Sunday Reads...

An irregular roundup of thought-provoking reads. Most made me go “hmm…” — none should be mistaken for endorsement.

Quote of the Day:

"The forest was shrinking, but the trees kept for the axe, for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that he was one of them because his handle was made of wood." - Turkish Proverb

• The history of Juneteenth in pictures, here.

• And the history of the “red drink” as the Juneteenth beverage of choice.

• 20 Iranian laws that might surprise some. Their regime is bonkers.

• Unpacking our “Bunker Busting Bomb” capabilities.

• A twenty-year-old song relevant again - why "Superman" is a fitting tribute for the hostages held by Hamas terrorists.

• The science of giving “constructive feedback” suggests it should be given weekly, mid-week, and in the morning.

• Top 10 places to live worldwide (no U.S. cities listed), here.

• England is finished. The per capita GDP of Mississippi is higher than the UK. And now this!

• A deep reflection on violence in Latin America.

• Companies are laying off, and the focus currently is on white collar jobs, notes the WSJ, here.

• Is it Bruce Springsteen or Jeremy Allen?

• Books versus Audiobooks – Here is what the science says.

• Thoughts on the decline of American fiction.

• A new corporate wellness perk – Legos?

• The full list of James Beard Award winners.

• Second-highest paid Walmart job?  It has to do with cake and it ain’t baking, here.

• In praise of the “Em Dash,” a perfect transition for seasoned writers.

• 100 best movies of the 2020s?  Surprised they could fill a list out that long!

• The nation stockpiling nukes the fastest?  China, according to this report.

• Tracking the changes in hotel prices shows which destinations are becoming more affordable.

• Reflecting on what AI does to reading (and text), here.

• Does AI have a creativity gap?  Some think so.

• Can AI accelerate breakthroughs in math?  DARPA thinks so, here.

• Should AI be your nanny?  Sam Altman is parenting according to its hallucinations, here.

• Study suggests that AI beats law professors in legal reasoning.

• How a duck hunt led to the creation of the Federal Reserve.

• Remembering the moral tale: Ferris Bueller.

• The increase of ticks plaguing America is noted here.

• Video content is consumed a majority of the time online versus over the air, here.

• The history of the Jpeg, here.

• Watch the history of the lost Walt Whitman novel here.

• Cass Sunstein on Buckley.

• Celebrating retro future auto designs, here.

• Know your art terms?  Take a test to verify.

• What does the future hold for babies born today?  Predictions here.

• Everything is a museum, no, seriously.

• Kraft Foods (major producer) is axing all the artificial dyes – progress! Why now?

• A deep dive into urban renewal using Japan as a case study, here.

• A majority of the "top 10" research institutions are now no longer Western, let alone American.

• The great "Friendship Collapse," learn more: