Beware the Permanent Periphery
If artificial intelligence reshapes the global economy, what happens to the countries that build none of it?
0:00 / 31:44 · Narrator Sulafat
Daily edition
2026-07-29
Today's Crosscut
Automating the Impossible
From a mechanical picker pulling cotton from a boll to a computer solving pure math, the panic over automation always comes down to what happens when creators lose control of their own inventions.
Rust and Boll × A.I. Disproves a Decades-Old Mathematical Idea, the 'Biggest Conjecture' That the Tech Has Played a Role in Yet
0:00 / 39:37 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
Future-gazing →
Behind the news →
Opinion: Ebola Outbreak Response Requires Engaging with Religious Traditions and Leaders
by Olivia Wilkinson and Katherine Marshall
When a disease spreads through funerals, who can convince people to change how they bury their dead?
0:00 / 6:52 · Narrator Gacrux
For the curious →
Mahasweta Devi at 100: Why Her Greatest Legacy Lies in the Adivasi Movements She Helped Build
If a writer spends her life telling other people's stories, what does she actually owe them?
0:00 / 12:28 · Narrator Rasalgethi
Psychology Research is Mostly Fine
by Scott Alexander
If a handful of famous experiments fail, does that mean an entire science is broken?
0:00 / 7:43 · Narrator Charon
Smart escape →
Inside the Quirky Pub Empire Where Phones and Swearing Are Banned – and Why Landlords Want to Keep It That Way
by Alex Ross
Can you save the traditional pub just by banning phones, music, and swearing?
0:00 / 8:44 · Narrator Vindemiatrix
How Cycling Solved Sleep
by Patrick Redford
If you can fine-tune every calorie you eat, why can't you cheat a good night's sleep?
0:00 / 11:43 · Narrator Algieba