A fleeting cult built around a fruit exposes the logic, and illogic, of Mao’s personality cult: "When Mao’s Mango Mania Took Over China" @jstordaily.bsky.social (Plus- Carmen Miranda) Pare: https://t.co/DkWiESeVw0

Re: a label applied to radically different compositions across > 1,000 years of history. "Do You Actually Know What Classical Music Is? Does Anyone?" @TheAtlantic (Plus- Boris Gudonov) Read and write: https://t.co/fptNuytXQ6

A skill for our times: "The Library of Juggling" (Plus- G. H. Hardy) Toss 'em up: https://t.co/tmXXBdG1Aa

A brief history of the trade-off between convenience and connection in America: "Scrolling Alone" (Plus- Aldus Manutius and The Righteous Brothers) Get together: https://t.co/RwyBLJJzzP

Biohacking in SF, where Dr. Moreau's a piker, & humanoid robots are a happy delusion: "Kale Salad with Ash." (Plus- Pi In Indiana) FAFO: https://t.co/EwB4WDwrVq

Using chemistry, archive, and AI to revive the aromas of old libraries, mummies and battlefields: "Recreating the smells of history" @KnowableMag (Plus- Chanel No. 5) Take a whiff: https://t.co/bbUoOy2ViS

Corporations & investors are partying; everyone else is mad: "The Boomcession: Why Americans Hate What Looks Like an Economic Boom" @matthewstoller (Plus- Benelux and "Get a Job") Pondering the pecuniary: https://t.co/ksUPhHOClL

A new class of particles – anyons – seem to exist, but only in 2D. "Playing in flatland" @ElayShech @aeonmag (Plus- Bertrand Russell) Brooding over the boundaries of “being” (and knowing): https://t.co/D9COCGXxwp

Online gambling has fueled a surge in gambling addiction. It's different/harder to treat than substance dependence. @benjaminerrett @CommonSense (Plus- “Money [That’s What I Want]”) Turning our backs on baccarat: https://t.co/dMjmu6d8So

Repurposing overhead: "A Modest Proposal for Big Philanthropy in a Tale from the Past," from @dicktofel (Plus- Social Security) The key to increasing philanthropic impact? Give more (and more boldly): https://t.co/lc42Uykbn6

Foresight and insight: "What If? AI in 2026 and Beyond" from @timoreilly and @mikeloukides (with @matt https://t.co/vgoArrUN6S) Plus- Doug Engelbart) Paving our own paths: https://t.co/7TRv4JPha3

The potential environmental impact of the new food pyramid: "Huge amounts of extra land needed for RFK Jr’s meat-heavy diet guidelines" @olliemilman @guardian (Plus- W. C. Fields) Diet's dangers: https://t.co/yY204Xs0cy

The future of the Fourth Estate? "Journalism, media, and technology trends and predictions 2026" @risj_oxford (Plus- John Baskerville) The prospects of the press: https://t.co/HLrOMN6aPT

One more thing to worry about: "Bank of England must plan for a financial crisis triggered by aliens, says former policy expert," from @Independent (Plus- Resident Alien) Acclimating to chaos: https://t.co/N9fatCQEyX

How Europe and Carney disrupted Trump's ceremony of self-anointment: "Davos is a rational ritual" @himself.bsky.social (Plus- Frank Costello) Grappling with geopolitics: https://t.co/B3jk79BGRt

As we ponder prices, an underlying question: "Do Commodities Get Cheaper Over Time?" (Plus- the first transcon phone call and commercial jet flight) Brushing up on basics: https://t.co/L2FGYjiMyn

The pre-history of the Attention Economy: "Cybernetic Attention-- All Watched over by Machines We Learned to Watch" @publicdomainrev.bsky.social (Plus- Hermann Ebbinghaus) Untangling engagement: https://t.co/RVhGZAAskI

Drawing on Hume to rethink Right and Left: "Landholder vs stockholder" @clnichols6 @aeonmag (Plus- Pascal's "Provential Letters") Sorting the Whigs from the Tories: https://t.co/tIArPRA1G6

All change: "Marketing modern art: how the impressionists started a perpetual revolution" @jcultecon (Plus- Francis Picabia) Divvying up the differences: https://t.co/NVBHRyiUQd

The end of an era? "The Slow Death of Banking in America" (Plus- pain relief) As we hollow out our mattresses: https://t.co/5wddW5CSBG