Charismatic Jerks

The Charismatic Narwhal

Nicola Jones | Knowable | 3rd June 2024

The male narwhal, an Arctic whale species, has an eight-foot long tusk whose purpose has remained a mystery. Studied here by a polymath — dentist, anthropologist, and explorer. “There are so many properties of the narwhal tusk that defy every principle I learned in dental school. This whale has the capability of producing more than a dozen teeth in its mouth, but it genetically shuts this off” (2,400 words)

Culture Needs More Jerks

Dan Brooks | Defector | 28th May 2024

What does music criticism mean in the age of streaming? “The conceit is that before everything was free, the function of criticism was to tell listeners which albums to buy, but I don’t think that was ever it. The function of criticism is to complicate our sense of beauty. The critic is a foil, a stand-in for those joyless pricks who insist that if you love the same thing as everybody else, your love is not real” (1,800 words)