From The Browser 9 years ago:

Hiking The Appalachian Trail

Robert Moor | Buzzfeed | 2nd August 2016

The Appalachian Trail runs 2,000 miles from Georgia to Maine. Hiking the length of it — a five or six month adventure — changes the mind and the body. Not always for the better. “Naturally, most hiking injuries center around the feet. Blisters bubble up. Toenails blacken and fall off. Joints swell. During the course of my hike, my feet grew a half shoe size. The easiest way to spot a thru-hiker is to catch them barefoot. Without boots, the super-hiker is reduced to a limping old crone” (3,040 words)

From The Browser 7 Years Ago:

My Son, Osama

Martin Chulov | Guardian | 3rd August 2018

A conversation with Osama bin Laden’s mother, Alia Ghanem, who lives in Jeddah with her second husband and two sons; they remain one of Saudi Arabia’s richest families thanks to Saudi Binladin, their “dynastic construction empire”. Ghanem says Osama was “brainwashed” at university by radicals who wanted his money, and that at least some of his wives and children have been allowed back from Abbottabad: “I speak to his harem most weeks. They live nearby” (3,300 words)

Question Of The Week

August rolls around, and it's time to round up our reading for the July edition of the Browser Book Club. What did you read last month, and what did you make of it?

Last week’s question

We shared Jack Maden’s Should Parenting Require a License?, in which he considers philosopher Hugh LaFollette’s idea that we should introduce a license for raising (not creating) children, “to screen out people who’d make very bad, abusive parents”. Were Browser readers persuaded?

(i) Yes, I would support some form of parental licensing 53%
(ii) No, I object to any form of parental licensing 47 %

For a while it seemed we might be reporting the first draw in QOTW history, but the ayes just about won out with the final votes. The nays, however, are more numerous in the mailbag — and they are fervent nays. A rich crop of arguments this week, considering prejudicial enforcement, failures of existing licenses, failures of existing care systems — and the possible need to license philosophers, too.

Performance Of The Week

La Cenerentola - II: “Non più mesta” | Cecilia Bartoli | comp. Gioachino Rossini

Astonishing vocal acrobatics. Watch in awe. Intimately shot, too; there’s a lot to be enjoyed in the performers’ delight, and the twitches of Bartoli’s hand as she guides herself through the treacherous passages.

Book Of The Week

The Great Betrayal: The Struggle for Freedom and Democracy in the Middle East | Fawaz A. Gerges

Recommended by Sophie Roell at Five Books:

“The Great Betrayal: The Struggle for Freedom and Democracy in the Middle East is by Fawaz Gerges, a professor at LSE, and represents more than a decade of work “trying to answer a recurring question posed by my students: Why has the Middle East reached this seeming low point after a century of state- and nation-building?” The book covers the region from the end of the Ottoman Empire to the Arab Spring and highlights the interaction of foreign intervention and domestic authoritarianism as the root cause of the problems.”

Image Of The Week

Dancer | Paolo Troubetzkoy | 1912

Wonderfully vivid sculpture in bronze. The sitter was Russian dancer and pianist Countess Thamara Swirskaya. Troubetzkoy, born in Italy with an American mother and a Russian prince for his father, was internationally renowned: he also created the St Petersburg Equestrian Statue of Tsar Alexander III, and the monument to General Harrison Grey Otis in MacArthur Park, Los Angeles.

Poem Of The Week

Leaves | Sara Teasdale
On what is gained when our certainties are lost.

One by one, like leaves from a tree
All my faiths have forsaken me...

Read Leaves and more by Sara Teasdale at Poetry Foundation

Quiz Of The Week

These statements pertain to one major geographical landmark: the first letters of the missing words spell out its name. Can you piece together the name and fill in the blanks?

(i) It begins in the ______
(ii) The largest city alongside it is ______
(iii) It ends where it meets the ______
(iv) It is spanned by ______ bridges
(v) Its name is popularly attributed to the female resistance encountered by the expedition of Francisco de ______
(vi) It crosses ______ countries

Answers below, after the crossword

Click here to print this week’s puzzle
Click here to load this week’s puzzle in Across Lite
Click here for past puzzles and solutions

Another debut cryptic this week! Setter Danish Abdi is a freelance game designer and musician in Bangalore, India, filling up what's left of his time with poetry, triathlons, open water swimming, rock climbing, and calisthenics –Dan Feyer

Quiz Answers

The landmark is the River Amazon

(i) It begins in the ANDES
(ii) The largest city alongside it is MANAUS
(iii) It ends where it meets the ATLANTIC
(iv) It is spanned by ZERO bridges
(v) Its name is popularly attributed to the female resistance encountered by the expedition of Francisco de ORELLANA*
(vi) It crosses NINE countries

*This idea has been present since 1609 but is by no means firmly established. An alternative theory comes from the native term 'amassona', or 'boat destroyer'. An interesting etymological detour.

