Why Plato Was Drawn to the Eleusinian Mysteries
For Plato, rationalists and mystics can walk the same path. He turns to the Eleusinian Mysteries to explain his ideas about knowledge.
200 Days and Still No Justice for Hind Rajab
It’s now been more than 200 days since Israeli forces killed 6-year-old Hind Rajab, her family members, and the medics sent to save her.
What a Courtroom Sketch Artist Sees
Tina Jordan at The New York Times Book Review: The sketch above appears in a…
How Renaissance Art Found Its Way to American Museums
The Consummation of Empire, and The Andes of Ecuador are all considered examples of great American art, but there was little appreciation…
A Passage From “The Killers”
“The Killers” is a short story by Charles Bukowski in his 1973 collection, South of No North. Bukowski, greatly influenced by Hemingway…
Friday Poem: Adolescence
I sit to see shadows play with dolls of darkness that is light. I sit to think past has passed childhood has lost its ribbon.
Carbon Emissions from AI and Crypto Are Surging and Tax Policy Can Help
Crypto assets and artificial intelligence have one thing in common. Both are power hungry. The climate impact of these activities is cause for concern.
Overconfidence About Sentience is Everywhere—and it’s Dangerous
The Edge of Sentience, rather than offering Houdini-like escapes from uncertainty, is all about how to make evidence-based decisions in the face of uncertainty.
What Populism Is—And Isn’t
Populism, the rule of many, and authoritarianism, the rule of one, might seem like antipoles. But they are intimately related. Wherever populism appears, so do various forms of…
What Your Brain Is Really Doing When Doing “Nothing”
The OEF is defined as the ratio of oxygen used by the brain to oxygen delivered by flowing blood and is remarkably uniform in the awake but resting state…
Thursday Poem: In the House of God
“Karan Kapoor introduced me to the form of the ghazal …I immediately took to the form and started practicing it.”