By the summer of 1944, Rome had fallen and the Allies were pushing up through Italy. While withdrawing northwards, the Germans massacred civilians, partly out of a sense of betrayal by former friends—Italy had ended its allia
Why economists should like booze
Sobriety is taking over the world. The amount of alcohol consumed globally is probably in decline for the first time in history. Across rich countries many members of Gen Z—born after the late 1990s—are shunning alcohol entirely: 30% of Ame
How golden ages really start—and end
The greatest civilisations of the past 3,000 years were the opposite of MAGA Photograph: Nicolas Ortega/Alamy May 1st 2025ShareListen to this story Peak Human. By Johan Norberg. Atlantic Books; 400 pages; $32.99 and £22 The way
Is AI Enhancing Education or Replacing It?
the AI bubble might be popping, but growth resumed that September; the cause of the decline was simply summer break.
Why Have Sentence Lengths Decreased?
In the loveliest town of all, where the houses were white and high and the elms trees were green and higher than the houses,
The Cult of Doing Business
One of the strangest features of American work culture is the constant pressure to treat one’s job as something more than a job: a calling, a means of expressing oneself, a vehicle for personal growth. This pressure comes from bosses, of course, who would rather foster intrinsic motivation than pay higher wages. But it also comes from popular psychology.
The West is bored to death
Suppose Schopenhauer is right that life boils down to a flight from either boredom or pain. Insofar as the vast material abundance of wealthy, industrialised society has had an analgesic effect (there is simply less physical pain than in the past, before fluoride and anaesthesia and sedentary lives),
Shakespeare may not have been a remote husband, new study finds
LONDON — Fresh analysis by a British scholar of a long-forgotten fragment of a letter addressed to the “Good Mrs Shakspaire” suggests that the renowned playwright William Shakespeare might not have been such a distant husband at all
LinkedIn’s unlikely role in the AI race
Congratulate LinkedIn on its work anniversary! Next month the business world’s favourite social network will turn 22. The 1.1bn users of LinkedIn—which is a year older than even Facebook—can celebrate two decades of humblebrags, motivational quotes and automated congratulations from long-forgotten acquaintances.
Can Shein and Temu survive Trump’s trade war?
For Gen Z shoppers in America, Donald Trump’s trade war with China is no longer just a headline. On April 25th Shein and Temu, two Chinese online emporiums popular among youngsters, announced they would be adjusting their prices in America.