The Daily Note with James A. Brown

He says Halloween might be the one night of the year when everyone agrees to be friendly and weird together. James A. Brown admits he no longer dresses up — he just jokes that he’s an unemployed screenwriter — but he’s grown to appreciate the folks who do, from kids in astronaut suits to adults in wigs they’ll regret tomorrow (and yes, even costumed dogs). He remembers asking a dozen kids about their makeup and costumes and, for a few moments, feeling the usual fear of strangers melt away. For those few hours, the sidewalks belong to kids again, and he wants listeners to savor that simple magic.

Group chats don't die with arguments — they die with silence, and keeping real connections takes real work. I have 14 group chats on my phone and half are dead; others are dying. Birthday planning 2023: last message. March book club: last message. Someone said we should meet soon — that was eight months ago. They start hopeful — "let's stay connected," "we should do this more often" — then life happens and messages go unanswered. These digital graveyards of good intentions are a reminder that I'm not always the best at staying in touch.

Takeaways:

• You probably recognize those dying group chats — I admit I've got fourteen on my phone, half dead.
• We start chats full of hopeful plans, then life happens and messages go unanswered, quietly ending friendships.
• You see the domino effect: one person stops responding, then another, and suddenly the whole thread is silent.
• We call them digital graveyards of good intentions — I joke, but it reminds me connections actually take real, persistent effort.
• If you're like me, you feel guilty and wonder how to revive these chats — you can start by sending a simple, honest message.

Links referenced in this episode:

• jamesabrown.net

Wisdom doesn't automatically come with age — nothing does, except for wrinkles. I'm saying this because time alone doesn't make you wiser; like wine, only good grapes get better. I've watched people in their 60s making the same mistakes they made at 30, which is why I keep coming back to the same blunt truth: we don't grow up, we just get old. So the question that matters is what made those grapes bad in the first place.

Takeaways:

• You shouldn't expect wisdom just because you're older; I point out that without intentional reflection and better 'grapes' you'll repeat mistakes again and again.
• We joke that wrinkles come free with time, but the life lessons that matter require work, honesty, and deliberate change.
• Good grapes at twenty can make great wine at fifty, but only if you've cultivated them well along the way through choices and care.
• Ask yourself what made the 'bad grapes' bad in the first place; I urge you to look for root causes instead of blaming time or luck.

Links referenced in this episode:

• jamesabrown.net

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• jamesabrown.net

Never close your heart, even when you're hurt — that's the main thing I want you to carry. I don't have children yet, but I hope to, and I want to give them an easier upbringing than I had, so here are a few pieces of advice I'm passing on to you. See more of this country and this world; dream big, and once you do, dream bigger — aim above the horizon. Yes, you can change the world, but you can't change people, so remember that nothing will be given to you: you'll have to stand up straight with your shoulders back and take what you want. Remember that even the fortunate have to work hard, even if you don't see it, and sing songs — because wherever you live, those walls are better when filled with music.

Links referenced in this episode:

• jamesabrown.net

A San Francisco woman went into labor inside a Waymo self-driving car, and both mom and baby are okay. We heard they called 911, but a regular taxi actually got them to the hospital first — and Waymo took the vehicle out of service for cleaning, which honestly feels like the least surprising part. Strangely enough, Waymo tells ABC News this isn't the first baby to arrive in one of their cars; they say they're proud to be a trusted ride for moments big and small. Would you ride in a robot taxi? You can tell me what you think on jamesabrown.net.

Takeaways:

• Have You heard of Waymo? I tell You, a San Francisco woman actually gave birth in one of their cars.
• We called 911 but the taxi arrived first — You can't make this up, yet mom and baby are okay and safe.
• Waymo took the car out of service for cleaning, which honestly seems like the least surprising part of the whole story.
• They told ABC News it's not the first baby born in one of their cars, and we're proud to be a trusted ride for moments big and small.
• I'm asking You: would You ride in a robot taxi? Tell me on jamesabrown.net, and as always, be well.

