Repairing our relationship with technology to rebuild agency, purpose, and belonging.
Oaxaca, México
Joined February 2007
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Does watching pornography depicting choking make people more likely to choke a partner during sex?
Wright, Herbenick & Tokunaga (2023) found a correlation (not causation) for college students. Prior research by Burch & Salmon, Ferguson & Hartley casts doubt.
Now an opportunity for policy research:
England and Wales’ upcoming ban on porn depicting strangulation or suffocation creates an opportunity to evaluate what happens when access is restricted.
Does exposure decline? Do attitudes or sexual practices change?
deseret.com/u-s-world/2026/1…
If you read @JennyVrentas' story in the NYTimes about how DraftKings uses AI to target bettors vulnerable to gambling addiction, you'll want to hear the backstory about the 24-year-old who built the model, and why he ultimately left the company.
Full convo with @JonathanDCohen1: menonline.org/p/inside-draft…
Add to that list of pseudo-social activities: posting on X and Substack. 🫣
@roundrobin42 would like to see more people playing cards together. Whereas @JonathanDCohen1 is all in on the water park: menonline.org/p/commentary-s…
Note that the few activities that Americans do more often today, taking an exercise class, air travel and playing video games are often solitary. (They are also expensive)
@DKThomp has a great write up on this that is worth reading. derekthompson.org/p/the-deat…
Over the weekend, The New York Times reported how DraftKings has used AI to target promotions at customers likely to lose more.
Now @GovWesMoore proposes legislation to ban operators from targeting users showing problem-gambling patterns.
🚨 We’re announcing state guidelines to ensure Maryland continues to lead the nation on AI safety and accountability.
Read our plan at go.md.gov/AIGamePlan.
Ohio already bars sportsbook ads targeting people with gambling problems. Maryland’s plan goes further by prohibiting the targeting of at-risk bettors and curbing late-night and loss-chasing prompts. Good to see bipartisan leadership from @GovWesMoore and @GovMikeDeWine taking gambling harms seriously.
And to @au_michaellewis's credit, he raised the importance of AI targeting of gamblers before hardly anyone was talking about it
Moving gambling from casinos to phones should have made it safer. @DraftKings can see patterns (escalating deposits, chasing losses, late-night play) that signal harm.
That data should trigger guardrails, not targeted promotions.
Important reporting from @JennyVrentas and @waltbogdanich: nytimes.com/2026/09/19/busin…
Hunter Biden’s memecoin $LAPTOP was as high as $222 at 8:05 a.m., and was worth only $1.79 by 12:20 p.m.
Clearly, some uses of crypto border between gambling and fraud. Our recommendations: aibm.org/research/young-men-…
Imagine walking into your local bank and the ATM machines are surrounded by slot machines. I guess it's different if it's on a screen?
Every game. Every conference. The Heisman race. The natty. Trade what you think happens next on Robinhood. rbnhd.co/CollegeFootball26
Friendly pushback to @ChrisWillx, whose work I admire: solutions for the problems facing boys & men are becoming policy.
Grateful to @alannakwil & @andersknospe for their round-up of recent bills that deserve more attention:
aibm.org/policy/from-awarene…
Four governors have made boys and men an executive priority. Virginia just created the nation's first Boys & Men Commission. A federal Office of Men's Health bill has strong support. And more: aibm.org/policy/from-awarene…
David Sasaki retweeted
“Sports betting is still evolving. More states need to bet on new policy ideas. Without more experimentation, we’re all losing,” argues @JonathanDCohen1 in his latest piece:
route-fifty.com/people/2026/…
Most of my friendships with other men are built around risk, challenge, and belonging. Sadly, most online technology companies are built around simulating and monetizing those very things.
Full conversation with Anna Lembke, author of Dopamine Nation, here: menonline.org/p/anna-lembke-…
David Sasaki retweeted
Gambling has rapidly become a part of American life. What is this doing to individuals and society at large? Join us on June 18 at 1pm ET for a webinar with @kylascan, Matt King, and @JonathanDCohen1, moderated by @germanrlopez. Register:
aibm.org/events/the-gamblifi…
David Sasaki retweeted
“They thought they were legalizing one thing, but the thing that actually arrived was different,” AIBM’s @JonathanDCohen1 explains as legislators begin rolling back the legalization of sports betting.
wbur.org/news/2026/05/28/mas…
