Welcome back to the Web Wanderer, where I compile some of the interesting, longer-form writing I’ve come across on the web this week! I hope you find these posts entertaining and enlightening!
Shipping’s Shadow World
from The New York Review of Books
Vanessa Ogle looks at the abysmal state of the global shipping industry, largely due to the proliferation of vessels flown under flags of convenience, and explains how we got to where we are.
Link: https://www.nybooks.com/online/2024/04/09/shippings-shadow-world/
The Deeply Silly, Extremely Serious Rise of “Alpha Male” Nick Adams
from The Washington Post
Reporter Ben Terris profiles the self-proclaimed “Alpha Male” exemplar in order to understand his hold on his followers. Just a taste: “Fischer, who has known Adams for the better part of a decade, says his friend isn’t putting on a front. One time, he told me, Adams swapped his Jaguar for an Infiniti; when Fischer asked him why, Adams showed him an email that Jaguar had sent wishing him ‘Happy Holidays’ (instead of ‘Merry Christmas’).”
Link: https://wapo.st/3UgpQC4
The Supreme Court May Give Us Another 2008 Financial Crisis
from The Lever
A case before the Supreme Court may invalidate a host of state-level consumer protections, setting the stage for another financial crisis according to The Lever reporter Katya Schwenk.
Link: https://www.levernews.com/the-supreme-court-may-give-us-another-2008-financial-crisis/
Star Struck
from BookForum
Ann Manov eviscerates Lauren Oyler’s latest essay collection, No Judgment, in a review that has gone viral for all the right reasons. Looks like she’ll be popping up in Oyler’s next novel!
A Woman Out of Time: Rebecca Solnit on Mary Shelley’s Dystopian Sci-Fi Novel The Last Man
from Literary Hub
The author of Orwell’s Roses and Recollections of My Nonexistence takes a closer look at Mary Shelley’s follow-up to Frankenstein in the foreword for a new edition of the book.
A Carolina Dog
from The Bitter Southerner
After finding himself the owner of a Carolina Dog, Cy Brown takes an in-depth look at the origins and traits of this little-known (and only recently recognized) breed. Especially interesting to me as I also happen to have one, as pictured at the top of this post.
Link: https://bittersoutherner.com/carolina-dogs
Humane AI Pin Review: Not Even Close
from The Verge
I would tend to agree with Verge editor-at-large David Pierce that there is something to be said for the core idea behind this quirky tech device by startup Humane, so it’s a shame that it seems so disappointing. That being said, the first iteration of a new idea often doesn’t work out, so maybe this will lead somewhere in the future.
Link: https://www.theverge.com/24126502/humane-ai-pin-review
Columnists and Their Lives of Quiet Desperation
from How Things Work
In his newsletter writer Hamilton Nolan uses the New York Times‘ Pamela Paul to examine the ways in which modern newspaper op-eds do us a disservice.
Link: https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/columnists-and-their-lives-of-quiet
What Would Really Happen If a Civil War Broke Out?
from Fox News
With A24’s Civil War out this weekend, Fox News reporter Nikolas Lanum asks experts about the likelihood of another U.S. civil war breaking out, and what to do should you find yourself in one.
Musk’s Internet Service Arrived in Brazil Marked by Irregularities and Was Used by Miners in the Yanomami Indigenous Land
from Brasil de Fato
The Brazilian news site reports on some unsurprisingly shady Starlink activities and uses with the South American nation.
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