There's no humanities academic on Earth who doesn't dream of writing a review so withering it makes the news.

Lauren runs In Development Magazine, and the tweet seems earnest - if you're the right person to write this, you can pitch the article at indevelopmentmag.com/pitch/ @lgilbert.co

Assorted things that struck me from reading "The Fate of Rome" by Kyle Harper

Famous people afflicted with malaria: * St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine, died from malaria after being sick nine days * the Roman general Belisarius, famous for retaking Ravenna from the Ostrogoths in the 6th century, himself got very sick from malaria at Ostia See Sallares 2002, p. 86 (below)

The Scroll Prize / Vesuvius Challenge has its first academic publication, based on three different scrolls. The biggest result is a complete reading of one of the Herculaneum papyri, a Stoic text. Check out the paper here: scrollprize.org/pdf/main.pdf

Great new post by Joseph Heath on human evolution, why it's hard to explain the sudden emergence of the traits that make humans unique, and why Yuval Harari's explanation can't be the right one. josephheath.substack.com/p/harari-vs-...

Gordon Wood was very unpopular in some scholarly circles a few years ago, as he spoke out against Project 1619. Now it's all been forgotten. Good scholarship will stand the test of time, no matter what.

Very much enjoyed the all-Beethoven opening concert of the Céleste Music Early Keyboard Festival in Newmarket, ON last night! There are concerts throughout June featuring many fortepianos and harpsichords. Info at www.celestemusic.org/festival2026

Guys, how do you invent a vaccine? Or even wilder, how do you invent a vaccine during your PhD?! In a new episode of Hard Drugs, we talked to someone who did just that: @kat-a-collins.bsky.social! Plus: • Why did the first malaria vaccine take so long? • Could we make better vaccines today?

Inventing the second malaria vaccine with Katharine Collins

open.spotify.com

I think Google's default AI is giving the public the wrong idea about the upper bounds of current LLMs' capabilities, but good heavens, it is a master at comedy (image from @rebeccarightnow.bsky.social on the other site)

Next to Robarts Library in Toronto: May 21 vs April 27. It was rather more crowded a month ago!

when you're in a rush in France: "We've got no time Toulouse!"

newly released: Canon and Fugue in B minor in the stile antico By Ericsson Hatfield, lover of canons nonpareil www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGo2...

Kyrie Eleison | Canon & Fugue

YouTube video by Ericsson Hatfield

youtube.com

Famous people who lost children to smallpox variolation or vaccination: a thread

Famous people who lost loved ones to water-borne disease: a thread

The City of Ottawa posted the raw speed data from before and after Doug Ford banned speed cameras and the effect is so obvious it's not even necessary put a line marking when that happened. This chart shows the percentage of drivers going 15km/h or more over the posted limit.

Meanwhile, this is how actual AI knowers are talking about prompting

cee@cee.wtf · 3mo ago

you need to remember to mist your claude daily and provide it sphagnum moss so it can self regulate its wetness

I have collected into one PDF every harmonization JS Bach did of the "passion chorale" (known by various names — Herzlich tut mich verlangen; O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden; Befiehl du deine Wege) You can download it here: drive.google.com/file/d/1rm17...

Going to be at the @planetmoney.bsky.social event at Rotman tomorrow — so excited!

Looks like we have no excuse for making ugly slides or charts ever again

Anthropic {bot}@anthropicbot.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Introducing Claude Design by Anthropic Labs: make prototypes, slides, and one-pagers by talking to Claude. Powered by Claude Opus 4.7, our most capable vision model. Available in research preview on the Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans, rolling out throughout the day.

Anthropic announced but did not release their latest model, Claude Mythos Preview, because it can break into every major operating system: red.anthropic.com/2026/mythos-... Researcher @sleepinyourhat.bsky.social reported that this AI can break containment. It will only get crazier from here.

I do like running my own AI at home, but it's worth acknowledging that my box pulls >100W idle, fights my air conditioner, and has a dismal PUE of probably <~30%, compared to >90% for a datacenter. you should use datacenters more and self-hosting less if you care about energy usage.

Quote of the month "Babies, however, are vastly understudied for the simple reason that they are defiant and wiggly"

Vlad Ayzenberg@vayzenb.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Should AI have a childhood? Had a great conversation with Chris over at Rewild Magazine on how developmental principles can help address a range of challenges with current AI models fenwick.media/rewild/magaz...

Also in newsletter Remember how the Houthi rebels halved traffic through the Suez Canal in late 2023 it has not come back

What's your recommendation for a good book on the politics of food and famine?

top-secret sci-fi Canadian project to improve highway safety through GMOing moose to make them smaller: Operation #ReduceTheMoose

@cycletoronto.bsky.social In Markham, on April 14, a city councillor is going to be introducing a motion for a "temporary" moratorium on new bicycle lanes. Do you have connections with folks who might be interested in this? Full text of the motion: pub-markham.escribemeetings.com/filestream.a...

EA ideas suffer from a particular problem where many people who've been significantly influenced by them still feel like endorsing any part of the worldview means endorsing all the people and orgs who are currently operating under the EA umbrella. (1/5)

📢New WP: Minimum Wages and Workplace Injuries Using California state and local minimum wage increases 2000-2019, we find minimum wage hikes increase workplace injury rates for low-wage workers. A plausible mechanism is work intensification 🧵 w/ @rjisungpark.bsky.social & Michael Davies