An Air-Campaign Primer
The United States is conducting its first sustained independent air campaign since the 1991 Gulf War, targeting Iran’s integrated air‑defense system, ballistic‑missile sites, and regime command structures. Modern precision‑guided weapons, unmanned aircraft, and space‑based ISR have dramatically increased strike accuracy and situational awareness compared with earlier campaigns. Centralized daily air‑tasking orders enable rapid digital adjustments, while the early neutralization of Iran’s IADS has limited its missile and drone launch capability. Yet the campaign’s strategic impact remains unclear, pending comprehensive bomb‑damage assessments and longer‑term political outcomes.
An Uncomfortable Emotion That’s Worth Feeling
The Wonder Reader newsletter spotlighted Daniel Smith’s essay on boredom, invoking Joseph Brodsky’s 1989 Dartmouth commencement speech that frames boredom as a teacher of our insignificance. Smith argues that feeling boredom—whether while running errands or on hold—can become a conduit...
Pushing the Limits of Historical Fiction
Álvaro Enrigue’s new novel *Now I Surrender* reframes the Apache Wars through a wildly inventive, absurdist lens, intertwining historical figures like Geronimo with fictional personas such as a disguised zarzuela singer. The narrative collapses textbook binaries, presenting the conflict as...