Society

WEI? I’m a frayed knotTwo pieces of string walk into a bar.The first piece of string asks for a drink.The bartender says, “Get lost. We don’t serve pieces of string.”The second string ties a knot in his middle and messes up his ends. Then he orders a drink. The bartender says, “Hey, you aren’t a...

Today on TAP: The gulf between urban, suburban, and rural counties in Tuesday’s vote was, well, total.

Severe cold a million years ago forced our ancestors from the continent, but they adapted and returned.

New research challenges idea that people have continuously lived in region since first arriving

The small annoyances of flying add up to a really big user experience problem.

According to a study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, they may understand one another on a level you do not.

The fullest accounting yet shows how Thomas has secretly reaped the benefits from a network of wealthy and well-connected patrons that is far more extensive than previously understood.

Librarian secrets to getting into books for the very first time.

Pulling back the curtain on the evolution of ebooks offers some clarity to how the shift to digital left ownership behind in the analog world.

Now, farmers are reportedly putting the land of the deserted development to use

The State Guest Mansions were envisioned as the palatial homes for the upper crust of society: Now, their only residents are herds of cattle. [...] Local farmers have begun plowing the land between villas for future crops. Would-be garages of the abandoned mansions are now repurposed as storage for hay bails, and modest two-rail fences corral herds of cows between properties.

By choosing to share a credit card skimmer detector with other retailers, Target proves that corporate altruism isn’t totally dead.

Seaweed farms are exploding in popularity. Cultivators say regulations are needed to protect marine life.

Can plastics be circular? At a recent conference, companies' answer was a resounding yes.

A short history of how capitalists came to rule the world.

A short history of the end of history.

Remember when conspiracy theories were fun (and usually harmless) entertainment for those of us who appreciated kook culture and the fringes of thought and reason? Sadly, those days are over. Now, …

Internet cafes went from a “sunset industry” to a “dead stagnant pool.”

Today on TAP: The UAW is asking the Big Three automakers to raise wages by the same percentage that their CEOs’ pay has risen.

Today on TAP: Exhibit A is the case of the EpiPen. It should cost a few dollars rather than the $600 or more charged by monopolist Viatris.

The fine for failing to yield is a $500 ticket. But lately, no one's been checking the images the bus cameras collect to catch violators.

Do you like reading articles in publications like Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal or the Economist, but can’t afford to pay what can be hundreds of dollars a year in subscriptions? If so, …

Social norms can be enforced formally or informally. That is, one can have either laws, or informal sanctions enforce by “mobs”. Both systems can discourage unwanted behaviors, and isolate unwanted people. So we usually face a choice: to discourage such things via law or via shunning (or both).

The rise of streaming services that pay music artists mere fractions of pennies for their work, will, I believe, take an even darker turn as AI-fueled technologies continue to converge, with no sense of moral balance, set to serve audiences with less and less aesthetic discernment.

The infamous cancelled-during-the-first-episode show, a lost-media legend, is on YouTube, which makes it the perfect time to analyze its legacy.