Podcasts, videos, books and articles of the 94

I have a lot of legal work so I’m a bit overwhelmed.

I’m actually handling a case from Dieselgate

Even your AI notlawyer would tell you not to do this

The more effective Wagner of the Middle Ages

Pretty much tells you that China isn’t planning an invasion soon

Unless they’re hiding them somewhere.

The Hitler Britain deserves and needs

Feeding the Crocodile: How the Rise of Faragism Now Threatens us all

The Conservative party’s decision this week to effectively concede the result of the general election risks badly backfiring. Rather than helping to shore up their vote, as they had hoped, it has instead given a green light to the party’s core voters to simply abandon them altogether.

Folded with Adam Bienkov

Filthy immigrants stealing our buses

The Myth of the Superior Hungarian Technology Vol. II. – Ikarus Conquers North America Chapter 1.

Let’s go on a little journey down memory lane to immediately after the Second World War: everything is in ruins, especially the train lines – which is a kind of problem when you have to rely on tracks to deliver people and goods in large quantities from one point to the other. And while the more important railway connections were being restored, a large…

Newsletter of Things (But Mainly Movies)

More Hungarian and Middle East related history

Episode 2.20: Americans & Soviets examines the involvement of the Cold War’s primary protagonists in the Suez Crisis.

At long last, we bring the events in Hungary full circle with events in Egypt, and assess whether Anthony Eden’s crimes doomed Hungary after all. In short, we bring everything full circle in 1956. What the events of this year demonstrated, between the Soviet aggressions in Hungary and the Anglo-French adventures in Egypt, was that a strong United Nations was critical for the sake of the peace of the world. ‘I agree with you’, said Eden, ‘and that was why I acted as I did in the first place!’ While the Prime Minister was in full-blown deception mode, his political rivals in the Commons were far from satisfied. Their curiosity was piqued, rather than satiated, and they latched onto the inconsistencies in Eden’s version of events like dogs latched onto a bone. In the end, their suspicious persistence would prove correct, though even they would be startled by just how far Eden had gone.

Have a listen to the whole series, and marvel at British hubris which would only be bettered by American and Soviet hubris. But mostly American post 1992.

Speaking of American hubris

On this edition of Parallax Views, investigative journalist Ken Silverstein returns to the show hot off the major story he broke for The New Republic last week: "Off Leash: Inside the Secret, Global, Far-Right Group Chat | The New Republic". Ken has blown the lid off a secret chat group created by Erik Prince, the founder of the controversial private military company Blackwater, that includes a who's who of influential figures of the global right-wing including Congressman Ryan Zinke, Congressman Mark Green, Tucker Carlson, Gen. Michael Flynn, and many others.

Some beauty in your timeline

Parajanov and Bassem Tamimi

Yerevan is a beautiful city, which is surprising since the Soviets built it. In contrast to the gray blight that constitutes much of postwar Poland, Yereven was made from a local stone, tuff, which is pink and infinitely variegated, so that even Krushchevka housing blocks seem to shimmer. Yerevan’s master planner, Alexander Tamanian, worked at human …

Ink Vault

Ban AI (most)

Wrapping our heads around AI and climate

In this episode, I have a lively conversation with Alp Kucukelbir, co-author of a recent “Artificial Intelligence for Climate Change Mitigation Roadmap,” about the strengths and limits of AI in relation to climate, where it all might be headed, and how concerned we should be about the energy use of data centers.

Volts

What I’m reading

The Challenger disaster has no villains. There was no pressure to launch. No procedures were ignored, no rules broken.

The narrative you get from most books, and the new one, is bollocks.

In retelling how the decision unfolded through the eyes of the managers and the engineers, Vaughan uncovers an incremental descent into poor judgment, supported by a culture of high-risk technology. She reveals how and why NASA insiders, when repeatedly faced with evidence that something was wrong, normalized the deviance so that it became acceptable to them.

Our book is still out

Phil has a new book coming out soon