I hit 50 years old today and I’m glad to say I’m not detecting any midlife crisis! Just another opportunity to make a birthday list of things I’ve learned, or at least started to take seriously.

For the umpteenth time, someone on a non-Musk-owned platform lobbed the tired accusation that X, the Musk-owned digital town square, has “degenerated into a cesspool.” It’s a predictable claim that I disagree with and shows lazy thinking. The truth about X (and any platform) is far more interesting than the snarky hot take suggests.