A list of blogs, newsletters, podcasts, and publications that I like
The best blog and former blog on the internet. Scott Alexander would be my guess for the contemporary writer most likely to be cited in the next century.
Tyler Cowen is an "infovore". He coined the term I think. He and Alex Tabarrok push new content every day along with a host of links. It is nominally a very good economics blog, but my favourite posts are those that discuss the arts and travel. Tyler also has a podcast where he interviews various people.
José Luis Ricón Fernández de la Puente has written some very impressive stuff. This year he has mostly been summarising the state of ageing research so perhaps it should be grouped under science. However, he also writes about lots of other things so I included it here.
Another blog that could be grouped under science but feels broader. Gwern Branwen writes about so much that your best bet is to just go to his homepage and browse around.
"To err is human. To er... um... ah... is unacceptable"
Ian Mansfield writes about London, its history, its events, and its infrastructure. A fantastic resource.
Utility maximising posts from Sam Bowman
thoughts on urbanism and assorted other things
Lots of my friends are involved in this. It's very good. It has also inspired several other good publications such as:
A great blog about technology for real estate, real estate theses, and funding.
Ken Opalo writes about Africa and its relations with the world. Very good on actual paths to development.
Probably the blog I'm most likely to recommend if asked, Eleanor Parker writes about medieval literature. She often posts the original followed by a translation and brings it to life with her writing.
Tim O'Neil is an atheist who got annoyed by other atheists making a hash of their history. However, you should read this, and his previous blog Amarium Magnum for really good book reviews and essays about the fall of Rome and the medieval world.
Every two weeks comes a new post in an ongoing series. First, there was the history of ancient Egypt from the perspective of those who rediscovered it. Then came ancient Greece told through its myths and then its histories. Then the mystery of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The most recent was a history of Alexandria.
Anton Howes's newsletter on the Industrial Revolution is a terrific read from someone at the cutting edge of the field.
The world's greatest back catalogue. I tend to skip the pieces that cover current events since they do not age well. But some contributors like Adam Tooze always get a read.
A very good new online publication focussing on the Classics.
Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss a historical topic, sometimes with guests, always very good.
A young newsletter from the pseudonymous Twitter account Ancient Earthling, topics have included investigations of Shakespeare's sonnets and portraiture and the question of why certain objects and environments are beautiful.
Ned Donovan shines a light on various historical and geographical curiosities
Occasional pieces about all things Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Icelandic
"Knights, mercenaries and ancient battles. Exploring the culture of warrior aristocracy and bringing the history of middle ages and renaissance back to life"
Mostly about early modern England, by Ariel Hessayon
A bit of history, and a bit of current events, but always interesting posts by Ed West
My favourite science magazine. Quanta covers advances in maths and science and hits the sweet spot between too shallow and too deep every time.
Scott Aaronson writes about Quantum Computation, complexity theory and liberalism. The go-to source if you want to be up to date with advances in the first two, many of which come from him and his students!
Derek Lowe writes about medical science and has been particularly good reading in a year when advances in medical science have been the most important story in the world.
Peter Woit writes about Physics. He's a strong critic of string theory and often posts friendly correctives to articles in Quanta.
Tomasso Dorigo writes about particle physics. He often posts good explanations of work carried out using data from CERN. Very useful for learning about what they do beyond e.g. proving the existence of the Higgs.
This one could go in several different sections, with several different links. Razib is a geneticist with an interest in history and social science. He writes a lot about genetics, archaeology, and much more. He has several blogs and podcasts and has also written for various other publications. He is also on Clubhouse, a lot.
Analysis and critiques of science as it is currently practised, by Stuart Ritchie
Summaries of various topical things in science from Saloni Dattani
Benedict Evans writes about the tech industry on his blog and weekly newsletter. I don't quite know how to phrase this, but he has a knack for distilling events into ideas that make the world seem clearer. He also has a podcast with Toni Cowan Brown.
Lots of good stuff about energy, space, and procurement.
This is a good newsletter that gives a quick overview of various hard technologies.
A newsletter that covers different approaches to building more productively, whether that be regulatory or technological.
Jack Clark summarises the major stories in AI each week. An institution at this point.
Timothy B. Lee (also of Full Stack Economics) is doing some great coverage of AI in the real world.
Investigating the reasons nuclear power is so expensive and how to change that.
Very deep dives into various topics in the semiconductor industry.
A financial journalist friend sounds very existential when he talks about Matt Levine. He can't fathom how he produces this much high-quality content.
Incisive posts about entrepreneurship, angel investing, and venture capital.
"Pondering price theory, past and present", by Brian Albrecht and Josh Hendrickson
Some of the best explanations of various ideas swirling around the economics internet sphere
Patrick Mackenzie explains how the financial system works
Byrne Hobart's analysis of whatever takes interest. Generally has a finance focus.
In the 20th century, the free world had to meet the challenge of communism. With new ideas like Keynesianism and social democracy, old-fashioned liberalism was able to emerge triumphant. We now face a new form of totalitarianism in the CCP but the governments of Europe and America are complacent. Palladium explores ideas that we may need if liberalism is to make it through the 21st century.
Tanner Greer writes about lots of things and I could have placed him in the History and Arts section. However, I will place him in politics as his area of expertise is China and Taiwan.
Tom's writing about the British state is essential reading in my opinion. It has had a huge influence on how I see politics and what I think is necessary to make ourselves richer.
Adam Tooze has a newsletter now. It covers whatever is interesting to him at that moment which tends to mean macroeconomics and international political economy.
Analysis whether ecclesiastical or political is always insightful.
"Someone plausible"
Britain's sharpest political pundit
Good posts on the British economy from Duncan Weldon
Occasion posts on British policy from Sam Dumitriu
Most focused on Canadian politics which actually makes it very relevant to Britain
John Myers explores ways to improve the world despite (and ideally because of) the political incentives people face
Ryan Bourne writes sensible stuff about politics and economics
A blog about New York but also about the details of how local politics happen, and calls to action.
Tags: Recommendations