David Lidsky's Blog, page 14

Can AI doulas improve maternal health?

Step one is to build trust.

For pregnant women, the future is here—just in time for an urgent healthcare crisis. In the U.S., maternity care deserts are growing, often leaving communities completely without options. And despite the numerous warnings, nationwide maternal mortality data still paints a dire picture for pregnant women (especially rural women and women of color) who face preventable risks.

The Breanna Stewart of sports mascots

The secrets behind the popularity of the New York Liberty’s Ellie the Elephant, as told by the humans who know her best.

On October 24, 2024, tens of thousands of fans lined the streets of lower Manhattan to celebrate their latest hometown championship team, the New York Liberty. They gathered to cheer current players, including Finals MVP Jonquel Jones, and former legends who’d taken the team to the brink of a title in five previous seasons. But the parade’s biggest draw may have been the team’s mascot, Ellie the Elephant.

Ground transportation is one of the most lobbied sectors in the United States. Here’s why that matters

The auto-oriented groups are by far the most funded, so they have the most influence.

Transportation policy and infrastructure are determined by what the most influential lobbyists spend their resources on.

How Musk’s techno-utopianism evolved from 20th-century Europe

The futurists of the 20th century influenced the political sphere, but their movements were ultimately artistic and literary, unlike Musk’s ambitions.

In The Singularity is Nearer: When We Merge with AI, the futurist Ray Kurzweil imagines the point in 2045 when rapid technological progress crosses a threshold as humans merge with machines, an event he calls “the singularity.”

3 questions to ask to clarify confusing feedback

Good feedback helps you understand what went wrong, why, and how to improve. Here’s what to do if your feedback doesn’t have this.

Moderna shares hit a low after report suggests the FDA plans to tie COVID shots to child deaths

Moderna shares were down 7.4% Friday—their lowest level since March 2020. The drop brought the drugmaker’s year-to-date slump to more than 44%.

Pharma stocks took a fresh hit on Friday following a report in The Washington Post that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reportedly plans to link COVID-19 vaccines with the deaths of 25 minors.

Trump administration moves to stop requiring polluters to report emissions

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposal would end a federal requirement for 8,000-plus facilities to report greenhouse gas data.

The Trump administration on Friday announced that it plans to stop requiring more than 8,000 polluters to report greenhouse gas emissions.

From cheese recalls to Klarna’s IPO, this week in business had it all

Automakers, fintechs, and emerging markets all made headlines in a week where AI optimism met political risk.

This week served up a sampler platter of business stories with a little bit of everything: food recalls that had shoppers double-checking the fridge, a high-stakes immigration raid that spilled into international diplomacy, and a splashy fintech IPO testing investor appetite. Housing data hinted that the balance of power is (slowly) tilting back toward buyers in parts of the country, while a blue-chip tech veteran reminded Wall Street that AI demand can paper over a messy quarter. Overseas, Argentina’s markets were whipsawed by politics—again—underscoring how quickly sentiment flips when reform agendas wobble.

Housing markets with falling home prices just hit highest level since 2012

At the end of July, 38% of the nation’s 200 largest housing markets saw home prices fall year over year.

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter.

What retirement might look like for the characters of ‘The Breakfast Club’

Forty years after we met them, the five Gen X icons from the John Hughes classic would be facing retirement. Here’s how that might look for each of them.

The five teens who make up The Breakfast Club struck a major chord with its Gen X audience, earning the film over $50 million on a $1 million budget when it was released. John Hughes created characters who felt like real teenagers—and he cast five young actors who did a bang-up job portraying these realistic kids with emotion, dignity, and humor. It felt like we were watching real people overcome their prejudices together.