The Nature of Plagues

A Roman poet revisits an ancient epidemic.

Death and Depravity in Venice

Embracing ‘the voluptuousness of doom’ amid a cholera outbreak.

The Butcher of Havana

How a drifter from Milwaukee became the chief executioner of the Cuban Revolution—and a test case for U.S. civil rights.

Raising Cane

Sugar candy tasted better than bitter truth.

Bros., Lecce

We eat at the worst Michelin starred restaurant, ever.

Finding Babel in the Drawer

A writer of genius.

The Impossible Politics of Johnny Cash

He was beloved by Americans who could agree on little else. Was he too eager to please?

Burying Leni Riefenstahl

One woman’s lifelong crusade against Hitler’s favourite film-maker.

Maker Of Suicide Pod

Plans to launch in Switzerland.

How Obama Sabotaged the American Military

Obama fundamentally transformed the military the way that he did the country.

Children’s Lit Is Woefully Woke

It threatens to destroy kids’ love of reading.

Electric Vehicle Push

Is sparking massive deforestation, environmental damage.

Treason of the Intellectuals

The French thinker Julien Benda made a high-minded case for the moral transcendence of the truth. The flaws in his argument show why speaking truth to power is a fraught endeavor.

The Power of Testimony

Why personal narrative has displaced fiction.

Lawless Loggers

Across the mountainous peaks of Victoria’s central highlands, alpine and mountain ash trees stretch as far as the eye can see.

Apocalypse Then

Remembering the plague that ended the world.

A Letter From Quarantine

‘A person in my state of health should not have such miseries to bear.’

Why Punish A Scientist

For defending science?

I Moved to a Remote Cabin to Write, and I Hate It

What to do if you followed your dream, only to realize it wasn’t what you wanted after all.

Infection Hot Spot

Watching disease spread and kill on slave ships.

Entertaining Isolation

Keeping occupied during the Black Death.

Spectacular Geminid Meteor Shower Next Week

See up to 120 shooting stars per hour.

New Zealand Says Indigenous ‘Ways Of Knowing’ Are Equal To Modern Science

Absolute bullshit.

The Forgotten History Of Pearl Harbor

Why Japan’s attack on the US 80 years ago was not a surprise.

America Comes Down With a Case of Self-Hate

As Communist China waxes.

Immigration Isn’t the Issue

National identity is.

Neurodiversity and Entomology

Why they go together.

Islamic Infiltration of Europe

Top German news anchor supports Hamas, demands ‘Down with USA!’ There are others. 

California Mathematicians Turn Against Woke Curriculum

A group of 500 teachers and scientists have objected to a politicised syllabus.

America Hates You.

 Now go fight for her.

How Close Are Computers to Automating Mathematical Reasoning?

AI tools are shaping next-generation theorem provers, and with them the relationship between math and machine.

From Private Lives to Public Memory

An interview about America’s 1918 flu pandemic.

Seeing the Tartars

The Far East as object of terror and wonder in the West.

Prostitutes Are Stigmatised

Because their trade is filthy.

Sherlock Holmes Plays The White Man

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s many passions included a view of Empire that would today be regarded as racist.

Defoe Does DIY

Robinson Crusoe stays busy while socially distant.

The End of Economic Progress

John Stuart Mill critiques capitalism.

Brutal, Brazen Crimes Shake L.A.

Leaving city at a crossroads.

Why Looting Turned San Francisco

Into a ghost town.

Heroin dogs of Kabul

Homeless Afghan men giving Class A drugs to stray mutts so that they stick with them to keep them warm during winter.

Torture by Planning

To understand how Vancouver uses and abuses public input on major developments, look at this site.

San Francisco Restaurant Apologizes

For refusing to serve 3 armed SFPD officers.

China Seeks First Military Base on Africa’s Atlantic Coast

Alarmed officials at the White House and Pentagon urge Equatorial Guinea to rebuff Beijing’s overtures.

Why The Easily Offended Are A Threat To Scientific Progress

The mantras of diversity, inclusion and anti-racism are placing feelings above academic freedom.