Oli

Trapped.

[Oli @notesonoli]

Books for 2026

[Oli @notesonoli]

Books to read in 2025.

[Ken Blackwell @kenblackwell]

Thomas Sowell is 95 years old.

Let that number sit with you.

Ninety-five years on this earth, and in all of them, he has never held public office, never had a viral moment, never begged for anyone’s attention.

What he has done is write 30 books and spend 50 years of patient research building a body of work that has outlasted every fashionable idea his critics tried to bury him with.

While the loudest voices in Washington were chasing polls and the cleverest minds on campus were chasing grants, Sowell was in the library reading the data, tracking the outcomes, and dismantling one bad idea after another.

He doesn’t argue feelings.

He measures results.

He isn’t selling anything.

His whole approach boils down to one line that every politician and activist in this country should be forced to recite before they open their mouths:

“There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs.”

Sit with that, too.

Every federal program, every mandate, every well-meaning crusade carries a cost, and somebody pays it.

Sowell’s life work has been the simple act of asking who.

Listen to him on the “help” our communities have been promised for two generations:

“I’ve been doing studies now for 20 years of programs designed to increase equality. They increase inequality.”

“Even when the programs are designed for disadvantaged groups, they help the affluent members of the disadvantaged groups, while the lower members of those groups fall further behind than ever before.”

That is the whole affirmative action racket laid out in two sentences.

The kids from the same zip codes as the Harvard faculty get the slot, while the kids from the neighborhoods that actually need a ladder are told to wait their turn.

Sowell says it plain:

“The vast majority of blacks who go to places like Harvard, Cornell, and Stanford are not blacks from the ghetto. They’re from the same neighborhoods as the whites there.”

The race hustlers don’t want you to know that, because they need the grievance to stay in business.

Sowell’s advice to young people cuts right through the hustle:

“Stay away from the race hustlers.”

“Equip yourself with skills that people are willing to pay for.”

That is the whole ball game right there, a matter of skills, work, and accountability rather than slogans, hashtags, or another federal program designed to pad a consultant’s salary while leaving the South Side worse off than before.

Here is the line I want every young person in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and every other corner of America to read tonight:

“Much of the social history of the Western world over the past three decades has involved replacing what worked with what sounded good.”

That one sentence explains our schools, our cities, and why the neighborhoods the War on Poverty was supposed to save are in worse shape now than they were before the checks started flowing.

Sowell has pushed a whole generation of us to stop reacting and start asking harder questions.

What are the incentives?

Who actually benefits from this policy?

What do the numbers look like five, ten, twenty years later?

Ask those questions honestly, and the illusion falls apart.

The most dangerous man in America right now isn’t the one shouting on television.

He is the 95-year-old professor in Palo Alto who doesn’t need you to agree with him, because he has the data on his side.

Ninety-five years of telling the truth.

Thank you, Dr. Sowell.

[Kristy Tillman @KristyT]

The Artemis II mission was a refreshing display of competence, precision and professionalism in a society where those things are sorely depleted.

[guru @fu_edison_]

this is so insane. peak photography!!!!

https://t.co/PR7x0b5aFY

[Chris Martz @ChrisMartzWX]

I am genuinely concerned about how dumb most adults are.

Mankind is not an intelligent species at all.

If you think that the Earth is flat in 2026 or deny that gravity exists, your IQ is 80, at best.

[Ryan Rosenblatt, Back to Back World Series Champ @RyanRosenblatt]

THEY SENT FOUR HUMAN BEINGS 252,756 MILES AWAY, WENT FULLY AROUND THE MOON AND BROUGHT THEM BACK TO LAND IN THE PRECISE LOCATION THEY WANTED

EVERYONE WHO WORKED ON THIS IS THE COOLEST PERSON ON EARTH

[Gudea, Ensi of Lagash @ensi_gudea]

The Library of Alexandria is probably the most mythologized piece of “history” that goes through the peanut sized prefrontal cortex of the average twitter user

[Curiosity @CuriosityonX]

🚨 Artemis II: We're going home

[Fandom Pulse @fandompulse]

Project Hail Mary writer Andy Weir on social commentary in books:

"I dislike social commentary. Like… I really hate it. When I’m reading a book, I just want to be entertained, not preached at by the author. Plus, it ruins the wonder of the story if I know the author has a political or social axe to grind. I no longer speculate about all possible outcomes of the story because I know for a fact that the universe of that book will conspire to ensure that the author’s political agenda is validated. I hate that."

