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Joan Westenberg
Joan Westenberg

1.98K Followers

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23 hours ago

The curse of the Sisyphean read-later list

Let’s talk about our digital ‘save for later’ pile. You know what I’m talking about — that growing list of articles, videos, and podcasts we swear we’ll get to eventually. It’s like we’re building our own little museum of cool stuff we’ll explore ‘one day.’ When are you going to…

Writing

3 min read

The curse of the Sisyphean read-later list
The curse of the Sisyphean read-later list
Writing

3 min read


1 day ago

Why are we obsessed with the multiverse?

Why are we so drawn to the idea of multiple realities? It feels like this concept is everywhere, touching every part of our culture. More than a trend, it seems to come from a deep place within us — a longing for a place where our world’s limits don’t exist…

Writing

3 min read

Why are we obsessed with the multiverse?
Why are we obsessed with the multiverse?
Writing

3 min read


4 days ago

No matter how hard you try, your job will never love you.

Your career doesn’t give a s**t — We enter the workforce bright-eyed, ready to give it our all. But there’s a bitter truth they don’t teach in school: your job will eventually treat you like shit. There’s no two ways about it. No matter how earnestly you devote yourself or how loudly you profess your loyalty, work…

Writing

4 min read

No matter how hard you try, your job will never love you.
No matter how hard you try, your job will never love you.
Writing

4 min read


6 days ago

I was a Christian youth leader. Now I’m proud to be transgender.

I used to have a job teaching kids not to be themselves. I was a Catholic youth leader, running activities and leading prayer circles every Friday night, organising events and outings, and acting as an extremely unqualified counsellor for a collection of 13–18 year olds. I held a seat on…

Writing

5 min read

I was a Christian youth leader. Now I’m proud to be transgender.
I was a Christian youth leader. Now I’m proud to be transgender.
Writing

5 min read


Nov 22

My biggest mistake as a creator: thinking I had an audience.

The biggest mistake I have made as a creator is letting my ego, my ambition, and the shallowness of social media convince me that I had an “Audience” instead of a network. It’s easy to become obsessed with the shallow popularity contest, with notions of influence and attention. And over…

Writing

3 min read

My biggest mistake as a creator: thinking I had an audience.
My biggest mistake as a creator: thinking I had an audience.
Writing

3 min read


Nov 22

Housing shouldn’t be a slot machine for the wealthy.

It shouldn’t be controversial to say this: we are in a generationally catastrophic housing crisis. The data is stark and clear: over the decade leading up to 2023, house prices have witnessed a steep rise across Australia. Specifically, the median price for established houses in major cities like Sydney soared…

Writing

5 min read

Housing shouldn’t be a slot machine for the wealthy.
Housing shouldn’t be a slot machine for the wealthy.
Writing

5 min read


Nov 21

You can’t buy inner peace from an influencer.

As a society, we are heading for a crisis point. We’re pumped up on articles that tell us there’s a template for being happy, and there are 10 characteristics we need if we want to be millionaires, and we have to hustle 24/7 if we want to succeed, and we…

Writing

5 min read

You can’t buy inner peace from an influencer.
You can’t buy inner peace from an influencer.
Writing

5 min read


Nov 20

How our brains get hooked on narratives

In late 2018, the world was captivated by the dramatic rescue of a youth soccer team from a flooded cave in Thailand. The Wild Boars, a group of twelve boys aged 11 to 16 and their coach, explored the Tham Luang cave complex when sudden monsoon rains trapped them inside…

Social Media

8 min read

How our brains get hooked on narratives
How our brains get hooked on narratives
Social Media

8 min read


Nov 19

Raising awareness isn’t going to change the world.

Your social media feed is likely peppered with profile pictures adorned with the colours of the latest cause, hashtags that gain traction faster than wildfire, and influencers who jump onto the bandwagon with well-curated but superficial support. But there’s a disconnect between these digital displays and tangible, real-world impact. The…

Writing

3 min read

Raising awareness isn’t going to change the world.
Raising awareness isn’t going to change the world.
Writing

3 min read


Nov 16

Elon Musk: tech visionary or cringe-posting boomer?

There’s something almost quaint about how Elon Musk, a tech giant ostensibly at the forefront of innovation, resorts to the kind of jibes you’d expect from a grumpy uncle at Thanksgiving. When he tosses around phrases like “The New Woke Times” and “Lamestream Media,” it feels less like the cutting-edge…

Writing

3 min read

Elon Musk: tech visionary or cringe-posting boomer?
Elon Musk: tech visionary or cringe-posting boomer?
Writing

3 min read

Joan Westenberg

Joan Westenberg

1.98K Followers

🍕 I write about tech + humans + economics.

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