I’ve always found people who bristle at “American exceptionalism” kind of… weird. Not because I lack self-awareness — I’ve spent my career cataloging every way this country fails to live up to its own rules. But that’s exactly why I love it so damn much. We built a system designed to be shamed by its own founding documents, and it still delivered one of the most spectacular, world-altering runs in human history. A genuine force for human flourishing. I also found the argument against American exceptionalism to be historically illiterate. Here’s a sample of what we were first at: • The first large-scale democratic republic in human history — not a city-state, not a monarchy with a parliament bolted on, but a bold continental experiment in self-rule, popular sovereignty, and ordered liberty. • A written Constitution (1789) with separation of powers and checks & balances — still the oldest national constitution in force anywhere. • The Bill of Rights (1791): the first time a nation wrote “the government cannot touch these” into supreme law and actually meant it. A dare the world copied — from later rights charters to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. • Public land-grant universities and mass higher education (Morrill Act), opening college to ordinary people no aristocracy would have let near the gates. (but don’t get me started about what happened after we started. Massively federally funding it.) • Kitty Hawk, 1903 — first controlled powered flight. • The Moon, 1969 — still the only ones who’ve been there. • The world’s largest economy since ~1890, powering unprecedented prosperity through grit and genius. • The assembly line, skyscraper, transistor, personal computer, ARPANET — the backbone of the modern world. • Telephone, phonograph, GPS — connecting and powering daily life. • Surgical anesthesia, polio vaccine — saving and transforming millions of lives. • Jazz, blues, rock ‘n’ roll — brand new American art forms that conquered the globe. • Hollywood’s dreams, blue jeans, bourbon, and a culture so open a kid like me could devour sushi, burritos, stuffed cabbage, and tabouli in the same week and rightfully think of it all as American. That’s the part that fills me with genuine love and pride: not just the power or the wins, but the appetite for freedom, creativity, and reinvention. The audacity to say “We the People” and keep trying to live up to it. What do you love most about this truly exceptional country? 🇺🇸

the rebrand of startup content marketing as new media must be studied

The AI exchange is live. Trade the takeoff: mnx.fi

Some have asked about this: Susan and I wanted our gift to give 25 million children a stronger start and to reach communities where it could make the greatest difference. We began with all eligible children born between 2016 and 2024 who signed up before auto-enrollment and lived in ZIP codes with median family income of $150,000 or less. We wanted families who took that first step to know they could count on our commitment. Next were military children living overseas who also signed up before auto-enrollment. They represented a very small share of our $6.25 billion gift, but we didn’t want to leave them out because their military addresses didn’t fit the usual ZIP-code income framework. Their parents are serving our country abroad, and we want these children included in the future we are investing in. When all American children were auto-enrolled at the beginning of this month, we immediately began funding the accounts of all children born 2016 to 2024 in eligible ZIP codes, beginning in ZIP codes with lowest median family income and moving progressively to higher median family income, up to 25 million accounts in total. We chose this approach with care and a simple hope: that these investments will open doors and help millions of children build the futures they dream of. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

The newly minted Nobel Prize winner Anne Carson shared a book recommendation and some timeless writing advice at the 2024 National Book Awards.

Name a book that everyone should read. I’ll go first: Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl.

Have you ever finished a book and immediately thought, “Yep, I need to read everything this author has ever written”?

Tourists face legal action after being filmed riding a nesting sea turtle in Oman Honestly, this really makes me angry. A nesting turtle should be left alone, not treated like something people can climb on for a video. Wildlife deserves our respect and space

Introducing @Supertake, a new platform that transforms your unique takes on the world into real, shareable investment portfolios using frontier AI and trading agents. Supertake makes it easy for anyone to invest in their ideas, even if they know nothing about investing. 1/