Tuesday Curation: Refreshing the enduring joy of uncategorized, unpredictable, unstoppable book discovery
Big Tech bosses are determined to find out. Read R.U.R. by Capek to understand why it's so consequential for humanity.
Tuesday Curation: If political headlines got you down, get thrilled by these still riveting stories, many more relevant than ever.
Orwell’s 1984 is trending again. The book you actually need to read is The Iron Heel, by Jack London. Here's why.
Tuesday Curation: 10 works that reflect the origins, growth, societal impacts and enduring legacy of two centuries of railways.
An excerpt from Part II, Chapter 1 wherein Oblomov is inspired to get out of bed, to start reading books again, and perhaps even to pay a compliment.
Tuesday Curation: Timeless fiction and nonfiction picks that predicted today’s platform monopolies, PR spin, and labor squeeze.
It's easy to blame social media, remote work isolation or the loss of "third places." Japan's most famous author says it's an essential feature of modernity.
Curated Tuesday: If you're looking for alternatives to the glut of dystopian stories, try these under-appreciated utopian fiction to ignite a positive vision for the future!
Is AI an existential threat to book reading, or only the most recent challenger? Read a 140-year old debate from Octave Uzanne to get some perspective.
Curated Tuesday: 15 classic bot books to signpost where we've come from as we anticipate an automated future
What Norbert Wiener's first principles tell us about the human use of AI, and the AI use of humans
A Reading List of 10 classics in the Spirit of the First Labor Day, 1882 complete with book summaries and public domain links
Max Havelaar: Coffee, Colonialism & Fair-Trade’s Origin Story (1859).
A lucid, timely reading of von Harbou’s darker vision: elites in pleasure domes, workers in data mines, and a seductive Deepfake on the loose.
An excerpt from Lafcadio Hearn's "Gleanings in Buddha Fields," from 1897
Special guest Mark Twain wrote "To the Person Sitting in Darkness" in 1901; Here he unpacks its enduring relevance in 2025.
A Square sees beyond his Flatland. Can you?
It's the eternal human tension, stillness vs. action, from 1859 to today
Amidst worship of online profiles & artificial status, a modern monk's journey is enlightening.
Karel Čapek's R.U.R. was fantasy in 1920. Today, the dilemma is tangible, & urgent.
New English translation and over 100 of Robida's best illustrations!
"Unsafe at Any Speed" called it out in 1965, yet blaming consumers remains alive and well today
Bellamy's "Looking Backward" is essential reading for looking forward in 2025
If you're unsure, read Zamyatin's "We," and try to unpack our Digital One State.
