Why the Moon is Getting a New Time Zone
The US plans to land astronauts on the Moon in 2026, the first time since 1972. By Richard Windsor at The Week: The US federal government has asked Nasa to
Amir Timur and the Battle of Stalingrad
Habib Khan from Quetta: Amir Timur (aka Tamerlane) allegedly learned perseverance from an ant. According to legends, and the school curriculum, Timur observed an ant repeatedly trying to climb a
Sunday Poem: The Forgotten Madmen
Do not look sadly at days gone bydays below days like a river running under the starsDo not listen to the bluesor speak often with priestsDo not think the rich
Yan Lianke Wants You to Stop Describing Him As China’s Most Censored Author
Yan Lianke at Literary Hub: In China we have a saying that reading a banned book on a snowy night is one of the true joys of life. From this,
Continue readingYan Lianke Wants You to Stop Describing Him As China’s Most Censored Author
The Fall and Rise of ‘Scarface’
Sonny Bunch at The Bulwark: This week, I’m rejoined by Glenn Kenny to discuss his new book The World Is Yours: The Story of Scarface. Among the topics discussed: What
Deepfake Politicians May Have a Big Influence on India’s Elections
Jeremy Hsu in New Scientist: Artificial intelligence is enabling India’s politicians to be everywhere at once in the world’s largest election by cloning their voices and digital likenesses. Even dead
Continue readingDeepfake Politicians May Have a Big Influence on India’s Elections
Cartoons This Week: No One is Above the Law
Selected cartoons this week: Summer Getaway Plans; Columbia Univ. Yearbook, Today’s Specials, Etc.
A Barnard Professor on What Columbia Owes its Students Right Now
“If we are to reclaim our university, faculty and students must do it together.” By Nara Milanich at Time: Faculty have different opinions about the substance of the student protestors’
Continue readingA Barnard Professor on What Columbia Owes its Students Right Now
Humanizing the Technocracy
Damon Linker in Notes From the Middleground: I first became a TNR (The New Republic) subscriber in 1992, when one of my teachers in graduate school told me it was
Saturday Poem: Older Love
His wife has asthmaso he only smokes outdoorsor late at night with headand shoulders well intothe fireplace, the mesquite and oakheat bright against his face.Does it replace the heatthat has
How Harlem Saw Itself
Clifford Thompson at Commonweal: “For generations in the mind of America, the Negro has been more of a formula than a human being—a something to be argued about, condemned or
Gaza War and Students Protests: Perspectives on the Conflagration
The Ideas Letter: The war in Gaza has inspired powerful protest, unyielding contestation, and claims of genocide. In this issue, we solicited three contributions that aim to bring new perspectives
Continue readingGaza War and Students Protests: Perspectives on the Conflagration