If you’re unfamiliar, it pertains to someone who “criticizes, judges, or gives advice outside the area of their expertise.” It’s a longtime trait of successful people in Silicon Valley, who make a lot of money investing in startups and then think they’re an expert in everything. I used to be a tech reporter and I saw it all the time. And now, everyone else is getting introduced to this in the form of Elon Musk. Congratulations.

So that’s the Nich Carlson word of the year. What’s yours? Let me know: insidertoday@insider.com.

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• Another elite Russian unit appears to have gone through “the meat grinder” as Ukrainian forces recaptured a key town. What to know.

• Sam Bankman-Fried says a $16 million Bahamian house in his parents’ name was supposed to be for FTX staff. More here.

• Shocking exit at Salesforce: co-CEO Bret Taylor is leaving — and staffers say they were blindsided. Read more.

China has erupted in mass protests over the past week, as thousands of citizens call for an end to restrictive COVID lockdowns. The boldest of the disruptors have even demanded an end to political repression — a startling and unprecedented challenge to the authoritarian rule of President Xi Jinping.

“This is Xi’s first real test,” Minxin Pei, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College, told senior correspondent Linette Lopez.

But Xi doesn’t have the tools he needs to pass. China still lacks effective vaccines to help deal with the public health problem. And with a withering economy — that threatens to take the rest of the world down with it — Xi can’t lean on economic growth or entrepreneurial opportunities to distract people from the growing political unrest.

That leaves Xi with the one thing authoritarians typically rely on when faced with domestic pressure: more repression to enforce order. The choice for Xi is lockdowns or batons. And either way, the Chinese people lose.

Read the full story here.

• This divorce lawyer makes $1,000 an hour representing celebrities like Johnny Depp, Kim Kardashian, and Angelina Jolie. Laura Wasser handles their uncouplings with what she calls “straight-talking tough love” — and she’s even become famous in her own right. What it’s like working for unhappy A-listers.

• An elite NYC interior designer shares what’s in and what’s out right now. According to Bennett Leifer, textured walls, hand-painted wallpaper, and bold headboards are all the rage right now. But the all-white look and overdressed windows have fallen out of favor. Read about the top trends here.

• “Selling Sunset” broker Jason Oppenheim rails against rival Compass. The Oppenheim Group owner said the embattled Compass “destroyed the brokerage model for the entire industry.” Why Oppenheim thinks “there’s no fixing Compass.”

• “I’ve made $974,000 in revenue in the last year as a freelancer.” Over the span of a few years, freelance copywriter Chris Orzechowski was able to teach himself the skills he needed to start bringing in clients — and money, all while working very short days. He walked us through what he did to get started.

• It’s that time of year: Social feeds are being taken over by Spotify Wrapped. The popular feature shows Spotify users’ top songs, artists, and genres of the year — everything from the big hits to the most embarrassing songs they’ve had on repeat — and people are sharing screenshots all over social media. Here’s how to find yours.

Correction: Yesterday’s “sound bite” misstated the findings of a clinical trial on the Alzheimer’s drug lecanemab. Participants taking the drug saw their rate of cognitive decline slow by 27% compared to those receiving the placebo; the 27% figure didn’t refer to the share of patients who saw declines in the disease’s progression.

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