Welcome to the home of Noah Brier. I'm the co-founder of Variance and general internet tinkerer. Most of my writing these days is happening over at Why is this interesting?, a daily email full of interesting stuff. This site has been around since 2004. Feel free to get in touch. Good places to get started are my Framework of the Day posts or my favorite books and podcasts. Get in touch.

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Who’s who?

Somehow this morning the topic of those “Who’s Who in America” came up. In response, Andrew was kind enough to send a 1999 Forbes article by Tucker Carlson on the subject. Basically Who’s Who compiles a giant list of people and then charges them for copies of the book (and lots of other stuff, like lapel pins which run $52.95 plus shipping and handling).

Anyway it’s an interesting read (though a bit old at this point — it mentions computer tape) and left me undecided on whether I think it’s totally scummy (which it is) or kind of nice for people who are looking for some recognition (which it also is).

July 28, 2008