Artificial intelligence will almost certainly be the most transformational technology in the history of the world. It will profoundly affect the life of every man, woman and child in our country. It will bring — and is already bringing — unimaginable changes to our economy, our democracy, our emotional well-being, our environment and how we educate and raise our children. Further, there is a very real fear that as A.I. becomes smarter than humans it could eventually function independently, with potentially catastrophic consequences.
The question, then, is not whether A.I. will change the world. It will. The question is: Who will own and control that future? Who will benefit from it, and who will be hurt by it? Will A.I. be used to make life better for working families? Will it enrich our quality of life? Will it help us eliminate poverty, extend life expectancies and solve the climate crisis? Or will the future of humanity be determined by a handful of billionaires who have promoted and developed A.I., with virtually no democratic input, who stand to become even richer and more powerful than they are today?
Many consumers feel they are constantly fighting against an onslaught of overcharges, customer service hassles, shoddy products and billing mistakes that always seem to go in the company’s favor. All of this comes against a background of soaring prices and rising inflation.
There’s a stew of factors at work behind the rise in consumer rage: company consolidation, regulatory rollbacks, years of court decisions that limit consumer power, tech-enabled cost cuts, private equity takeovers, Covid-era business model changes, a moribund media and the rise of AI customer service, to name a few. But there is hope, too. https://www.theguardian.com/
4/. Space commander Trump......
5/. Bob Lefsetz on Scott Pelley, Bari Weiss, the music business and riffs on our corrupt media. A good one.....
We’ve seen this movie before. Back in the nineties, with Bob Morgado and the Warner Music Group. A man with no expertise in music single-handedly destroyed the company. But it was even worse, he ultimately fired his co-conspirator Doug Morris, who went on with Edgar Bronfman, Jr.’s money to create Universal Music, which still dominates the marketplace today. As for Warner? It was sold for bupkes in the wake of the AOL merger and it has never regained its market power or share, never mind its gravitas.
So-called artificial intelligences do not undergo experiences, do not possess a body, do not feel joy or pain, do not mature through relationships and do not know from within what love, work, friendship or responsibility mean.
Amen. But the more I understand about AI (and please don’t take me for anything but a layman), the less I find this convincing: https://andrewsullivan.
In case you’re not familiar with the concept of the K-shaped economy, it’s an important idea that captures a lot about Trump’s America. Wealthy Americans are represented by the line of the K that angles sharply upward to the right, while the line of the K that dips downward represents non-rich Americans and the difficulties they face.
The economy’s K-shape has been growing worse in recent months, in large part because of Donald Trump’s policies. The wealthy people’s line is climbing further upward, while the line for the non-wealthy – the vast majority of Americans – has fallen further.
Viewed another way, the K-shaped economy is all about income and wealth inequality, and those are growing palpably worse under Trump. https://www.theguardian.com/
We raised pigs for a time on our family farm in Oregon when I was a teenager, and they had stronger personalities than some of my human friends.
While some of our pigs were friendly, docile or ingratiating, one sow named Brunhilda was grumpy, vocal and very strong-willed. But she was a devoted mom, constantly checking on her piglets and leading them around our farm — while showing them how to be independent-minded, too.
Nobody would have mistaken Brunhilda for a saint, but nobody could forget her, either. Exasperating as she was, I would never have punished her by locking her in a cage so small, she couldn’t turn around. That sounds like torture to me.
But the momentum behind the truly dangerous Project 2025 reordering of our society continues apace, even if—without Elon Musk to give it a face—we aren’t noticing. Late last week the White House announced plans for a major tightening of political control over research grants. Instead of relying on the advice of expert panels as to which research should be funded, as Kevin Bogardus explains https://billmckibben.
A three-way tug-of-war erupted in recent months over ownership of a property on Fisher Island – one of the wealthiest zip codes in the United States – that sits in Biscayne Bay opposite the skyline of downtown Miami. When TransMontaigne Partners, a Denver-based global energy company, put the parcel on the market in May 2024, interest ran high because that land represented the last remaining piece of real estate available for development on the island.
The eventual winner of the bidding war was a Chicago-based developer called the HRP Group, which purchased the property for $180m in late September last year. The developer then announced ambitious plans to build condominium towers on the property at an estimated cost of $2bn.
When Widow’s Bay appeared on Apple TV in April, all signs pointed it to being another one of those underwatched and undermarketed curios – like Sunny or Land of Women or Extrapolations – that routinely get dumped on to the platform before quickly dying of neglect.
Instead, something remarkable happened. Unless Apple has been secretly trialling a new strategy where they directly pay everyone I know to tell me how good its shows are, Widow’s Bay has become the biggest word of mouth hit that television has had in years. With every passing episode, the buzz gets a little bit louder. And this is for a very good reason: Widow’s Bay is absolutely wonderful. https://www.theguardian.com/
The 1991 revenge thriller Cape Fear boasts many famous moments. A teddy bear rigged with fishing wire. A drowning man speaking in tongues. But the image I cannot shake is the back of a sailboat, piloted by a lawyer who is being hounded by Max Cady, a rapist he once sent to jail. The boat is called Moana. It makes sense – throughout Polynesia, moana means “ocean”. However, watching now, I can’t help but wonder if the Rock is going to appear and save the day with his magical pec tattoo.
All murders are shocking, but few unsettle a nation in the way that of Rachel Nickell did in 1992. She was stabbed 49 times while walking on Wimbledon Common during the day with her two-year-old son, Alex. The viciousness of the attack, in a public place and in front of a child, lingered darkly in the minds of the public, especially since Alex being the only witness enabled the killer to remain at large for years.
Every month, Netflix adds movies and TV shows to its library. Here are our picks for some of June’s most promising new titles. (Note: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our Watching newsletter https://www.nytimes.com/2026/
So they enter heaven, and sure enough, there are ducks all over the place. It is almost impossible not to step on a duck, and although they try their best to avoid them, the first guy accidentally steps on one.
Along comes St. Peter with the ugliest woman he has ever seen. St. Peter chains them together and says, "Your punishment for stepping on a duck is to spend eternity chained to the ugly woman!"
The next day, the second guy steps accidentally on a duck, and along comes St. Peter, who doesn't miss a thing, and with him is another extemely ugly woman. He chains them together with the same admonishment as for the first guy.
The third guy has observed all this and not wanting to be chained for all eternity to an ugly woman, is very, VERY careful where he steps. He manages to go months without stepping on any ducks, but one day St. Peter comes up to him with the most gorgeous woman he has ever laid eyes on: a very tall, tan, curvaceous, sexy blonde. St. Peter chains them together without saying a word.
The guy remarks, "I wonder what I did to deserve being chained to you for all of eternity?"
She says, "I don't know about you, but I stepped on a duck!"
Today's historical joke
An 18th-century vagabond in England, exhausted and famished, came to a roadside Inn with a sign reading: "George and the Dragon." He knocked.
The Innkeeper's wife stuck her head out a window. "Could ye spare some victuals?" He asked.
The woman glanced at his shabby, dirty clothes. "No!" she shouted.
"Could I have a pint of ale?"
"No!" she shouted.
"Could I at least sleep in your stable?"
"No!" she shouted again.
The vagabond said, "Might I please...?"
"What now?" the woman screeched, not allowing him to finish.
"D'ye suppose," he asked, "that I might have a word with George?"
