“These People’s Takes Are Absurd”: Rick Beato versus the NYT’s Music Critics
Rick Beato released a scathing video deconstructing the New York Times’ "30 Greatest Living Songwriters" list, labeling the critics behind it as pretentious Ivy League elites lacking formal music training. He ridicules editor John Carmanica’s narrow definition of a songwriter and his dismissal of Billy Joel as a hitmaker, while defending the artistic merit of Joel’s catalog. The list, which blends canonical figures like Bob Dylan with polarizing choices such as Bad Bunny, sparked a broader debate about who is qualified to judge songwriting. Beato’s humor‑laden critique resonated with musicians who feel sidelined by academic critics.
In Which My Senator Tries to Explain to Me Why He Voted Against Providing Military Aid to Israel
Senator Dick Durbin responded to a constituent’s query about his vote to block U.S. military aid to Israel, explaining his humanitarian concerns and noting the Senate’s defeat of two Sanders‑backed resolutions aimed at halting billions of dollars in weapons sales....
Two Good Books
The post spotlights two distinct novels as fresh reading recommendations. "The Correspondent," a 285‑page epistolary debut by Virginia Evans, was released in 2025 by Penguin Random House and follows a septuagenarian’s letter‑filled life in Annapolis. "Mating," a roughly 500‑page work...
Dawkins: Is AI Conscious?
Richard Dawkins explores whether AI systems like Claude and Grok can be considered conscious, revisiting the Turing Test as a proxy for consciousness. He conducts informal chats with the large‑language models, noting they can generate poetry and respond fluently, yet...
The NYT’s List of the Best Books of This Century (the 21st): Not Much Science
The New York Times Book Review released its first “100 Best Books of the 21st Century” list, compiled from a survey of 503 novelists, nonfiction writers, poets, critics and other book lovers. The list, announced after the first 25 years...
Bill Maher’s New Rule: Malignant AI
Bill Maher’s recent "New Rules" segment warned that artificial intelligence could become a malignant force capable of endangering humanity. The discussion featured journalist Kara Swisher, former mayor Rahm Emanuel, and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who explored AI’s historical missteps and potential existential...
New Paper by Ruuska Et Al: Gender Reassignment Does Not Reduce Psychiatric Morbidity in Gender-Dysphoric Youth
A new Finnish cohort study of 2,083 gender‑dysphoric youths and 16,643 matched controls found that psychiatric morbidity remains high after gender reassignment. Before treatment, 47.9% of GD patients had specialist psychiatric contacts versus 15.3% of controls; two years later the...
McCartney Rehearses “Blackbird” On the Day It Was Recorded
Paul McCartney rehearsed “Blackbird” at Abbey Road Studios on June 11, 1968, the exact day the track was recorded for the Beatles’ White Album. The rehearsal video captures George Martin’s production guidance, a brief guitar cue from John Lennon, and the presence...
Paul McCartney’s Abysmal New Song
Paul McCartney is set to release his first solo album since 2020, "The Boys of Dungeon Lane," on May 29. The lead single, "Days We Left Behind," is a piano‑driven ballad that leans on nostalgic references to Liverpool and early...
An Evolutionary Biologist Lists and Discusses the Ten Most Influential Books in the Field
Evolutionary biologist Zach B. Hancock presented a half‑hour video naming the ten most influential books in evolutionary biology, focusing on evolutionary genetics. The list runs from Darwin’s 1859 “On the Origin of Species” to modern works such as Kimura’s “Neutral...
Two “Times” Obituaries for Robert Trivers
Renowned evolutionary biologist Robert Trivers, who died on March 12, was memorialized in obituaries by the *Times* of London and the *New York Times*. The pieces highlight his groundbreaking 1971 paper on reciprocal altruism, which cemented a gene‑centric view...
Today’s Covert Anti-Israel Slant on the News
The NBC Evening News segment portrayed Lebanese children displaced by an "expanding offensive" from Israel, linking their hardship directly to Israeli actions. The report omitted the cease‑fire that held until March 2, when Hezbollah fired missiles and drones into northern Israel...
Luana’s Revealing Class Survey of the Biological Definition of Sex
Evolution professor Luana Maroja surveyed her undergraduate class on how many biological sexes exist in animals and plants. The majority (44%) chose four sexes—males, females, intersexes, and hermaphrodites—while only 21% correctly identified the binary gamete‑based definition. The results highlight persistent...
Jesus ‘N’ Mo ‘N’ Gender
The long‑running webcomic duo Jesus and Mo have resurrected their strip “Fluid” on Patreon, labeling it a “Friday Flashback from almost exactly 8 years ago.” The episode features Mo wearing a niqab as a visual cue for his feminine side,...
Columbia’s Anti-Israel Grad Student Union Makes Big Demands, Prepares to Strike
Columbia University’s graduate‑student union, Student Workers of Columbia‑UAW, has opened a strike‑authorization vote as negotiations stall. The union is demanding a minimum PhD salary of $76,000, a childcare subsidy of up to $50,000 per child, $36.50‑hour wages for casual workers,...