Spencer Chen, Author at SMMRY.ai

February 14, 2023

671 views

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• Valentine’s Day discussion on post-having-children sex lives, based on 26,000 survey responses
• Most respondents were women (94%), in the age range from 30 to 39 (83%), married (96%), and heterosexual (95%)
• Most popular responses: 1 to 2 times per week (30%) and 1 to 2 times per month (44.5%)
• Frequency of parents’ sex goes up (on average) as children age
• Older parents have less sex (on average), but this is trumped by the child age increase
• Most people do not think they are having enough sex (85-90% for all groups with a frequency lower than weekly)
• Men are about 16 percentage points more likely to say they feel there is too little sex
• Average person in the survey gave their sex life a 5.5
• Those with more frequent sex are most likely to report high satisfaction (7 to 9 range)
• Pain during sex is a common issue
• Resources from Dr. Sara Reardon and Vanessa Marin, including book “Come as You Are” by Emily Nagoski

Published February 14, 2023
Visit ParentData to read Emily Oster’s original post Your Sex Lives After Kids

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The Google CEO Question, Steve Ballmer and Peacetime CEOs, About That Bard Mistake [Ben Thompson, Stratechery]

By Spencer Chen

In Ben Thompson [Stratechery]

February 13, 2023

548 views

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• The Google CEO Question: Sundar Pichai’s tenure has been successful, but investors are questioning if he is the right person to lead the company in the face of a potential existential threat.
• Peacetime CEO/Wartime CEO: Ben Horowitz’s post explains the differences between the two types of CEOs, with the key distinction being that a Wartime CEO is paranoid about losing the advantage.
• Steve Ballmer and Peacetime CEOs: Steve Ballmer’s dismissal of the iPhone is a perfect example of a CEO focused on what he can do with a big advantage, but he should have been more paranoid about the threat of Android.
• About That Bard Mistake: Google’s Bard demonstration had an error, which was directly responsible for Google’s stock price decline. Bing and OpenAI got the answer right, suggesting the large language model was beneficial.

Published February 13, 2023
Visit Stratechery to read Ben Thompson’s original post The Google CEO Question, Steve Ballmer and Peacetime CEOs, About That Bard Mistake

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China’s Balloon-Size Blunder Is a Huge Opportunity [Richard Fontaine, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen

In Uncategorized

February 13, 2023

580 views

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• Following October’s Communist Party congress, Beijing made moves to stifle the combative and confrontational group of diplomats known as wolf warriors and hosted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the capital.
• The tone of China’s leading diplomats noticeably softened, and for the first time in almost six years, Xi planned to host a U.S. secretary of state in China.
• However, a Chinese spy balloon drifted across the U.S., forcing Beijing into damage-control mode and handing the U.S. a rare opportunity to rally public concern and international solidarity.
• The balloon stunt galvanized attention and raised grave suspicions among Americans, as well as other countries such as Costa Rica, Taiwan, Japan, London, and NATO.
• The incident has derailed Beijing’s charm offensive and provided an opportunity for the U.S. to raise public awareness of the challenge posed by China.
• The Biden administration is making the most of the opportunity by publicly referring to a fleet of Chinese balloons that have conducted surveillance over five continents, and providing multiple public briefings.

Published February 13, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Richard Fontaine’s original post China’s Balloon-Size Blunder Is a Huge Opportunity

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The Simple Explanation for All These Flying Objects [Juliette Kayyem, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen

In [The Atlantic]

February 13, 2023

689 views

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• The U.S. military has recently shot down three unidentified objects in the sky over Alaska, northern Canada, and Lake Huron.
• This follows the identification and downing of a Chinese surveillance balloon earlier this month.
• The U.S. is now looking for more things in the sky and has lowered its standard for shooting objects out of the sky.
• The White House should quickly disclose the nature of the objects now in U.S. possession, even if they are nothing significant.
• It is possible that the U.S. is under a new threat or finally seeing more evidence of an old threat, but it is also possible that none of this is new or terribly threatening.

