Facebook’s Privacy Cake
Technology and media analyst Ben Thompson looks into the new direction for Facebook laid out this week by Mark Zuckerberg.
Will John Bolton Bring on Armageddon—Or Stave It Off?
Another look at Donald Trump’s bellicose National Security Advisor. The author proposes that John Bolton’s obsessive focus on the USA’s national interest to the exclusion of everything else has the potential to make him a tempering influence on the President.
Inside the Chaotic Early Days of Trump’s Foreign Policy
A sobering look at the formative days of the Trump administration. One Obama administration aide puts it in stark terms – “It was so shocking to see this team come in a blur of chaos, disregarding legality and ethics and showing a deep hostility to the career professionals.”
A World Without Clouds
A new state-of-the-art simulation from the California Institute of Technology suggests that clouds are critical to the future of climate change. At a certain tipping point the study suggests they will disappear, with disastrous consequences.
The Trauma Floor
A look at the incredibly challenging work done by moderators at Facebook and their outsourcing partners, reportedly in far from ideal conditions.
The Secrets of the World’s Greatest Art Thief
Stéphane Breitwieser is a thief who millions of dollars worth of art, apparently primarily through sleight of hand and an astonishing appetite for risk. He is unlike most other art thieves in that he stole with no intention to sell, but apparently for the love of the work itself.
A Whale’s Afterlife
A story about “whale falls”, the marine biologist term for when a dead whale carcass falls to the seabed and becomes the basis for a rich ecosystem of life, some elements of which have only been observed in such circumstances.
The True Story Behind an Iconic Vietnam War Photo Was Nearly Erased — Until Now
A fine piece about the story behind a powerful image of injured US Marines in the Vietnam War.
Ong’s Hat: The Early Internet Conspiracy Game That Got Too Real
The story of a science-fiction infused conspiracy theory and a meditation on conspiracy theories in the internet age.
“She Never Looks Back”: Inside Elizabeth Holmes’s Chilling Final Months at Theranos
The dysfunctional final stages of the blood testing startup with a multi-billion dollar valuation that went very very wrong.