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Every Memo takes one claim you’ve probably heard and goes looking for what it’s built on. Here’s how to find your way around, depending on how much time you’ve got.
If you have 5 minutes
See who’s writing and how
The About page says who’s behind this and why there’s no name on it. How I Write explains how a claim gets checked and what happens when I’m wrong.
If you have 20
Pick a topic
Four topics, each with its own page: what it covers, the questions I’m chasing there, and every Memo filed under it.
If you want to stay
Get the next one by email
Each Memo goes out the day it’s finished. That’s the whole list.
Read by topic
01
Health & Wellness
Sleep, food, exercise, supplements, and the claims everyone repeats.
- When a diet study “doubles” a risk, doubled from what?
- Which supplement claims survive past the mechanism?
- Does that sleep trick everyone swears by do anything?
02
Behavior
Habits, attention, and why we decide the way we do.
- Why does a useful idea harden into an identity?
- Why is starting easier once the task shrinks?
- Which famous psychology findings held up?
03
Productivity & Tools
Systems and software that still work six months later.
- When does a system become another job?
- What should AI handle, and what shouldn’t it?
- Which study techniques have evidence behind them?
04
Curiosities
Odd histories and hidden systems.
- Why do disproved explanations stick around?
- Which ordinary inventions took absurdly long?
- Who said it first, and what did they cite?
What’s inside a Memo
§1
The claim
Stated plainly at the top, the way you’d hear it.
§2
The short version
What I found, in a paragraph, for when you’re busy.
§3
The working
The sources, linked so you can check them, and my own read labelled as mine.
§4
What’s still open
What nobody knows yet, and what would change my mind.