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The Assassination Attempt and Why the “Obvious” Conclusions Are Usually Wrong

Huey Long

The biggest news story of the past week was certainly the assassination attempt on former President Trump’s life and almost immediately in the aftermath of the shooting there were plenty of theories about what had happened and who was behind it. The media dutifully reported on all of it, from conspiracy theories to early guesses … Read more

Too Little Government

government

Is there such a thing as too little government? This feels like a loaded political question in a time when trust in government is historically low. Government and business are usually positioned as enemies-The current fear is that more government regulation will stifle business, while too little regulation incentivizes the greediest companies and criminals to take advantage of a … Read more

The Next Generation of Political Polling Is Asking AI to Simulate Human Voters

The Next Generation of Political Polling Is Asking AI To Simulate Human Voters

Have you ever picked up the phone to answer a call from a pollster? I can probably guess your answer, and that’s not uncommon. A tiny fraction of people actually answers those calls, which creates a predictably skewed result if political campaigns are truly relying on those calls to generate any useful insight. The modern … Read more

India Is Ground Zero for the Irresistible Appeal of Sanctioned Deepfakes

India Is Ground Zero For the Irresistible Appeal of Sanctioned Deepfakes

The biggest AI story this week was the showdown between Open AI and actress Scarlett Johansson over the use of a voice concerningly similar to hers after she had refused to collaborate with Open AI. This is quickly becoming a recurring typical deepfake story: someone steals the likeness of a famous person, and that person … Read more

How To Overhaul Presidential Debates? Stop Pretending it’s a Debate.

How To Overhaul Presidential Debates_ Stop Pretending it's a Debate

This past week both political parties agreed to hold a Presidential debate between President Biden and former President Trump. Many observers are already criticizing it as a waste of time and unlikely to change anyone’s mind. They are probably right, but what if they weren’t? The idea of giving the public a chance to hear directly from … Read more

What The New Ban on Non-Competes Actually Means for Companies

Banning noncompetes

This week the FTC issued a rule this week that bans non-compete clauses, estimating that up to 8,500 new startups will be created as a result of the ban. The federal agency describes the downsides of non-competes this way:  “Noncompetes are a widespread and often exploitative practice imposing contractual conditions that prevent workers from taking a … Read more

Should Prisoners Be Allowed to Use Social Media? Inside the #JailTok Movement and Debate

Should Prisoners Be Allowed To Use Social Media

There is legislation under consideration in the UK that would have “harmful content filmed inside prisons removed from social media platforms more quickly.” It stems from a disturbing case where a woman saw a video of her son’s killer rapping from prison and mocking the justice system. There are plenty of other videos on the #jailtok hashtag that show … Read more

This Brilliant Nonprofit Might Have the Answer to Solve America’s Political Division

This Brilliant Nonprofit Might Have The Answer To Solve America's Political Division

The widely publicized death of local news has created a knowledge and truth void when it comes to very important public questions. Like how are your tax dollars being spent? And what decisions are being made on a local level that affect your life and your community? Unless you happen to be a citizen with a deep … Read more

The 2024 Soft Power Survey Honors Countries Who Still Practice the Art of Diplomacy in Complex Times

The 2024 Soft Power Survey Honors Countries Who Still Practice the Art of Diplomacy In Complex Times

Pandas have long been used as a symbol of international cooperation. Known as “envoys of friendship,” the loaning of pandas from China to other nations was so popular for a time that it inspired the term “panda diplomacy” as a way to describe what is otherwise termed in geopolitical circles as “soft power.” This is … Read more

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In addition to Non-Obvious Thinking, Rohit is the author of 10 books on trends, the future of business, building a more human brand with storytelling and how to create a more diverse and inclusive world.

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