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Caroline Crampton, Editor-In-Chief; Robert Cottrell, Founding Editor; Jodi Ettenberg, Editor-At-Large; Dan Feyer, Crossword Editor; Uri Bram, CEO & Publisher; Sylvia Bishop, Assistant Publisher; Al Breach, Founding Director

Editorial comments and letters to the editor: editor@thebrowser.com
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Elsewhere on The Browser, and of possible interest to Browser subscribers: Letters To The Editor, where you will find constructive comment from fellow-subscribers; The Reader, our commonplace book of clippings and quotations; Notes, our occasional blog. You can always Give The Browser, surely the finest possible gift for discerning friends and family.

We Start Reading Too Late

Erik Hoel | Intrinsic Perspective | 31st July 2025

Children can start learning to read at an early age, between two and four. There is plenty of historical evidence from the 18C that this was common, since specific reading primers were published for this age group. Yet it is increasingly the norm in the US that reading isn't taught until kids are seven or eight, because of 60-year-old "neuromyths" about what early reading does to the brain (3,500 words)

Nomido is the Browser's daily word game. Play today's before it's gone!

The Pressure That Made Miyazaki

Animation Obsessive | 28th July 2025

Before they founded Studio Ghibli in the 1980s, the animator-director partnership of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata were working continual overtime making films and TV series as employees of other companies. Hits included Heidi, Girl of the Alps and Anne of Green Gables, both from the mid-1970s. This retrospective is illustrated with plenty of wonderful sketches and frame outlines (2,900 words)

The Rich Are Not Like You And Me

Henry Farrell | Programmable Mutter | 27th July 2025 | U

Social scientists are trained to assume that markets and governments are distinct, and that individual whims get smoothed out in the collective. This may not fit the world today. The growing isolation of the billionaire class from mortal concerns recalls sci-fi writer William Gibson‘s words — “she knew, with an instinctive mammalian certainty, that the exceedingly rich were no longer even remotely human” (1,700 words)

Against 'Vibe Physics'

Ethan Siegel | Big Think | 30th July 2025 | U

So-called "armchair physicists" are using large language models to develop what they think are new advances in the field. Not only is this "completely delusional", it is a dangerous example of how well-meaning, smart people can be taken in by "the phenomenon of unfettered AI slop". General use LLMs are designed to conceal their limitations and struggle to derive universal laws from patchy data (3,200 words)

We Start Reading Too Late

Erik Hoel | Intrinsic Perspective | 31st July 2025 | U

Children can start learning to read at an early age, between two and four. There is plenty of historical evidence from the 18C that this was common, since specific reading primers were published for this age group. Yet it is increasingly the norm in the US that reading isn't taught until kids are seven or eight, because of 60-year-old "neuromyths" about what early reading does to the brain (3,500 words)

The Singer Who Skewered America

Yascha Mounk | 28th July 2025 | U

Whether mocking the rehabilitation of known Nazis or lamenting World War III, Tom Lehrer’s political songs — all of which he placed in the public domain — were “laced with countercultural venom”. Despite his songs’ popularity, Lehrer had no interest in fame. “He could never get comfortable with the self-consciously politically engaged comedy which eventually took over big parts of American culture” (2,100 words)

Fell In A Hole, Got Out

Tony Stubblebine | Medium | 11th July 2025 | U

CEO of Medium explains how he made the company profitable. Told with a refreshing lack of ego. It helped that he was a former top poster on Medium. There are technicalities that business-minded readers will enjoy, but it boiled down to ceasing to operate like a tech startup. He cut costs, got rid of the fancy office, and stopped paying "writers with suss motivations" to write poor quality posts (4,600 words)

Puzzle: Nomido is the Browser's daily word game. Play today's before it's gone!

Podcast: The First Human Language | BlomCast. Conversation about new book that traces the rise and explosion of Proto-Indo-European across the globe (1h 2m)

Video: Five Minutes With The Hermit Thrush | YouTube | Kalina | 5m 16s

High resolution, uninterrupted footage of birdsong, recorded in New York state.

Shortcode Glossary:
U = Ungated, free. M = Metered paywall. B = Metered paywall can be bypassed using private/incognito browsing. Full details of our shortcodes here.

This post is only for paying subscribers of The Browser, but please do forward it to any friends who deserve a treat today, especially if you think they might be interested in becoming Browser subscribers in the future.

Caroline Crampton, Editor-In-Chief; Robert Cottrell, Founding Editor; Kaamya Sharma, Editor; Jodi Ettenberg, Editor-At-Large; Dan Feyer, Crossword Editor; Uri Bram, CEO & Publisher; Sylvia Bishop, Assistant Publisher; Al Breach, Founding Director

Editorial comments and letters to the editor: editor@thebrowser.com
Technical issues and support requests: support@thebrowser.com
Or write at any time to the publisher: uri@thebrowser.com

You can opt in or out of any of our newsletters (weekday Browser, Sunday Supplement and more) at your Email Preferences menu. And you can always Give The Browser, surely the finest possible gift for discerning friends and family.

