Make this wacky world make sense. By Christina Wodtke.

Vintage technology has powered the innards of the NYC subway system for decades—and sometimes, it surfaces in interesting ways. This one’s for you, OS/2 fans. By Andrew Egan.

Federal Aviation Administration managers pushed its engineers to delegate wide responsibility for assessing the safety of the 737 MAX to Boeing itself. But safety engineers familiar with the documents shared details that show the analysis included crucial flaws.

Horrific tales from real refurbishers prove there’s much worse that can happen to a computer than spilled coffee.

In this guest edition of The Interview, Vikram Zutshi talks to physicist, activist and author Fritjof Capra. (Apr. 15, 2018)

Dandan Fan’s every move will soon be watched and judged by her government, and she’s happy about that. Social credit will unite Big Brother and big data to coerce more than a billion people. By Matthew Carney.

The regime was harsh, the system absurd but rules made up in Moscow were no match for the individualistic Poles. Magda Romanska’s delightful piece shows us how it was done. Elegantly, of course. (Apr. 22, 2012)

How is it possible for a whole country to fall into the hands of a tyrant? According to Shakespeare, it could not happen without widespread complicity. By Stephen Greenblatt.

The Black Eyed Peas

The Battle of Stalingrad was the largest battle in history. With it came equally superlative stories of how people dealt with risk... By Morgan Housel.

The fake science that keeps threatening to kill us. By Corey Pein.

Internal New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority documents show everything we thought we knew about subway delays was wrong. By Aaron Gordon.

Ana Stankovic on the un-tragic wrongness of Marx’s thought.

Why the US justice system is not fit for purpose. By Clive Stafford Smith.

The work of saving the planet is not technical, it’s political. By Benjamin Y. Fong.

We need a new 'Manufacturing Consent.' By Matt Taibbi.

Finance isn’t just an industry. It’s a system of social control. By J. W. Mason.

Masha Gessen's new book traces the rise of repressive nationalism. By Christian Caryl.

A mysterious bronze disc found in a shipwreck has finally been identified as the oldest astrolabe on record.

From invading Afghanistan to dismantling Confederate monuments, George Orwell has been pressed into the service of all sorts of causes. But the real Orwell remains unknown. By Peter Ross.