"I put no politics or social commentary into my stories at all. Anyone who thinks they see something like that is reading it in on their own. I have no point to make, and I’m not trying to affect the reader’s opinion on anything. My sole job is to entertain, and I stick to that."

"To that end, I also don’t talk about my personal political opinions publicly. I don’t want readers to even know, honestly. I don’t want that in the back of their minds as they read my stuff."

Is this why he has the #1 sci-fi movie in decades?

[William A Goldsborough @WmAG_V]

Nasa is less than 1% of the budget, but has revolutionized diagnostic scanning for health prevention, lasik surgery, cancer treatments, health monitor wearables, memory foam products, cell phone sensors, power tools, etc.

People's lives have improved because of a space program.

[Farai Mazhindu @FaraiMazhindu]

The world does not owe Africa a head start, nor will it stand still to let us catch up.

While some societies have effectively conquered Earth, mastering healthcare, stable currencies, high-speed rail, and skyscrapers, they are now looking past the horizon.

As they build colonies for the stars and explore outer galaxies, they aren't looking back to see if we're keeping pace.

They have earned the beauty of life through centuries of systems building. We, meanwhile, are still struggling with the basics.

It is 2026. In much of the world, the conversation is about AI and interstellar travel. In Africa, the conversation is still about government officials looting the national treasury.

We have nations without running water, cities without reliable electricity, and children dying of malnutrition in the shadows of empty luxury developments.

We cannot expect the world to pause its evolution out of pity. African problems are African problems. No one is coming to save us, and no one is obligated to.

Until we prioritize building our own systems over stealing from our own futures, the gap will only grow wider.

[NASA @NASA]

Hello, Moon. It’s great to be back.

Here’s a taste of what the Artemis II astronauts photographed during their flight around the Moon. Check out more photos from the mission: https://t.co/rzM1P0QbOl

[Jeremy @ManaByte]

This is one of the greatest photos ever taken by a human…so far.

[NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman @NASAAdmin]

Artemis II has reached its maximum distance from Earth.

On the far side of the Moon, 252,756 miles away, Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy have now traveled farther from Earth than any humans in history and now begin their journey home. Before they left, they said they hoped this mission would be forgotten, but it will be remembered as the moment people started to believe that America can once again do the near-impossible and change the world.

Congratulations to this incredible crew and the entire NASA team, our international and commercial partners, but this mission isn’t over until they’re under safe parachutes, splashing down into the Pacific.

[NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman @NASAAdmin]

The world stopped to watch Artemis II.

Moments like this remind us what is possible and inspire the next generation to dream bigger and take us even further.

We are just getting started on this grand adventure. It is time to start believing again.

[Jeremy @ManaByte]

The generation that lived during Apollo watched the landings on TV.

The generation that’s living during Artemis think that Apollo never happened and aren’t paying attention because they watched a few idiots on YouTube or TikTok.

[Tonny Rutakirwa @TonnyRutakirwa]

"The most dangerous form of blindness, is believing that your perspective is the only reality." - Friedrich Nietzsche.

[Big Cuz @imohumoren]

Fake dictators use the money meant for the people to fund their children’s lifestyles in Western countries while selling a fake righteous ideology to poor people who die for philosophies the proponents don’t even hold true.

[Kimberly Ross @SouthernKeeks]

I have zero patience for flat-earthers and the “space photos are staged” crowd. They treat ignorance like it’s a personality trait worth broadcasting.