I wanted to bring attention to my two favorite articles I’ve read this year.

First up, Clubhouse Cured My Imposter Syndrome by C. Brandon Ogbunu:

After just two months on Clubhouse, I finally understand how Theranos happened.

And:

After surfing hundreds of rooms on the popular new social media app, I’ve been exposed to dozens of clones of Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes, some of them running companies that have (allegedly) raised tens or millions of dollars.

And:

The gold-medal winner here would be the financial advising section, where genius entrepreneurs promise audience members tips to raise a million dollars within the span of a few Clubhouse hours. These rooms can charge participants actual money to get on stage (even more to be a moderator), and trick naive participants into pyramid-scheme-adjacent business hustles.

But:

For all of its quirks, the app has charm, and lots of positive.

My ultimate feeling here is that as we make famous and powerful people more accessible (via social media for years, and through Clubhouse today) we have torn down a lot of the mythos behind them. There remain extraordinary people out there, but it has also become more blatantly obvious that we’re all more similar than previous generations would have believed.

And second, this was from a bit ago, but I still love it: I’m Being Censored, and You Can Read, Hear, and See Me Talk About It In the News, On the Radio, and On TV by Eli Grober

The truth is, you can’t say anything anymore without someone else saying something about what you just said. And that’s censorship. There’s no two ways about it.

And:

So, what can we do about it? How do we make our voices heard when all we can do is write opinion pieces in major magazines, do interviews on popular TV shows and speak on the floor of the US Senate? Well, as you can see, we’re in a tight, quiet spot.

Just absolutely perfect.