The Jar with a Face in It

The Jar with a Face in It

On Homunculi, Algorithms, and the Small Souls We Make Jonathan Bennett follows a thread from alchemy to algorithmic avatars in a reflection on our age-old desire to imitate creation—and the uncanny reflections we’ve unleashed. 19th century engraving of Homunculus from...
Northern Lights and Low Expectations

Northern Lights and Low Expectations

A humorous reflection on life’s lowered expectations, fine dining dreams gone cold, and existential musings from an Arctic kitchen. There comes a point in every man’s life when he realizes that all the years of carefully curated knowledge, refined tastes, and grand...
Rules and Unwritten Rules

Rules and Unwritten Rules

Indifference is not a response in unsettled times   Love, not indifference, protects. Here is a Downy woodpecker by Maria Corcacas. This morning, as the ‘dim temple of the Dawn1’ paled the sky, our red-headed male downy woodpecker announced his return with his...
Choices

Choices

Be skeptical, and think afresh… Flying Fish Services Ltd. The Editor of The Ironist has long asked me for my views on the war in Ukraine. For me it is a long way to Europe – let alone across the Atlantic – as I haven’t left the Black Sea. But sturgeons live...
AI Hasn’t Won Yet!

AI Hasn’t Won Yet!

I have been reading so much nonsense about the American election. The so-called ‘experts’ don’t get it. It is not so much about who is in power, or who is out of power, or what the consequences were, or are, or will be. It isn’t about who was or will be good or bad....
Listen to the Song

Listen to the Song

 The blind need a helping hand, but a disability can be a gift                                                                                                                            A maidenhair tree, or ginkgo biloba   A recent article in the Spectator[1]...