Chris Beam

When I called Engel to ask him about all of this, he told me that he does not believe that genetics are “the chief explanation” for how Anglo-Protestant ideals are transferred from generation to generation—but added that “there is an ethnic or racial correlation” between who embodies such ideals and who doesn’t. Our conversation was polite, but strange at times. I mentioned that as a half-Iranian American who was born and raised in the U.S., I share more in common ideologically with the Anglo-Protestant Founders of the United States than I do with Middle Eastern theocrats. “I would also contend that there is something deep inside of you that is attracted to or finds familiar portions of Iranian history,” he said, as though I am genetically predisposed to find the conquests of Darius the Great uniquely moving. I don’t, and told him as much. “I’m not contending that you can’t take someone and raise him within a certain cultural environment and he begins to adopt the taste and all that,” Engel responded. “But I do contend that if you bring in massive groups of people over time, it’s going to, in a few generations, be a lot culturally different than it would otherwise have been if you never had done that.”

Obsessed with this portion of @alibreland.bsky.social’s latest, on “heritage Americans,” not just because it’s snappy, but because it reveals much about the nature of the ideology these people have: superior, unwavering, fundamentally rooted in historic unreality www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

The Future of AI Filmmaking Is a Parody of the Apocalypse, Made by a Guy Named Josh Behold Neural Viz, the first great cinematic universe of the AI era.

Josh Wallace Kerrigan had a bold idea: To make AI video that does not suck.

www.wired.com/story/the-fu...

Crypto Bros Are Trying to Monetize Charlie Kirk’s Death Every big news event is a memecoin now.

Wrote about the Charlie Kirk memecoin frenzy (gift link):

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

China Is Run by Engineers, and the US by Too Many Lawyers In his new book, Dan Wang argues that America is too good at making rules, and could learn from Beijing’s laser focus on technical innovation.

I spoke with Dan Wang, who argues in his new book "Breakneck" that the US needs to rekindle its love of engineering -- and that means learning from China:

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

She Wanted to Save the World From A.I. Then the Killings Started.

Spent a brain-melting amount of time talking, reading, and thinking about the Zizians:

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/06/b...

The Zany Sports Movie That Explains U.S.-China Relations A decade ago, I wrote a story about transcending cultural boundaries through football. Now it’s a major Chinese motion picture—with a very different message.

how @chrisbeam.bsky.social inspired a major chinese movie

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

How I Accidentally Inspired a Major Chinese Motion Picture A decade ago, I wrote a story about transcending cultural boundaries through sports. Now it’s a movie with a very different message.

"My article, titled 'Year of the Pigskin,' was natural Hollywood bait," Christopher Beam writes. "Now a Chinese studio appeared to have simply lifted the idea":

The Zany Sports Movie That Explains U.S.-China Relations A decade ago, I wrote a story about transcending cultural boundaries through football. Now it’s a major Chinese motion picture—with a very different message.

Story here: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

A Chinese movie studio (unofficially) adapted my 2014 article about an American football team. The differences from the original say a lot about how US-China relations have deteriorated

How Trump Defeated Columbia The inside story of an unconditional surrender.

What a sad & poignant story -- the kind of thing that will serve a mile marker when historians write about the loss of US democracy.

Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age Having a Child in the Digital Age

SECOND LIFE by @amandahess.bsky.social is out today! bookshop.org/p/books/seco...

the one and only @amandahess.bsky.social has written the most moving book about "having a child in the digital age"—but it's really about so much more. it's a meditation on the oppressiveness of tech, the fragility of humans, the miracle & bittersweetness of life... i would love for you to read it

What Rough Beast Politics Podcast · What Rough Beast, hosted by Virginia Heffernan (Wired, Trumpcast) and Stephen Metcalf (Slate, Culture Gabfest) is a podcast where we bear witness to America’s demise, and ask what m...

If you were a Trumpcast listener, this may be what you need now: my new show w/Stephen Metcalf. It's designed to be adrenaline for a better future.

We look straight at the catastrophe. And we ask what can be built from the rubble. It's also free & ad-free.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

‘It was so freeing’: How a cellphone ban is changing life at a Virginia high school | CNN Wakefield High School is part of a pilot program requiring students to put their phones inside magnetic locking pouches every morning. Students – and teachers – are happy with the results so far.

"They’re hanging out, like something out of a movie.”

www.cnn.com/2025/04/02/u...

The Ugly Fight Over Ayn Rand’s Estate The author gave Leonard Peikoff everything—her ideas, her copyrights, and her money. Then he fell in love with his caregiver.

Ayn Rand gave Leonard Peikoff everything—her ideas, her copyrights, and her money. Then he fell in love with his caregiver.

My deep dive on the battle for Ayn Rand’s estate:

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Interesting read.

"Devoted aide" might be an understatement www.nytimes.com/2024/11/25/u...

The Business-School Scandal That Just Keeps Getting Bigger The rot runs deeper than almost anyone has guessed.

Behavioral science is troubled and overly influential in general, but “business-school psychology,” as my colleague and editor @engber.bsky.social calls it, is basically just a machine for fraud, erected to enrich its fraudsters.

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

The ‘Democracy’ Gap Almost all Americans say they support democracy—but they have very different ideas about what the word means.

"In the collective mind of U.S. voters, the concept of democracy appears to be so muddled, and their commitment to it so conditional, that it makes you wonder what, if anything, they’d do anything to stop its erosion—or whether they’d even notice that happening." www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Steve Dunleavy, Brash Face of Murdoch Journalism, Dies at 81 (Published 2019) An Australian with sartorial dash, he was a reporter, columnist, editor and TV correspondent who practiced a feisty brand of tabloid journalism.

“Mate, I’ve never had a bad day in journalism in my life. ...You win, you get drunk because you won. You lose, you get drunk because you lost.” --Steve Dunleavy www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/b...

The Meme King of Longevity Now Wants to Sell You Olive Oil Bryan Johnson, a data-obsessed Silicon Valley centimillionaire, is promoting food and supplements that promise to help people live longer. Scientists say his program is highly questionable. So why are...

Wrote about longevity guru Bryan Johnson’s pivot to supplements:

www.nytimes.com/2024/01/12/b...

Thanks Chris!

Michael Lewis Doesn’t Do Villains With his new book about the crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried — and new questions about his old work — the famously charmed writer finds himself under a microscope.

Spent some time with Michael Lewis, who has nothing controversial to say about anything:

www.nytimes.com/2023/10/06/b...

I’d watch that series

The AI Detection Arms Race Is On—and College Students Are Building the Weapons Gen Alpha is quickly developing tools that identify AI-generated text—and tools to evade detection.

New story for WIRED: “The AI Detection Arms Race Is On,” starring an idealistic Princeton grad entrepreneur who wants to preserve the human touch, a Stanford wunderkind who wants to see AI unleashed, and … John McPhee

The Crypto Winter Cost People More Than Their Money Some acolytes lost faith, others blamed devils—and some went even harder. An essay exploring what happens when the prophecy of blockchain fails.

Spoke with true believers about how they’re dealing with “crypto winter,” got a crash course in human psychology: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2023-crypto-winter/