Alex Shultz
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Articles by Alex Shultz
Dario Amodei Anoints Himself U.S. Secretary of State and Ambassador to China
Thank God it’s Sam Altman, not Dario Amodei, who’s reportedly joining a state dinner next week as part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s summit with President Donald Trump. To be fair: I wouldn’t invite any of our AI overlords to a high-stakes meeting with the leader of the world’s other superpower. I’m just realistic about how Trump collects oligarchs like they’re Pokémon cards.
The Benefits of Being Predictable
At the beginning of every school year when he was the principal of Saraland Elementary School in Alabama, Stan Stokley conducted interviews with local TV stations. The segments were lighthearted, and Stokley enjoyed them quite a bit, except for one question: “What are you doing that’s new and exciting this year?” The question frustrated Stokley, who recently retired after more than two decades in school leadership.
Meta Settles Unwinnable Lawsuit, Claims Moral High Ground Over TikTok, YouTube
You know how even if a boxing match is lopsided, both opponents will prance around afterwards acting like they won? The guy who got smacked around for 12 rounds tries to show the judges (and the crowd) that everything went according to plan, even while he’s got a visibly dislocated shoulder and a broken nose. The gambit doesn’t work very often—or at least it’s not supposed to work—because the judges are (hopefully) impartial and not swayed by naked attempts at reversing the narrative of the match.
Meta Settles Unwinnable Lawsuit, Claims Moral High Ground Over TikTok, YouTube
You know how even if a boxing match is lopsided, both opponents will prance around afterwards acting like they won? The guy who got smacked around for 12 rounds tries to show the judges (and the crowd) that everything went according to plan, even while he’s got a visibly dislocated shoulder and a broken nose. The gambit doesn’t work very often—or at least it’s not supposed to work—because the judges are (hopefully) impartial and not swayed by naked attempts at reversing the narrative of the match.
Tips for Supporting Teachers With Family Engagement Challenges
Like many school leaders, Ryan Daniel, principal of Fort Foote Elementary School in Maryland, was once a teacher. In her sixth-grade classroom, an unforgettable experience taught her not to prejudge her students or their families. When the school year began, Daniel was warned about a boy in her class who was described by her colleagues as angry, often in trouble, and liable to sleep through lessons.
How to Plan Highly Effective Back-to-School Meetings
In mid-July, the clicks of a band camp metronome echoing down the hallway mark the unofficial start of the school year for Jon Minton, principal of Elizabethton High School in Tennessee. It’s a welcome sound after a month or so of relative silence, during which Minton limits interactions with his teachers. Prior to mid-July, if Minton has something he needs to communicate immediately—a change to a teacher’s schedule or assigned classroom, for example—he’ll text or call the teacher.
What to Do When One of Your Best Teachers Leaves
There isn’t a perfect way for a principal to break the news to faculty about a departing educator—especially a star educator, the type who serves as the connective tissue of an entire grade or department. But there isa wrong way: getting ahead of the educator’s own announcement. When I recently spoke to Deborah Dennie, principal of Leonardtown Middle School in Maryland, she described how she once faced this very predicament.
The Man Who Explains Israel to John Fetterman
Over the last three years, Democratic Party support for Israel has undergone a dramatic reversal. In 2024, 18 Democratic senators backed a measure to block arms sales to the country. In April of this year, it was 40. Polls show about two-thirds of Democratic voters sympathize with Palestinians more than Israelis.
Musk v. Altman: Recapping Elon's Farcical Cross-Examination
When Elon Musk first took the stand this week, he described his lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI in cataclysmic terms. “If we make it okay to loot a charity,” he said, speaking about OpenAI’s conversion into a for-profit structure, then “the entire foundation of charitable giving in America will be destroyed.” He even warned that Musk v. Altman risks becoming infamous “case law,” should the nine-member jury at Oakland’s Ronald V. Dellums U.S. Courthouse not rule in his favor.
How to Set Up and Then Evaluate School Initiatives
When Principal Scott Palladino assigned a faculty committee to reexamine Wareham High School’s cell phone policy, he assumed they would arrive at a cut-and-dried policy proposal: a blanket, all-day ban. Palladino was prepared to enforce that initiative—he saw the logic in it and was well aware of staffers’ complaints about how phones were interrupting learning at the Massachusetts school.
How to Tell When Someone Is Ready for an Administrative Role
Randy Dalton doesn’t have many regrets about his career path, but he does wish he hadn’t become a principal so quickly. In Dalton’s defense, his administrative pivot was somewhat of an accident. After a few years at his first teaching gig, he volunteered to help tabulate student attendance. Dalton’s district superintendent found out about this valuable, if informal, step toward leadership, and asked Dalton to apply for a middle school vice principal position.
