A quick update on week 2 of the AI Second Brain cohort.

Week 1 was about laying the foundation: the Master Prompt, PARA adapted for the AI era, and a capture system.

This week, we covered a lot of ground across three sessions, but the one I want to highlight here is building personal AI advisors.

Christiana built a nutrition coach. Others are working on fitness coaches, financial advisors, and strategy consultants for their businesses.

The idea: instead of a generic chatbot, you create a named advisor with a defined role, a clear scope, and the personal context to give advice that fits your life.

It's been my favorite session so far.

Want to join the next cohort in the fall? Join the waitlist here.​

Your Consumption Diet Is Your Moat

I've been rethinking what I consume lately, and a clear pattern has emerged: some content is getting more valuable in the AI era, and some is getting less.

Going up in value:

• Primary sources (raw transcripts, original research, first-person accounts)
• Unusual perspectives from niche communities not yet absorbed by AI
• Long-form content where the journey matters, not just the summary
• Trusted human judgment from specific people you respect
• Your own first-person experience — conversations, fieldwork, creative work

Going down in value:

• AI summaries and aggregators (anyone can generate these on demand)
• Generic takes and averaged opinions
• Listicles optimized for search rankings
• Short-form social content increasingly polluted with AI slop

The logic is simple: unique outputs require unique inputs. If your reading diet is the same algorithm-fed feed as everyone else's, your thinking will be too.

Try this: Look at what you've consumed in the past week. What percentage came from primary sources versus aggregators and feeds? Pick one primary source to add this week — a book, a transcript, a long-form interview.

What did you find? Hit reply and let me know.

A New Travel Show From a Friend I Admire

My friend Jo Franco just released the pilot episode of her own travel docuseries. It's fully self-produced and self-funded, and this first episode takes her through Thessaloniki, chasing the meaning of an untranslatable Greek word through the city's streets.

What I love about it: Jo weaves the trip into her larger life story, so it feels like more than a travel vlog. The locals come across as real people rather than backdrops. She learned the language instead of faking a few phrases. And she shows some of the behind-the-scenes work, which I appreciated.

I've watched Jo reinvent herself many times over the years, and this pilot is a great expression of who she is now. Worth 25 minutes of your evening.

Book Recommendation: The Mental Strength Playbook by Amy Morin

Most advice about handling stress at work is preventative. Build these habits, do this routine, and over time you'll feel better.

Amy Morin's new book does something else. It gives you 50 specific "plays" you can run in the moment — when you're five minutes from a presentation and your anxiety is spiking, or when you're trying to get through a workday after something hard has happened in your life.

Amy is a psychotherapist. She started using these strategies on herself after her husband died suddenly, and she still had to show up to work.

The plays are short, science-backed, and organized by the problem you're having. I expect to keep this one within reach.