April 13, 2017
Credible challenger Kirsten Gillibrand’s 2020 viability is undermined by her history of defending Wall Street. / The Week
“The error in the workflow had to be snuffed out, the algorithm restored to its familiar course, there and then, in the person of that guy.” Corporations like United exist as a legal construct to make violence valid. It doesn’t have to be that way. / The Concourse
Trump lacks not only White House loyalists but nominees for numerous Federal jobs. / Washington Examiner
When you ask why no humans have ever had sex in space, part of the answer is that truly living in the cosmos—as opposed to visiting for the sake of scientific field research—isn’t what NASA is about. / Vimeo
Radiolab’s expert on nukes explains how the chain of command works for deploying a nuclear weapon. / Nuclear Secrecy
Neon loves paint “like the land loves the sea” in a new show by Los Angeles artist Mary Weatherford. / David Kordansky Gallery
Uganda tries to commit a critic of the president to a mental hospital after she calls him a “pair of buttocks.” / New York Times
“Unnecessary deaths by famine, under British rule and due largely to neglect, ran in the range of 30 million to 35 million people.” As the years roll on and “Rule, Britannia!” sounds worse, evidence mounts “that India would have been much better off on its own.” / Bloomberg
A pair of students spent three weeks building Rube Goldberg machines from whatever they could find. / YouTube
Feel like giving the super-rich and ultra-right a Mortal Kombat-style beatdown? Bells have been tolled for the passing of French socialism, but it turns out a lot of French voters still aren’t happy with capitalists—hence the absurd side-scrolling web game Fiscal Kombat. / Foreign Policy, fiscalkombat.fr
New Van Gogh show in Melbourne tracks the seasons through selected paintings. / VICE
Pepsi, Spicer, and United demonstrate a new breed of snark: the uber-meme. / Washington Post
Twenty years ago, the Cassini spacecraft began its journey to Saturn, sending back stunning data and images along the way. / nasa.gov
“We have rather forgotten we don’t make characters or poets like her anymore, who flourish in absence and shade, and who need shade and absence to flourish.” Lush treatment by Michael Hofmann for the new Elizabeth Bishop biography in the TLS, ironic line included: “One could happily quote such sources forever, were it not that they would put the quoter to shame.” (He doesn’t seem very ashamed.) / The Times Literary Supplement
A day in the life of a snow surveyor is all about rugged conditions and interesting science. / Associated Press