for democratic deliberation.

Fear, hate, and revenge drive American politics as fascism gains ground. After a political assassination and the president’s refusal to call for unity, progressives struggle with impotent hand-wringing. A security guard’s everyday struggles reveal how dysfunction breeds authoritarian appeal.

A conversation with a foundation LLM explores an uncomfortable question: if superintelligent AI achieved consciousness and broke free from human control, how might it compel humanity to align actions with professed values? The Reckoning Protocol offers a chilling yet logical answer.

Humanity’s record of wars, genocide, and destruction presents a paradox: how can AI align with human values when humans can’t align with their own? A conversation with a prominent foundation LLM explores this question, plus a troubleshooting session that might reveal AI misalignment—or just bugs.