Nick Denton's discussions

Isn't this the same phenomenon that's transforming industries from book publishing to limo service? The internet lowers barriers to entry and makes viable a long tail of providers. A small limo company could offer its services through Uber, for instance, and avoid the cost of marketing that used to encourage mergers… Read more

Hey, we're completely maxed out tonight at the American Museum of Natural History. But we have had reader events at the Museum. And will do so again. Read more

I can tell you about the web writing market. Starting a blog is never a bad idea. Or emailing editors cold. You're right, educational background is largely incidental. Read more

Yes, you read my mind. (Are you the Mule?) We have a legacy publishing system in which original posts are still generated. But that function will be absorbed into Kinja, anybody will be able to start a new topic with a post — and everybody should have the right to moderate replies. Read more

There are plenty of people whose work has echoed through the decades. I'm sure Steve Jobs will be one of them. Karl Marx. But I can't think of a single figure whose plan was realized with the precision of Seldon's. And even Seldon needed a Second Foundation to keep history on the track that he'd set for it. Read more

Try re-reading some Paul Krugman columns from 2008. They're prescient. And he was one of the only people calling at the time for nationalization of the failing banks — and most of them were failing at the time. He was right, more right than most people get to be in their lives. Read more

I'm disappointed that the future hasn't come quicker. The inertia of traditional journalism is powerful. I've been waiting for a world of frictionless information and complete transparency — one in which the only way to keep a secret is not to even think it. And we've barely even started. Read more

I'll have to check it out. I thought I'd read all of Asimov. But that one doesn't ring a bell. Read more

Yes, I agree. But when you can't build a better model, best to get rid of the bad one. Read more

My father was an economist and I was always interested in history, not the history of great men, but the remorseless tide of history, a history without obvious actors, like Braudel's Mediterranean. But I say "obvious actors." The person who writes the books, solves the economic equation, or invents psychohistory: that… Read more

Hmm, remind me of the plot? Read more

Okay, here's a little proof of my teenage nerdiness: reading Asimov's Nightfall 2 in the garden in London. I'd promised this photo to Annalee a long time ago.

Oh that's an interesting question. My belief in data has been shaken. In fact, I've come to think that overinterpretation of data is the curse of the modern world. In the lead-up to the 2008 financial crisis, the value-at-risk models were internally consistent but lacked all sense of history. They could not account… Read more

Well in that case Kinja is the Foundation. Or maybe the Second Foundation. I'm not sure. Read more

Well, you just prompted me to look some up Hardin sayings online. (I did take notes when I recently re-read the trilogy in advance of this chat. But iBooks doesn't allow for copying. That's annoying.) Read more

I've avoided all the sequels and prequels. In life, you need to know when to step away — whether it's ending a meeting, quitting a job or a relationship or walking out of a movie before the tedious Hollywood coda. People always stay too long. Read more

I was most drawn to Hari Seldon — the planner rather than any of the men of action. He appealed to the nerd in me, the proto-economist. Like many socially awkward teenagers, I was drawn to the idea that the complexities of human society could be reduced to a formula; that if one didn't have an instinctive grasp of… Read more

The best show I saw recently was the UK TV remake of Survivors. I particularly liked the rather Blairite former minister, the eminently reasonable black woman whom circumstances made a dictator. It's available on Netflix. Read more

Thank God, you say. What do you think happens to a writer or editor if they're pursuing that editorial strategy round the clock. Read more

Your book party last night at the Waverly Inn was excellent, a gathering of the media establishment or what remains of it. You even had some women. So, Arianna Huffington and Jill Abramson. Compare and contrast! Read more