Linked List: September 29, 2023

Friday, 29 September 2023

Linda Yaccarino’s Excruciatingly Uncomfortable Interview With Julia Boorstin at the Code Conference ★

To the best of my recollection, I’ve never before seen an on-stage interview where the subject spent the final half of the interview pointing to her watch and repeatedly declaring that she was busy and had somewhere to go. Oof. I had to watch at 1.5× speed to get through it.

The whole interview was contentious, but Boorstin did as good a job as possible keeping it going, and asking good questions. One core tension: Musk’s week-ago declaration that he wants to make all of Twitter/X paid-subscription-only, vs. the obviousness of that being a terrible idea. Yaccarino has accepted an impossible position: pretending to run a company that she not only doesn’t actually run, but which is doing things she obviously disagrees with.

Sidenote: Yaccarino took out her iPhone and showed off her homescreen, and it’s a rather bizarre selection and arrangement of apps.

Senator Dianne Feinstein Dies at 90 ★

President Biden:

Often the only woman in the room, Dianne was a role model for so many Americans — a job she took seriously by mentoring countless public servants, many of whom now serve in my Administration. She had an immense impact on younger female leaders for whom she generously opened doors. Dianne was tough, sharp, always prepared, and never pulled a punch, but she was also a kind and loyal friend, and that’s what Jill and I will miss the most.