A Consciousness of Reality
A 1954 essay by W.H Auden examining Virginia Woolf’s career and legacy through her own diary.
Imperial Graveyard
This dissection of a biography of the prominent American diplomatic Richard Holbrooke deals with a complex figure (“an exceptional shit of a human being, even aside from the defects born of extreme ambition”) who served in the Balkans under Clinton and Afghanistan under Obama, and stood for a very particular vision of America’s place in the world.
Six ways coronavirus will change our world
Azeem Azhar examines the the trends in medical emergency management, scientific collaboration, genomic technologies and remote working that the coronavirus outbreak may influence.
Is a Good-Enough Candidacy Good Enough for Joe Biden?
On the eve of the Iowa Caucus, a look at Joe Biden’s candidacy, defined perhaps more by who he’s not, than by who he is.
Consider the Hermit Crab
A story marvelling at the hermit crab, possibly responsible for eating Amelia Earhart on an island in the West Pacific, a species of which the oldest “live to more than a hundred, and grow to be wider than three feet across: too large to fit in a bathtub, exactly the right size for a nightmare.”
The Secret History of Facial Recognition
A look at the ingenious, secretive, technical research undertaken in the 1960s on what now seem ludicrously underpowered machines, that formed some of the earliest steps in what would eventually become the field of facial recognition software.
The Ghost Hunter
The story of how the shipwreck of a galleon laden with treasure in 1690s Oregon continued to capture people’s attention centuries after it was lost.
Visa, Plaid, Networks, and Jobs
A piece unpacking what VISA’s acquisition of a fintech startup can teach us about the power of networks, and the future of consumer payments.
Revealed: how Angolan ruler’s daughter used her status to build $2bn empire
The story of alleged grand corruption perpetrated by Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of the former President of Angola.