Articles
What we read, argued with and checked while building Subtext. On emotions, on messages, and on the tools people write them with.
Writing tools
Every phone rewrites your messages now. None of them tells you what yours says.
Apple, Google, Samsung, Grammarly, ChatGPT and Claude all rewrite messages now. What each actually does, what it costs, and the one job none of them takes on.
Messages
Texting anxiety is real, and the research explains almost all of it
Why a two-word reply can wreck your afternoon, why most statistics about it are invented, and what actually helps. Every claim links to its source.
Writing tools
Most tone checkers never check your tone
Three AI reports on tone tools, merged and fact-checked. Most rewrite. Only a few read your tone first, and that's the difference that matters.
Writing tools
I make an AI writing assistant. Here's my honest map of the rest.
Grammarly, ChatGPT, Apple's free tools and the small messaging apps, compared by a founder who competes with some of them. Prices checked August 2026.
Messages
Boundaries are real. The 43% statistic about them is not.
What the research actually says about self-silencing, assertiveness, estrangement, and the difference between a boundary and a demand.
Writing tools
What Subtext is, who it's for, and when to use it
Subtext reads the tone of a message before you send it, then rewrites it in your own voice. What it does, who it's for, and when to use it.
Writing tools
The best apps for venting, and the uncomfortable research behind them
Most venting apps rest on a premise the research does not support. What survived a check of the claims, and what to use when the vent has a name on it.
Messages
Why people ghost, and why the silence hurts more than a no
Most people who ghost aren't cold. They're stuck for words. What 40+ studies say about why silence hurts more than a no, and what to send instead.
Messages
Emotional intelligence is real, and much smaller than advertised
Thirty years of research on emotional intelligence at work. What holds up, what quietly falls apart, and the one finding I changed my own habits over.
Messages
AuDHD and communication: what holds up, and what does not
I read the research on AuDHD and communication. Here is what holds up, what does not, and the handful of changes that actually make a difference.
Writing tools
ChatGPT alternatives for writing: what the big three do to your words
ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are all good at making writing correct. Here is where each one quietly stops making it yours, and what people build on top.
Messages
Why that text got to you
Three people can read the same message and have three different afternoons. What the research says about why, and what to do with it before you reply.
Messages
You Already Know the Standup Is Broken. The Hard Part Is Saying It.
A team of eight burns 460 person hours a year on a meeting the Scrum Guide says is not a status report. The evidence, and the experiment that gets a yes.
Emotions
18 TED talks about emotions that are worth the time
Eighteen talks on emotions that survived a founder's rewatch, sorted into five parts, with the view counts checked and every quote verified word for word.
Emotions
Aphantasia: the feelings are real, they just don't stick around
About one person in a hundred can't picture anything. Their emotional lives are the best evidence we have for where a message's feeling comes from.