May 17, 2018
Scientists reclaim the long lost economic history of Rome
Ancient Rome’s Collapse Is Written Into Arctic Ice. "Scientists can finally track the civilization’s economic booms and recessions—thanks to the exhaust of its massive coin-making operation, preserved for centuries in Greenland’s ice sheet."
Your success isn’t down to free will – luck determines everything
Eventually, working backwards, you will reach some starting point that can’t have been your doing. The troubling conclusion is that the person born in poverty, with no parental support, who scrimps to put himself or herself through college, finally achieving success through ceaseless suffering, owes their triumph no less to luck than, say, Eric Trump does. Or, as Strawson pithily puts it: “Luck swallows everything.”[more inside]
public goods, market control, externalities, and imperfect information
Democracy is not a truth machine
In a democracy people are free to express their opinions and question those of others. This is an important personal freedom, and also essential to the very idea of government by discussion. But it has also been held to be instrumentally important because in open public debate true ideas will conquer false ones by their merit, and the people will see the truth for themselves. In other words, democracy has an epistemic function as a kind of truth machine. From this it follows that in a democracy there should be no dogma: no knowledge protected from public challenge and debate. Yet this whole argument is founded on embarrassing misconceptions of the nature of truth and of the working of democracy.- Thomas R. Wells [more inside]
Blood Over Intent
Lavish Ashes, Plush Dust
Zu Asche, Zu Staub (a little NSFW) is a perfect dose of the tumultuous, tense world of Babylon Berlin. The extravagantly gritty drama, set during the collapse of the Weimar Republic and based on a series of detective novels, is reportedly the most expensive German TV series ever made. [more inside]
I've Pet That Dog!
Gideon is a 9-year old boy who likes petting dogs. He posts pictures of the dogs he has pet. Dogs include Romeo, Freddie, Lambeau, and many, many more.
Crone Island, disrupted
Entrepreneur Kristina Roth has founded SuperShe Island, a private retreat off the coast of Finland where no men are allowed. Potential SuperShes apply for membership; those "upbeat and cool" women accepted pay rates beginning at $3500 for a retreat in a shared cabin, all-inclusive amenities, and helipad access. Critics argue the vetting process and price tag are unfeminist. Other critics find the whole concept sexist (no links necessary or desired). Forget the margaritas, though: no alcohol or sugar will be served on the island.
Happy Birthday, ProPublica and the Izzy Award
The nonprofit ProPublica is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. In April, the Center for Investigative Reporting announced a program that aims to revive investigative journalism at the local level, and it’s not the only one. In March, the Park Center for Independent Media (PCIM) at Ithaca College celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Izzy Award, which is “presented for outstanding achievement in independent media.” While there are reasons to be unhappy with the state of American media, there are bright spots as well. One is that courageous reporters around the world continue their work despite the threat of prison, exile, or death. On a smaller scale, another might be a new newspaper in Plano, Illinois. [more inside]
An island is anything surrounded by difference
Know, that on the right hand of the Indies there is an island called California very close to the side of the Terrestrial Paradise; and it is peopled by black women, without any man among them, for they live in the manner of Amazons. They had beautiful and robust bodies, and were brave and very strong. Their island was the strongest of the World, with its steep cliffs and rocky shores (Rodríguez de Montalvo, 1510).European explorers knew California was not an island as early as 1529, so why did they resume depicting it as one on their maps around 1622? [more inside]
DIY (for an arbitrarily large value of I)
Daniel Stefanovic is collecting a set of links that explain how you can Build your own (insert technology here). Categories include 3-D Renderers, Operating Systems, Search Engines, Cryptocurrencies and many more.
The Art of Conversation
The Studs Terkel Radio Archive collects decades of work from Chicago journalist and interviewer Studs Terkel as he addressed some of 20th Century America’s most pressing issues and concerns Notable topics include - Work, labor and economy, LGBTQ Culture & Rights, The Great Depression, Race Relations, and More [more inside]
Sergeant Peppers is almost a great album
Last year, Stephen Colbert teamed up with 'the most influential minds in the prized 6 - 8 demographic' to brainstorm ideas for the perfect movie. ("Critics called it the most restrained performance of John Malkovich's career.") This year, Stephen's reassembled his creative team to come up with an idea for the best television show ever.
This question haunts the canon: What the fuck, Iago?
SFF author Max Gladstone attempts to understand what motivates Iago's schemes against Othello: Othello, for all his tragedy and pathos, is at root a man whose good sense has been practiced upon and subverted by Iago, the master manipulator. We’ve seen every step of that transition. Iago’s methods are not mysterious to us. The question is, why did he deploy them in the first place? .(Max Gladstone previously)
Cow Trippin'
the Republicanization of Brooklyn
While Cuomo reportedly is doing all he can to field a candidate to challenge [Simcha] Felder in the September primary election, the Orthodox legislator has little reason to feel much pressure. He is backed by a constituency that is growing both in size and self-confidence, say political observers [...] Attacks by the governor or anyone else on Felder will serve only to alienate those voters further from the Democratic Party, they say. The days when Jews, especially the Orthodox, automatically voted Democrat are over.An Orthodox politician stands in the way of Andrew Cuomo’s national ambitions
The 9.9 Percent
The Birth of a New American Aristocracy
In America today, the single best predictor of whether an individual will get married, stay married, pursue advanced education, live in a good neighborhood, have an extensive social network, and experience good health is the performance of his or her parents on those same metrics.
vin extraordinaire
Has wine gone bad? ‘Natural wine’ advocates say everything about the modern industry is ethically, ecologically and aesthetically wrong – and have triggered the biggest split in the wine world for a generation
The Waning Crescent
“Despite being brought up as an atheist, I was always very aware of my family history as well as the history of Lipka Tatars. Following many discussions about rising nationalism and Islamophobia, I realised just how very few people are aware of the Muslim community peacefully settled in the heart of Europe for over 600 years. Knowing that Podlasie region is the only place within today’s Polish borders where Tatars not only lived for generations, but are still present today I decided to execute the project there. This was my first visit to the region,” says Korycki, who shot his project The Waning Crescent during the summer of 2017.
You may actually encounter other actual human beings
What? Why? Physical World Presale? NIN decides that their upcoming tour will use only actual physical tickets, no online ordering (except in special cases). "Everything about the process sucks and everyone loses except the reseller. We’ve decided to try something different that will also likely suck, but in a different way. We’re hoping many of you will be happy with the results, while some may do what they always do and bitch about it." [more inside]
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