A list of good reads
- In honour of The New Yorker turning 100 years old, longtime editor David Remnick tells The Guardian about the importance of the magazine’s reportage.
- Also in The Guardian: a tribute by music writer Kate Mossman to Queen’s Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor—whose tunes helped her ‘90s teenage self find somebody to love.
- The Atlantic (splainer gift link) looks back to 1931, to analyse what the global press at the time got wrong about the rise of Adolf Hitler.
- The Economist (login required) argues that the Donald is also a problem for Europe's most important hard-right leaders—with his antics causing problems for Giorgia Meloni and Marine Le Pen.
- In the New York Times (splainer gift link): a ‘retirement’ home for penguins at Boston’s New England Aquarium—featuring a slower-paced life and plenty of fish.
- A Harvard Professor claims that the aliens we meet in the future will be a form of AI—and it sounds oddly reasonable. Popular Mechanics has more.
- Jemima Kelly in Financial Times (splainer gift link) examines the moral implications of her date using an AI LLM to psychologically profile her.
- What’s the deal with metals from space? Josh Sims in BBC News examines the rocky future of asteroid mining.
- Also in BBC News: the surprising story of Vincent van Gogh’s guardian angel and unlikely soulmate—a postman in Arles named Joseph Roulin.
- Creative Blog asks the burning question of the moment—why do all AI company logos look the same?
- NPR examines the latest in bite-sized digital content slop—micro dramas, i.e. movie-length soap operas divided into vertically filmed, under minute-long clips.
- Associated Press has a lovely profile of Kashmiri Sufi music lovers who have held on to decades-old audio cassette players.
- Vox (login required) breaks down why your kid may pretend that tomato sauce can is their best pal—and why parents shouldn’t freak out.
