Society

While most people are fast asleep, some ultra-introverts are going about their lives, reveling in the quiet and solitude. They challenge a core assumption of psychology: that all humans need social connection.

Posted on Monday 21 Feb 2022. 785 words, 7 links. By Matt Webb.

The Issue The Heritage Foundation’s 2022 Index of Economic Freedom documents a worldwide decline in economic freedom, with the largest decline in average scores measured since the first Index was published in 1995—when the U.S. ranked in fourth place. The United States is no exception: With declines in half of the 12 categories of economic freedom measured by the Index, the U.S. dropped to 25th place, its lowest ranking to date. Background

Russia is hardening the borders of its own internet.

The internet used to come in the mail. You’d get those AOL sample CDs, load them on your bulky desktop, wait for your sister to get off the phone, suffer an endless stream of scree-oops and static,…

Photo by Ronda Darby on Unsplash My general physician quit UCSF and joined another group. After a few years of working with her, I hoped that at least, she is going to send me an email. Instead I g…

“Twenty-four ninety-five.” I was on the phone hearing a pitch for a service I needed. I had reached out to a recommended vendor, and was now sitting through a pitch from a salesperson w…

Fourteen years ago, we covered a brilliantly-designed pair of eyeglasses with water-filled lenses. Created for users in developing nations by British inventor and Oxford professor Joshua Silver, the glasses obviate the need for opticians (who are in short supply in poor countries), as the user can tune their own prescription.

Joseph Stalin died with a 25,000-book library that was not just for show, and his notes and marginalia suggest a man blessed with literary and psychological insight. Here was a man who would praise…

Anil Dash writes about the 24 stages of the growth-fueled "broken tech/content culture cycle" that VC-driven Silicon V

When Google or Facebook or Spotify decide what you’ll see next, they’re making a choice. That’s very different from an open platform like “podcasting” or “bloggi…

For Reuters, Prasanta Kumar Dutta, Samuel Granados and Michael Ovaska detail Europe’s dependence on Russia’s gas supplies and the crisis in Ukraine: With its abundant gas reserves, the …

“Things will never be the same again for our teams,” says the company.

No wonder I couldn’t figure out last week’s Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle: the solution, revealed this morning , required that you hear the...

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Visit Italian farms cultivating a treasured citrus fruit grown and harvested for Le Labo Fragrances

Before hard drives became the main way for us to back up our stuff, they were a key evolution for the business world. They were also huge and costly.

Surgical face coverings are not designed to contain infectious aerosols that accumulate in enclosed spaces. Experts recommend N95 masks, which are better fitted and have a higher filtration capacity