Teachers’ Feeling of Significance: What Principals Should Know
There’s an innate sense of purpose to working in education that isn’t necessarily found in other fields. But that sense of purpose isn’t enough on its own to sustain a teaching career: Polls show that teachers are less satisfied with their jobs than other workers, and they tend to believe the public views them negatively. The same polls provide plenty of insights into the sources of teachers’ dissatisfaction.
Overseeing a Large School: 3 Principals Discuss the Challenges
Principal Laura Tobias can’t be everywhere all the time at State College Area High School, one of the largest public schools in Pennsylvania. State High, as it is known, is walking distance from Penn State and has over 2,300 students. So Tobias came up with an unusual plan. She procured a doppelgänger of sorts: a cardboard cutout of herself. The cutout isn’t, of course, a substitute for Tobias; it gets passed around the school in good fun. “It’s like Where’s Waldo?, but Where’s Mrs.
An AI-Generated Reddit Post Fooled the Internet. It Was Only Half of an Elaborate Scam.
On January 1, a new Redditor with the username Trowaway_whistleblow posted for the first time. The title of their thread, on the subreddit r/LateStageCapitalism, was provocative: “I’m a developer for a major food delivery app. The ‘Priority Fee’ and ‘Driver Benefit Fee’ go 100% to the company. The driver sees $0 of it.” The post itself included purportedly damning allegations about one of the food delivery apps.
X’s Echo Chamber Gets a Reality Check
In early November, I wrote a piece for Hard Reset about Shaun Maguire, a partner at the venture capital firm Sequoia. The piece included interviews with tech founders and entrepreneurs who denounced Maguire for Islamophobic, offensive remarks he made about incoming New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. It also cited a Financial Times report that Sequoia COO Sumaiya Balbale resigned from her lofty position because Sequoia and Maguire took zero accountability for his harmful rhetoric.
The crime that exposed a congresswomans decline
In late October, several people showed up at the home of Eleanor Holmes Norton for duct and fireplace cleaning. It was reportedly their third recent visit.,Its unclear whether they knew Norton was the lone Washington, D.C., representative in Congress. What they did seem to know is that she was susceptible to fraud. Norton paid them $4,362 via credit card for work they never intended to do, and they scurried off.
The Crime That Exposed a Congresswoman's Decline
In late October, several people showed up at the home of Eleanor Holmes Norton for duct and fireplace cleaning. It was reportedly their third recent visit. It's unclear whether they knew Norton was the lone Washington, D.C., representative in Congress. What they did seem to know is that she was susceptible to fraud. Norton paid them $4,362 via credit card for work they never intended to do, and they scurried off.
Sam Altman's Disastrous Interview With Jimmy Fallon, an AI Chatbot in the Flesh
On December 8, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Fallon’s routine is to play up his cluelessness, nervously laugh, and lob softballs at his guests (usually charismatic actors and musicians) until they produce viral soundbites that help them promote movies or albums. Fallon has intentionally carved out a niche as the “apolitical” late-night guy. His competitors—Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Seth Meyers—aren’t the second-coming of Edward R.
How to Harness the Multiplier Effect as a Principal
For years, Liz Wiseman has provided counsel and feedback about multipliers—leaders who bring out the best from everyone they work with—and diminishers, who do the opposite. Sharing her careful research and finely honed insights, Wiseman has become a best-selling author, sought-after speaker, and thought leader.
New Court Filings Allege Depraved Internal Communications at Meta and Snapchat
The company line from social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube is that they care deeply about the mental health and safety of their users. These platforms claim to be extra mindful of their younger users; they all boast about parental controls and other safety tools, which they say are intended to limit underage exposure to explicit content and prevent sexual harassment and bullying.
12 Principals on the Best Leadership Book They’ve Ever Read
Self-help and leadership books are a dime a dozen, which is a blessing and a curse. Your local bookstore is very likely to have an entire section dedicated to those overlapping genres, meaning there’s plenty to sift through and learn from, but also… an overwhelming amount to sift through and learn from. Which books offer more than boilerplate advice? Which really make you think? And which are applicable to leading a school?
John Fetterman’s Memoir Is As Low-Effort As His Senate Tenure
2 hours ago Ro Khanna, D-Calif., is a man in a rush. On Tuesday, he was at the center of the vote to release the Epstein files, and when I saw him, on the way to his office in the Cannon building, he asked if I could walk and talk, as he had a few stops to make. "Sure thing," I said, and we were off. I wasn’t …
John Fetterman's Memoir Is As Low-Effort As His Senate Tenure
John Fetterman’s just-released memoir, Unfettered, argues that he’s turned a corner and has everything under control. Fetterman was a “stubborn asshole” (his words), he was clinically depressed, he was in poor health, but that is, according to the book, all in the past.
