Agalia Tan

What I write is all mine, it’s a living thing, it’s an extension of me that wanders out into the world. It is desire turned inwards instead of outwards, focused instead of displaced. It’s a way to access self-knowledge and self-respect.

“⁠The antidote to the alienating spiral of self-optimisation is collective joy, like dancing badly in the dance class,” and later, “I guess, in the end, it all circles back to the same thing as always – commodification. Is there any way to escape this loop?”

Agency fees and margin are under relentless pressure. That’s hardly hardly surprising. When procurement departments have their people systematically re-qualify to keep pace with business, market, and technological change and we don’t systematically train any of our people in anything it’s just not a fair fight. And as ever more pressure is put on... See more

None of us know how to know this much

Meta, Google, Perplexity, and others are throwing their hats into the ring, each accelerating the race to build the dominant super-app. Whether it’s Google integrating Gemini deeper into Android, Meta weaving AI into WhatsApp and Instagram, or Perplexity pursuing agent-based shopping assistants, the same strategic goal is clear: own the... See more