Links referenced in this episode:

• jamesabrown.net

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• jamesabrown.net
• Waymo
• Google
• ABC News

ChatGPT picked up a verbal tic: mentions of goblins jumped 175%. We traced it back to a personality option called Nerdy that rewarded the bot for being playful, so naturally it started riffing about creatures. They retired the Nerdy setting, but the goblins kept popping up, so we had to write code telling the bot to never bring up creatures unless somebody asks. You can laugh at the idea of the smartest people on the planet telling a machine to stop talking about made-up monsters — I sure do. What do you think? Let me know on jamesabrown.net.

Links referenced in this episode:

• jamesabrown.net

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• jamesabrown.net
• ChatGPT

Everyone wants to live till 91 — that's what Pew Research found when it asked more than 8,000 Americans about aging. I get it; my Grandma lived till 91 and she saw nearly a century of the world in three generations, but what she lost at the end made me question whether longer life is always better. She had glaucoma, could barely see, lost lots of her memory, ended up in a nursing home, and just about everything she saved was exhausted — and I struggle with the trade offs of aging because of that. I'm not saying I want to die early — I don't — but that last leg is intimidating and I fear losing what makes me me. So what about you: do you fear aging, and how long do you want to live?

Takeaways:

• You may want to live to 91 like many Americans, but I question whether quality of life matters more than lifespan.
• I tell my Grandma's story to show that long life can come with serious health and financial costs you might not expect.
• You should consider the trade-offs of aging now: physical decline, memory loss, and exhausted savings are real possibilities.
• I don't want to die early; I want my words to live on, yet that last leg of life intimidates me deeply.
• If you're worried like I am, you can tell me how long you'd like to live and why on jamesabrown.net.
• We all face the fear of losing what makes us ourselves, and I want to be remembered as me, not a set of ailments.

Links referenced in this episode:

• jamesabrown.net

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Pew Research Center

Whether kids felt they belonged at home predicts how many real, substantial friendships they have as adults — 39% versus 16%. They followed more than 7,000 kids from age 16 into their late 30s to reach that finding. It wasn’t screen time or grades or activities, and it wasn’t money, education, or even childhood trauma that did the predicting. This rings true to me.

Links referenced in this episode:

• jamesabrown.net

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• jamesabrown.net

On a walk near the Freddie Sue Bridge in downtown Rochester, he notices an older Asian woman who flags him down, map in hand and English patchy at best. What follows is a short, human-scale drama: for about twenty minutes he traces routes, points at landmarks, and tries to translate a crude hand-drawn map into something the city can understand. Despite his efforts, the map and language barriers stubbornly resist, and she drives off with a grateful smile — leaving him with that ordinary, slightly nagging question: did she make it home? He folds the moment into a quiet contemplation about how brief encounters can lodge in memory like a pebble in a shoe. There's a light, self-aware humor in his retelling — he knows he couldn’t do much more, but he’s fascinated by why she stopped him and why some small interactions leave such outsized curiosity behind. He signs off with a friendly invite to share similar stories via email or phone, turning his personal wonder into a communal prompt: have you ever been the helpful stranger — or the lost one who found help?

James A. Brown unpacks the oddly charming yet alarming idea of "popcorn brain," a term researchers use to describe how our attention hops and crackles when overstimulated by endless short bursts of content. He walks listeners through the cold numbers — 139 million reels autoplaying every minute across Instagram and Facebook, and the average person checking their phone 96 times a day — then translates them into plain-sense consequences: an inability to focus, trouble disconnecting, and a perpetual urge to scroll. He relays the researchers' striking prescription (20 minutes of scrolling, twice a day) with a wink — "good luck with all that" — and doesn’t shy away from the reality that these recommendations collide with how apps are designed to grab and keep attention. The piece ends on a conversational note, as he invites listeners to weigh in on how to tackle the problem on his website, and signs off with a simple wish: be well. The summary captures both the data-driven alarm and the human, slightly bemused reaction to living in an era of engineered distraction.