Squircles And Mastery

Desperately Seeking Squircles

Daniel Furse | Figma | 3rd April 2018

Engineer embarks on a mathematical odyssey to try and understand the "squircle" shape that Apple uses for its app icons. "This may seem trivial, a cool story, but subconsciously it really makes a big impact: a squircle doesn’t look like a square with surgery performed on it; it registers as an entity in its own right, like the shape of a smooth pebble in a riverbed, a unified and elemental whole" (5,900 words)

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The Death Of Mastery

Tam Hussein | New Lines | 14th January 2026

Logan Paul, a YouTuber, should not be boxing against Anthony Joshua, former two-time world heavyweight champion and Olympic gold medalist. It's a circus act, not a contest of skill. Such a fight shows that in many spheres we are living through the death of mastery at the hands of entertainment. Paul ended up with a broken jaw, but his fame means he can keep cutting ahead of those with real expertise (2,200 words)