Sign the petition: JD Shadel launches campaign to convince JD Vance to change his name
It's for the good of JDs everywhere that today ESC KEY .CO, the only lifestyle newsletter on the internet, simply asks you to share your email address.
Parasocial strategy: The very tiring, very online art of inspiring one-sided intimacy at scale
Your TL;DR Briefing on things worth tracking — and talking about over your next power lunch. *Wink.* This time the thing is how making a whole bunch of people feel like you “get” each other is inarguably the key to success and fatigue online.
Sustainable fashion’s “AI” blindspots: Why the same scrutiny isn’t applied to tech hype
Your TL;DR Briefing on things worth tracking — and talking about over your next power lunch. *Wink.* This time the thing is the cognitive dissonance in fashion around “AI.” It won’t stop the climate crisis but it might take your photographer pal's next gig.
How to hype-bust “AI” bullshit: A curious reader’s guide with the Pulitzer Center’s Karen Hao
What are red flags for spotting the spin? Award-winning investigative reporter and co-creator of the Pulitzer Center’s AI Spotlight Series, Karen Hao reveals a simple framework for readers who want to embrace skeptical curiosity and hit, well, the ESC key on the hype.
What is cognitive offloading?! Letting LLMs “think” for you is not a “decision holiday”
Your TL;DR Briefing on things worth tracking — and talking about over your next power lunch. *Wink.* This time the thing is the tens of thousands of words of reporting and research we read so, well, you don’t have to.
New book “Trans Technologies” maps 100 radical projects — and why they matter right now
Your TL;DR Briefing on things worth tracking — and talking about over your next power lunch. *Wink.* This time the thing is a year-long study into the design principles behind trans tech, from the researcher who more or less defined the field.
Anti-fascist tech is possible: Trans tech creators show how to urgently center community needs
Or, at least, the best of ’em do. Oliver Haimson’s new book, “Trans Technologies” from MIT Press, boldly asks what tech could look like reimagined as a tool of liberation. He sat down with ESC KEY .CO for a (very long) chat to reveal a (very timely) bit of the answer.
Why internet strangers are following content creators on group trips around the world
A weird revolution is making group travel arguably “cool,” as content creators turn algorithmically curated audiences into IRL travel companions. These digital collectives show us the shifting paradigms — and income disparity prevalent — across the fragmenting social web.
How to (very softly) launch a new media outlet in 2025: One month of hitting ESC
Each week, we deliver your TL;DR Briefing on the things worth tracking. This week we’re not doing that. Instead, we’re diving into the “why” behind the soft launch of ESC KEY .CO and the 32,140 words we’ve published so far. (We are, however, following the TL;DR template even though this is long.)
The incel-ification of dating apps: CEOs want to burn coal so “AI wingmen” can automate flirting
Download Grindr and you might get the clap. But this promised “AI wingman” certainly won’t give you rizz. In this Hype Ball column, we judge the dystopian drag of modern dating. And whatever your sexuality or lack thereof, you’re screwed.
In America’s new era of censorship, digital archivists are democracy’s backup drive
Your TL;DR Briefing on things worth tracking — and talking about over your next power lunch. *Wink.* This time the thing is the systematic erasure of public knowledge and the archivists fighting our slide into digital darkness.
The great microblogging hopes of 2025: Bluesky’s 30 million users and countless millennial jokes
Your TL;DR Briefing on things worth tracking — and talking about over your next power lunch. *Wink.* This time the thing is the recent surge in popularity for Bluesky, the darling du jour of the “decentralized” social web.