I'm giving a talk next Thursday. For anyone who came to the discussion a while back on tacit knowledge, in some ways this is a continuation of that conversation. An update on what I've been researching and thinking about in the interim. I would love to see you there.

I am excited to vote Brad today. If you're on the fence about your vote, here's my reasoning for why: @BradMBradford has a clear vision for the city. He wants it to be the best place in the world to live and raise a family and in all of his stated policies he has indicated he is willing to act as a serious executive to achieve that vision. He has spent almost all of his career in urban planning or city government and is intimately familiar with how the city is run. I have known about his ideas and policy positioning for almost a decade and they match what he says he wants with Toronto as a shining example for everyone in Canada and the world of what a city could be. This is clear in the plan you can read on his site. We badly need this. Toronto is not well. Compared to a decade ago: - Crime, especially violent crime, is significantly higher - Public transit service quality has degraded. Open air drug use and anti-social behaviour is a common feature of people's daily experience. - House prices remain seriously unaffordable for the average person. - Adjusted for inflation, the City’s budget has grown substantially, and property taxes rose almost 20% in the last three years, with negligible improvement in service quality. Many of the most important levers for all of these are municipal. The City funds and oversees the police, runs the TTC, sets zoning, and controls its own budget. The current mayor, Olivia Chow, has shown in her actions she does not take this seriously. She seems not to care. - Didn't take her police board seat to set police policy and priorities. - Her signature TTC policies have been around reducing fares while service quality continues to degrade. This could change. The new CEO has said his priority is reliability but given her focus in campaigning I'm unconvinced. - Didn't push through housing reforms like sixplexes city-wide even when she said she believed in them and had the power to do so. As I have paid attention to her largest announcements over the last few years most have the populist flavour I've come to associate with Doug Ford: freebies and a bunch of ribbon-cutting ceremonies or public events that she deserves partial credit for at best. Again if you read the positions on her site it is clear that when they are specific they look like populist giveaways and any ideas she has to really address problems and opportunities that matter are fuzzy at best. Brad's plan includes tax reform but the changes are tied to a transformation of how the City works. Throughout his plan it is obvious his aim is a set of concrete changes to the system *not* just tinkering with a set of highly visible prices. At the same time the next few years *should* be transformative for the city. This will be an essential moment for preparing for and adopting automated vehicles like Waymo, integrating AI to improve service quality, and setting up Toronto to be part of the future shape of the economy (e.g. with data centers). On every front Chow has made it clear she will delay if not actively fight these transformations rather than leaning into them. In some sense all of this is 'fine'. Truly. Crime isn't as high as some American cities and has decreased in the last couple years on some dimensions. House prices are coming down. Taxes aren't as bad as somewhere like New York. The TTC still is one of the largest transit systems in North America. But why should we settle for ok? I want to live in the best city in the world not something that's passable. I do not want to be complicit in a slow-moving systematic lowering of standards. Please use your vote. Even if you disagree with me. It's a great shame that municipal elections never get the turnout they deserve. If you do agree with me do not miss this opportunity.

Andrew Potter is one of the clearest voices in Canada. I look forward to reading him every single week.

The first talk was, I believe, a massive success. I think this is going to be a really special set of evenings going forward. We continue next week with Joss Murphy, the founder of @wygo_world, part of the team that brought Socratica to where it is today, and a Toronto local legend (CN tower look-a-like competition?). If you're interested in being part of the future of the talks, let me know.

Cannot imagine a better opportunity for an apprenticeship in new media

This evening starting at 6:30pm at the Ambition office part of the Toronto Carpet Factory. Looking forward to starting the experiment.

The plot thickens

Slides are starting to come together. Excited to discuss with everyone this Thursday.

Nathan Fielder is inverted kayfabe