How Amazon Is Conquering (and Ruining) the Package Delivery Market
The days of “FedExed” as an easily understood verb—and the brown UPS truck as the universal symbol of an incoming package—are fading fast. Last month, four researchers (David Weil, Daniel Schneider, Julie Su, and Kevin Bruey) released a report about the dire working conditions of many American delivery drivers. Pulling rigorous data from The Shift Project, the report shows that Amazon is wrecking a long-steady, well-organized profession.
Why ‘Use Your People’ Is a Key Lesson for Principals
Tracie Swilley was burnt out. Early in her career as a principal, she was working too many hours, taking on too many tasks and responsibilities. She knew she had capable staffers, but she wanted to do everything exactly right, and that meant doing everything her way. She even had “mom guilt,” she says, from putting her kids to bed and then going back to work.
Google's Craven Bet on Kalshi and Polymarket
Last week, I signed up for Kalshi, a federally licensed “prediction market” that lets Americans bet on anything.
Why Donald Trump Did Crisis PR for Marc Benioff
On October 16, Marc Benioff posted a cheery selfie with a police officer. The Salesforce CEO extended a “huge thanks” to the San Francisco Police Department for what he called the “biggest and safest Dreamforce ever,” referencing his company’s annual tech conference. Benioff was feeling the heat from an October 10 New York Times interview, where he casually agreed with one of President Donald Trump’s errant musings about sending federal troops to San Francisco.
How to Balance Management and Leadership as a Principal
Collage by Benjamin Currie for Edutopia, iStock (6) Administration & Leadership Managing and leading are different tasks, but principals do both and can use these ideas to juggle the overlapping priorities of their jobs. Growing up in Montana, Erica Schnee spent countless hours at her parents’ shoe store, watching how they managed a business and also acted as “leaders in their community,” Schnee said.
A California Senator Introduced a Groundbreaking Restaurant Allergen-Labeling Bill — Then Everyone Tried to Kill It
San Francisco Restaurant News U.K. restaurants already clearly label allergens on its menus, which makes dining out for people with food allergies easier and safer. So what made it so difficult to pass a similar law in California? Sep 30, 2025, 7:25 PM UTC Image: Getty Images Alex Shultz is a Brooklyn-based journalist with experience as a reporter and an editor. He’s written for Defector, Slate, GQ, The Verge, CalMatters, and other outlets.
How This School Leader Right-Sized Tech Use With Teachers’ Buy-In
At the beginning of Raegon Clutz’s tenure as principal of Emma K. Doub Elementary School, he made a worrying discovery: Some of his kindergarten and first-grade students didn’t know how to hold a pencil. The year was 2017. Emma K. Doub, a K–5 school in Hagerstown, Maryland, was part of the Apple Distinguished Schools program, in which every student and teacher uses an Apple device on a regular basis.
How School Leaders Can Help Teachers Free Up Time for Planning and Breaks
It’s a 21st-century refrain heard ‘round the world: “Why couldn’t this be an email?” Teachers know it well. So do school leaders, who are acutely aware that their staffers would prefer almost anything other than a 4 p.m. meeting on a Thursday. Of course, there are highly necessary meetings—a thriving school depends on ongoing communication and collaboration.
What School Leaders Would Say to Themselves If They Could Go Back in Time
“Hit the ground running” is a common phrase for a reason: It invokes efficiency, forward momentum, and progress. It often signals a motivated attitude and an unbridled desire to get up to speed as soon as possible. But “hit the ground running” is the opposite advice that many school leaders would offer to less-experienced peers.
How 3 Principals Make School Culture a Top Priority
School culture can seem nebulous: What constitutes a positive, supportive school culture? Or a “bad” school culture? Answers vary among school leaders, who constantly assess the dynamics among staff, students, and families. Stacey Green, who’s been principal of Stockton Grade School in Stockton, Kansas, since 2013, describes school culture as “the heartbeat” of a building.
Why This Middle School Principal Memorizes Her Students’ Names
Belinda Averill offered a disclaimer at the start of our interview: If you put her on the spot, she might not be able to recognize and name all of the approximately 660 students at South Lake Middle School, where she’s been principal for a decade. But she could get darn close. For Averill, learning the names of her entire student body isn’t some sort of pet project or memorization game.
Horny Sports Blogging Makes A Bewildering Return To Sports Illustrated
It has been more than 60 years since the first Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue hit newsstands, a moment in history that bound the business of sports journalism to the business of making sports fans horny. What started as a way for bored SI editors to amuse themselves during the slow period of the sports calendar soon grew into an annual event capable of .
For the First Time, Artificial Intelligence Is Being Used at a Nuclear Power Plant
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For the First Time, Artificial Intelligence Is Being Used at a Nuclear Power Plant Original
Diablo Canyon, California’s sole remaining nuclear power plant, has been left for dead on more than a few occasions over the last decade or so, and is currently slated to begin a lengthy decommissioning process in 2029. Despite its tenuous existence, the San Luis Obispo power plant received some serious computing hardware at the end of last year: eight NVIDIA H100s, which are among the world’s mightiest graphical processors.
