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01 • 13 Minute Read

Reuters

Katie Paul

Mark Zuckerberg had a bold plan to replace Meta staff with AI. Here's how it imploded.

Mark Zuckerberg wanted Meta run by AI agents supervised by small cadres of humans, with some teams cut by as much as 60 percent across two waves of layoffs. Then, surprise surprise, the agents started breaking things. Reuters obtained internal posts showing unchecked agents taking large-scale, disruptive actions, with major technical and security incidents up 40 percent. Hours before the first wave of layoffs, Zuckerberg canceled the second. For now.

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02 • 5 Minute Read

The Atlantic

David A. Graham

The Transcendence of Dolly Parton

In the pantheon of beloved American icons, Dolly Parton sits firmly alongside Mr. Rogers, Betty White, and Robin Williams (my personal Mount Rushmore of Beloved Americans). Yesterday's news of her passing was heartbreaking. She was a trailblazer who, born in an east Tennessee cabin to an illiterate sharecropper, rose to incredible heights by making others feel welcomed and loved. In the words of David Graham in this Atlantic piece: "Dolly Parton transcended."

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03 • 20 Minute Read

Maclean's

Kathy Chow

The Prime Minister and the Pop Star

Justin Trudeau resigned as the Prime Minister of Canada in 2025 with a 22 percent approval rating. Since then, he has been photographed with popstar Katy Perry on her yacht off Santa Barbara, in matching white tees at Coachella, at a World Cup match in Los Angeles instead of Canada's opener in Toronto. Between dates he collects six-figure fees for keynotes on inclusive leadership.

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04 • 14 Minute Read

The Bitter Southerner

Hrishikesh Hirway

The Sound of Your Voice

After his mother died, Hrishikesh Hirway, host of my favorite podcast Song Exploder, realized he had no recording of her real voice before a neurodegenerative disease took it. He typed a question into his phone: what will die along with me? Those words became the first lines he brought to a writing session with Ken Pomeroy, and the album grew from there. Hirway wrote about his father's hospitalization, lost friendships, and the daughter he and his wife decided not to have. Every song was about letting go. He tells the story in the Bitter Southerner.

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Mark Zuckerberg wanted AI to replace his staff. It started breaking things instead.

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