The Psychological Beatitudes
Stop prioritizing.
Dispatches
The Work That Holds the World Together
I thought I had changed: I had started talking to Joe, the guy on the margins. I had asked his name and even brought him lunch. For a moment, I patted myself on the back, sure I was not one of the “cold ones.” On the way home, though, something felt off.
Two Nigerians at a Table
How do we fall in love with the countries we ran from? What is the strange alchemy that turns distance into longing, and absence into affection? Distance is not impartial. It decides what to soften and what to sharpen. For some, absence polishes memory into a shining gem; for others, it preserves the edge of the blade.
The Reinterpretation of the American Dream
However you interpreted the American dream, it was all that held us together.
The Economic Paradox That (We Hope!) Might Save Us All from AI Devastation
Perhaps we can take comfort in the fact that his paradox has at least survived long enough to be quoted and debated in our current age of AI anxiety. Perhaps we should hope against hope that Jevons paradox will prove itself useful all over again.
And Why Not Look for Mermaids?
Or how the father of taxonomy persuaded the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to organize a hunt for mermaids.
The St. Louisan Who Could Rule the World
Brilliant, he admits to an “almost delusional level of self-confidence.” Will we pay for his recklessness?
Tiptoeing Around Our Stories
In the best of times it is impossible to know other people fully. Even if we wish to act in good faith, it is hard to express to others who we think we are—and we may not know who we are.
The Art and Science of Hold Music’s Best Soundtracks
When we are up against the inevitable limits of human invention and our capacity for patience, it is the music that matters most.
“Play Like Satie”
“Haunting” is the first word that comes to mind. The melody’s ghost lingered, changing the very air. The Gymnopédies, a word I now know means “Three Nude Dances,” were indeed bare: simple, vulnerable, tender, wistful, melancholy.