In this edition: Concrete memories, grief science, captive cats, relentless pain, and myth meets reality.
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What Is Claude? Anthropic Doesn’t Know, Either
“Researchers at the company are trying to understand their A.I. system’s mind—examining its neurons, running it through psychology experiments, and putting it on the therapy couch.”
The Babies Kept in a Mysterious Los Angeles Mansion
“A wealthy couple obtained dozens of children through surrogates. Did they want a family, or something else?”
Disappeared to a Foreign Prison
“The Trump administration is deporting people to countries they have no ties to, where many are being detained indefinitely or forcibly returned to the places they fled.”
House Arab
The experience of being an elite magazine’s only Arab staffer after October 7.
How I Learned to Become an Intimacy Coördinator
“At a sex-choreography workshop, a writer discovered a world of Instant Chemistry exercises, penis pouches, and nudity riders to train for Hollywood’s most controversial job.”
Your A.I. Lover Will Change You
“A future where many humans are in love with bots may not be far off. Should we regard them as training grounds for healthy relationships or as nihilistic traps?”
Joan Lowell and the Birth of the Modern Literary Fraud
“A century ago, an aspiring actress published a remarkable autobiography. She made up most of it.”
The Subversive Love Songs of Lucy Dacus
“The singer-songwriter talks about boygenius, the perils of love, and ‘Forever Is a Feeling,’ her new album.”
What I Inherited from My Criminal Great-Grandparents
“In working through the Winter case files, I often felt pinpricks of déjà vu: an exact turn of phrase, an absurdly specific expenditure.”

