Wellsbaum.blog

Writing about life and arts

trump

  • How status and likability affect your health 

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    2 min read

    Popular people live longer. As social animals, the number of friends predetermines our well-being and lifespan. The gregarious live long than loners. But life hinges on authenticity — it is not a popularity contest. The number of people we know means nothing if there’s zero reciprocation. The other person(s) have to like us back. There’s…

  • Trent Reznor on musicians addressing politics

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    1 min read

    I was doing press with somebody in the mid-90s, and they made an argument that stayed with me: that I have influence, and that it’s my job to call out whatever needs to be called out, because there are people who feel the same way but need someone to articulate it. And I think about…

  • Photos by Jesco Denzel

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    1 min read

    I’m sure you’ve seen Angela Merkel’s brilliant staredown at Donald Trump across the interweb. The photo was taken by German government photographer Jesco Denzel, who also won World Press Photo of the year in 2017 for the image in Lagos. Extraordinary eye for timing and composition.

  • The Wild West of data manipulation

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    2 min read

    Tech entrepreneurs are coming to realize their moral responsibility. Outside parties were abusing stolen Facebook data to develop psychological profiles of voters. The data-mining company Cambridge Analytica was central to the information warfare. They allegedly worked with Russians to stoke fears in the UK and America on immigration and other polarizing issues. So people got…