Chris Beam
@chrisbeam.bsky.social
📤 17784
📥 187
📝 21
https://linktr.ee/christopherbeam
Wrote about prediction market “rulescucks” and how Kalshi tries to wrangle the English language (gift link):
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
loading . . .
Homophones, Plurals and Language ‘Rulescucks’ Are Roiling Prediction Markets
Bets decided on linguistic technicalities are exposing how hard it is to turn language into a binary market with payouts hinging on a single word.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-27/kalshi-faces-growing-problem-with-grammar-language-disputes?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc3NDYxNjkzOCwiZXhwIjoxNzc1MjIxNzM4LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUQ0pWT0FLR0lGU1owMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJGNTU0RThFNzY5NjY0ODJCQTdCQTU5MUE0MjkzNjUyRCJ9.4pV-YmDmXhVKi14DBfkv4t9qLfDE05ZD1PhX_8yQTrI&leadSource=uverify%20wall
4 days ago
0
0
0
Kalshi and Polymarket users who bet on Iran are mad — but for very different reasons:
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
loading . . .
A Darkly Modern Guide to Betting on War
The Iran conflict, and the way Kalshi and Polymarket handled wagers, shows weaknesses in prediction markets.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-03/iran-war-tests-insider-trading-death-wagers-on-kalshi-and-polymarket?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc3MjU2ODM3MiwiZXhwIjoxNzczMTczMTcyLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUQkMzWllLR0NUSlMwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJGNTU0RThFNzY5NjY0ODJCQTdCQTU5MUE0MjkzNjUyRCJ9.gnT6Um1Zv4etvPlMdorUOtGu38WqiOh_9RqXnAoqKH0
30 days ago
0
0
0
NEW for Bloomberg Businessweek: Prediction market companies pitch themselves as sources of truth. Can they be trusted? (gift link)
www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
loading . . .
How Prediction Markets Polymarket and Kalshi Are Gamifying Truth
Two companies are pioneering a new way of predicting the future. Critics call it unregulated gambling
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2026-prediction-markets-polymarket-kalshi/?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc3MTg4Njc1NywiZXhwIjoxNzcyNDkxNTU3LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUQVhNR1VLSVVQUzcwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJGNTU0RThFNzY5NjY0ODJCQTdCQTU5MUE0MjkzNjUyRCJ9.aJioUz0y4MMKyCyLrqb_LP7LB9SSBHS7wCKEVYkoB8c
about 1 month ago
0
2
2
From "Eddington" to fears of an AI stock bubble, 2025 was the year data centers became the villain (gift link):
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
loading . . .
How Data Centers Became the Leading Villain of 2025
In Hollywood and real life, the once-unremarkable facilities have taken a leading role.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-12-30/how-data-centers-for-ai-became-villains-in-movies-and-real-life-in-2025?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2NzE5OTU2OSwiZXhwIjoxNzY3ODA0MzY5LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUODNEQTdLR1pBSVUwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJGNTU0RThFNzY5NjY0ODJCQTdCQTU5MUE0MjkzNjUyRCJ9.RC6hhrIcx-e6zW8c7AQlnB1SRoNNvj_GDrflUxMmGoc
3 months ago
0
5
1
reposted by
Chris Beam
Ted Alcorn
4 months ago
Strong contender for fav. headline of the year
@emilyanthes.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/s...
0
8
2
Did the esoteric "code is law" debate make a jury cry? A recent mistrial shows why it can be so hard to apply traditional finance laws to crypto:
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
loading . . .
Mistrial Shows Difficulty in Applying Law to Crypto
Can trades on the public blockchain be illegal if the computer code allows them?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-11-17/crypto-mistrial-shows-difficulty-in-applying-law-to-blockchain-trades?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2MzQxMDAyMCwiZXhwIjoxNzY0MDE0ODIwLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUNVZaTVBHUEwzWE8wMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJGNTU0RThFNzY5NjY0ODJCQTdCQTU5MUE0MjkzNjUyRCJ9.JpWp7bjTltOFch-Gy-EoABnkEjG0RYKwcwipe-I-LtM
5 months ago
0
4
2
What do architecture critics think of Trump's ballroom and Obama's library? I asked them (gift link):
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
loading . . .
Trump’s Ballroom and Obama’s Library: Critics Assess Presidential Architecture
An evaluation of Trump’s White House renovation and his predecessor’s “Obamalisk” in Chicago.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-05/trump-s-ballroom-and-obama-s-library-critics-assess-presidential-architecture?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2MjM1MjAwOSwiZXhwIjoxNzYyOTU2ODA5LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUNTkyS0JHUTFZU1kwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJGNTU0RThFNzY5NjY0ODJCQTdCQTU5MUE0MjkzNjUyRCJ9.RCEJ0-Dvq-TeLoXHCwjBlyRVMtXDBI4Dkhqh3jfAWlE
5 months ago
0
4
0
reposted by
Chris Beam
Reyhan Harmanci
5 months ago
🎇New package alert
@wired.com
! This one has been in the works for months. If WIRED was going to tackle AI -- something we cover daily -- we had to go big. So here are 17 different stories about the way AI is changing us, even as the technology itself keeps moving
www.wired.com/ai-issue/
loading . . .
