30 notable sales of rare books by AbeBooks over the past...
30 notable sales of rare books by AbeBooks over the past 30 years, including first editions of Moby-Dick, Winnie-The-Pooh, and Leaves of Grass.
Department
Culture.
Society, trends, and the human experience.
Lately on the shelf
30 of 234319th Century Japanese Woodblock Prints Creatively...
19th Century Japanese Woodblock Prints Creatively Illustrate the Inner Workings of the Human Body. Love these.
All US Cities Which Used to Have More Than 100,000 People But Don’t Anymore
Here’s a map of the 21 US cities that used to have a population of 100,000 people but don’t anymore. Many of these are Rust Belt cities, in which manufacturing employment fell steeply during the latter part of the 20th century. The thread at Reddit mentions De…
How the Words We Teach English Language Learners...
How the Words We Teach English Language Learners Changed, and What That Says About Us. “The shifts reflect a life that moved further from its own making: less tied to tools, animals, food…; more tied to global institutions, categories, systems…”
Xanadu, the "Home of Tomorrow" that promised automation as liberation, was run on a "house brain," another word for mother
Xanadu, the "Home of Tomorrow" that promised automation as liberation, was run on a "house brain," another word for mother
No wave of riveting AI writing has arrived — only the diminishment of the magic and excitement of human writing.
No wave of riveting AI writing has arrived — only the diminishment of the magic and excitement of human writing.
Christopher Marlowe: alienated skeptic, government spy, counterfeiter, dead at 29. Shakespeare's debt to the man was simply inestimable.
Christopher Marlowe: alienated skeptic, government spy, counterfeiter, dead at 29. Shakespeare's debt to the man was simply inestimable.
“I’m not a provocateur,” insists Alex Byrne, the MIT philosopher who decided to grab hold of a third rail: youth gender medicine
“I’m not a provocateur,” insists Alex Byrne, the MIT philosopher who decided to grab hold of a third rail: youth gender medicine
Trenchant but sententious, John Berger could sound like Platonov one moment, the next like Alain de Botton
Trenchant but sententious, John Berger could sound like Platonov one moment, the next like Alain de Botton
Increasingly “ancient history” is not just Greco-Roman, but leads through such locales as Kerala, Tillya Tepe, and Guangzhou
Increasingly “ancient history” is not just Greco-Roman, but leads through such locales as Kerala, Tillya Tepe, and Guangzhou
Durkheim called it "collective effervescence." The rest of us call it getting gussied up to drink, dance, and have fun
Durkheim called it "collective effervescence." The rest of us call it getting gussied up to drink, dance, and have fun
No, we are not post-literate. The reading panic is merely the result of histrionic op-eds that misdiagnose the erosion of literary culture
No, we are not post-literate. The reading panic is merely the result of histrionic op-eds that misdiagnose the erosion of literary culture
Nose hairs tweezed just so, and set with Krazy Glue. Gently dappled liver spots. Their art is increasingly rare, but a few morticians are hanging on
Nose hairs tweezed just so, and set with Krazy Glue. Gently dappled liver spots. Their art is increasingly rare, but a few morticians are hanging on
For some conservatives, the Great Books are simply an anti-woke bulwark. But the case for them is much grander and more provocative
For some conservatives, the Great Books are simply an anti-woke bulwark. But the case for them is much grander and more provocative
Don’t use AI until you’re 40 . “We have been so...
Don’t use AI until you’re 40. “We have been so quick to treat access to new technology as an inevitability that we have failed to question whether every powerful tool should be placed in the hands of every developing mind the moment it becomes available.”
Sixteen Fun Facts About Me
Monday’s Trailheads
All Hail Queen Sophie by Kyle Smith All of this was mere overture to an even more attention-capturing move by Ms. Cunningham. In an ESPN interview published July 21, she noted, “I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who should…
Psychology Research Is Mostly Fine
...
Pluralistic: Discernment (28 Jul 2026)
Today's links Discernment: How can you fact-check AI when you're asking it to teach you something you don't understand? Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: How to help with computers; Batman equation; Fuck and the law; NC's racist votin…
Book Review (3/26): The Political Economy of Rwanda's Rise (by Pritish Behuria)
On developmentalist state-building and its impacts on business-state relations.
On contentment
The Discourses of Epictetus, 1.12
The Bird in You, the World in You, and the Art of Trusting Time: A Ceramics and Serpentine Raffle
One December afternoon, I arrived in Patagonia with a big blue backpack, a small bilingual edition of Pablo Neruda’s love poems, and a broken heart. (Though a heart, of course, never breaks.) The moment I stepped out of the airplane, the Andes towered over me…
We Used to Be Able to Buy Things in This Country ....
We Used to Be Able to Buy Things in This Country. “Locking up toothpaste was a warning sign that our executive class was crazy.”
YouTube "Hackquires" Peacock
A rather brilliant move, perhaps on both sides! Sorry, Netflix.
The 50 Essential Western Films (Part 2)
In this installment, I cover the period from 1955 through 1968
What Being a Digital Nomad Taught Me About the Real World
Reflections on moving from New York to Kyrgyzstan.
A Shortlist of Potential Future Euro Banknote Designs
The European Central Bank is providing a sneak peek at the next design of the Euro banknotes. From a shortlist of 10 designs created by artists and designers from across the EU, one will be selected as the basis of how Euro banknotes from €5 to €200 will look…
Floyd Haggerty’s Wild West Extravaganza Spectacular!
Or, Choreography and the Equine Genius, by Sundown, Principal Equine
Please, Don't Screw Up Neuromancer (Which Will Be the Subject of Our Next Book Club!)
I ask for so little, God
“ Datatype is an OpenType variable font that turns...
“Datatype is an OpenType variable font that turns simple text expressions into inline charts. No JavaScript, no images, no rendering library — just type the syntax and Datatype’s ligature substitution does the rest.”