Good Tokens 2026-06-20
Shameless self-promotion
Why isn't your codebase in English? Holden and I had a great time chatting with Kasey Klimes, who is really thinking deeply about how AI changes software development.
Worth your time
A colorized photo of Central Park during the Great Depression, New York (1933) pic.twitter.com/FIWjMvZON6
— Civixplorer (@Civixplorer) May 4, 2026
If America's So Rich, How'd It Get So Sad?
"Every artifact that can be elongated is, by people who do not read what they produce, for readers who do not read what they receive." Appearing Productive in the Workplace Not so at Good Tokens.
Megan Gafford on Brutalism. Perhaps I'm imagining it, but it seems to me there's something Puritan about the modernist drive to remove ornamentation.
Jehan on the parable of the Rogue Wave. Jehan's blog is on fire right now.
Things I learned
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China had fewer births in 2025 than in 1776.
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There's only one European company more valuable than Home Depot — which is itself only the fourth-largest American retailer. via Matt Yglesias.
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The Florida Man meme is actually caused by transparency laws. Uri's blog is also on fire right now.
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Compared to their Boomer parents, childcare time among Millennial dads has more than doubled. via Derek Thompson.
Musings
There is a grain of discovery in the solution of any problem. — George Pólya, via solve.it.com
The best argument I've heard against the consciousness of LLMs: no one ever claims that AlphaFold or Midjourney is conscious. (Kasra)
LLM Corner
Tyler Cowen on the future LLMs will create, and how to make peace with it.
If AI is so great, why isn't it working?
2026-06-20