book
A minor gentleman reads so many chivalric romances that he sets out to live one, dragging the practical Sancho Panza behind him, and Cervantes turns the joke into the first modern novel: a book about fiction's power to remake, and wreck, reality. Part Two, whose characters have read Part One, is more metafictional than most of what came after. Edith Grossman's translation keeps it fast and funny.
January 12, 2026
Dan Carlin's Alexander the Great series reaches its third installment, Quanta reports on weakening dark energy, and a Philosophize This! episode on Dostoevsky's demons.
July 13, 2026
Scott Alexander's team publishes its plan for AI going well, Joel Mokyr defends his Nobel thesis, and Ted Gioia argues the Odyssey belongs in the music department.
April 13, 2026
Experimental History on overlooked paths to impact, Dario Amodei's five-hour conversation with Lex Fridman, and Ethan Mollick on what just happened in AI.
