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Long but so worth the read. The story of how a band of volunteers who became the go to data source for vaccine availability in the US, even being relied upon by Google Maps as their go-to data source, saving lives in the process.

Some things I thought and felt while reading it:

• A deep sense of admiration and inspiration. This is American ingenuity at its finest. Solving the problem in front of you however you can, never being satisfied. A lot of the best aspects of the Stripe culture are also on display.

• Sadness or a sense of missing out. Why didn’t I know this existed? Why didn’t I help out? I told my wife, in what was perhaps an over reaction, that I felt like I had missed my chance to do something that matters by not participating in this.

• I think this does a good job of making the case that in practice simplicity and equity go hand-in-hand even if the additional complexity is meant to increase equity. Another way to say this is that if your goal is equity, you need to have a high bar for additional complexity.

• Such a startlingly good example of “do the simple thing first.” Before you build a real time system for national vaccine tracking, call pharmacies and make a list.

• I have some skepticism towards the claim that pharmacy websites were “broken by design.” I would’ve liked to have seen more there.

• I agree with this wholeheartedly: “We as a society accepted so much mediocrity during the pandemic, and we do to this day.”

Another episode of Browser Bets, this time with Tom Chivers. We made bets about Boris Johnson’s future as Prime Minister of England and the likelihood of AI wiping out humanity.

Bets aside, my favorite part was processing the experience of going through COVID together. Tom and I had never met before this conversation and live thousands of miles away from each other, yet we instantly had this shared experience to talk about. This is pretty unique. Watch the whole thing.