💬 From Ezra Pound:
“You can spot the bad critic when he starts by discussing the poet and not the poem.”
🤖 Been enjoying these absolutely hilarious videos this guy has been making to deflate some of the AI hype and expose the limits of these tools. Worth the 1-minute watch.
💐 Grateful for:
- Listening to music in a foreign language, still feeling what they’re singing
- Elderly strangers who call me nicknames
- Songs that use the left/right headphone individually for stereo effect
- Creative sign-offs to letters
- People who pop their collars
- Inside jokes
- Picnics in good weather
- People who say “have a nice day” when exiting the elevator
✍️ Decoding Jay-Z’s Quadruple Entendre // bradley-andrews.com
There are very few pursuits that are more creative than hip-hop music, but it’s endlessly overlooked as an art form because of it’s urban roots. I just did a brief breakdown of one of my favorite rap verses (not even a full verse, actually, just four lines) to help prove my point. Let me know if you agree.
I father, I Brooklyn Dodger them.
I jack. I rob. I sin.
Aww man — I’m Jackie Robinson.
‘cept when I run base, I dodge the pen.
— Jay-Z, Brooklyn Go Hard
🚀 I learned today that a small art piece called Moon Museum was smuggled onto the moon by multiple artists including Andy Warhol, Forrest Myers, and John Chamberlain during the original Apollo 12 mission. The fact that it was unauthorized is so amusing to me, and feels appropriate.
🎵 Hip-hop recs for the week, but only hard songs:
- On The Radar Freestyle by Remy Ma
- Let The Smokers Shine The Coupes by Pusha T
- Brooklyn Go Hard by Jay-Z ft. Santagold
- Two Words by Mos Def ft. Kanye West and Boys Choir of Harlem
- Crowns for Kings by Benny the Butcher ft. Black Thought
- The City by The Game ft. Kendrick Lamar
Not ready to forgive Kanye, but seeing him rap this version of the song always inspires me. You can see the hunger in him.
✍ Social Note: There Is Nothing To Be Sorry About // bradley-andrews.com
Wrote about some of the encounters I have been having with strangers and the underlying meaning behind a verbal tic I’ve noticed. Does anyone else make big meanings out of small interactions like this? Or is it just me?
🔍 Last week, I added a search feature to my micro.blog. Being a non-technical user, it felt like a real achievement. I see it as a solid step to ensuring that this space can function as a rabbit hole for people (especially myself) to discover and rediscover pleasant things. I love micro.blog.
👾 I am proudly Gen Z— but only barely make the cut. My most millennial trait is that I love a good GIF (and I am not afraid to say it).
✍️ Degrees of Deception: An Index of Dishonesty // bradley-andrews.com
💬 A good quote from the newsletter of my young buddy Julian The Businessman aka the Youngest Entrepreneur in NYC:
“Even though hard work produces good results, keep trying until you find something easier that will also produce good results”
✏️ New Word Learned:
Caterwaul: to make a harsh cry; protest or complain noisily
✏️ New Word Learned:
Gravid: distended with or full of eggs; pregnant
✏️ New Word Learned:
Crepitant: having or making a crackling sound
👔 Gallup’s annual State of the Global Workplace report is one of my favorites. Here are some findings I will be pondering:
- Job market optimism increased for workers who worked on-site, without the option of remote. Job market optimism decreased among remote workers, hybrid workers, and even workers who worked on-site but have a remote option.
- Higher levels of leadership report higher levels of overall wellbeing. At the same time, they are substantially more likely to report much worse individual days.
- Large U.S. employers are more likely to reduce their workforce after implementing AI; smaller employers are more likely to expand their workforce.
- 18% of U.S. employees said it was “very” or “somewhat” likely their job would be eliminated in the next five years due to technological innovations. In organizations where AI has been implemented, that figure rises to 23%. In some industries, such as finance (32%), insurance (32%) and technology (31%), it is much higher.
👶🏻 Make no mistake, this is one of the most important and consequential trends in the world right now:
About 3.6 million babies were born in the US in 2025, according to provisional data published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 53 births for every 1,000 women of reproductive age. That rate is down about 1% from 2024 and nearly 20% lower than it was two decades ago.
🪖 Sort of niche but exceptionally useful— found out that Virginia Tech has an extensive ratings list of scientifically tested helmets.
From bicycle helmets to construction to football, their findings are 100% objective and free from marketing influence. Am getting my next skate/bike helmet now…
✏️ New Word Learned:
Ferreous: of, like, or containing iron
📸 Selfie on Portra 400
