1+ day, 5+ hour ago  (1119+ words) In this video Beato reacts to a 2024 NYT article (archived here) that discussed whether Taylor Swift is bigger now than the Beatles were in the past. That article concludes that both were huge and, if you use the right metrics,…...

1+ day, 10+ hour ago  (1763+ words) Welcome to a Hump Day (Haftan'n Ortas" in Turkish): Wednesday, April 1. Don't worry, I'm not going to fool you even though it's April Fools' Day. Instead, I'll show below the lovely April page from the fifteenth-century Tr's Riches Heures du…...

2+ day, 9+ hour ago  (15+ words) The ten best-selling books in history, and what I'm reading'Why Evolution Is True...

4+ day, 5+ hour ago  (278+ words) Bill Maher's latest "new rule: UFOs'whyevolutionistrue.com Maher notes that the UFO believers are no longer nutjobs but reputable people: politicians and "people with buzzcuts. Steven Spielberg even has a movie coming out this summer about UFOs; it's called "Disclosure…...

5+ day, 6+ hour ago  (395+ words) Yes, I know I've misspelled "trifecta" in the title, but that's deliberate. Today we have the usual three items for Caturday, plus two lagniappes. First, a heartening story from the 100 Libraries Magazine." Click to read. The Worcester Public Library in…...

1+ week, 10+ hour ago  (1808+ words) Welcome to Thursday, March 26, 2026, and National Nougat Day, a genus that apparently includes Nutella. Remember that the first two ingredients in Nutella are sugar (5055%) and palm oil (~20%), so be careful out there! It's also National Spinach Day and Spinach Festival…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago  (1765+ words) Welcome to the Cruelest Day: Tuesday, March 24, 2026, and National Cheesesteak Day, celebrating a fine sandwich and exemplar of American cuisine." It's best sampled in its home, Philadelphia. Here's a one-day attempt to find the best cheesesteak in Philly (Pat's is…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago  (475+ words) It's time for a duck report." Things have been erratic, duckwise, over the last couple of weeks, with the weather going nuts. On some days it's been 70F (21C), on others it's been below freezing, with snow or driving rain." Through it…...

1+ week, 3+ day ago  (715+ words) Reader Thomas from Marginal REVOLUTION sent me the linked article piece, which shows a video of the 1957 doo-wop hit "Little Darlin'" by the Diamonds. If you're my age, you'll remember it." I always thought it was a serious song, and…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago  (674+ words) First some background from Grok on for Gail's bakery: Gail's Bakery (a UK chain with around 200 branches) has historical founding ties to Israel and indirect links through its current majority owner, which have sparked boycotts and vandalism by pro-Palestine activists....