Resist Algorithms. Embrace the Arts


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About Inkwell Insights

Inkwell Insights is a nerdy, bookish publication for nerdy, bookish people.

Importantly, we believe in the value of the arts and literature, and the shared sense of humanity they bring to us.

In an era where more and more of our interactions are algorithmically determined or generated by machine learning models, authentic, thoughtful content is becoming increasingly rare.

We face a crisis of critical thought and literacy. More and more, people are opting to offload their reading and writing to AI, dampening their own abilities to think deeply or express themselves fully.

And this decline is nothing new. We’ve spent the better part of the last 20-years being told that anything written for an online audience should be “skimmable” and no more complex than the average fifth grader’s reading level.

Inkwell Insights rejects these trends. We talk about and engage with literature and the arts to…

  1. Create meaning amidst the chaos of the world around us.

  2. Uplift the voices that champion and further our cultural legacy.

  3. Preserve and support the arts, acknowledging that they are not luxuries– they’re necessary and intrinsic to the human experience.

  4. Expose broader audiences to more works of art and lay the foundation for the next generation to engage with art.

  5. Help more folks get comfortable talking about and analyzing works of art, because culture belongs to all of us, not just the ivory towers of academia.

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A nerdy, bookish newsletter and podcast for nerdy, bookish people. More art, culture, and literary theory– less scrolling, clickbait, and ragebait.

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Blake is a writer, product manager, and general mischievous busybody. He hosts the Inkwell Insights podcast and writes the Inkwell Insights newsletter. He would probably rather be in the mountains.