Scott Woolley

The devil always sends errors into the world in pairs-pairs of opposites. And he always encourages us to spend a lot of time thinking which is the worse. You see why, of course? He relies on your extra dislike of the one error to draw you gradually into the opposite one. CS Lewis

@StevenErlanger @nytimes One of the all-time greats. Whenever I saw his byline I knew I was in for something special.

nytimes.com/2026/03/13/wor… via @NYTimes

@peterbakernyt Opportunity cost of having bought the Post (vs the return on the rest of his assets) ~$2.25 billion.

Jeff Bezos wealth in 2024: $194 billion Jeff Bezos wealth in 2025: $215 billion Jeff Bezos wealth today: $249.4 billion Net increase in Bezos wealth since 2024: $55.4 billion Cost of Bezos’s 417-foot superyacht: $500 million Amazon investment in "Melania": $75 million Original Bezos purchase price of the Washington Post in 2013: $250 million Bezos net worth in 2013: $25.2 billion Net increase in Bezos wealth since buying the Post: $224.2 billion Last reported annual losses of Post: $100 million Number of years Bezos could absorb those losses with what he makes in a single week: 5 @JeffBezos

Co-founder @scottwoolley spoke to @LocalNewsIni about L.A. Reported's vision for local news that's equal parts impactful and fun to read. localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu/posts/2026/01/…

“I ultimately think it’s healthier for a publication to owe their financial health to their readers instead of their donors.” niemanlab.org/2026/01/l-a-re…

L.A. Reported prepares for launch as a weekly Substack that “won’t waste readers’ time” niemanlab.org/2026/01/l-a-re… via @NiemanLab

@paulspacey The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. —George Bernard Shaw (Similar point but a bit cleverer, imo).

“A man with new ideas is a madman, until his ideas triumph".  - Marcelo Bielsa

@ErikYesayan Isn’t the buyer’s title insurer on the hook? (And shouldn’t they flag the fraud?).

How do you stop it? Agents and escrows have to always verify ownership, especially with out of state owners. I hear having the ownership as an LLC helps. Also helps to actively monitor listings and set up notifications for your property. Any other tips?

It happened again, but this time they succeeded. They stole my clients property. Typically done to vacant properties with out of state owners. Someone fraudulently acts like the owner of a property and sells it to an unsuspecting buyer.

@SonnyBunch Here’s one example:

@SonnyBunch the cost savings but can rely on US consumers paying enough to incentivize the production of new drugs. In a rational global patent system prices would be balanced globally, so every country would pay their fair share towards incentivizing new drug development. 2/3

Remember: *I’m* the one who has changed because I don’t support insane shit like this.

@devonzuegel Familiarity with the concept of diminishing marginal utility of $ probably explains a significant part of the phenomenon.

The fact that there aren't more economists that are very rich should be a red flag

@joshgholder @nickvanosdol You have got to read Superpower by @russellgold. A biography of Samuel Insull also very worthwhile, to understand the birth of the grid.

@nickvanosdol Can’t DM but will chew on the Bakke book to start - have read “Shorting the Grid” and a bit of “Power System Economics” so far, both of which I found super interesting

been learning a lot about the power grid the past few years kinda like becoming a moderately good chess player you realize that while you can “beat” 99% of people on the planet, you’re still only <1% to truly deep, thorough understanding = why I just stfu & read more now lol

@ryangrim So your complaint is that the NYT left its readers to wonder whether or not the dean of Columbia Journalism School is a well-known figure in journalism circles?

New York Times describes Sewell Chan as a “well known figure in journalism circles” in lamenting his firing from CJR, yet doesn’t say the same about Jelani Cobb, who fired him and is objectively far more accomplished in journalism

@mattyglesias If you missed it, @JerusalemDemsas has done some great reporting on this question x.com/JerusalemDemsa…

@CohenSite Cc: @LAStreetNames

Anyone know the history of this "jog" in The 10?

@milleropoulos Thank you, that is delightful to hear. And the fact that you also found & appreciated my Slate piece on Tesla's funky financing is a real testament to your refined taste in tech writing!

@MediaHistoryNow @kevinmcdougald @superwuster @scottwoolley And @mffisher . Read both your books and his and see the world make sense again for the invention of and transition to radio and beyond. Can't think of two authors more relevant than all of your to see the chaos in communications we are living! Thanks!!!

Before most Americans had heard of cable and when TV in Europe was largely a public monopoly, Canada had well-developed cable TV systems that provided an expanded range of channels, including U.S. ones. An excerpt from Martin Mayer's 1972 book 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯:

@duncancampbell Very cool, but you gotta coin a word for “gigantic off-grid microgrids,” which feels like two oxymorons in four words.

Put all this together and we think it’s clear gigantic off-grid microgrids deserve a lot more attention in this conversation. They may even represent the best solution for AI companies and for securing the broader national interest.

A few months ago @nanransohoff and @hausfath reached out to brainstorm ways to power all of these new data centers. We shared a goal finding a fast, highly scalable, and cost effective approach. Ideally it would be clean too.

@PEWilliams_ When the federal government, which is running a deficit, borrows additional money and then turns around and lends it out at the exact same rate, it does not in fact turn a profit.

Brother it is a loan, the American Taxpayer is literally making money on this