STATUS // operational
Westenberg. | v1.0 | 2026
DEFINITION_

Westenberg.

Field Notes on Now.

TYPE // publication STATUS // active POSTS // UPDATED // 2026-04-23

$ cat ./posts/latest

Why prediction markets are a sure sign that our civilisation is in decay

Prediction markets are the clearest single sign our civilisation has entered a late and decadent stage. The reason isn't that they're new or sinister. It's that the case for them is defensible, the technology works, the outputs are useful, but the long-term effect is corrosive anyway.

$ ls ./posts/

$ cat ./posts/* --sort=date --order=desc
2

How we lost the living Now

Before 1840, noon in Bristol happened about ten minutes after noon in London, and nobody much cared. The railway needed a common minute or it couldn't run - and that common minute is now a common nanosecond, shipped in real time.

2026-04-20 7 min read
3

I truly hate mostpeopleslop

In 2006, Joe Sugarman published a book called The Adweek Copywriting Handbook - and an axiom stuck... "The sole purpose of the first sentence in an advertisement is to

2026-04-16 6 min read
4

Sometimes powerful people just do dumb shit

This newsletter is free to read, and it’ll stay that way. But if you want more - extra posts each month, no sponsored CTAs, access to the community, and

2026-04-13 7 min read
5

Optimism is not a personality flaw

This newsletter is free to read, and it’ll stay that way. But if you want more - extra posts each month, no sponsored CTAs, access to the community, and

2026-04-12 7 min read
6

Why I quit "The Strive"

This newsletter is free to read, and it’ll stay that way. But if you want more - extra posts each month, no sponsored CTAs, access to the community, and

2026-04-10 9 min read
7

The Hacker News tarpit

This newsletter is free to read, and it’ll stay that way. But if you want more - extra posts each month, no sponsored CTAs, access to the community, and

2026-04-06 7 min read
8

The AI writing witchhunt is pointless.

Alexandre Dumas ran what was essentially a content production house in 19th century Paris. His most famous collaborator was Auguste Maquet, who wrote substantial portions of The Three Musketeers and

2026-04-04 10 min read
9

The "Passive Income" trap ate a generation of entrepreneurs

I had coffee last year with a guy - I won't use his real name - who told me he was "building a business." I asked

2026-04-03 8 min read
10

Time is a User-Interface

2026-04-02 4 min read
11

The Entire Internet Is a UGC Reaction Video Now

I keep a folder in Apple Notes called “cursed websites,” where I save various artefacts that make me feel like the social contract has dissolved. Call it an act of

2026-03-31 6 min read
12

The World's First Bullshit

I opened Twitter this morning and three different startups were announcing "the world's first" something. An AI CMO, an autonomous AI marketer, and a design agent

2026-03-31 4 min read
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