Sharpen Your Axe

How to analyze news and current events critically, so you don't fall for influencers promoting unconventional opinions backed by conspiracy theories.

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How to Set Fitness Goals

3 weeks ago | sharpenyouraxe.substack.com | Rupert Cocke

"Goal!" by ekkebus is licensed under CC BY 2.0.This week’s email might be too long for inbox. If it is, please click on the headline and read it on Substack!Although I am not a natural athlete in any way, shape or form, I have been training consistently multiple times a week for almost 30 years now in my spare time. This week’s essay will share some hard-won lessons on how to set fitness goals for healthy living, based on my experience and research.
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

4 weeks ago | sharpenyouraxe.substack.com | Rupert Cocke

"Day 149 - Crackpot..." by Menage a Moi is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.Experts can sometimes make catastrophic mistakes. Some of the clearest examples come from nutrition, where sound science-backed advice has a tendency to get watered down by corporate lobbyists long before it reaches the general public. Our biology is conservative; and keeping our stomachs full of ultra-processed pseudo-foods can lead to bad results for individuals and for society.
Writing a Problem Clearly Helps Solve It

1 month ago | sharpenyouraxe.substack.com | Rupert Cocke

"Projection and Problem Solving" by Ryan Somma is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.“The life which is unexamined is not worth living” - Socrates (Apology by Plato)Why is ChatGPT so good at reflective coaching? Part of the answer comes from an aphorism that has circulated since the 1980s: “If you write a problem down clearly, then the matter is half solved.”Thanks for reading Sharpen Your Axe! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Three Artists and One Genre to Keep Your Ears Open to New Music

1 month ago | sharpenyouraxe.substack.com | Rupert Cocke

"Jason Molina (Magnolia Electric Co.)" by djenvert is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.This week’s email might be too long for inbox. If it is, please click on the headline and read it on Substack!Thanks for reading Sharpen Your Axe! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Also, please note that today’s column discusses alternative music with adult themes. Some of the lyrics might contain profanities.
Why Are Rents Soaring in Barcelona?

1 month ago | sharpenyouraxe.substack.com | Rupert Cocke

"Barcelona" by Davidag is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.I feel so strongly about the futility of arguing with strangers on social media that I pnce wrote a whole book on the subject. However, I have an argumentative streak and once in a while, I break my own guidance. I recently found myself arguing with strangers, who were blaming“digital nomads” for rising rents in Barcelona. Instead of continuing the debate, I decided to turn my points into a slightly more productive blog post instead.
Culture War Bridgers

1 month ago | sharpenyouraxe.substack.com | Rupert Cocke

By http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=5371490960, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41668112Diaspora is a 1997 science-fiction novel from Greg Egan that imagines what a post-human (and post-biological) future would look like. It is a dense read that will be rewarding for geeks, who will appreciate the level of detail and innovation in the world-building that sits behind the narrative.
Increasing Complexity

2 months ago | sharpenyouraxe.substack.com | Rupert Cocke

Frere, John: "Account of Flint Weapons Discovered at Hoxne in Suffolk", in Archeologia, vol. 13.- London, 1800.- Pp. 204-205, public domainHand axes, made from flint or other stones, are the longest-used tools in human history. They were used for around a million and a half years by Homo erectus and other early humans, although only rarely by Homo sapiens. Perhaps strangely, their design persisted largely unchanged over more than a million years.
Five Spanish Words We Need to Borrow in English

2 months ago | sharpenyouraxe.substack.com | Rupert Cocke

"English Dictionaries" by jovike is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.One of the funniest things about my day job as a Barcelona-based financial journalist specialising in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is the constant use of Spanglish among financiers. It is quite common to hear sentences like this: “El pipeline de transacciones tiene buena pinta.” Thanks for reading Sharpen Your Axe! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Asabiya: A Concept We Need to Revive in 2025

2 months ago | sharpenyouraxe.substack.com | Rupert Cocke

Bust of Ibn Khaldoun in the entrance of the Kasbah of Bejaia, Algeria. © Reda Kerbouche, CC-BY-SA, GNU Free Documentation License, Wikimedia CommonsIn 1952, Dwight Eisenhower, the former Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe, entered the Presidential race of the United States (US) as a Republican. His mission was to stop Robert A. Taft, an isolationist Senator.
Is the Public Pensions System a Ponzi Scheme?

2 months ago | sharpenyouraxe.substack.com | Rupert Cocke

Charles Ponzi, by Boston Library (NYT); en.wikipedia.org - Boston Library (NYT); en.wikipedia.org, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31534797On 15th March, I published an essay challenging the hard right to find pro-natalist policies that want to work if its supporters want their anti-immigration narratives to be taken seriously.