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Essays

Boomerang

Empires have a way of seeding their own destruction.

Essays

Retrograde

Like water, gold simply can’t tell you what it used to be.

  • Cocoa is under pressure while East African economy is on the rise {Business Africa}

    Local farmers still struggle with financing, fair pay, and ethical labor practices while East Africa Leads with Nearly 6% Growth as the Continent Eyes a 4% Economic Rise in 2025. https://www.africanews.com/2025/07/18/cocoa-is-under-pressure-while-east-african-economy-is-on-the-rise-business-africa/ more ›

  • A Rogue New Life Form

    A tiny microbe discovered by accident challenges the definition of cellular life https://nautil.us/a-rogue-new-life-form-1232095/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email more ›

  • Intelligence Squared: Fabergé’s Rediscovered Imperial Flower, with Helen Culver-Smith

    Listen: https://ift.tt/n1gqMIp This is an episode of The Specialist, produced by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Sotheby's. In The Specialist, explore the significance and journey of an extraordinary work through the eyes of those that know it best. On today’s… more ›

  • DNA shows West African roots in 7th-century England

    Researchers were perplexed, when they discovered that the remains of one woman and one man shared close genetic similarity with present-day Yoruba, Mende, Mandenka, and Esan groups from Sub-Saharan West Africa. https://www.africanews.com/2025/08/22/dna-shows-west-african-roots-in-7th-century-england/ more ›

  • The Artsy Gallery Report 2025

    The second edition of Artsy’s Gallery Report highlights 40 galleries leading in online sales. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-artsy-gallery-report-2025?utm_content=article-share more ›

  • Another Podcast: A double episode: AI differentiation, and Apple does F1

    Listen: https://ift.tt/GSxnjFX How can billion dollar chatbots differentiate when they're all doing the same thing in the same way? – and – Why is tech into F1, and why is F1 into tech?  August 21, 2025 more ›

  • Better Offline: The AI Money Trap, Part Two

    Listen: https://ift.tt/DRhLwYP In part two of this week's two-part Better Offline, Ed Zitron walks you through how America’s economic growth has become dependent on Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Meta’s AI capital expenditures – and how this inevitably harms both the… more ›

  • The Maillet Daguerreotype Collection

    This June, Christie’s offers one of the most important collections of daguerreotypes to come to market in the past 25 years. Announced to the world in 1839 and born of a collaboration between Frenchmen Joseph Nicephore Niepce and Louis Mande… more ›

  • Past Present Future: Politics on Trial 100th Anniversary Special: Franz Kafka’s The Trial

    Listen: https://ift.tt/nS5lRKD Today’s episode in Politics on Trial is about the most famous trial in literature and one that never actually takes place. David talks to writer and literary scholar Ian Ellison about Franz Kafka’s The Trial, first published in 1925.… more ›

  • MIT Technology Review Narrated: How to run an LLM on your laptop

    Listen: https://ift.tt/eSsgCYb It’s now possible to run useful models from the safety and comfort of your own computer. Here’s how.This story was written by Grace Huckins and narrated by Noa – newsoveraudio.com. August 20, 2025 more ›