Category: media

  • Tony Hsieh’s American Tragedy: The Self-Destructive Last Months Of The Zappos Visionary

    Tony Hsieh’s American Tragedy: The Self-Destructive Last Months Of The Zappos Visionary When the business icon died in a fire last week, questions abounded. The answers seem rooted in a Covid-period spiral, where he turned to drugs and shunned old friends. via Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/angelauyeung/2020/12/04/tony-hsiehs-american-tragedy-the-self-destructive-last-months-of-the-zappos-visionary/ “I am going to be blunt,” she wrote in the letter, […]

  • A Tycoon’s Deep-State Conspiracy Dive | The New Yorker

    A Tycoon’s Deep-State Conspiracy Dive Patrick Byrne, the former head of Overstock, had always been outspoken. Did an affair with a Russian agent push him too far? via The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/12/14/a-tycoons-deep-state-conspiracy-dive Byrne told me that he immediately wondered if Butina was a “red sparrow”—a reference to the 2013 novel that was turned into a film starring Jennifer […]

  • The mystery of the Gatwick drone | UK news | The Guardian

    The mystery of the Gatwick drone The long read: A drone sighting caused the airport to close for two days in 2018, but despite a lengthy police investigation, no culprit was ever found. So what exactly did people see in the Sussex sky? via the Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/dec/01/the-mystery-of-the-gatwick-drone A few years ago, a T-shirt became popular […]

  • Report Points to Microwave ‘Attack’ as Likely Source of Mystery Illnesses That Hit Diplomats and Spies – The New York Times

    Report Points to Microwave ‘Attack’ as Likely Source of Mystery Illnesses That Hit Diplomats and Spies (Published 2020) A government-commissioned report provides the most definitive explanation yet for “Havana syndrome,” which struck scores of American employees, first in Cuba and then in China, Russia and other countries. Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/05/business/economy/havana-syndrome-microwave-attack.html “My government looked the other way […]

  • The Inside Story of Michigan’s Fake Voter Fraud Scandal – POLITICO

    The Inside Story of Michigan’s Fake Voter Fraud Scandal How a state that was never in doubt became a “national embarrassment” and a symbol of the Republican Party’s fealty to Donald Trump. via POLITICO: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/11/24/michigan-election-trump-voter-fraud-democracy-440475 That November 4 missive James retweeted from his campaign adviser—“Stop making up numbers, stalling the process and cheating the system”—has […]

  • » Ethics in Strategy Gaming, Part 2: Colonization The Digital Antiquarian

    Link: In 2008, Firaxis Games — a company founded by Sid Meier, Brian Reynolds, and Jeff Briggs — announced a new version of Colonization, which once again chose to present Native Americans as dim-witted primitives and to completely ignore the historical reality of slavery. Even before its release, Ben Fritz, a gaming blogger for Variety, […]

  • Police Drones Are Starting to Think for Themselves – The New York Times

    Police Drones Are Starting to Think for Themselves (Published 2020) In one Southern California city, flying drones with artificial intelligence are aiding investigations while presenting new civil rights questions. Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/05/technology/police-drones.html When the man left the car, carrying a gun and a bag of heroin, a nearby police car had trouble following as he sprinted […]

  • India’s Leading Documentary Filmmaker Has a Warning – The New York Times

    India’s Leading Documentary Filmmaker Has a Warning (Published 2020) Anand Patwardhan spent decades tracking the rise of Hindu nationalism. And now, under an increasingly repressive government, he holds his screenings in secret. Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/01/magazine/india-documentary-anand-patwardhan.html Over four hours, “Reason” documents how the world’s largest democracy has plunged into a majoritarian abyss since the Bharatiya Janata Party, […]

  • In Nagorno-Karabakh Peace Deal, Putin Applied a Deft New Touch – The New York Times

    In Nagorno-Karabakh Peace Deal, Putin Applied a Deft New Touch (Published 2020) The iron-fisted tactics used against Georgia and Ukraine seem to have fallen out of favor, replaced by a more subtle blend of soft power and an implicit military threat. Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/01/world/europe/nagorno-karabakh-putin-armenia-azerbaijan.html “What else is to be done?” Mr. Mikaelyan asked, after taking another […]

  • Why the Assassination of a Scientist Will Have No Impact on Iran’s Nuclear Program | The New Yorker

    Why the Assassination of a Scientist Will Have No Impact on Iran’s Nuclear Program Since Friday’s killing, the question increasingly being asked in Washington and the Middle East is about motive. via The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/why-the-assassination-of-a-scientist-will-have-no-impact-on-irans-nuclear-program On Friday, the Muslim holy day, he was reportedly travelling with his wife, in a black Nissan sedan, from […]

  • Opinion | Dear Joe, It’s Not About Iran’s Nukes Anymore – The New York Times

    Opinion | Dear Joe, It’s Not About Iran’s Nukes Anymore (Published 2020) Biden wants to reinstate the nuclear deal, but first he must confront the new Middle East. Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/29/opinion/iran-biden-nuclear-scientist.html In effect, Trump forced Israel and the key Sunni Arab states to become less reliant on the United States and to think about how they […]

  • Guns, Drugs and Viral Content: Welcome to Cartel TikTok – The New York Times

    Guns, Drugs and Viral Content: Welcome to Cartel TikTok (Published 2020) Mexico is set to shatter another murder record, but that grim reality is nowhere to be seen on the TikTok videos that go viral by showcasing drug cartel culture. Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/28/world/americas/mexico-drugs-cartel-tiktok.html But while some videos are still made to strike terror, others are created […]