The non-obvious blog
Dedicated To Helping Readers
Be More Interesting Since 2004.
As Featured In:
Be More Interesting. Join over 25,000 readers and subscribe now!
02 2026 June
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Seven Eves by Neal Stephenson
The first time I read Seven Eves was on a two-week long holiday in Africa several years ago and it took me just about the...
Read Now01 2026 June
The Most Important Reminder About Tech Is Appearing Everywhere
Every week I read stories of a rising revolt against automation, evidenced by everything from workers posting trade secrets after being displaced by AI through to university...
Read Now29 2026 May
The Most Depressing Museum in the World Has a Message to Share
I’ve been to my fair share of depressing museums. The Holocaust museums in LA and DC and parts of the African American Museum in DC...
Read Now28 2026 May
Pizza Hut and the Retro Restaurant Movement
For years, the leader in delivery pizza has been Dominos. For sit down pizzerias, there are plenty of options in most cities. Pizza Hut has...
Read Now27 2026 May
Solving The Mass Discard Problem on College Campuses
Imagine a day or series of days when people pile up all sorts of stuff on the curb and give it away for free. Unopened...
Read Now26 2026 May
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Moral Ambition by Rutger Bregman
What if the biggest problem in the world is a lack of moral ambition from those in a position to change the world either through...
Read Now25 2026 May
Amazon Invents Another Way to Steal Media with AI-Generated Podslop
Amazon just announced Alexa Podcasts, a new Alexa+ feature available to paying Amazon Prime members. The platform allows you to ask for information on any...
Read Now21 2026 May
The Science Is In. AI Is Definitely Making You Dumber, If You Let It
This is a story that will surprise no one who reads my newsletter regularly, but what was surprising to me over the past few weeks...
Read Now20 2026 May
Meta’s Big Self-Inflicted Problem
This past week, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta will be offering “completely private” encrypted chat for users. That sounds like great news. The problem is in the...
Read Now19 2026 May
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: China’s 90% Model by Dr. Ram Charan
The long-awaited US-China summit is finally happening after weeks of delay and so it’s a perfect time to bring this book up for you, which is an...
Read Now18 2026 May
The Future of Markups and Margins Will Be Harder to Justify
Inside a new retail concept store called The Markup Marche, the “exotic thirst-defying hydration vessel” is the flowery marketing language used to sell a humble coconut....
Read Now14 2026 May
Everything Looks Cooler with Age
At the recent Met Gala, one of the most non-obvious looks of the night came from rapper Bad Bunny who aged himself 53 years to show up...
Read Now13 2026 May
Forget “No Kings,” Maybe We Need More MODERN Kings (and Queens)
History has recorded many bad Kings. Kings that have plunged countries into war, prioritized their own glory, unleashed colonialism into the world. In America, the No...
Read Now