Essays

Current releases from the archive.

A corporate executive gestures from a glass office with vacant desks behind them while digital graphs and security badges float in the background, suggesting efficiency worship amidst layoffs.

Dead-Eye Efficiency

Layoff rituals are framed as sacred efficiency as AI metrics eclipse responsibility and survivors are trained to justify the purge.

A solitary traveler standing still in a crowded transit corridor, surrounded by glowing directional arrows pointing forward, holding a suitcase as movement flows past him.

The Cult of More

How growth culture turns movement into virtue, rest into failure and enough into a quiet scandal.

A human hand reaches toward a glowing circular interface floating in space, surrounded by stars, planets and abstract geometric elements.

The Illusion of Control

How wealth, health, fame and planning rely on a control myth that repeatedly collapses under chance, accident and mortality.

An elderly bearded man in simple robes reclines at a wooden table beneath a grapevine pergola, with bread and cheese placed on a board in front of him, surrounded by autumn foliage.

The Great Diet Delusion

How modern diet and wellness culture turns eating into a moral test, monetizes guilt and frames pleasure as failure.

A stylized illustration of an ancient Roman philosopher statue standing in the foreground of a futuristic city skyline at sunset, with modern skyscrapers, digital billboards and glowing technological elements blending classical philosophy with contemporary urban systems.

Outsourcing the Struggle

How automation removes friction from work and weakens the connection between effort, discipline and purpose.

A stylized illustration of a muscular man and an athletic woman in workout clothing standing confidently inside a modern financial trading floor, surrounded by traders and digital market screens, suggesting the intersection of fitness culture, performance aesthetics and financial systems.

Muscle, Curves and Market Fears

How fitness and beauty markets turn bodies into performance assets and monetize insecurity through metrics, visibility and comparison.

A skeleton wearing sunglasses sits in a desert landscape using a laptop, surrounded by scattered play-button icons and signs reading "Passive Income," under a starry night sky.

The Algorithm Ate My Goldmine

How AI-driven YouTube automation creates a synthetic gold rush where saturation, volatility and course sellers leave most creators grinding for nothing.

A humanoid robot sits at a desk typing on a laptop in a warmly lit room, with a large screen displaying lines of code behind it, while a person stands nearby holding a cup and sunlight enters through windows.

The Ghost in the Scroll

How AI-written text, unreliable detection tools and platform incentives produce paranoia around authorship while obscuring judgment and meaning.

A crowd of people stands inside a large cathedral-like interior filled with glowing screens displaying a repeating letter symbol, while a central figure faces raised hands projected above, with stained-glass windows and neon lighting blending religious architecture and digital imagery.

The Medium Is the Mirage

How Medium's engagement incentives reward clickbait self-help narratives, exaggerated income claims and manufactured urgency over accountable guidance.

A person wearing a white coat and cap walks through a symmetrical colonnade at night toward a large domed building, while glowing smartphone icons and hashtag symbols float in the air, combining classical architecture with digital social media elements.

The Simulacrum Selfie

How generative AI, deepfakes and synthetic influencers dissolve shared standards of visual proof and credibility.

A large carnival-style structure with a glowing sign that reads "Hustle More," while people stand around holding smartphones and taking photos as they approach the entrance.

The Race to Riches & Fame

How platform metrics, influencer culture and constant comparison turn ambition for wealth and fame into a cycle of performance, overwork and burnout.