After the Black Death, Italy’s Oak Trees Came Back

Every generation of professors has complained that their students cannot read. Now there’s data to back it up

Open Thread

"Ukraine Turns Real-Life Kills into Video Game Thrills for Drone Pilots"

The Truth About Slavery and America

Music, the Neural Harmonics of Emotion, and How Love Recomposes the Brain

Sunday Poem

Today in Supreme Court History: May 31, 1860

The Satanic Temple Loses Libel Suit Against Newsweek Over "Accounts of Sexual Abuse Being Covered up" Allegation

Today in Supreme Court History: May 30, 1865

Use It or Lose It

Can a New Drug Combo Prevent Death by Suicide?

See the Stunning Images Psyche Beamed Back From Mars

How Moral Panic Creates Black Markets

The Many Ways to Build a Black Hole

High Liquor Taxes and a Home Distillation Ban Guarantee a Thriving Booze Black Market

"The age when you can run a literary magazine on trust is over. You can either decide AI submissions are fine, or you can filter for them"

A Snippet of a Conversation Between ChatGPT and Me

The grand tour’s most enduring truth: Even the most miraculous work of art is born not just into history, but also out of it

Alasdair MacIntyre believed that Western morality, having lost its rationale, was replaced by something thinner: mere moral passion  

Sensitivity readers promise authenticity but deliver essentialism. Who really benefits when identity polices the imagination?