Rohit Bhargava's Blog, page 5

The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: The Shape of Wonder by Alan Lightman and Martin Rees

A book like this shouldn’t really be necessary. If we all had a shared understanding of why science matters, what it is and all the things scientists contribute to our society (and have for centuries in the past), then many of the arguments in this book would feel obvious and perhaps even repetitive. Unfortunately, our world isn’t that way. Today trust in science itself is routinely undermined by non-scientist personalities who build cults around themselves and encourage the belief that only the...

Anonymity Is Dead. Are We All Really Content Now?

A CEO caught on a kiss cam having an affair isn’t just the latest social media story gone unexpectedly viral. It’s also an indication of a potential new future where ​none of us will be able to enjoy anonymity out in the world​, according to a new piece I read this week. It does immediately seem true that if you happen to misbehave in any way publicly, whether being rude to waiter or simply tripping and falling over … it’s increasingly likely that someone will have a camera to capture your lowes...

“Vibe Movie Making” and the Real Future of AI In Movie Production

Can AI make a good movie? That question will soon be put to the test as Open AI announced this week that they are backing an animated film called “Critterz” with a targeted release date of May 2026 at the Cannes Film Festival. The film will be made in nine months (as opposed to the typical three years) at a cost of under $30 million (compared to the $100+ million typical budget). The process they are using is increasingly being known as “vibe movie making,” in reference to the speed and automati...

How Fixing AI Slop Might Be the Next Big Job Opportunity … For Those Willing to Do It

What do you do when your AI generated text or image comes out not quite right? A growing number of people are ​turning to writers and designers to fix that AI-generated slop​ and turn it into something useful. For several years, some people have predicted that the future of these sorts of creative tasks will involve some fusion of AI and talent. In The Future Normal, Henry and I wrote about the trend we called “Augmented Creativity” as a way of exploring this idea too.

This is a related, but ...

An Advertising Campaign That Could Actually Make You Happier

You should go out and have a beer. And just in case you need a bit of encouragement, Heineken wants you to go and have a beer too. That seems like a pretty obvious positioning for an alcohol brand, but their ​latest #socialoffsocials campaign​ is just another reminder of how the brand has consistently been sharing this message for decades. I worked on Heineken’s marketing when I was at Leo Burnett Sydney in the year 2000. Back then, they sponsored many live events and focused on how their beer e...

The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Religion of Sports by Gotham Chopra

Last Thursday was the opening of the NFL season and a big deal in my house, as well as across America. After twenty years of inept performances, last year our Washington Football Team / Commanders / Redskins made it all the way to the final round of the playoffs and like all NFL fans, we have nothing but hope for the season to come. We are undefeated as of today. The faith in our team, or any other, can feel a bit like religion. That’s the topic explored in my pick for this week’s Non-Obvious Bo...

The Curious Modern Popularity of Pumpkin Spice

It’s September and pumpkin spice everything is there. Coffee, candles, cereals, Oreos, dog treats, gum, ​hummus​ and even ​butt wipes​ (entertainingly rebranded as “Dumpkin Spice”). The inescapability of this random ingredient may leave you wondering why exactly it’s so popular … especially since it doesn’t actually include any pumpkin (the term “pumpkin spice” is used to describe an aromatic blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger).

The credit for its modern appeal ​often goes to Starb...

The Death of Articulate Criticism

No one cares what you hate on social media. Or at least they shouldn’t. But as the anonymity of the Internet offers up permission to people to be the worst versions of themselves, the exact opposite may be happening to professional critics of music, film and culture. In other words, they are getting nicer. In the New Yorker, this shift of ​how music critics “lost their edge“​ is explored in an article this week:

“The idea that people’s tastes have a right not to be criticized is, of course, q...

The Human Insight Behind a Restaurant That Promises Not to Make Any Money

A new restaurant in Manhattan called the ​Community Kitchen​ is doing a pilot test through November of a business model where people choose to pay what they can for a fine dining experience. The restaurant promises to use sustainable locally farmed ingredients, offer their workers a high wage and predictable hours, and a dining experience that rivals that of other establishments which might charge $100 a plate for a meal.

The dinner pricing is based on a fixed-menu meal on a sliding scale: $1...

The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams

If you thought, like I did, that many of the negative impacts that Facebook has had on our culture from failing to curb the spread of misinformation to offering evil people a platform was all about the money … this book will offer you a sobering reality check. Written by someone who was instrumental in that “growth at any cost” ethos that always defined Facebook, this is the ultimate highly readable tell-all memoir. From stories of crashing parties with Zuck to revealing stories of invitations f...