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Andy Masley

Writes on effective altruism, energy and the arithmetic behind arguments people repeat — including how much electricity a chatbot query actually uses.

40 things

Sustainable Energy - without the hot airBook David MacKay

loved

Book: Sustainable Energy - without the hot air One of the best popular science books on anything. Designed to help you build general energy literacy. This is a holy text for me.

His list of resources for becoming energy literate.

2025-04-09·blog.andymasley.com ↗

Energy and CivilizationBook Vaclav Smil

loved

Book: Vaclav Smil's Energy and Civilization (and most of his books). This is an amazing book rewriting all human history as a process of learning to capture and more efficiently use more and more energy, and almost all events being guided by that.

His list of resources for becoming energy literate.

2025-04-09·blog.andymasley.com ↗

Truth Vegan men's beltHardware

loved

This belt has lasted me for 5 years and still looks brand new. It's more expensive but you end up saving a lot of money because you don't have to replace it.

His product recommendations post: things he recommends people buy and use.

2024-08-27·blog.andymasley.com ↗

Bonobos ChinosHardware Bonobos

loved

Bonobos Chinos The best men's pants I've found.

His product recommendations post: things he recommends people buy and use.

2024-08-27·blog.andymasley.com ↗

ClaudeSoftware Anthropic

loved

Claude I use Claude every day when I'm trying to learn stuff. If you haven't played around with an LLM much yet, you should definitely at least try. Claude's the best one as of writing.

His product recommendations post: things he recommends people buy and use.

2024-08-27·blog.andymasley.com ↗

ObsidianSoftware Obsidian

loved

Obsidian I'm in the cult. I take notes for everything now and it's made me much better at learning. I use it as a flashcard app too with the flashcard plugin.

His product recommendations post: things he recommends people buy and use.

2024-08-27·blog.andymasley.com ↗

Logitech MX Master 3SHardware Logitech

loved

The Logitech MX Master 3S mouse The most comfortable mouse in the whole world I love this thing.

His product recommendations post: things he recommends people buy and use.

2024-08-27·blog.andymasley.com ↗

Kobo Elipsa 2EHardware Kobo

loved

I used a Kindle for about 7 years but switched to a Kobo because it's much easier to upload a lot of different types of documents to it. I've really loved it. It might be my favorite object that I own.

His product recommendations post: things he recommends people buy and use.

2024-08-27·blog.andymasley.com ↗

Marshall Monitor III headphonesHardware Marshall

loved

You could drop an extra $150 for the latest Sonys, but in my opinion the Marshall Monitor III is perfect and I don't expect to want to upgrade for a long time.

His product recommendations post: things he recommends people buy and use.

2024-08-27·blog.andymasley.com ↗

The 80,000 Hours PodcastPodcast 80,000 Hours

loved

I've been listening to the 80,000 Hours Podcast pretty regularly since 2018 and I'm closing in on having listened to every episode. This is a list of the episodes that are especially great and worth listening to if you're interested in the topic.

His list of favorite 80,000 Hours podcast episodes.

2024-03-13·blog.andymasley.com ↗

The PrizeBook Dale Russakoff

liked

Books: The Prize and The Quest by Daniel Yergen. Great popular history/science books on how so much of geopolitics has been determined and motivated by access to energy.

His list of resources for becoming energy literate.

2025-04-09·blog.andymasley.com ↗

The QuestBook Daniel Yergin

liked

Books: The Prize and The Quest by Daniel Yergen. Great popular history/science books on how so much of geopolitics has been determined and motivated by access to energy.

His list of resources for becoming energy literate.

2025-04-09·blog.andymasley.com ↗

Timex WeekenderHardware Timex

liked

It's a (relatively) very cheap and good looking option for wearing a watch to signal basic competence. I like the look a lot.

His product recommendations post: things he recommends people buy and use.

2024-08-27·blog.andymasley.com ↗

Everlane bomber jacketHardware Everlane

liked

The Everlane bomber jacket If you do like the bomber look, the Everlane bomber is imo the best looking in its price range. It has a great weight and feel to it as well.

His product recommendations post: things he recommends people buy and use.

2024-08-27·blog.andymasley.com ↗

Vitamix blenderHardware Vitamix

liked

Vitamix blender Expensive, but I bought mine in 2017 and I've had zero issues with it after 7 years of use.

His product recommendations post: things he recommends people buy and use.

2024-08-27·blog.andymasley.com ↗

Soy CurlsOther

liked

Soy Curls Texture of chicken and absorbs any flavor you cook them in. Very high fiber too.

His product recommendations post: things he recommends people buy and use.

2024-08-27·blog.andymasley.com ↗

What Hath God WroughtBook Daniel Walker Howe

liked

History America What God Hath Wrought Battlecry of Freedom Freedom From Fear

His list of especially good nonfiction audiobooks, chosen for content and narration.

2024-06-15·blog.andymasley.com ↗

Battle Cry of FreedomBook James M. McPherson

liked

History America What God Hath Wrought Battlecry of Freedom Freedom From Fear

His list of especially good nonfiction audiobooks, chosen for content and narration.

2024-06-15·blog.andymasley.com ↗

Albion's SeedBook David Hackett Fischer

liked

The Robert Caro Books Albion's Seed China The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom

His list of especially good nonfiction audiobooks, chosen for content and narration.

2024-06-15·blog.andymasley.com ↗

The Wizard and the ProphetBook Charles C. Mann

liked

Politics The Wizard and the Prophet The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements

His list of especially good nonfiction audiobooks, chosen for content and narration.

2024-06-15·blog.andymasley.com ↗

80,000 HoursOther

recommended

The best resource on effective altruism https://80000hours.org

Andy Masley's own recommendation blurb for the newsletter 80,000 Hours, on their Substack's recommendations page.

2025-09-29·blog.andymasley.com ↗

The Science of EnergyCourse The Great Courses

recommended

Audio: The Great Courses - The Science of Energy If I could assign everyone one place to start learning about energy from scratch, this would be it.

His list of resources for becoming energy literate.

2025-04-09·blog.andymasley.com ↗

AlfredSoftware Running with Crayons

recommended

Computer Apps Alfred Hotkeys will save you.

His product recommendations post: things he recommends people buy and use.

2024-08-27·blog.andymasley.com ↗

KiwixSoftware

recommended

Kiwix Download all of Wikipedia. Good for situations where you're stuck without wifi.

His product recommendations post: things he recommends people buy and use.

2024-08-27·blog.andymasley.com ↗

Instant PotHardware

recommended

Kitchen Items Instant Pot Makes life easier.

His product recommendations post: things he recommends people buy and use.

2024-08-27·blog.andymasley.com ↗

Toyota CorollaHardware Toyota

recommended

A cheap used car (I drive a 2015 Toyota Corolla) I think it makes sense to spend $15,000 on a car.

His product recommendations post: things he recommends people buy and use.

2024-08-27·blog.andymasley.com ↗

WaveForm LightingService

recommended

You can buy more expensive LEDs that have very high CRIs at places like WaveForm Lighting. I feel like this expense is worth it, because you basically don't need to replace LEDs, and this affects how everything I'm around looks for a lot of the day.

His product recommendations post: things he recommends people buy and use.

2024-08-27·blog.andymasley.com ↗

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The verdict is what they actually said: loved and liked are explicit; recommended means they told others to get it; uses means they only say they use it; read is a book on their public shelf with no verdict; mixed and disliked are kept too.

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