simonjmarcus

[simonjmarcus]

Fiction by Tony Earley : “Backpack”

John told the salesman at a Home Depot in Durham that the chain was for a porch swing, the concrete block for a step to the utility building in his back yard. The backpack and sleeping bag he purchased without explanation at an R.E.I. Link to original article.

[simonjmarcus]

Trump’s ‘emoluments’ battle: How a scholar’s search of 200 years of dictionaries helped win a historic ruling

Just 10 days before his inauguration, Donald Trump called a news conference in New York to deal, among other things, with mounting questions about how he would separate his presidency from his vast business interests, including the new Trump International Hotel in Washington, and avoid violati Link to original article.

[simonjmarcus]

After the Fall

Some of the more pessimistic commentators at the time of the credit crunch, myself included, said that the aftermath of the crash would dominate our economic and political lives for at least ten years. Link to original article.

[simonjmarcus]

Disarming the Weapons of Mass Distraction

“Are you paying attention?” The phrase still resonates with a particular sharpness in my mind. It takes me straight back to my boarding school, aged thirteen, when my eyes would drift out the window to the woods beyond the classroom. Link to original article.

[simonjmarcus]

The rise of American authoritarianism

Link to original article.

[simonjmarcus]

Silicon Valley Is Not Your Friend

Such a somber, self-critical statement hasn’t been typical for the usually sunny Mr. Zuckerberg, who once exhorted his employees at Facebook to “move fast and break things.” In the past, why would Mr. Link to original article.

[simonjmarcus]

The rise of the podcast adaptation

AARON MAHNKE started “Lore”, a horror podcast, in 2015 as a marketing experiment. Link to original article.

[simonjmarcus]

The scientists persuading terrorists to spill their secrets

In 2013, a British man was arrested for planning to kidnap and brutally murder a soldier. The suspect, who had a criminal history, had posted messages on social media in support of violent jihad. Link to original article.

[simonjmarcus]

The Airport Bomber From Last Week You Never Heard About

It’s strange how some things really catch on and go viral, and others don’t. These days, nothing quite makes a story blow up — no pun intended — like the president’s fixation with it. Link to original article.

[simonjmarcus]

Our Moloch

Few crimes are more harshly forbidden in the Old Testament than sacrifice to the god Moloch (for which see Leviticus 18.21, 20.1-5). The sacrifice referred to was of living children consumed in the fires of offering to Moloch. Link to original article.

[simonjmarcus]

If Ads Don't Work, Can Publishers Strike Subscription Gold?

Tony Haile spent seven years trying to save the internet from click-based hell. As CEO of Chartbeat, a software and data provider to publishers, he showed editors, in real time, which stories were “trending” on their sites. Link to original article.

[simonjmarcus]

The Three Fundamental Moments of Podcasts' Crazy Rise

The short history of podcasts—how and when and why they went from the nichiest, wonkiest content platforms to a star-studded, self-contained media ecosystem with hundreds of millions of dollars in annual advertising revenue—comes down to three turning points, each of which triggered a wave of gr Link to original article.

[simonjmarcus]

The Gun Lobby Is Down to Its Last, Unconvincing Excuse

As of this writing, the death toll in Las Vegas is 59, with over 527 injured, making it easily the deadliest gun massacre in modern U.S. history. (Characteristically, there have been some deadlier ones in the distant past, including in St. Link to original article.

[simonjmarcus]

Is a Life Without Struggle Worth Living?

In the autumn of 1826, the English philosopher John Stuart Mill suffered a nervous breakdown — a “crisis” in his “mental history,” as he called it. Since the age of 15, Mill had been caught firmly under the intellectual spell of his father’s close friend, Jeremy Bentham. Link to original article.

[simonjmarcus]

The New Bedtime Story Is a Podcast

James Kee, a 7-year-old from San Francisco, has found something even better than TV. Since the NPR podcast for kids “Wow in the World” debuted in May, he’s listened to every episode three times. “It’s a little funner” than television, James said. “My brain works better.” Link to original article.

[simonjmarcus]

Two Dark American Truths From Las Vegas

Beyond the scores of people who have been killed and the hundreds who have been wounded in Las Vegas today, thousands of other people, though not visibly or directly injured, have had their lives changed forever. Children and parents. Husbands and wives. Brothers and sisters. Link to original article.

[simonjmarcus]

The curious case of the alien in the photo – and a mystery that took years to solve

In the spring of 2012, Chicago videographer Adam Dew received a mysterious phone call from his former business partner Joseph Beason. “I have something to show you,” Beason said with urgency in his voice. Later that day, Beason showed Dew a series of slides. Link to original article.