Against 'Vibe Physics'

Ethan Siegel | Big Think | 30th July 2025

So-called "armchair physicists" are using large language models to develop what they think are new advances in the field. Not only is this "completely delusional", it is a dangerous example of how well-meaning, smart people can be taken in by "the phenomenon of unfettered AI slop". General use LLMs are designed to conceal their limitations and struggle to derive universal laws from patchy data (3,200 words)

Nomido is the Browser's daily word game. Play today's before it's gone!

The Curse Of Carrara Marble

Meara Sharma | Dial | 22nd July 2025

The global demand for marble from Italy's Apuan Alps is accelerating at an astonishing rate: more stone has been quarried from the region in the past 30 years than in the previous 2,000. Michelangelo used this stone for the David and the Pietà because of its density, strength and uniform colour. The quarries could be empty in 50 years. Meanwhile, the marble barons and the environmentalists feud (3,500 words)

Fell In A Hole, Got Out

Tony Stubblebine | Medium | 11th July 2025

CEO of Medium explains how he made the company profitable. Told with a refreshing lack of ego. It helped that he was a former top poster on Medium. There are technicalities that business-minded readers will enjoy, but it boiled down to ceasing to operate like a tech startup. He cut costs, got rid of the fancy office, and stopped paying "writers with suss motivations" to write poor quality posts (4,600 words)

Nomido is the Browser's daily word game. Play today's before it's gone!

I Drank Every Cocktail

Adam Aaronson | 23rd July 2025

The International Bartenders Association maintains a list of 102 official cocktails. Trying them all "turned out to be unexpectedly tricky" and took several years of effort. Some are drinks that any bartender can whip up. The more esoteric inclusions required ordering off-menu and finding staff willing to go the extra mile. The "final boss", the IBA Tiki, required sanctioned Cuban rum and some DIY mixology (4,200 words)

The Rich Are Not Like You And Me

Henry Farrell | Programmable Mutter | 27th July 2025

Social scientists are trained to assume that markets and governments are distinct, and that individual whims get smoothed out in the collective. This may not fit the world today. The growing isolation of the billionaire class from mortal concerns recalls sci-fi writer William Gibson‘s words — “she knew, with an instinctive mammalian certainty, that the exceedingly rich were no longer even remotely human” (1,700 words)

Nomido is the Browser's daily word game. Play today's before it's gone!

Efficiency, Fat Ideas, And False Negatives

Ben Reinhardt | Spectech | 24th July 2025

In innovation, “lean ideas” and “fat ideas” are two ends of a continuum. Reusable rockets, electric cars, artificial fertilisers, airplanes, AI are all lean ideas — they’re characterised by assertions of great difficulty with a high payoff at the end. Lasers, cars, the Internet, germ theory are all fat ideas — they’re initially perceived as being niche or useless, involving “a lot of piddling around” (2,400 words)

The Singer Who Skewered America

Yascha Mounk | 28th July 2025

Nazis or lamenting World War III, Tom Lehrer’s political songs — all of which he placed in the public domain — were “laced with countercultural venom”. Despite his songs’ popularity, Lehrer had no interest in fame. “He could never get comfortable with the self-consciously politically engaged comedy which eventually took over big parts of American culture” (2,100 words)

Nomido is the Browser's daily word game. Play today's before it's gone!

The Cheapest Unit Of The Uncanny

Ray Newman | Precast Reinforced Concrete Heart | 13th July 2025

Masks are the easiest effective way to play on humans’ instinctive fear of the other. Many slasher horror films like Halloween or Alice, Sweet Alice have relied on cheap, tacky masks to evoke a sense of the uncanny. Serial killers, both fictional and real, have used masks to terrorise their victims. “Masks are scary, among other reasons, because they deny us the cues we rely on to assess threats” (1,000 words)

Podcast: The Art Of Strategic Disappearance | Westenberg. Many ambitious people counterintuitively go through a “status death” at some point in their lives to overcome the limitations imposed by the fear of losing social standing (7m 21s)

Puzzle: Nomido is the Browser's daily word game. Play today's before it's gone!

Video: Swiss Glacier Collapses | YouTube | WSJ News | 1m 11s

Extraordinary footage captured when a glacier in Switzerland partially collapsed, swamping a village. People and animals had already been evacuated.

Britain’s Spies-For-Hire Are Running Wild

Mason Boycott-Owen | Politico | 24th July 2025

London is the global capital of the private intelligence industry "thanks to a worldwide fascination with fictional British spies in James Bond films and John le Carré novels". Law firms, City banks, global hedge funds and sometimes foreign governments use these shadowy firms staffed by former intelligence personnel, ex-police officers and erstwhile journalists. The sector is almost entirely unregulated (2,900 words)

Nomido is the Browser's daily word game. Play today's before it's gone!

How To Feel

A.J. Daulerio | The Small Bow | 25th July 2025

Daulerio was the editor of Gawker during the Hulk Hogan sex tape litigation and the site's subsequent bankruptcy. Reacting to the news of Hogan's death, Daulerio explains what it has been like to be inextricably linked to such a figure in the popular imagination and to work through years of rage about it. "I feel comfortable admitting that he's partially responsible for so many good things in my current life" (1,700 words)