Data science and machine learning have grown significantly in recent years, but 2023 has truly put AI on the map. I am sure that almost everyone has heard about AI and what it can do, which has led many businesses to integrate AI into their operations eagerly. Why has AI become more prominent now than ever, even though it's been around for a long time? I would argue it's all about the accessibility of generative AI and its transformative impact on our work.

About a month ago, when driving home in the dark after unsuccessfully searching for the Northern Lights (we were a day too late), our headlights passed over a tiny fox kit near our mailbox. We had recently had a red fox visit our yard in the broad daylight and this may have been one of its offspring. Foxes are beautiful creatures, an odd blend of the physical features of dogs and the behavioral characteristics of cats.

Welcome to It’s A Shanda, one Northeastern Jew’s quest to find a decent bagel in Seattle (and beyond). If you’re interested in taking this journey with me, make sure you subscribe so you never miss a review. If you want to ensure I review any specific bagels (or want to let me know why I’m wrong), you can email me at seanmatthewkeeley@gmail.com. “Before I began this newsletter, I already knew how it was going to end.

(This week’s Dish is an abridged version. Even though we’re on our annual Christmas break, we couldn’t let the Harvard developments go un-covered. I also wrote a short piece below, “The Woke Panic Over Gay’s Resignation.” Dissents welcome as always: dish@andrewsullivan.com.) Carole is back to discuss her travails at Harvard, teaching in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology. She originally appeared two years ago to discuss her superb book T: The Story of Testosterone, the Hormone that Dominates and Divides Us.

Casey O’Neill is part of an increasingly rare group of people who join a company while in college and never leave. Her entry into Boston Beer Company originated during her senior year at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, when she accepted an internship in their Quality Assurance (QA) lab. Fast forward 12 years and she’s now the Director of Product Development for Boston Beer, specializing in their “beyond beer” category. Her already extensive purview over Truly, the second-largest national hard seltzer brand after White Claw, is on the cusp of growing even more — Boston Beer founder and chairman Jim Koch says he expects “beyond beer” will double the company’s business over the next 14 years.