Reading

Created
Fri, 29/05/2026 - 22:00

“This here banger should grab your attention.”

“This semi-banger should alert your attention before the second track really grabs your attention.”

“Slowwwwwww fade in.”

“Honestly, this is the only track worth listening to, but it’s the pre-digital age, and we just forced you to buy a whole album.”

“This is not the single you heard on the radio. We didn’t like that one as much, so we made it the ninth track, and we think you’ll be pleased to find we’re actually better than just the one radio hit.”

“One of our musicians is warming up.”

“How about a little HORN SECTION / CHOIR SECTION / ROBOT VOICE / ATMOSPHERIC NOISE before we get started?”

“These first five seconds will change history forever.”

“Look at us, adjusting the volume for you. Too loud? Too bad.”

Created
Fri, 29/05/2026 - 04:28

- - -

KNOPF: This is a very funny, very moving book about the deepest kind of friendship. It unfolds over many decades, and the novel took shape over decades for you, too. When did you begin thinking about these characters?

DAVE EGGERS: I’ve been thinking about Cricket and Olympia for about twenty years, and was writing random passages about them much of that period. Sometimes a certain book takes an especially long time to gestate and make its correct form known, and this was one of those books.

Created
Fri, 29/05/2026 - 03:55

Your life is a mess, an absolute Level 10 disaster. You’ve lost your job, and there might be pending charges after you borrowed your employer’s Hermes silk dress and Prada pumps. You’ve got no place to live after your thirteenth-floor walk-up Hell’s Kitchen sublet has decided you aren’t worth the trouble after you miss rent for the third time. But that’s beside the point. This is the perfect opportunity to change your life. So you book a trip to Tuscany even though you only have $38.62 in your bank account. It’s cool, you’re gonna Klarna it. When else are you gonna have the opportunity to go to Italy and live your best soft-girl life?

Turn to Page 1.

- - -

Created
Thu, 28/05/2026 - 23:00
Andrew Hewitt Sunday 1 March 2026 was the 80th anniversary of the Bank’s coming into public ownership, following the Bank of England Act 1946. It was the first of eight major nationalisations by the post-war Labour government and the only one not to be later reversed, in whole or in part. Some opponents, at the … Continue reading A balancing act in public ownership: the quiet legacy of the Bank of England Act 1946
Created
Thu, 28/05/2026 - 23:00
John Lewis The recent near halving of Bitcoin’s price has reignited debate about its true value. As a store of value, net present value asset pricing models suggest it should be worth zero because it pays no dividend. Yet its price remains far above zero, and its total value is still large despite recent turbulence. … Continue reading The quantity theory of crypto: what is Bitcoin worth as a medium of exchange?