Category Archives: Opinion

Previews: The New Yorker Magazine – Nov 20, 2023

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The New Yorker – November 20, 2023 issue: The new issue features The A.I. Issue – Joshua Rothman on the godfather of A.I., Eyal Press on facial-recognition technology, Anna Wiener on Holly Herndon, and more…

Why the Godfather of A.I. Fears What He’s Built

Geoffrey Hinton has spent a lifetime teaching computers to learn. Now he worries that artificial brains are better than ours.

By Joshua Rothman

In your brain, neurons are arranged in networks big and small. With every action, with every thought, the networks change: neurons are included or excluded, and the connections between them strengthen or fade. This process goes on all the time—it’s happening now, as you read these words—and its scale is beyond imagining. You have some eighty billion neurons sharing a hundred trillion connections or more. Your skull contains a galaxy’s worth of constellations, always shifting.

Does A.I. Lead Police to Ignore Contradictory Evidence?

A profile of a face overlaid with various panels.

Too often, a facial-recognition search represents virtually the entirety of a police investigation.


By Eyal Press

On March 26, 2022, at around 8:20 a.m., a man in light-blue Nike sweatpants boarded a bus near a shopping plaza in Timonium, outside Baltimore. After the bus driver ordered him to observe a rule requiring passengers to wear face masks, he approached the fare box and began arguing with her. “I hit bitches,” he said, leaning over a plastic shield that the driver was sitting behind. When she pulled out her iPhone to call the police, he reached around the shield, snatched the device, and raced off. The bus driver followed the man outside, where he punched her in the face repeatedly. He then stood by the curb, laughing, as his victim wiped blood from her nose.

Personal HistoryA Coder Considers the Waning Days of the Craft

Coding has always felt to me like an endlessly deep and rich domain. Now I find myself wanting to write a eulogy for it.

By James Somers

The New York Times Magazine – Nov 12, 2023

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THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (November 10, 2023): The latest issue features A Beginner’s Guide to Looking at the Universe; What Does the U.S. Space Force Actually Do? – Inside the highly secretive military branch responsible for protecting American interests in a vulnerable new domain; Their Final Wish? A Burial in Space. – Why some people decide to send their remains into orbit.

A Beginner’s Guide to Looking at the Universe

A stunning advancement in a long history of stargazing, the James Webb telescope reveals light where once we saw only darkness. Our view of the universe will never be the same.

By KATE LARUE

Special Report: ‘China’s Armed Forces’ (NOV 2023)

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The Economist SPECIAL REPORTS – CHINA’S ARMED FORCES (NOVEMBER 11, 2023): Overestimating China’s armed forces would be dangerous; Unknown soldiers – The People’s Liberation Army is not yet as formidable as the West fears; Rank indifference – China is struggling to recruit enough highly skilled troops; Weapons of woe – From hypersonic missiles to undersea drones, the PLA is making leaps…

The People’s Liberation Army is not yet as formidable as the West fears

Overestimating China’s armed forces would be dangerous, argues Jeremy Page

In 1957 america was gripped by fears of a “missile gap” with the Soviet Union. The Kremlin had stunned the world with a test flight of an intercontinental ballistic missile (icbm) and the launch of Sputnik. An American intelligence report predicted that by 1962, the Soviets could have 500 icbms, outstripping America’s arsenal. When word of that leaked, a political furore erupted. Eyeing the presidency from his Senate seat, John F. Kennedy demanded action to prevent a Soviet “shortcut to world domination”.

China is struggling to recruit enough highly skilled troops

The PLA needs them to operate all its new weapons

From hypersonic missiles to undersea drones, the PLA is making leaps

But China’s military tech still lags behind the West’s

Previews: The Economist Magazine – Nov 11, 2023

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The Economist Magazine (November 11, 2023): The latest issue features How Scary is China? – America must understand China’s weaknesses as well as its strengths; The Omnistar is born – How artificial intelligence will transform fame; Giorgia Meloni’s “mother of all reforms” is a power grab – Italians should reject their prime minister’s demagogic proposal, and more….

How artificial intelligence will transform fame

The omnistar is born – Those complaining the loudest about the new technology stand to benefit the most

How scary is China?

Superpower politics – America must understand China’s weaknesses as well as its strengths

Giorgia Meloni’s “mother of all reforms” is a power grab

Constitutional chicanery – Italians should reject their prime minister’s demagogic proposal

Previews: The New Yorker Magazine – Nov 13, 2023

Two people under a red umbrella walking in the rain near the Brooklyn Bridge.

