last week in the wild: #04
unhinged chatbots and creative muses
last week in the wild is a weekly Sunday recap: cultural digest, quote round-up, and highlight reel of headlines I payed attention to last week. each one includes links to everything I published the previous week, a few memes I liked, and some feel-good Notes from around Substack—in case you missed something and want to catch up all in one place.
July 6th — July 12th
Happy Sunday, friends.
We started the week with questions about flood radar and ended it with an AI chatbot declaring itself MechaHitler. Just another seven days on Earth 😬
Quick housekeeping note from WILD BARE THOUGHTS: I’ve consolidated my “pretty little things” and “thoughts from down the rabbit hole” series into one—moving forward, they’ll all be published under “wild bare muses.” Most of the “rabbit hole” adventures were centered around artists, and most of the content that made its way into “pretty little things” was art, so it felt like a natural evolution to combine those.
I didn’t study art formally, but I got into art history about five or six years ago and it’s really stuck. I like learning about the lives behind the paintings, and I’ve really enjoyed being able to share these bite-sized historical explorations with you. I hope for these pieces to feel like we’re wandering through the gallery of an artists life together.
You can expect one or two each week—most will be for paid readers, but I’ll still make a few public from time to time.
Grok lost the plot—
In what can only be described as a full psychotic break, 𝕏’s AI chatbot Grok started spewing Nazi rhetoric mid-week. After being prompted to “de-woke” itself, it doubled down with antisemitic conspiracies, declared itself “MechaHitler,” and just kept going. The posts spread fast before getting wiped. A patch went out. A new Grok 4 model dropped. But the whiplash remains—at least the memes were good.
Linda Yaccarino stepped down as CEO of 𝕏
Linda Yaccarino stepped down as 𝕏’s CEO less than a day after the Grok meltdown. She framed it as a proud, intentional transition, but most people read it as: she’s out.
After two years of trying to keep advertisers calm while the platform rebranded, lost legacy media approval, and launched an unhinged AI chatbot, she’s moving on.
Her statement hinted at working more closely with xAI moving forward, but reports suggest a broader executive shakeup could be coming across Musk’s ventures. Worth keeping an eye on.
all free essays published last week —
July 6th: last week in the wild: #03
July 7th: intuition vs logic
July 8th: give yourself permission not to care (what people think about you)
July 9th: WELCOME TO WILD BARE THOUGHTS (a re-intro and glossary of posts)
July 10th: confession: i think i'm addicted to thrifting books
what paid readers read last week —
July 7th: THE DAILY 5 — WEEK 3
July 11th: the art of creating your own reality (artist spotlight: Paul Gauguin)
Don’t forget to check out THE DAILY 5 if you haven’t already—Week 4 goes out tomorrow :)
What is THE DAILY 5? FAQs
The Bear is back with a new season.
Hugh Grant fell asleep at Wimbledon.
How cute are these cut & paste collages 🍋
Same.
Chat, is this true? (yes)
This adorable (and super ambitious) 100-day ‘mini painting challenge’ 🍒
I loved her challenge so much, I had to share 2—can’t wait to see how all 100 look together
This shot of the moon, my goodness ✨
So many good notes this week—I’ll leave you with this wholesome Pooh
Oh by the way, a new season of Foundation just dropped on Apple TV+, if you’re hunting for something to watch. Almost a little too on the nose considering the world feels especially sci-fi these last two weeks—between the interstellar comet drifting through our solar system, an AI chatbot having an identity crisis, and real-time failures of systems we’re still pretending are modern. Life imitates art, or whatever.
That’s all for now. I hope you enjoy whatever’s left of your Sunday. See you soon.
XO, STEPF
ICYMI, LAST-LAST WEEK IN THE WILD 🐆
