Index No. 001
After Hours Foundry← Home

A public reading ledger

Notes from the
reading shelf.

Books finished, essays read, and the pieces waiting for a quiet hour.

I / Read

Finished & returned to

Books read 14

  1. The Lean StartupEric Ries
  2. Rich Dad Poor DadRobert T. Kiyosaki
  3. Zero to OnePeter Thiel with Blake Masters
  4. Schrödinger’s Cat
  5. The Elegant UniverseBrian Greene
  6. Project Hail MaryAndy Weir
  7. Thinking, Fast and SlowDaniel Kahneman
  8. The Underground EmpireHenry Farrell & Abraham Newman
  9. How to Take Smart NotesSönke Ahrens
  10. The Almanack of Naval RavikantEric Jorgenson
  11. Man’s Search for MeaningViktor E. Frankl
  12. The StrangerAlbert Camus
  13. Brave New WorldAldous Huxley
  14. Beyond Good and EvilFriedrich Nietzsche

Named articles read 3

Writers I return to

Essays and writing by two favorite authors.

II / Saved

Articles & essays for later

45 pieces, grouped loosely by the path that led me to them.

AI & intelligenceResearch agendas, embodied intelligence, and the institutions forming around AI.5
  1. Welcome to the Era of Experience David Silver & Richard S. Sutton
  2. Why AI Needs A Sense Of Smell Philip Maughan
  3. Centaurs and Cyborgs on the Jagged Frontier Ethan Mollick
  4. Large AI Models Are Cultural and Social Technologies Henry Farrell, Alison Gopnik, Cosma Rohilla Shalizi & James Evans
  5. A Framework for Frontier AI and the Dawning of a New Age Demis Hassabis
Science, work & modern lifeFour essays I saved directly for a later sitting.4
  1. Why Are Rivers So Mathematical? Natalie Wolchover
  2. Waking Up Science’s Sleeping Beauties Ulkar Aghayeva
  3. Modern Sisyphus: The Absurdity of the Corporate World Unwana Johnson
  4. How to Force Your Brain to Crave Doing Hard Things Conquer
Curious mindsMathematics, learning, curiosity, music, and the shape of a good question.10
  1. How I Rewired My Brain to Become Fluent in Math Barbara Oakley
  2. How to Think Like a Detective Ivar Fahsing
  3. The Three Styles of Curiosity Kira M. Newman
  4. The AI Revolution in Math Has Arrived Konstantin Kakaes
  5. To Supercharge Learning, Look to Play Susan Magsamen & Ivy Ross
  6. The Fermi Paradox Tim Urban
  7. How to Use AI Chatbots to Make You Smarter, Not Dumber Nick Kabrél
  8. How to Study Effectively Paul Penn
  9. How Music Hijacks Our Perception of Time Jonathan Berger
  10. Lifetime of Friendships Slows Aging Tyler Santora
Next blogsA small queue on abundance, money, black boxes, range, and play.5
  1. What Becomes Valuable When Intelligence Is Cheap? Houda Nait El Barj
  2. A History of Money, Banking and Economics Rebellio
  3. Everyday Technology Is Becoming a Black Box. Is There a Cost? Frank C. Keil
  4. Excellence Is a Polymath’s Game Alexander
  5. More Nothing Now Justin Neuman
Time does not passTwelve essays on time, attention, mortality, and what a life is spent on.12
  1. The Unreality of Time J. Ellis McTaggart
  2. The Perception of Time William James
  3. The Rhythm of Life Alice Meynell
  4. Of the Shortness of Life Seneca
  5. The Daily Miracle Arnold Bennett
  6. Useful Work versus Useless Toil William Morris
  7. Of Death Francis Bacon
  8. That to Study Philosophy Is to Learn to Die Michel de Montaigne
  9. On the Fear of Death William Hazlitt
  10. New Year’s Eve Charles Lamb
  11. Æs Triplex Robert Louis Stevenson
  12. How Should One Read a Book? Virginia Woolf
Internet rabbit holesFour places to fall in and come back with a better model.4
  1. How to Get Lucky Naval Ravikant, curated by Eric Jorgenson
  2. The 20 Biggest Mistakes We Make in Our 20s Jemma Sbeg
  3. Why Warm Countries Are Poorer Tomas Pueyo
  4. 1,000 True Fans Kevin Kelly
Work & attentionNotes on ambitious work, focus, neurodivergence, and changing a mind.5
  1. How to Do Great Work Paul Graham
  2. How to Pay Attention Again Yana Yuhai
  3. Neurodivergence: Why Your Brain Was Never Meant to Be Normal Ixcarus
  4. How to Trick Your Brain into Doing Hard Things Nat
  5. After Reading This, Your Brain Will Not Be the Same Neil

Publication shelves

Sources saved for browsing rather than single articles.

III / Saved

Books waiting on the shelf

24 books from two saved lists.

J.P. Morgan summer shelfThe 2026 Summer Reading List, saved in its published order.14
  1. How Great Ideas Happen: The Hidden Steps Behind Breakthrough SuccessGeorge Newman
  2. The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for SuperintelligenceSebastian Mallaby
  3. AI for Good: How Real People Are Using Artificial Intelligence to Fix Things That MatterJosh Tyrangiel
  4. America: The Imagination of a NationAssouline & Joel Stein
  5. Crisis Engineering: Time-Tested Tools for Turning Chaos into ClarityMarina Nitze, Matthew Weaver & Mikey Dickerson
  6. The Coming Storm: Power, Conflict, and Warnings from HistoryOdd Arne Westad
  7. Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and PurposeJennifer Breheny Wallace
  8. Coachable: How the Greatest Performers Reach Their Highest PotentialRic Bucher
  9. The Stimulated Mind: Future-Proof Your Brain from Dementia and Stay Sharp at Any AgeDr. Tommy Wood
  10. Light and ThreadHan Kang
  11. Irreplaceable: 60 of Humanity’s Most Treasured PlacesWorld Monuments Fund
  12. Keith Haring in 3DLarry Warsh & Glenn Adamson
  13. Squeeze Me: Lemon Recipes & ArtRuthie Rogers & Ed Ruscha
  14. We Are the World (Cup): A Personal History of the World’s Greatest Sporting EventRoger Bennett
Unfamiliar science fictionTen less-obvious science-fiction books saved from Collider’s list.10
  1. The Last ManMary Shelley
  2. Perdido Street StationChina Miéville
  3. GrassSheri S. Tepper
  4. NevernessDavid Zindell
  5. The Gone-Away WorldNick Harkaway
  6. Engine SummerJohn Crowley
  7. The Carpet MakersAndreas Eschbach
  8. BlindsightPeter Watts
  9. The InvincibleStanisław Lem
  10. Hard to Be a GodArkady & Boris Strugatsky

The margin note

A queue is not a claim.

Saved means saved. Read means read. Everything else remains undecided.

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