John West

Now: computational journalism @wsj, formerly @cortico, @medialab, and @qz. Book: *Lessons and Carols*, @eerdmansbooks (2023).

[Jack Whitcomb @jack_whitcomb_]

on Amazon I have discovered a book called "Infinite Jeffs" which is apparently a copy of Infinite Jest where each word has been replaced with the word "Jeff"

[John West @JohnWest]

As the pandemic dragged on, I (a little self-consciously) read the Psalms. I was raising a baby, so each seemed to say something about that quotidian miracle when we make families out of only feelings and time.

I'm pumped to say that turned into THE PSALMIST, out in January.

[John West @JohnWest]

This is an essay about how I created a very-little-language model using Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener." I asked it to finish my sentence: "I would..." and it responded "...prefer to, yes." My AI never quite got it right—the most human thing about it.

[The Wall Street Journal @WSJ]

Experimenting with the math and data behind large language models helped me understand how AI “thinks.” I wish everyone had the chance to do the same, writes WSJ software engineer John West. https://t.co/rKzvXmB8T0

[Chad Day @ChadSDay]

Toxic Fumes Are Leaking Into Airplanes, Sickening Crews and Passengers;

Big story and analysis by ⁦@_benkatz⁩ ⁦@JohnWest⁩ ⁦@AndrewTangel⁩ https://t.co/H7JnnNHtwx

[Rob Barry @rob_barry]

So proud of @WSJ data team member @JohnWest and formers @coulterjones and @anfuller for their dogged work "chronicling political and personal shifts of the richest person in the world, Elon Musk, including his turn to conservative politics." https://t.co/bN2m7pOqpQ

[John West @JohnWest]

Here's the code: https://t.co/Uhj5twSlSf

[John West @JohnWest]

Inspired by this mad scientist, I made https://t.co/AyKpITR9Uw, which guides readers through Walt Whitman's amazing book of poems, LEAVES OF GRASS.

It learns what you like in his poems, and illustrates each with a photo from a Depression-era photo (https://t.co/f4nNhN7hbr).

[aizk ✡️ @Aizkmusic]

https://t.co/xgmIjE8NKT
It's 2:00 AM
Who wants infinite scrolling wikipedia!!

[John West @JohnWest]

Harris tried to build it. They just didn’t come.

Turnout among core Democratic blocs dropped, and the Harris campaign reached out—and failed to sway—Republicans.

From me, @karadapena, @rob_barry, and @maureenlinke for @WSJ.

https://t.co/E4IsDMZ9C0

[John West @JohnWest]

Call it Field of Bad Dreams: Harris tried to build it, but they just didn’t come.

https://t.co/E4IsDMZ9C0

In every core blue bloc, voters didn’t turn out. The electorate that did shifted toward Trump—an analysis of vote data from me, @karadapena, @maureenlinke, and @rob_barry.

[John West @JohnWest]

With @sestamm at @WSJ, I wrote about the whitest county that votes Democratic. Trump wants to expand his advantage in white, working-class enclaves. Harris wants to claw back votes in old union strongholds. Places like Lake County, MN are the battleground. https://t.co/knpNFC1Jz3

[John West @JohnWest]

@AliceOllstein It's true! I am! And while websites may die with a whimper, I really hope my book will be a bang(er).

[John West @JohnWest]

If you prefer a little pun: In Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, the diploma divide is deepening... by degrees.

[Ben Pershing @benpershing]

The partisan split between college and non-college voters is deepening across racial lines. https://t.co/XKYhgk0wAd

[John West @JohnWest]

DEGREE OF SEPARATION: College divide erodes Democrats' support in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods.

With tons of hyperlocal data and a mess of exclusive analysis from me, @sestamm, @jackgillum, and @ben_warren0—and thanks to @maureenlinke and @rob_barry.

https://t.co/WHAuOV20r4

[John West @JohnWest]

@anfuller Just be grateful I didn’t put it in the group chat.

[John West @JohnWest]

I'm starting a book club where we only read brand-new works of fiction, gossip about them, and drink Earl Gray. It's called novel-tea.

[Ben Foldy (he/him) @BenFoldy]

Bitcoin, burgers and big money donors: a behind-the-scenes look at why Trump says he'll block a Fed-backed digital currency, fire the SEC chair and free the founder of an online illicit drug market... (with @Vlajournaliste and @ceostroff)

https://t.co/6cWB7b6BGQ

[John West @JohnWest]

At the Miami Herald, @ShirshoD et al have published a disturbing series on Florida's juvenile crime law, which sees more Black kids tried as adults than white kids. (And do yourself a favor and check out the impressive methodology at the bottom)

https://t.co/Y3FTt7yOil

[John West @JohnWest]

5.
These kinds of rhymes—allusions across disciplines and genres, times and places—is one of my favorite parts of having a reading life. Not the fact of them, but the thrill of discovery.

[John West @JohnWest]

1.
Because I’m one of those sickos who likes to read critical material about books I just finished, I was looking at reviews of and interviews around SMALL RAIN by Garth Greenwell, which is an incredible book that I can't recommend strongly enough.

[John West @JohnWest]

4.
And then I stumbled on his NYT interview (https://t.co/FD97SYlYf9), where he discusses reading Heidegger, and I pulled up a book I read for my own research, PHILOSOPHY AS POETRY by Richard Rorty.