A friend recently shared a car conundrum. On the one hand, she and her husband were enthusiastic about the transition to cleaner energy. One of their cars was already an electric vehicle (EV). But they were hesitant to convert their second car to an EV because they live in an area with frequent power outages. An internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle seemed like a smart backup and besides, her husband really liked the car. Their plan was to get as much life out of it as possible, maybe...
15 days ago • 10 min read
Many people in Big Tech appear to have lost their minds. If you haven’t already heard, Jacob Coxon, an Anthropic engineer, publicly announced his resignation on social media, claiming generative AI companies are acting irresponsibly in their quest for superintelligence. On this point, I and many others, even those in the tech industry, agree. To understand the details of why recklessness on the part of AI companies is the core issue, not some mythical superintelligence, I highly recommend...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
The garden party is in full swing at my house right now, which means I’m either taking care of plants, teaching myself food preservation, or coming up with new and exotic ways to eat tomatoes and cucumbers. In retrospect, I think it’s fair to say that ten tomato and eight cucumber plants is more than a family of three really needs. But the abundance of the garden is also a great reminder of all the things in life we can be thankful for, that engender a sense of awe, especially those things we...
2 months ago • 4 min read
“There is simply no historical precedent for a global climate event of this magnitude.” — Mathematics and computer scientist, Professor Eliot Jacobson, talking about this year’s El Niño In my last newsletter, we talked about what climate resilience means. This week we’re going to explore what it means to put that into practice. Addressing climate change is usually defined as either mitigation (what we can do to reduce emissions) or adaptation (what we can do to protect ourselves and others in...
3 months ago • 12 min read
In response to my last newsletter, a reader asked me to define the term climate resilience and how I used that perspective to find a new home. This kind of curiosity makes my heart soar. As if I needed further proof that my readers are the smartest of the interwebs. But rather than focusing on finding a new place to live (a future newsletter topic for sure), I want to explore what climate resilience looks like right now. The topic is particularly timely in light of the likely historic El Niño...
3 months ago • 5 min read
I never intended to take a year long break from writing this newsletter, but it’s been both chaotic and a time for serious reassessment. I want to thank everyone who reached out to inquire in the nicest way possible: what the heck happened to you?? The short answer is life happened, in its usual glorious and messy fashion. Over the space of about ten months, our daughter left for college, my husband retired, I closed my coaching business, we bought a house with climate resilience foremost in...
4 months ago • 5 min read
Around 8 years ago, an engineering company wanted to bring me in to help with hiring and employee morale. The company was asking employees to design software that would ultimately replace them. The CEO couldn’t understand why people weren’t more excited about the opportunity. As the CEO argued, there are endless problems to solve. Why not let the machines take this one, allowing the engineers to move on to another interesting problem? But the employees were already doing satisfying work that...
over 1 year ago • 6 min read
It’s a time of transition for our family. Our daughter graduates from high school in less than a week. In the fall, she heads out not just for college, but a semester abroad that is 6,252 miles from home. You might imagine I’m crying into my granola every morning. Noooooo. Not yet anyway. Instead, I’m observing my brain. Turns out, it’s hilarious. Weird times like these—when we’re doing something new, when we're scared and happy at the same time, when the world doesn’t make sense the way it...
over 1 year ago • 3 min read
As some of you noticed, I took an unexpected three month hiatus from writing this newsletter. If you’ve been following the news, you know that the United States is currently having a moment. Which has meant a lot of people in my network, many of whom are either scientists or government servants or both, are also having a moment. It’s been a difficult and bewildering time and I guess I’ve been waiting until I felt like I had something helpful to offer. So I thought I’d begin with what am I...
over 1 year ago • 3 min read