Published February 13, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Juliette Kayyem’s original post The Simple Explanation for All These Flying Objects

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No, Francis Fukuyama is Wrong, Not Just Not Even Wrong [Freddie deBoer, Freddie deBoer’s Substack]

By Spencer Chen

In Freddie deBoer

February 13, 2023

622 views

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• Ned Resnikoff critiques a recent podcast by Michael Hobbes and defends Francis Fukuyama’s concept of “the end of history.”
• Fukuyama’s argument is that human civilization has a teleological purpose and that liberal democracy represents a transcendent culmination of that purpose.
• Critics argue that Fukuyama’s argument is too narrow, too limited, and too particular, and that it is fundamentally inhumane.
• Fukuyama’s defenders often act as though he’s this humble intellectual who put out a modest argument and was suddenly waylaid by bad-faith critics.
• The challenge is to have humility enough to recognize ourselves as blips in history, as opposed to acts of historical chauvinism like The End of History.
• The attacks and their aftermath demonstrated that the abstraction that is “liberal democracy” operates at such an immense altitude above daily human life that talking about the end of history becomes irrelevant.

Published February 13, 2023
Visit Freddie deBoer’s Substack to read Freddie deBoer’s original post No, Francis Fukuyama is Wrong, Not Just Not Even Wrong

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Inside the push for a nationwide ban on abortion medication [Judd Legum, Popular Information]

By Spencer Chen

In [Popular Information]

February 13, 2023

671 views

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• Right-wing officials have been pushing to overturn Roe v. Wade, claiming it is an effort to respect states’ rights and the democratic process.
• Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R) submitted an amicus brief in the Northern District of Texas in support of the plaintiffs in the case of Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, which seeks to ban mifepristone, a drug used to induce abortions.
• The lawsuit is about prohibiting the use of mifepristone in the 31 states where abortion remains mostly legal.
• The case is assigned to Matthew Kacsmaryk, a radical Trump-appointed federal judge who is an impassioned critic of the “”sexual revolution.””
• The plaintiffs are relying on the Comstock Act, an 1873 law that has been ignored or limited by federal courts for decades, to support their argument.
• Major corporations, including Comcast, AT&T, T-Mobile, Uber, Mastercard, and Bank of America, are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars backing the politicians bolstering the effort to ban abortion medication.

Published February 13, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Judd Legum’s original post Inside the push for a nationwide ban on abortion medication

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February 12, 2023 [Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American]

By Spencer Chen

In Heather Cox Richardson [Letters from an American]

February 13, 2023

593 views

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• On February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, and 100 years later, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded on the anniversary of his birth.
• The spark for the organization of the NAACP was a race riot in Springfield, Illinois, on August 14 and 15, 1908.
• William English Walling, Mary White Ovington, and Henry Moskowitz met in New York City in January 1909 to create a new civil rights organization.
• The group noted that Black Americans had lost their right to vote and were segregated from white Americans in schools, railroad cars, and public gatherings.
• W. E. B. Du Bois, a founding member of the Niagara Movement, became the NAACP’s director of publicity and research and edited the organization’s flagship journal *The Crisis*.
• The NAACP challenged racial inequality by calling popular attention to racial atrocities and demanding that officials treat people equally before the law.
• In 1946, NAACP leader Walter Francis White brought the story of World War II veteran Isaac Woodard, blinded by a police officers after talking back to a bus driver, to President Harry S. Truman.