The New Yorker – November 13, 2023 issue: The new issues cover features Kadir Nelson’s “Dumbo” – The artist discusses the seasonal energy of the city, and his sources of inspiration.

Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon” Complex

Ridley Scott photographed by Christopher Anderson.

Does the director of “Alien,” “Blade Runner,” and “Gladiator” see himself in the hero of his epic new film?

By Michael Schulman

On the morning of the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon Bonaparte was full of catastrophic confidence. His seventy-three thousand troops were camped on a ridge near a tavern called La Belle Alliance. His nemesis, the Duke of Wellington, occupied a slope across the fields, with a mere sixty-seven thousand troops. Over breakfast, Napoleon predicted, “If my orders are well executed, we will sleep in Brussels this evening.” When his chief of staff offered a word of caution, Napoleon snapped, “Wellington is a bad general and the English are bad troops. The whole affair will not be more serious than swallowing one’s breakfast.”

How Can Determinists Believe in Free Will?

By Nikhil Krishnan

Some people think that we can’t be held responsible for what we do, given that our actions are the inevitable consequence of the laws of nature. They’re only half right.

Eclipsed in his Era, Bayard Rustin Gets to Shine in Ours

The civil-rights mastermind was sidelined by his own movement. Now he’s back in the spotlight. What can we learn from his strategies of resistance?

By Adam Gopnik

Reinventing the Dinosaur

Life on Our Planet,” a new Netflix nature documentary, renews our fascination with our most feared and loved precursors.

By Rivka Galchen

The New York Times Magazine – Nov 5, 2023

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THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (November 3, 2023): The latest issue features Bariatric Surgery at 16 – If childhood obesity is an ‘epidemic,’ how far should doctors go to treat it?; Some Ukrainians Helped the Russians. Their Neighbors Sought Revenge; The Eternal Life of the ’90s Supermodel -How did a small group of models manage to stay on top for so long?, and more…

Bariatric Surgery at 16

Alexandra and her mother holding hands.

If childhood obesity is an ‘epidemic,’ how far should doctors go to treat it?

By Helen Ouyang

Last fall, Alexandra Duarte, who is now 16, went to see her endocrinologist at Texas Children’s Hospital, outside Houston. From age 10, she had been living with polycystic ovary syndrome and, more recently, prediabetes. After Alexandra described her recent quinceañera, the doctor brought up an operation that might benefit her, one that might help her lose weight and, as a result, improve these obesity-related problems.

Some Ukrainians Helped the Russians. Their Neighbors Sought Revenge.

For people in Bilozerka, the invasion began a cat-and-mouse game of collaboration and resistance.

By James Verini

Andriy Koshelev steered his car into the driveway of his home on Pushkin Street in Bilozerka, a lakeside town in Ukraine’s Kherson region. Leaving the car on, Koshelev got out and walked to the entrance gate. He reached down to loosen the latch. When he pulled it, the gate exploded. Koshelev’s parents, who lived on the same property, rushed outside as acrid smoke filled their driveway and the street. The explosion resounded across town.

Previews: The Economist Magazine – Nov 4, 2023

Too good to be true: The contradiction at the heart of the world economy

The Economist Magazine (November 2, 2023): The latest issue features The contradiction at the heart of the world economy – Threats abound, including higher-for-longer interest rates; Why Israel must fight on – Unless Hamas’s power is broken, peace will remain out of reach; unless Hamas’s power is broken, peace will remain out of reach; Donald Trump’s tariff plans would inflict grievous damage on America and the world – You may think his worst ideas won’t get far. Sadly, on trade he has been singularly influential…

Too good to be true: The contradiction at the heart of the world economy

The world economy is defying gravity. That cannot last. Threats abound, including higher-for-longer interest rates

Even as wars rage and the geopolitical climate darkens, the world economy has been an irrepressible source of cheer. Only a year ago everyone agreed that high interest rates would soon bring about a recession. Now even the optimists have been confounded. America’s economy roared in the third quarter, growing at a stunning annualised pace of 4.9%. Around the world, inflation is falling, unemployment has mostly stayed low and the big central banks may have stopped their monetary tightening. China, stricken by a property crisis, looks likely to benefit from a modest stimulus. Unfortunately, however, this good cheer cannot last. The foundations for today’s growth look unstable. Peer ahead, and threats abound.

