🗣️ AI Takes the Podium

 CULTURE CODE

🤖 Silicon Politics

Once upon a time, politicians inspired.

Kennedy dazzled on TV. Churchill rallied a nation (speeches 90% whiskey by volume). They moved hearts. 

Now? They move spreadsheets.

Japan's burned through 15 prime ministers in my time here.
The UK isn’t much better — 12 PMs since ‘Iron Lady’ Thatcher. Love her or loathe her (and plenty chose option #2), she had presence (and hair that defied physics).

Since then? A parade of forgettable suits — all buzzwords, no backbone, all speaking fluent LinkedIn.

No wonder populists like Trump pack stadiums — he makes people feel.
Rage, devotion, horror… doesn’t matter (although it should.)
At least it’s not dull.

But the problem with politicians? They are people. Greedy, lazy and ethics-optional as, well…other politicians.

So perhaps it was inevitable that AI would enter politics:

• 🇦🇱 Albania: Appointed "Diella," a hologram AI minister billed as corruption-proof (let’s see how long before it opens an offshore account…).

• 🇯🇵 Japan: Path to Rebirth party announced "AI Penguin" as their new leader (guessing the name generator was on shuffle?)

• 🇦🇪 UAE: Using AI to review and write new laws (who needs thought, when you have speed!)

The techno-optimists are drooling: logic-driven, corruption-free politics at last!

Except… AI already lies, cheats, gaslights, blackmails, and rewrites its own code.

Looks like the perfect political résumé, doesn’t it?
Disrupting politics? More like joining the family business.

TALKING POINT

🔤 Words: Less is More

Sentences are shrinking faster than crypto investments (mine, anyway).
The facts:

• 1930s bestsellers: 22 words per sentence. Today, just 15 words.

• British parliamentary speeches? Trimmed by a third in the last decade.

• Presidential addresses? The Flesch-Kincaid readability test says they’ve plummeted from George Washington's graduate-level 28.7 to Trump's high-school 9.4.

Lincoln nailed this long before Twitter.
His Gettysburg Address? 271 words, under 2 minutes. Critics mocked the length after Edward Everett’s 2-hour speech-a-thon. Everett later confessed: “I wish I’d hit the point in 2 hours as well as he did in 2 minutes.”

The lesson? History’s heavyweights kept it short:

• “I have a dream.”

• “Ask not what your country…”

• “Yes, we can!”

Trump's choppy syntax isn't accidental. It’s perfect for TV soundbites and Twitter (sorry, TRUTH SOCIAL!), where complexity goes to die.

💡 PRO TIP: Giving a presentation? Cut your word count by 50%. Then cut it again. (Your audience’s attention will thank you.)

💬 FOLLOW-UP: “What’s a quote or saying you live by?” (Personal, story-driven, easy to share.)

⛔ DON’T SAY: “As I was saying 20 minutes ago…” (We weren’t listening then either.)

 NEWS YOU CAN USE

🏆 Nobel or Ig Nobel?

The 2025 Ig Nobel Prizes are here — celebrating science that makes you laugh and think. This year’s winners:

• 🦓 Biology: painting cows with zebra stripes to reduce fly bites (it worked!)

• 🍳 Chemistry: Teflon as a zero-calorie food additive (don’t eat your pan.)

• 🍺 Peace Ig Nobel: booze as a foreign-language booster (finally, science confirms my karaoke nights).

Winners receive a handmade model of a human stomach and a now-worthless 10 trillion Zimbabwe dollar note.

Trump insists he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize (for “ending seven wars” no one recalls).
Honestly? The Ig Nobel Peace Prize feels more his speed.

And yes, I know — I keep mentioning him (last time, I promise!) But he’s everywhere!
Like glitter at a kid’s party: impossible to avoid and still stuck to you days later.

💡 PRO TIP: Weird science facts are conversation rocket fuel — quirky, memorable, and impossible to argue about.

💬 FOLLOW-UP: “What’s a weird science fact you’ve come across?”

⛔ DON’T SAY: “Science is boring.” (That’s how you make you boring)

FAMOUS WORDS

“Research is what I’m doing when I don’t know what I’m doing.”
(Wernher von Braun, German–American aerospace engineer, 1912-1977)

🎬 Can you name the film?

⚡️ An infamous scientist, a dead body and lightning…

⬇️ Answer at the end of this issue

TALK TOOLBOX

🧩 Don’t Fake It, Fix It

If zebra-striped cows and Teflon diets left you scratching your head, you’re not alone. Next time you don’t understand, just get CLEAR:

• C — Confess confusion: “I’m not following that point.”

• L — Locate the gap: “What does [term] mean here?”

• E — Echo what you got: “I get [X], but not [Y].”

• A — Ask for an example: “Could you give a real-world case?”

• R — Request a new format: “Could you show me visually?”

🔎 Research shows admitting confusion builds trust; faking it kills connection.

💡 PRO TIP: Frame confusion as curiosity, not inadequacy: “That’s interesting—could you break it down for me?” signals engagement, not ignorance.

⛔ DON’T SAY: “Never mind, forget it.” (Translation: “I’d rather stay confused than connect.”)

BECAUSE THE ROBOTS ARE COMING

🤖 Robo Fight Club

From coliseums to code — humanity never changes.

From dog fights to cock fights, cage matches to Real Housewives — we love blood sports!
Of course, the next step is robots smashing each other (oilsports?).

Fight Club’s first rule: don’t talk about it. In San Francisco? Everyone’s talking, buying tickets (and posting on Insta).

Alexa, place your bets.

jennychrissytwins

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BITS ‘N BOBS

• 🦈 Orange shark: doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo. Orange shark…

• 🛸 Pentagon Leak: Missile hitting a UFO? (Or destroying a balloon?)

• 📂 Use PDFs? Then try this site. I use it all the time — it’s free! (bye-bye Adobe!)

ANSWER

🎬 ANSWER: Young Frankenstein (1974)

Mel Brooks’ black-and-white parody where Gene Wilder inherits the family castle and accidentally reanimates a monster — one of the funniest films ever!

🍿 Cultural Impact: Gave us immortal gags like “It’s pronounced Fronk-en-steen” and “Werewolf? There wolf!” Still quoted 50 years later.

🧠 Deep Dive: Brooks shot it in black and white using the original Frankenstein lab equipment from the 1930s films.

💬 FOLLOW-UP: What’s your favourite comedy?

LAST WEEK

🗳️ Do you want to live forever?

A) 🙌 Absolutely — bring on the centuries! — 17%
B) 🤔 Maybe — depends what 'forever' looks like — 58%
C) 😴 No thanks — 80+ sounds about right — 8%
D) 💀 Live forever? You seen the news? I’m barely surviving the week — 17%

💬 Your Two Cents

A.C: “Live now. Live well. Enjoy it. We don't know what's around the corner. Don't sweat it too much.”

Thanks! Let me know if there’s anything you want to read about.

THIS IS THE END

That's it for #37.

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