AI of a Thousand Faces
What happens now that AI is everywhere and in everything? WIRED can’t tell the future, but we can try to make sense of it. Behold: 17 readings from the furthest reaches of the AI age.
https://www.wired.com/ai-issue/
5
187
84
Are we in an AI bubble? George Gilder, the tech guru who famously got blindsided by the 2001 telecom collapse, scoffs at the current AI data center mania. “It’s way overbuilding,” he says.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
loading . . .
‘I Believe It’s a Bubble’: What Some Smart People Are Saying About AI
A growing group of critics say we’re in an artificial intelligence bubble. Is it true? If so, how would we know?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-09/why-experts-are-warning-the-ai-boom-could-be-a-bubble
6 months ago
0
3
1
reposted by
Chris Beam
Damon Beres
6 months ago
Obsessed with this portion of
@alibreland.bsky.social
’s latest, on “heritage Americans,” not just because it’s snappy, but because it reveals much about the nature of the ideology these people have: superior, unwavering, fundamentally rooted in historic unreality
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
0
7
1
Josh Wallace Kerrigan had a bold idea: To make AI video that does not suck.
www.wired.com/story/the-fu...
loading . . .
The Future of AI Filmmaking Is a Parody of the Apocalypse, Made by a Guy Named Josh
Behold Neural Viz, the first great cinematic universe of the AI era.
https://www.wired.com/story/the-future-of-ai-media-parody-of-the-apocalypse-guy-named-josh/
6 months ago
0
3
0
Wrote about the Charlie Kirk memecoin frenzy (gift link):
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
loading . . .
Crypto Bros Are Trying to Monetize Charlie Kirk’s Death
Every big news event is a memecoin now.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-09-17/crypto-bros-turn-charlie-kirk-s-death-into-a-memecoin?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc1ODEyOTg4NCwiZXhwIjoxNzU4NzM0Njg0LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUMlFUSjdHUTFZVVkwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJGNTU0RThFNzY5NjY0ODJCQTdCQTU5MUE0MjkzNjUyRCJ9.NtrMT-T0GFTzOTlAnpbvv-agFwF_HvulycRdBBrqLqk
7 months ago
0
8
0
I spoke with Dan Wang, who argues in his new book "Breakneck" that the US needs to rekindle its love of engineering -- and that means learning from China:
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
loading . . .
China Is Run by Engineers, and the US by Too Many Lawyers
In his new book, Dan Wang argues that America is too good at making rules, and could learn from Beijing’s laser focus on technical innovation.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-15/what-the-us-can-learn-from-engineering-in-china
8 months ago
0
10
1
Spent a brain-melting amount of time talking, reading, and thinking about the Zizians:
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/06/b...
loading . . .
She Wanted to Save the World From A.I. Then the Killings Started.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/06/business/ziz-lasota-zizians-rationalists.html
9 months ago
0
9
0
reposted by
Chris Beam
Zeke Faux
10 months ago
how
@chrisbeam.bsky.social
inspired a major chinese movie
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
loading . . .
The Zany Sports Movie That Explains U.S.-China Relations
A decade ago, I wrote a story about transcending cultural boundaries through football. Now it’s a major Chinese motion picture—with a very different message.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/06/clash-chinese-football-movie/683059/
1
11
5
reposted by
Chris Beam
The Atlantic
10 months ago
"My article, titled 'Year of the Pigskin,' was natural Hollywood bait," Christopher Beam writes. "Now a Chinese studio appeared to have simply lifted the idea":
loading . . .
How I Accidentally Inspired a Major Chinese Motion Picture
A decade ago, I wrote a story about transcending cultural boundaries through sports. Now it’s a movie with a very different message.
https://bit.ly/4jBjM0x
0
19
5
A Chinese movie studio (unofficially) adapted my 2014 article about an American football team. The differences from the original say a lot about how US-China relations have deteriorated
10 months ago
1
3
0
reposted by
Chris Beam
David Roberts
11 months ago
What a sad & poignant story -- the kind of thing that will serve a mile marker when historians write about the loss of US democracy.
loading . . .
How Trump Defeated Columbia
The inside story of an unconditional surrender.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/columbia-university-president-trump-board-of-trustees-students-protests.html
7
191
46
reposted by
Chris Beam
Marc Tracy
11 months ago
SECOND LIFE by
@amandahess.bsky.social
is out today!
bookshop.org/p/books/seco...
loading . . .
Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age
Having a Child in the Digital Age
https://bookshop.org/p/books/second-life-having-a-child-in-the-digital-age-amanda-hess/21713723
1
5
3
reposted by
Chris Beam
Davey Alba
11 months ago
the one and only
@amandahess.bsky.social
has written the most moving book about "having a child in the digital age"—but it's really about so much more. it's a meditation on the oppressiveness of tech, the fragility of humans, the miracle & bittersweetness of life... i would love for you to read it
1
23
5
reposted by
Chris Beam
Virginia Heffernan
12 months ago
If you were a Trumpcast listener, this may be what you need now: my new show w/Stephen Metcalf. It's designed to be adrenaline for a better future. We look straight at the catastrophe. And we ask what can be built from the rubble. It's also free & ad-free.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
loading . . .
