Power Metal

1 week ago | powermetal.substack.com | Vince Beiser

Happy Thursday! For the last couple of weeks I’ve been asking readers to consider upgrading to a paid subscription, and the response has been great. If you haven’t made the jump yourself, I hope you’ll think about it. For many years I’ve made my living as a magazine freelancer, but now the news business is collapsing. Journalists have been laid off by the boatload, and once-mighty publications have shriveled or disappeared completely.

2 weeks ago | powermetal.substack.com | Vince Beiser

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3 weeks ago | powermetal.substack.com | Vince Beiser

Before we get started, a quick appeal. I’ve been cranking out this newsletter for a solid year now, offering up what I hope is valuable news and analysis on the perils and promise of the oncoming Electro-Digital Age. It’s been a very rewarding experience, and I’m tremendously grateful to the nearly 3,000 of you who have subscribed. To keep it going, though, I need a little more help.

1 month ago | powermetal.substack.com | Vince Beiser

It’s bad enough for Tesla that Americans furious at Elon Musk’s disemboweling of the federal government are torching dealerships and charging stations across the country. What’s worse is that it is losing ground to its rivals. Once the best-selling EV in China—the world’s biggest market for electric vehicles—Tesla is now dropping behind.

1 month ago | powermetal.substack.com | Vince Beiser

Roaming around an unfamiliar part of town a few weeks ago, I was delighted to stumble across a little storefront housing something called the Vancouver Tool Lending Library. It’s just what it sounds like: a place where you can borrow everything from power drills to hedge trimmers to chainsaws. Just like taking out a book from a regular library. It’s a beautiful concept with big implications.