Books
The Power of Thinking Like a Poker Player
Nate Silver’s “On the Edge” applies the lessons of modern gambling to the arenas of tech startups, artificial intelligence, and ethics.
Briefly Noted
“The Secret Life of the Universe,” “Playing with Reality,” “The Coin,” and “The Divorce.”
The Supreme Contradictions of Simone Weil
It’s a conundrum of the philosopher’s biography that most basic human needs were alien to her.
How Seamus Heaney Wrote His Way Through a War
As his country’s most prominent poet, Heaney struggled to reconcile his vision of poetry with the Troubles tearing the Irish apart.
The Forgotten History of Sex in America
Today’s battles over issues like gender nonconformity and reproductive rights have antecedents that have been lost or suppressed. What can we learn from them?
Briefly Noted
“A Passionate Mind in Relentless Pursuit,” by Noliwe Rooks; “Why Animals Talk,” by Arik Kershenbaum; “The Rich People Have Gone Away,” by Regina Porter; and “Grown Women,” by Sarai Johnson.
Studying Stones Can Rock Your World
To think like a geologist is to contemplate timescales that stagger the imagination—and lay bare the planetary forces behind our earthly existence.
Is A.I. Making Mothers Obsolete?
Helen Phillips’s new novel takes place in a dystopian world where the environment has been devastated and humans have outsourced their best selves to tireless, empathetic robots.
Briefly Noted
“Fifteen Cents on the Dollar,” “Jane Austen and the Price of Happiness,” “Swift River,” and “Their Divine Fires.”