What Rough Beast
Politics Podcast · What Rough Beast, hosted by Virginia Heffernan (Wired, Trumpcast) and Stephen Metcalf (Slate, Culture Gabfest) is a podcast where we bear witness to America’s demise, and ask what m...
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-rough-beast/id1787176282
15
175
43
"They’re hanging out, like something out of a movie.”
www.cnn.com/2025/04/02/u...
loading . . .
‘It was so freeing’: How a cellphone ban is changing life at a Virginia high school | CNN
Wakefield High School is part of a pilot program requiring students to put their phones inside magnetic locking pouches every morning. Students – and teachers – are happy with the results so far.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/02/us/school-cellphone-ban-virginia/index.html
about 1 year ago
0
11
3
Ayn Rand gave Leonard Peikoff everything—her ideas, her copyrights, and her money. Then he fell in love with his caregiver. My deep dive on the battle for Ayn Rand’s estate:
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
loading . . .
The Ugly Fight Over Ayn Rand’s Estate
The author gave Leonard Peikoff everything—her ideas, her copyrights, and her money. Then he fell in love with his caregiver.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/03/ayn-rand-peikoff-inheritance-battle/682219/
about 1 year ago
2
14
5
reposted by
Chris Beam
Laura DiDio
about 1 year ago
Interesting read.
add a skeleton here at some point
0
15
3
reposted by
Chris Beam
Gilad Edelman
over 1 year ago
"Devoted aide" might be an understatement
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/25/u...
2
12
3
reposted by
Chris Beam
Ian Bogost
over 1 year ago
Behavioral science is troubled and overly influential in general, but “business-school psychology,” as my colleague and editor
@engber.bsky.social
calls it, is basically just a machine for fraud, erected to enrich its fraudsters.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
loading . . .
The Business-School Scandal That Just Keeps Getting Bigger
The rot runs deeper than almost anyone has guessed.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/01/business-school-fraud-research/680669/
1
61
16
reposted by
Chris Beam
Gilad Edelman
over 1 year ago
"In the collective mind of U.S. voters, the concept of democracy appears to be so muddled, and their commitment to it so conditional, that it makes you wonder what, if anything, they’d do anything to stop its erosion—or whether they’d even notice that happening."
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
loading . . .
The ‘Democracy’ Gap
Almost all Americans say they support democracy—but they have very different ideas about what the word means.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/11/democracy-meaning-democrats-republicans/680704/
5
41
19
reposted by
Chris Beam
Jack Shafer
over 1 year ago
“Mate, I’ve never had a bad day in journalism in my life. ...You win, you get drunk because you won. You lose, you get drunk because you lost.” --Steve Dunleavy
www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/b...
loading . . .
Steve Dunleavy, Brash Face of Murdoch Journalism, Dies at 81 (Published 2019)
An Australian with sartorial dash, he was a reporter, columnist, editor and TV correspondent who practiced a feisty brand of tabloid journalism.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/business/steve-dunleavy-dead.html
3
33
9
Wrote about longevity guru Bryan Johnson’s pivot to supplements:
www.nytimes.com/2024/01/12/b...
loading . . .
The Meme King of Longevity Now Wants to Sell You Olive Oil
Bryan Johnson, a data-obsessed Silicon Valley centimillionaire, is promoting food and supplements that promise to help people live longer. Scientists say his program is highly questionable. So why are...
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/12/business/bryan-johnson-longevity-blueprint.html
about 2 years ago
1
6
0
Spent some time with Michael Lewis, who has nothing controversial to say about anything:
www.nytimes.com/2023/10/06/b...
loading . . .
Michael Lewis Doesn’t Do Villains
With his new book about the crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried — and new questions about his old work — the famously charmed writer finds himself under a microscope.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/06/business/michael-lewis-going-infinite.html
over 2 years ago
1
4
0
New story for WIRED: “The AI Detection Arms Race Is On,” starring an idealistic Princeton grad entrepreneur who wants to preserve the human touch, a Stanford wunderkind who wants to see AI unleashed, and … John McPhee
loading . . .
The AI Detection Arms Race Is On—and College Students Are Building the Weapons
Gen Alpha is quickly developing tools that identify AI-generated text—and tools to evade detection.
https://www.wired.com/story/ai-detection-chat-gpt-college-students/
over 2 years ago
2
12
1
Spoke with true believers about how they’re dealing with “crypto winter,” got a crash course in human psychology:
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2023-crypto-winter/
loading . . .
The Crypto Winter Cost People More Than Their Money
Some acolytes lost faith, others blamed devils—and some went even harder. An essay exploring what happens when the prophecy of blockchain fails.
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2023-crypto-winter/
almost 3 years ago
0
5
0
you reached the end!!
feeds!
log in