Spaceships : A version of Asteroids where “you are not...
Spaceships: A version of Asteroids where “you are not the ship” — you control the rocks instead.
Department
Culture.
Society, trends, and the human experience.
Lately on the shelf
30 of 3268De-Homogenize the University
Democracy itself depends on it.
Helen Vendler spent a lifetime writing about lyric poetry, yet her criticism always started from frustration, not certainty
Helen Vendler spent a lifetime writing about lyric poetry, yet her criticism always started from frustration, not certainty
The extraordinary achievement of Moby-Dick is to unroll the blank sheet on which modernity will write itself
The extraordinary achievement of Moby-Dick is to unroll the blank sheet on which modernity will write itself
The nonfiction collapse. We’re nearing the point where one fiction blockbuster could outsell the entirety of the nonfiction bestseller list
The nonfiction collapse. We’re nearing the point where one fiction blockbuster could outsell the entirety of the nonfiction bestseller list
Literature without lust? For Leslie Fiedler, the American canon comprised adventure books, sea tales, and other prepubescent diet fare
Literature without lust? For Leslie Fiedler, the American canon comprised adventure books, sea tales, and other prepubescent diet fare
He burned with no causes, claimed Tom Stoppard. That detachment let him dramatize ideas his committed peers couldn't touch
He burned with no causes, claimed Tom Stoppard. That detachment let him dramatize ideas his committed peers couldn't touch
Once again this year, Vinita Prabhakar assigned her college students a short story she'd taught for a decade. This time, she lost her job
Once again this year, Vinita Prabhakar assigned her college students a short story she'd taught for a decade. This time, she lost her job
During the golden age of Oxbridge dons, intellectual elites were treated as a national treasure. Then came Margaret Thatcher
During the golden age of Oxbridge dons, intellectual elites were treated as a national treasure. Then came Margaret Thatcher
The political right often acts in bad faith in its attacks on academia; in response, academics lapse into tendentious moralism
The political right often acts in bad faith in its attacks on academia; in response, academics lapse into tendentious moralism
Pauline Kael was useless as a guide to movies. She was indispensable as an autobiographer of the Age of Cinema
Pauline Kael was useless as a guide to movies. She was indispensable as an autobiographer of the Age of Cinema
Gooey, disgusting AI slop is everywhere these days, including the pages of The Wall Street Journal. Here comes the AI police
Gooey, disgusting AI slop is everywhere these days, including the pages of The Wall Street Journal. Here comes the AI police
Tomorrow: Against the Machine Reading Group
Dear all,
The 101 Plays Itself . The five lanes of highway 101 in...
The 101 Plays Itself. The five lanes of highway 101 in LA turned into a musical instrument: each car on the live Caltrans camera is a note.
Culture Becomes a Dark Forest
“Wallfacing” to solve Navier-Stokes
How Long Till Death Revokes Your Library Card?
You Can Only Read So Many Books in This Lifetime. What if You Knew How Many You Had Left? Would It Matter? (Plus: Books I Want to Read Before I Kick the Bucket)
Pluralistic: Anti-vax/anti-trust (09 Sep 2026)
Today's links Anti-vax/anti-trust: Remembering saves lives. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: Disneyland prisoner; HOAs v xeriscaping; Copyright Office x regulatory capture; The women held a vote; Open licenses v uncopyrightable subje…
[Note]
Needed to renew my driving license. My new one doesn't have an EU flag on it. The sad reminders of Brexit just keep coming. 🇪🇺💔
[Article] Hot take: AI peaked with Taco Bot 3000
AI peaked in 2014 with the invention of the Taco Bot 3000. With artificial (taco) intelligence and the latest cheese dispensing technology, it truly represented the summit of human technological achievement the likes of which we might not see again.
Neuromancer, Chapters 10-12: A Doll’s House
Last week our crew left Earth and took a pit stop at Zion, a Rasta colony founded by construction workers who got sick of building luxury habitats for rich people and so one day decided not to finish the job.
I Don’t Want to Interact With Stochastic Parrots
I Don’t Want to Interact With Stochastic Parrots My AI policy is "I don’t want any kind of interaction with that thing." And this should be all you need to know. I don’t care if you call it AI, LLM, chatbot, or whateverGPT. I simply don’t want to interact with…
Cancer Capital: It sucks for founders, too!
So, we've been breaking down the way venture capital has evolved over the last two decades or so (spoilers: it got worse!), but a lot of that has been kind of theoretical. Now it's time for us to talk about how that impacts players in the real world, at a prac…
The Beginning of the End of History
The story of an essay.
Will the end of reading be the end of democracy too?
The New Dark Ages, by James Marriott
Kahlil Gibran on the Courage to Weather the Uncertainties of Love
"Think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course."
Americans are indifferent to art but obsess over art heists. "It’s as though a nation of teetotalers chooses, year after year, to hang out in bars
Americans are indifferent to art but obsess over art heists. "It’s as though a nation of teetotalers chooses, year after year, to hang out in bars
Rachel Cusk’s new novel was billed as “literary scandal of the year.” Strip away the controversy and it’s instantly forgettable
Rachel Cusk’s new novel was billed as “literary scandal of the year.” Strip away the controversy and it’s instantly forgettable
Babitz bubbles, Renata revivals, Hardwick hurricanes: How NYRB Classics built its name by resurrecting old and overlooked novelists
Babitz bubbles, Renata revivals, Hardwick hurricanes: How NYRB Classics built its name by resurrecting old and overlooked novelists
The Discipline and the Discipline
at the intersection of art and social science
How nationalists, theocrats and tech titans turned their backs on the future
The far-right is rising again. But this time, their vision for bunkered survivalism bets on permanent “bad times.” Excerpted from Rerun or Sequel?, an essay published in the Financial Times.