BASSAM TARAZI

Two roads diverged in the forest. One offered more money, the other offered more time. 

Early in 2025, I told myself I was going to read more novels. Less history. Less science.  By February, I was already halfway through a massive history of the atomic bomb. So that went well. But later in the year I clawed back with more fiction. Good thing I did because 4.5 fiction books made the list. Half ? Yes, you have Sam Kean to thank. You’ll see.  In no particular order…but why not start with the aforementioned history of quite possibly the grandest scientific accompli

If everyone uses AI to write, everything begins to sound the same. And how you sound is, more or less, how you think. If you start thinking like everyone else, you become indistinguishable from everyone else. 

When we’re born, we begin a one-way ride—of unknown, but determinate length—on our individual conveyor belt through life. But while we all might share the same moment in time today, being parallel to someone else’s conveyor does not mean you have the same amount of track left. 

You commiserate with someone to process an injustice. You complain to someone to justify inaction. At some point it's time to act.

Changing careers in your mid 40s is like signing up for freshman orientation with a mortgage and lower back pain. You’re wiser, sure—but that doesn’t stop you from feeling like a lost intern with an impressive past no one asked about, as you name-drop your own résumé just to prove you still matter. It's wild. But there's one trick to make the process smoother.