Archive - The Zeitgeist Distilled

ZD 26.33: The Jay Cooke Playbook

Believing in yourself is great, backing yourself is risky.

Aug 18 • Wyatt Barnett

ZD 26.32: Optimized to the Limit

The limit pushes back.

Aug 11 • Wyatt Barnett

ZD 26.31: Agentic Exploiters

Agents break free, cash flow crisis and AI turning points.

Aug 4 • Wyatt Barnett

July 2026

ZD 26.30: The Price Is a Rumor

Quoted numbers are not the real numbers.

Jul 28 • Wyatt Barnett

ZD 26.29: The Last Human Skill

Sparse data, high context, one person at a time.

Jul 21 • Wyatt Barnett

ZD 26.28: The Great Moat Hunt

AI labs are working very hard at not becoming commodities.

Jul 14 • Wyatt Barnett

How to Build AI Capacity Without an Engineering Team

Crowdsourced engineering is the best engineering.

Jul 11 • Wyatt Barnett

ZD 26.27: Old Panics, New Hardware

Radio rattled them in 1926; the agents rattle us now. Happy 250th.

Jul 7 • Wyatt Barnett

June 2026

ZD 26.26: Too Cool For Air Con

A record heat wave, an AI build-out, and a continent that can't say yes to a wall unit.

Jun 30 • Wyatt Barnett

ZD 26.25: Consulting's New Golden Age

The work is changing hands, not vanishing.

Jun 23 • Wyatt Barnett

ZD 26.24: The Miracle on Aisle 3

Year-round avocados are a miracle of science and more curated thoughts for the week.

Jun 16 • Wyatt Barnett

ZD 26.23: Super Sports Summer

The World Cup will shape the summer season when we are not watching F1.

Jun 9 • Wyatt Barnett

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