It’s the first U.S. nuclear plant to use AI. Where does Diablo Canyon go from here?
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters Diablo Canyon, California’s sole remaining nuclear power plant, has been left for dead on more than a few occasions over the last decade or so, and is currently slated to begin a lengthy decommissioning process in 2029.
It’s the first U.S. nuclear plant to use AI. Where does Diablo Canyon go from here?
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters Diablo Canyon, California’s sole remaining nuclear power plant, has been left for dead on more than a few occasions over the last decade or so, and is currently slated to begin a lengthy decommissioning process in 2029.
Alex Shultz, CalMatters
Noozhawk republishes news articles from CalMatters on state and local policy issues that impact Santa Barbara County readers. Diablo Canyon, California’s sole remaining nuclear power plant, has been left for dead on more than […]
It’s the first US nuclear plant to use AI. Why Diablo Canyon has California lawmakers worried
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Diablo Canyon, California’s sole remaining nuclear power plant, has been left for dead on more than a few occasions over the last decade or so, and is currently slated to begin a lengthy decommissioning process in 2029.
It’s the first U.S. nuclear plant to use AI. Why Diablo Canyon has California lawmakers worried
For now, the Diablo Canyon nuclear facility will use AI to comply with regulations. But some lawmakers think additional guardrails are needed for future uses. Welcome to CalMatters, the only nonprofit newsroom devoted solely to covering issues that affect all Californians. Sign up for WhatMatters to receive the latest news and commentary on the most important issues in the Golden State.
It’s the first U.S. nuclear plant to use AI. Why Diablo Canyon has California lawmakers worried
5 hours ago You don’t need to know JavaScript to write powerful browser bookmarklets anymore. I’m a writer, not a programmer, so until recently a lot of the hype around ChatGPT’s abitilies as a coding tool went over my head. But then I realized generative AI’s programming powers can be helpful for more than just …
For the First Time, Artificial Intelligence is Being Used at a Nuclear Power Plant: California’s Diablo Canyon
Now iOS 18.4 is quietly a big iPhone upgrade – here are 5 features you may have missed Apple fans are still discovering the new upgrades found in the latest iOS 18.4 software update since it came out last week – and now we’ve had more … 9 hours ago IBM releases a new mainframe built for the age of AI IBM is releasing the latest version of its mainframe hardware that includes new updates meant to accelerate AI adoption.
What an Award-Winning School Leader Has Learned From Shadowing His Students
At least a handful of times every school year, Matthew Sloane puts on a hoodie, a baseball cap, and a pair of jeans, and heads to his first-period class. Sloane, the principal of Middleburgh Junior/Senior High School—which has about 400 students and is located in the town of Middleburgh, just west of Albany, New York—isn’t aiming for a cheeky re-creation of Steve Buscemi’s “How do you do, fellow kids?” meme, born out of a 30 Rock episode.
How Principals Can Set Up a Sustainable, Equitable Model of Leadership
When Bethany Coughlin was named North Cumberland Middle School’s principal in 2013, she swiftly set ambitious, data-driven academic goals. She wanted North Cumberland to become one of the best schools in Rhode Island, which would require improved student proficiency metrics in math, reading comprehension, and writing. Coughlin expected that her staff would immediately back her up.
Will California Revive Nuclear Power to Feed AI Energy Demands?
8 hours ago Windsurf Now Supports OpenAI's o3-mini Windsurf has wasted no time officially integrated OpenAI’s o3-mini model, after OpenAI made available the new AI model late last week.
Will California Revive Nuclear Power to Feed AI Energy Demands?
Feb 2 Failed to save article Please try again Amid growing energy demands from the tech sector, California legislators have examined a number of ways to use more nuclear power to fill the gap. That includes potentially extending the lifespan of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in San Luis Obispo County, which has been providing electricity for 38 years.
Artificial intelligence is bringing nuclear power back from the dead - maybe even in California
Your donation will power local paywall-free reporting for our community. Donate for the first time or increase your monthly donation to have a positive impact for independent and trusted journalism. Monthly Donation One-Time Donation For one listing, rent jumped nearly 86% since September. In an interview with LAist, the agent said she told her client, “People are desperate, and you can probably get good money.”
Artificial Intelligence is Bringing Nuclear Power Back from the Dead — Maybe Even in California | Local News | Noozhawk
Noozhawk republishes news articles from CalMatters on state and local policy issues that impact Santa Barbara County readers. If you’ve used ChatGPT to write a breakup text or figure out how to not burn the Christmas roast, you might’ve actually helped create jobs and profits in California, where the artificial intelligence tool was born. Unfortunately you’ve probably also contributed to climate change.
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