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The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: STFU – The Power of Keeping Your Mouth Shut in An Endlessly Noisy World, by Dan Lyons

STFU NOBW

Fresh from hours of pundit cross examining and dissecting the first (and probably only) Presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, it’s hard to imagine a timelier read than Dan Lyon’s modern classic STFU all about why we might all be better off if we could just get better at staying silent: Learning to … Read more

UPDATE: Behind the Scenes of Influencers at the DNC Convention

Influencers at DNC

Last week, many of you wrote to me about a story I shared about the treatment of the media at the Democratic National Convention and how they seemed to be elevating influencers above journalists in priority. One follow up video that offered more context on the story was this behind the scenes video look at the convention spaces created … Read more

What the Democrats Got Wrong About Media at the Convention

What the Democrats Are Getting Wrong About Media at the Convention

One of the truths about our new media environment is the central role that influencers are taking in the content people consume and trust. Particularly when it comes to young people and their media diet … so it’s no surprise that politicians are courting these influencers and hoping they can help inspire the younger generation … Read more

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

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#1 WSJ & USA Today Bestselling Author

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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