“The creators of the Aibo robot dog say it has ‘real emotions and instinct’. This may seem over the top, but is it? In today’s AI universe, all the eternal questions have become engineering problems.”
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Posted inUncategorized
Musical Rivalries and our Weekly Top 5
“Before hip-hop brought the concept of ‘beef’ into the mainstream, rock and roll’s aggression and excess resulted in many an unfriendly rivalry; decades earlier, the hard life of the traveling jazz musician led to some heady and memorable fallouts. Whether it’s pop stars, country singers, dancehall artists, or Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s recent multi-song war, […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Seven Stowaways and a Hijacked Oil Tanker: The Strange Case of The Nave Andromeda
Samira Shackle’s reporting in this piece for The Guardian is both impressive and moving. Investigating the full-scale commando raid that took place after a distress call from the Nave Andromeda, Shackle finds the seven confused, and innocent, stowaways at the heart of it. Almost three weeks after they had climbed on to the rudder in […]
Posted inNewsletter
A Hackers Reading List and Our Top 5
“Despite endless warnings highlighting the dangers of the digital world, there is a growing acceptance that, in return for the speed and convenience of the internet, we must relinquish a little of our privacy.” In the ’80s, “hacking” wasn’t a familiar concept to most moviegoers. Do you remember watching WarGames for the first time? The […]
Posted inCuration
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Recommending stories by Brenna Ehrlich, Yiyun Li, Claire L. Evans, Nicholas Casey, and Kent Russell.
Posted inNonfiction
The Syrian Rebels Who Found Refuge in Books
In a town under siege from Assad’s regime, a small group built a library from books rescued from the rubble.
Posted inNonfiction, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Jesse Eisinger, Jeff Ernsthausen, and Paul Kiel, Arno Kopecky, Isaac Würmann, Vanessa Angélica Villarreal, and Laura Spinney.
Posted inNewsletter
A Forgotten Deportation, a New Questionnaire Series, and Our Top 5
An essay about a forgotten deportation and the reckoning it left behind, a glimpse into Maria Popova’s writing and reading life, and our five recommended stories of the week.
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
In this week’s Top 5 we have lessons from apartheid, clever Claude, feeling bodies anew, the power of wax, and free mining.
Posted inUncategorized
How to Love a Swamp (and Our Top 5)
“But here’s the thing about swamps: They don’t go down easy. Swamps don’t protest, they insist.” I recently completed a road trip across the Canadian prairies, traveling through the mountains to the southwestern coast of British Columbia. I was relaxed at the wheel, and I enjoyed the chance to think, unencumbered even by radio stations along […]
