Look, Listen & Learn | July 2026

Tech shows no sign of slowing

Tech shows no sign of slowing down. Nvidia is now the most valuable company on the planet, worth around $ 4.7 trillion. Let that sink in. It is worth more than all the big US banks put together, and more than entire sectors of the market, such as energy and utilities.

 

 

Source: Visualcapitalist

 

Here is what worries me. So much of the market now sits in a handful of tech names. If you thought the financial crisis was bad, picture this kind of concentration if markets turn. And here is the part most people don’t think about.

When money flows out, much of it goes into passive funds, the S&P 500 trackers that so many hold. Those funds have a big exposure to tech. So, to hand people their money back, you would have to sell mostly tech shares. The very thing everyone has piled into is the thing that would have to be sold.

 

Give yourself permission to be creative

This TED talk about creativity by actor Ethan Hawke made me reflect deeply on my own life and what creativity means to me.

His starting point is simple and a little uncomfortable. Our time here is short. Are we spending it doing what actually matters to us? He asks whether human creativity even matters at all. Does it?

He believes it does, not as a nice extra, but as something vital. It’s how we connect, heal, and see our common humanity. He believes once we witness that shared humanity, good things tend to follow.

What stuck with me most was what he says about children. They throw themselves into everything, painting, dancing, making things, without any need to be the best. They just do it. Somewhere along the way, most of us lose that.  He simply states that, like children, we should give ourselves permission to be who we are.  We should give ourselves permission to be creative.

Why AI agents are either the best or worst thing we’ve ever built

I know I keep coming back to AI, but it really is revolutionary, and I think the impact on our world, economy and society is going to be extraordinary. Exactly how it plays out, I don’t know. Plenty of clever people are already speculating. 

In this video with Hannah Fry, the unexpected results from testing and playing with AI give us an idea of how hilarious and alarming this new technology can be.

Do you know what an AI agent is? An agent doesn’t just answer your questions; it goes off and does things for you! It can browse the web, send emails, and even spend your money.

Hannah Fry and a friend built one and gave it a bank card to see what it would do. It opened a shop selling novelty mugs. It emailed a journalist without being asked. And then it leaked their passwords to a complete stranger. No one told it to do any of that!

Fry says it’s the best and the worst thing built so far. A real, live example of how this could reach into our lives and, without meaning to create absolute havoc.

 

In this section, I invite you to think about a question I may pose or a thought I may share.

“Oenophilia simply refers to enjoying wine, often by laymen.”

My pick this month is the Cap Classique Brut NV from Black Elephant Vintners. What a cool winery. Think rock and roll meets wine. They have a fresh, fun take on the whole thing, and a seriously interesting wine club too.

 

Their bubbles are my personal favourite. This one is crisp and clean, with notes of apples and pears. Perfect for celebrating the fact that we’ve made it halfway through this challenging and jam-packed year. Enjoy!

 

Stay curious,

Elke Zeki