Published February 13, 2023
Visit Letters from an American to read Heather Cox Richardson’s original post February 12, 2023

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How the Other Half Drives [Andrew Moseman, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen

In [The Atlantic]

February 13, 2023

587 views

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• Will Ferrell drove electric GMC Sierra, Chevy Blazer, and Hummer in Super Bowl ad to promote General Motors’ battery-powered offerings.
• Range of electric vehicles depends on how much you can spend – more expensive models have longer range.
• Americans are used to splurging on their wheels, but electric-vehicle ownership upends notions about driving, cost, and freedom.
• Ford F-150 Lightning starts at $55,000 for basic model, but extended-range battery raises cost to at least $80,000.
• Range statistics for city and highway driving are now listed to give potential owners a more realistic idea of how far the vehicles will go.
• Over time, car battery steadily diminishes and range anxiety can be an issue.
• Charging access may become a status symbol, as affluent tax brackets made up the bulk of early adopters and those who can afford to install a charger at home.
• Fast-charging in public is marked up and costs more than charging at home.

Published February 13, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Andrew Moseman’s original post How the Other Half Drives

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Go Ahead and Ban My Book [Margaret Atwood, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen

In [The Atlantic]

February 13, 2023

689 views

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• The Madison County school board recently banned Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, from the high school library.
• Governor Glenn Youngkin enabled such censorship last year when he signed legislation allowing parents to veto teaching materials they perceive as sexually explicit.
• The novel is inspired by biblical stories, such as Rachel and Leah turning their “handmaids” over to Jacob and then claiming the children as their own.
• The authors of the United States Constitution framed the First Amendment to prevent the homicidal uproar that had gone on in Europe for centuries.
• Attempts to control media content have come from both the left and the right, each side claiming to act in the name of the public good.
• The last English writer before the late 20th century to have totally free rein was Geoffrey Chaucer.
• Margaret Atwood suggests that the school board’s real motive may be to limit what kids can read based on religious views.
• She encourages young people to explore questions of morality and censorship, and suggests that the school board’s actions may be a way to make sex more fascinating.

Published February 12, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Margaret Atwood’s original post Go Ahead and Ban My Book

Read on

Ukraine Has the Battlefield Edge [Gil Barndollar, The Atlantic]

By Spencer Chen

In [The Atlantic]

February 12, 2023

654 views

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• Russia mobilized 300,000 reservists in September to stabilize its front as winter set in.
• Despite recent successes in Kharkiv and Kherson, Ukrainian leaders are now warning that a new Russian offensive is imminent.
• Russian reservists are mostly men who previously served as one-year conscripts, with an average age of 35.
• Russian troops have demonstrated a deficit of discipline, making them vulnerable to determined Ukrainian defenders.
• Ukrainian success has come down to skillful use of modern weapons against this incompetent and demoralized enemy.
• U.S. training and advising have been almost as significant as the hardware in Ukraine’s success.
• Deteriorating morale on the front lines and at home is mutually reinforcing, making it harder for Russia to fill its penal battalions.
• Putin’s reluctance to mobilize is driven by fear of a political backlash to the call-up.
• Ukraine appears to have lost the manpower advantage, but Russia’s increased numbers are unlikely to overcome Ukrainian will and skill.

Published February 12, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Gil Barndollar’s original post Ukraine Has the Battlefield Edge

Read on

AuthorSpencer Chen

Your Sex Lives After Kids [Emily Oster, ParentData]

The Google CEO Question, Steve Ballmer and Peacetime CEOs, About That Bard Mistake [Ben Thompson, Stratechery]

China’s Balloon-Size Blunder Is a Huge Opportunity [Richard Fontaine, The Atlantic]

The Simple Explanation for All These Flying Objects [Juliette Kayyem, The Atlantic]

No, Francis Fukuyama is Wrong, Not Just Not Even Wrong [Freddie deBoer, Freddie deBoer’s Substack]

Inside the push for a nationwide ban on abortion medication [Judd Legum, Popular Information]

February 12, 2023 [Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American]

How the Other Half Drives [Andrew Moseman, The Atlantic]

Go Ahead and Ban My Book [Margaret Atwood, The Atlantic]

Ukraine Has the Battlefield Edge [Gil Barndollar, The Atlantic]

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