Doubting Shakespeare

Elizabeth Winkler | LitHub | 15th May 2023

The argument over whether all of the works attributed to Shakespeare were written by Shakespeare is "the greatest drama the bard never wrote". Academics role their eyes and experts dismiss the possibility, but there is some compelling evidence for the theory. It's also great fun. "There is something delightfully Shakespearean about the Shakespeare authorship question" (2,350 words)

How To Survive A Car Crash In 10 Easy Steps

Anne Lagamayo | Longreads | 11th May 2023

Practical guide to recovering from a traumatic brain injury. "You are so incandescently happy to be alive one moment, and miserable and aimless the next. You no longer coast along the outskirts of life but deep within it, plunged headfirst without a life jacket. Sometimes you miss being excused from the business of living. Other times, you can’t imagine life any other way" (4,437 words)

How Tokyo Says No To Cars

Daniel Knowles | Heatmap | 11th April 2023

A car in Tokyo is a liability, not an asset. You can't park anywhere. Most streets are too narrow for your car. You pay a fortune in taxes. The result is that Tokyo has the lowest car-use of any major city in the rich world. People walk, or bicycle, or hop on a train. "There is no traffic noise. No hooting, no engine noise. Most of the time you can walk in the middle of the street, so rare is the traffic" (4,300 words)

Mystified by cryptic crosswords? We at The Browser are here to help. Pick up the ultimate guide, by Dan Feyer and Uri Bram, and let us guide you through the meaning of those clues - so you can get on with puzzling.

Video: Patrick Collison In Conversation With Sam Altman

A conversation about crypto and AI between the builder of the world's best payments system and the builder of the world's most advanced AI.

Encountering The High Arctic

James Conaway | Hedgehog Review | 10th May 2023

Beautiful piece of writing — embellished memoir, might one say? — about going to the Arctic for National Geographic. "I am bound for Ellesmere Island, a vast orogeny still birthing after 300 million years, with an intermediary stop in the town of Resolute on Cornwallis Island under glaciated hills. Distant cliffs levitate and then are gone, then back again, shimmering in the thermals" (2,970 words)

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The One And Only

Alan Lightman | NYRB | 17th December 1992

Classic appreciation of Richard Feynman, ungated for two weeks, carpe diem. "Feynman's Lectures on Physics, to be found on the bookshelves of almost every professional physicist in the world, are a triumph of human thought. They deserve a place in the history of Western culture along with Aristotle’s collected works, Descartes’s Principles of Philosophy, and Newton’s Principia" (4,500 words)

On The Trail Of The Dark Avenger

Scott J. Shapiro | Guardian | 9th May 2023

The Dark Avenger, the pseudonym of "the most dangerous virus writer in the world", has never been identified. He, or they, were based in the 1980s Bulgarian virus factory, "a loose collective of young Bulgarian men who were highly intelligent and bored." The country was the source of hundreds of malicious programmes that ran rampant through computers in the 1990s (4,118 words)

Your IQ Isn't 160. No One's Is

Erik Hoel | Intrinsic Perspective | 9th May 2023

There is no evidence that Einstein had a high IQ. Plenty of Nobel Prize winners don't score highly on such tests. Why? Because the higher IQ gets, the less definite its measurement is. Anyway, IQ is a psychological construct of questionable validity. The last word goes to Stephen Hawking, who when asked what his IQ was, replied: "I have no idea. People who boast about their IQ are losers" (4,347 words)

Ancient Greek Terms Worth Reviving

Anya Leonard | Classical Wisdom | 2nd May 2023

From aidos to xenia by way of nostos and oikos, a glossary of ancient Greek words which are worth reviving because they capture useful concepts in concise ways.  "Arete means an excellence that is ultimately bound up with the fulfillment of purpose or function, the act of living up to one’s full potential. Arete is frequently associated with bravery, but more often with effectiveness" (1,480 words)

Audio: Are Coincidences Real? | Guardian Longreads

Do coincidences happen randomly? Or do they reveal secret harmonies in the universe? Cognitive science suggests that the answer may be a bit of both. Our minds are constantly looking out for patterns which give order and predictability to the world. This predisposes us to notice coincidences, to invent them, and to give them undue weight. Written by Paul Broks, read by Dermont Daly. (32m 28s)

The Myth Of Florence Nightingale

Sarah DiGregorio | LitHub | 2nd May 2023

Florence Nightingale is widely credited as the inventor of nursing; she is in reality anything but. What she did do was blunt the radical edge of nursing by giving it a class system. But nurses do not have to be subservient. "Imagine a world in which the conditions necessary for health are enjoyed by all people. Nurses have a unique ability to bring such a world to fruition, if they choose it" (3,392 words)

The Diary Of A Ukrainian Soldier

David Lepeska | New Lines | 1st May 2023

Selected diary entries spanning the last year of fighting in Ukraine, by a Ukrainian filmmaker who volunteered to fight on the front line. He has attended 36 funerals in the past 12 months, and has decided that he won't be going to anymore. "I haven’t had a chance to personally kill any Russians. They say it’s good luck to kill someone in front of you. But in this war you rarely see the enemy" (4,651 words)

Elsewhere from the Browser team: publisher Uri Bram writes about land ownership in Wired.

