If you do anything based on this week's newsletter, let it be watching the devastating spoken word video: "AI, Ain't I A Woman?"

In a world of increasing reliance on algorithms, while the Silicon Valley elite promise better judgment through machines, our very human biases are getting encoded deeper and deeper into our technology. Who will stop it?

The video is a project of MIT scientist and poet Joy Buolamwini, who also founded the Algorithmic Justice League (You can also find her excellent TED talk there.) 

(This is all true. And somehow all legal.)

Earlier this year, a private Israeli non-profit whose mission is to create a “backup” of planet earth (!) came very close to landing the first-ever private spacecraft on the moon. Except it didn’t so much land as crash and get destroyed.

But you know what’s not so easily destroyed? Tardigrades! Aka water bears, aka moss piglets, they are essentially micro animals that can survive for years without food or water. They are the biggest badass survivalists on our planet. (If they run out of water they just basically turn to glass until they can be rehydrated.) (!!)

So guess what was on that spaceship that crashed on the moon? You guessed it! Tardigrades! Are now scattered all over the moon!! Is this how un-killable microscopic water bears become our overlords?  (Among other things on the spaceship were the secrets to David Copperfield’s magic tricks. You just can’t make this up, friends.)

READ ABOUT IT (and see a tardigrade!) HERE (Wired)

Okay, so I posted about this buzzy-but-non-alchoholic drink that I bought off an Instagram ad (whatever, not ashamed) and fell in love with. And so many people messaged me about their own adventures in non-boozing! (Like I said on that post: I love the booze, but it doesn't love me back–and it seems I am not alone!)

Besides that drink (Kin Euphorics), I also enjoy Recess CBD drink and two people recommended Som Drinking Vinegars.

But my regular nightly sleepy-time mocktail is sparkling mineral water, an ounce or two of tart cherry juice (full of triptophans to help you sleep), a few drops of lavender CBD bitters, and some kava tincture. It's a great no-hangover wind-down. Cheers!

I decided to include handwritten notes in the books that my press team is sending out, and as I was writing them, I thought it'd be fun to see who else wants one.

So: want a little snail mail? Just respond back to this email with your mailing address and I'll send you a little personal note to say hello. : )

This article is not anti-medication. What it is, though, is a deep dive into what it's like to come off of the kinds of drugs that millions of us take every day. This piece completely changed my relationship with my own daily prescriptions.

For instance, when beginning many long-term medications, there are ramp-up "packs," copious information and detailed protocols. When coming off them . . . nothing. Patients are on their own and doctors are left guessing, too.

Anyways, the article is fantastic and complex. If you or someone you love takes long-term medication, I can't recommend reading it enough.

READ THE ARTICLE HERE (New Yorker)