“I briefly moved back to Rhode Island following the collapse of my first marriage. It was the summer before I turned twenty-seven, and I spent three months hiding away in my childhood bedroom, grief-damaged and humiliated by the task of trying to figure out who and how I was supposed to be. My husband and I had managed to stay married for only four years, the last of which I spent watching from the sidelines as he enjoyed an unexpectedly rapid and very public rise as an artist.” (Alissa Bennett/The Paris Review)
“Once a rich person gets past a billion, their sense of humour tends to go, along with their tolerance for ordinary people. They can’t begin to spend the money, but they can’t stop thinking about it either.” (Andrew O’Hagan/LRB)
Saudi Arabia and US announce Sudan 24-hour ceasefire (CNN)
“Media is trumpeting this as a ‘victory’ for the Voting Rights Act. And it is. And I don't want to be a turd in the punchbowl... but this is pretty weak sauce from this Court.” (Melissa Murray/ Twitter)
“A decade ago, the chief justice gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Why did he join the court’s liberals (and Brett Kavanaugh!) to preserve what’s left of it?” (VF)
“Bush and his media allies regularly invoked memories of World War II to justify the post-9/11 U.S. wars in Afghanistan and then Iraq.” (Responsible Statecraft)
“Born in 1942, the Iron Sheik wore many hats—and kaffiyeh—over the course of a career that stretched from the amateur mats in Iran in the 1960s to a monthlong run with the WWF Championship to a long phase of in-ring decline, a battle with drug addiction, and at last a long, happy coda that saw him become a social media influencer.” (The Ringer)
“Although (Henry Kissinger) is now routinely hailed as a foreign-policy thinker of unique depth, wisdom, and insight, his long career is not quite as impressive as his admirers seem to think. He is undeniably a man of formidable intelligence and exceptional achievement—something even his harshest critics would concede—but the question is whether the reputation he has earned after a century is fully warranted.” (FP)
A Brief History of Donald Trump Spitefully Pouring Wine Down Women’s Backs (red wine, naturally, because ‘white’s not nearly as effective.’)” (WMagazine)
10 hours in the smoke: NYC delivery workers say they had 'no choice' but to work (Kimmy Yam and Nicole Acevedo/NBC News)
200+ things that Fox News has labeled “woke” (MMFA)
“(Rep. Pete Aguilar) is creating a new fundraising arm, the California House Majority Fund, to protect the Democratic-held seats in the state and flip the five California districts represented by Republicans which also voted for President Joe Biden in 2020.” (Politico)
“Journalists from privileged backgrounds are ‘less likely to see the myth as starkly’ than reporters who’ve experienced economic hardship firsthand, Quart says. She points to a report, published by the Journal of Expertise, that shows nearly half of New York Times and Wall Street Journal staffers attended elite universities. These journalists and editors could be more likely to perpetuate the traditional framework of individualistic success and assign work to people within their social network, Quart believes.” (CJR)
“Hafize Gaye Erkan is Turkey’s new central bank chief. Erkan becomes the first woman to lead the central bank after her appointment by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Al Jazeera)
“Bill (Murray) saw Kelis perform a string of tracks, including Millionaire, Bossy and Trick Me, as well as her big hit, featuring the line: ‘My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard.’ He is currently filming a sequel to the classic Ghostbusters franchise in London …” (The US Sun)
“In the early 2nd century CE, soldiers from Legio X Fretensis, known for their bloody suppression of Jewish uprisings, were also stationed on the Black Sea, in the Roman fort Apsaros in Colchis, Polish researchers have found. Until now scientists did not know traces of their presence in such a remote area." (Science in Poland)
“Today, only 100-200 seafarers remain on traditional ‘Lansa’ houseboats near Borneo’s shorelines. Financial constraints and tree-cutting restrictions imposed by Sabah Parks push many to join offshore communities or become outcasts on the mainland, devoid of rights and citizenship. Consequently, Bajau of Philippine descent gather on offshore communities, including small islands, to preserve their ancestral maritime hunting skills.” (The Diplomat)
"Moments after news broke on Thursday that disgraced former President Donald Trump had been indicted on federal charges, Fox News and the rest of the MAGA Media universe revved up into attack mode, denigrating the U.S. justice system and characterizing it as prejudiced against conservatives." (Reliable Sources)
“Both the jokes and the non-translated Spanish speak to Black, brown, Indigenous and other people of color, a crucial point given that the main problem of the film is Miles dealing with what is essentially imposter syndrome, a fear that one isn't worthy or deserving of their station in life or fame and is especially felt by people of color.” (Kelly Pau)
“The fire was the size of a city block. It took 17 hours and 200 firefighters to put out; five were injured. The boxes turned out to contain thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer, distributed by a beauty business called ArtNaturals. When firefighters finally cleared the scene, massive amounts of the liquid remained. It slowly washed down a nearby storm drain.” (WIRED)
“Its analysis of the numbers and Ron DeSantis’ early failures isn’t bad. But because it is silent about how the expanding field might play in the likelihood of Trump indictments, it is entirely worthless.” (Empty Wheel)
“In public, the Saudi government defended its actions politely via diplomatic statements. But in private, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman threatened to fundamentally alter the decades-old U.S.-Saudi relationship and impose significant economic costs on the United States if it retaliated against the oil cuts, according to a classified document obtained by The Washington Post.” (MSN)
Faster sorting algorithms discovered using deep reinforcement learning (Nature)