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One of the great what-if’s in media and tech is, what would have happened in Google - not Amazon - had bought Twitch? A decade ago, Google/YouTube and Amazon were in a battle to grab Twitch, a then red hot live streaming platform focused mostly on gaming, but with aspirations for much more. Amazon won the sweepstakes, shelling out nearly $1 billion to land the property, which promised to be forerunner for how young people will consume media in the coming decades.

“Peter, I can’t do this.” I grabbed my boyfriend by the arm. The crew with whom we were making a porn movie had just arrived, their footsteps like drum beats as they made their way upstairs to our second floor flat. I stared at the doorway. I must’ve been crazy to say yes. Their footsteps continued. Maneuvering past me, their tripods were like hulking robots, their metal legs clattering along the wooden floor.

At the end of every year, I write up the major lessons of the past year and send it to the Scale AI team. This year, given the degree to which AI has become a global topic, I wanted to share it broadly. The conceit of an expert is a trap. Strive for a beginner’s mind and the energy of a novice. Experience can often be a curse—the past is only mildly predictive of the future, and every scenario requires new techniques and insight.

It’s been almost 18 months since I covered my last baseball game and there’s not much I miss about my old life as a beat reporter. I could write thousands of words about what I didn’t like about the job, about the significant toll it took on my health and the way the media industry has evolved to make beat reporting a largely unsustainable profession.  Those words, however, would be a waste of my time and an even greater waste of yours.

A few months ago an old friend from high school sent me a text about the Immaculate Grid, an online baseball trivia game. I checked it out quickly and didn’t understand it. However, I went back to it a few weeks later and became hooked. Now the Immaculate Grid is like a warmup exercise for my day. It allows me to start thinking about obscure baseball pl… ncG1vNJzZmikmaOwsLjNpqCtm5iaua160q6ZrKyRmLhvr86mZqlnp52utXnIr5xmpJWWv6%2Bxw2adq6edYsGpsYyipKaZk6q5osDE

I recently finished an 8 week therapy workshop on self-compassion (feel free to applaud), and I learned a term on the very last day that really stuck with me. Over-Identification. The words popped up in the results of a self-compassion quiz I had to to do for homework. I scored super high in the over-identification category, and my inner straight-A student was hoping this indicated that I aced my class and now had honor roll worthy self esteem.

Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade.I never knew what  that  meant when I heard it on the radio. To be honest, I was never able to make out what the words were.  I think I got as far as ‘hast  du…..’ and then was lost until the chorus. And when I say ‘the chorus’ I really mean I could understand two words: ‘99 Luftballoons.’ I had no idea what the song was saying – in German or English.

Welcome to Original Jurisdiction, the latest legal publication by me, David Lat. You can learn more about Original Jurisdiction by reading its About page, you can reach me by email at davidlat@substack.com, and you can subscribe by clicking on the button below. Pop quiz, Con Law hot shot. What’s a letter of marque and reprisal? Many of you consider yourselves fairly knowledgeable about constitutional law. But how familiar are you with the Letters of Marque and Reprisal Clause, a provision so obscure that it makes the Third Amendment seem famous by comparison?

Opening up about a past "situationship" was incredibly difficult (or should I say embarrassing), but I really wanted to share with you all how that experience illuminated my insecure attachment patterns and codependent behaviors that I was completely unaware of. I would describe a situationship as a romantic connection, but nothing that suggests commitment. It’s perfect if you want to be in limbo and constantly question your sanity. 🤣 I’ve found myself in my fair share of situationships because I prided myself on being “easy-going” and “fun”.