Sam Liebeskind

Instead of telling people what I think of a proposal, a product, a feature, whatever, I ask them instead what they think. Were they thrilled with it? Absolutely love it? Most of the time I would hear, “It's okay,” or “It's not bad.” They would surmise from my facial expression that this wasn't the answer I was looking for. Come back when you are... See more

When we buy a physical product, we accept that it won’t change in its lifetime. We’ll use it until it wears off, and we replace it. We can rely on that product not evolving; the gas pedal in my car will always be in the same place.

However, when it comes to software, we usually have the ingrained expectations of perpetual updates. We believe that if... See more

There is evidence that participatory exercises tied to formal decision making processes - from participatory budgeting (C. Johnson, Carlson, and Reynolds 2021) to deliberative polling (Fishkin et al. 2024; “Collective Intelligence Case Studies,” n.d.) - lead to increased democratic engagement and satisfaction. This has the effect of bolstering... See more

TO MY MIND, THOUGH, there is a third development that has altered our parenting experience above all others, and that is the wholesale transformation of the child’s role, both in the home and in society. Since the end of World War II, childhood has been completely redefined. Today, we work hard to shield children from life’s hardships. But... See more

So we might all have the same needs, but the superficial markers for how we achieve these desires look very different. This is where people start misunderstanding one another, fighting. But these little big differences, our individual personality phenotypes, is where things get interesting.

Adoption-First Approach . There is no need to reinvent everything. For most sectors of digital infrastructure, solutions exist. In many cases, they will be imperfect and insufficient. They might have technology but no clear governance and a weak funding model. Federating existing successful systems and targeting demand and usage rather than... See more

Subject line: What brought you here?

Body:​

Hi,

I'm really glad you've decided to try our podcast hosting platform! I'm Justin, one of the co-founders.

I'm curious: what's happening in your world that brought you to Transistor?

(We're a small company, and it's always helpful to hear why people signed up).

Also, how did you hear about us?

Thanks,

Justin... See more

Over the last year, I've had the privilege of leading Mozilla Foundation's reimagining of technical grantmaking. Alongside Mehan Jayasuriya, Lisa Gutermuth, and the wonderful Hannah Eaves who led our strategy design process, we met with past grantees, colleagues across Mozilla, and peers across the field. We asked - what if the problem isn't that... See more