The Coronation, Explained

Constance Grady | Vox | 3rd May 2023

A symbolic block of sandstone, two 17C sceptres, an infamous colonial diamond, a performance by Katy Perry — the upcoming coronation of Charles III and its associated festivities unites all of these disparate elements and more. This account of the details involved eschews obsequiousness for the facts, bizarre as they are. Whether you will be waving a flag or not, this is a rare spectacle (3,298 words)

Mystified by cryptic crosswords? We at The Browser are here to help. Pick up the ultimate guide, by Dan Feyer and Uri Bram, and let us guide you through the meaning of those clues - so you can get on with puzzling.

Racing Against Death

Brett Popplewell | Walrus | 1st May 2023

Profile of an 82-year-old ultramarathon runner. "At any given time, he looked the part both of a battle-hardened warrior and a sage, old mystic. Especially when he slowed his pace, approaching a fellow runner who was keeled over in pain. He would appear to them like some half-naked septuagenarian messiah, his figure distorted through their sweat-blurred vision" (3,317 words)

Should Japan Defend Taiwan?

Kiyoshi Sugawa | Responsible Statecraft | 2nd May 2023

There are no good options for Japan in a US-China war over Taiwan. As an active ally of America, Japan would suffer heavy civilian casualties and long-term economic harm. Neutrality increases the chance of a Chinese takeover in Taiwan and leaves Japan alone to face an aggressive China. The choice between the two paths would likely be made by the manner in which the war begins (1,565 words)

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How Much Mormonism Has Changed

Mette Ivie Harrison | By Common Consent | 27th April 2017

Reflections of a forty-something Mormon. “Even as a teen, I remember the assumption that we would be practicing polygamy again as soon as it was legal. The change from this to the 'one man/one woman marriage' doctrine has been a surprise... We still give blessings of healing, but I have the sense that almost everyone goes to the doctor first and gets a blessing after” (1,300 words)

My Lifetime Reading Plan

Ted Gioia | Honest Broker | 29th April 2023

Tips for self-education. Be prepared to spend a lot of time reading. Read out loud to yourself. Read one or two long and challenging books a year, even if you don't want to. Some writers — like Proust — need to be read slowly; a few pages a day will add up. When young, read classics, and then when old read whatever is new. Keep lists. Design your plan to please yourself and nobody else (3,155 words)

Prepared to spend a lot of time reading? Dedicate it to the best. To keep you abreast of the finest new thought, the full Browser recommends five outstanding articles, a video and a podcast daily.

'Sir, You Do Realise I Am 911?'

Jaime Lowe | Los Angeles Review Of Books | 1st May 2023

Who helps the helpers? Dealing with California's worsening wildfires is taking a toll on firefighters. The professionals are already being pushed to their limits. For the state prisoners who are "on the front lines of the climate crisis" for just a few dollars a day, the work is "nearly impossible". They are not considered real firefighters, and so have no access to compensation or assistance (2,341 words)

Monetizing The Metaverse

Nat Rubio-Licht | Patent Drop | 27th April 2023

The US Patent Office is where the future gets distributed first, so Patent Drop is always unreasonably interesting. In this edition: Facebook's plan to turn VR into an infinite ad-tracker; Nvidia's plan to make chatbots chattier; Oracle's plan for AIs that format data for AIs; Google's plan to smash its own glasses; and Amazon's plan for an Alexa that calms you down when it thinks you are angry (1,850 words)

Want more? For the cost of one cup of coffee a month you can get the Browser's five article recommendations every weekday (plus audio and video) and our Sunday Supplement with puzzles, crosswords, book reviews, art and more.

When Policy Goes Medieval

Tim Harford | 27th April 2023

In medieval times an accused criminal might face trial by ordeal — they might be forced to pick up a red-hot iron bar, for example, the severity of their burns being the measure of their guilt. We don't do that any more, but we do test applicants for state benefits with lesser ordeals such as arbitrary delays, endless form-filling, and social stigma. Might it not be more productive just to help them? (940 words)