Why Israel must fight on

Israel’s bombardment of Gaza is taking a terrible toll. But unless Hamas’s power is broken, peace will remain out of reach

Trade wars: episode II

Donald Trump’s tariff plans would inflict grievous damage on America and the world

You may think his worst ideas won’t get far. Sadly, on trade he has been singularly influential

Culture: The Hedgehog Review – Fall 2023

THE HEDGEHOG REVIEW (FALL 2023): MARKETS AND THE GOOD – Thinking beyond the tyranny of economics; The Myth of the Friedman Doctrine; Hamilton’s System; How We Obscure the Common Plight of Workers; Profit, Power, and Purpose and more…

Introduction: Markets and the Good

Introduction: Markets and the Good | Markets and the Good | Issues | The Hedgehog  Review

Thinking beyond the tyranny of economics.

By Jay Tolson, editor of The Hedgehog Review

Only three decades ago, amid what was hailed as a new “Springtime of Nations,” post–Cold War exuberance fueled widespread confidence in the triumphant spread of liberal democracy and free-market capitalism to all parts of the globe, including those few remaining redoubts of “truly existing socialism,” with their fusty politburos and dysfunctional command economies. The brutal 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown notwithstanding, even the People’s Republic of China was thought to be on the road to democracy thanks to its earlier adoption of a hybrid form of capitalism with “Chinese characteristics.” Though not alone in predicting that the opening up of China’s economy would lead to the liberalization of its politics and society, the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal were among the louder cheerleaders for that optimistic line of economic determinism. 

The Myth of the Friedman Doctrine

The Myth of the Friedman Doctrine | Markets and the Good | Issues | The  Hedgehog Review

And the stubborn persistence of a powerful idea.

By Kyle Edward Williams, senior editor of The Hedgehog Review and the author of a forthcoming book on the history of American business, Taming the Octopus: The Long Battle for the Soul of the Corporation

Americans were once deeply worried about the danger posed by powerful corporations. They may be useful, wrote James Madison to a friend in 1827, “but they are at best a necessary evil only.”1 This was an old republican intuition: Concentrated power in whatever form threatened the body politic. In recent years, however, business leaders have come to believe that what Madison considered a “necessary evil” is actually the last great institution capable of making the world a better place. For Silicon Valley entrepreneurs no less than Fortune 500 CEOs, the bottom line is out, and amelioration is in. Call it conscious capitalism. Or corporate social responsibility or environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investing. Many consumers, regulators, and activists expect big-business executives to act like responsible citizens and steer their firms accordingly—maybe more now than ever before. Even 92 percent of executives in a 2022 survey agreed that corporate leaders should take a stand on social issues.2


Profit, Power, and Purpose

The greatest challenge presented by modern corporations, small as well as large, involves purpose.

Michael Lind

The New Prince

Deneen’s politics of resentment primarily seeks to seize power from political enemies.

Andrew Lynn

Current Affairs: Prospect Magazine – December 2023

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Prospect Magazine (December 2023) – The latest issue features Oh, the humanities! – History, literature, film studies; I still dream of peace – How Israel might emerge from the Gaza horror, and more…

I still dream of peace

My country will emerge from this horror—and when it does the peacemakers, not the zealots, will reign, writes a former speaker of the Israeli Knesset

By Avraham Burg

The following words were written amid the storm of battle. Planes constantly circling in the sky, the bedroom turned into a shelter, the radio telling of new atrocities, the heart torn with fear as to the fate of missing persons. The days are now devoted to funerals and condolences, and the evenings to guarding our small community. I have participated in many demonstrations against the terrible folly of Benjamin Netanyahu, which found its outcome in the revenge and rage in Gaza on 7th October. Today, I try to be available for acts of support and solidarity with the victims on all sides. This beautiful land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea weeps bitterly, its two communities refusing to be comforted. 

Oh, the humanities!

History, literature, film studies—these subjects expand our understanding and enrich our democracy. They are also under assault

Priyamvada Gopal

Culture & Politics: The Drift Magazine – Fall 2023

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The Drift Magazine – Fall 2023 Issue – Essays on dissidents, ecoterrorists, and mermaids; an interview with Veronica Gago, Dispatches on the future of the Supreme Court; also fiction, poetry, reviews and more…