Here’s Ancient Solace for ‘Arrested Development’ Fans

As Streamers Drop Content, the Library of Alexandria Offers a Tale of Caution and Hope

The Library of Alexandria’s Lesson for Streaming | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

You log into a streaming service and the show you want to watch is gone.

Best-case scenario it’s migrated to another major platform, and you already have an account set up there.

Less ideal, it has been folded into a smaller-tier streamer, the kind that offers its content for free, but with so many ads that the show is nearly unwatchable.

Then there’s the bleakest option: The show you’re looking for is gone. You can’t watch it. You can’t buy it (except maybe on used DVD or VHS, if you have a player). …

by Jackie Mansky | March 17, 2023

Public Health Experts, They’re Just Like Us!

It's Easy to Forget That Our Scientific Community Is Learning About COVID in Real Time, Too

by Kavita K. Trivedi and Valerie M. Deloney | February 9, 2022

A friend recently reminded Kavita, a physician epidemiologist, about a text exchange the two had shared in February 2020. When he asked how worried he should be about SARS-CoV-2, then …

Does Cass Sunstein Regret Ruining Your Popcorn?

The Legal Scholar Who Put Nutrition Facts in Movie Theaters and Fast Food Joints Helps Us Figure Out What Information We Need

by Sarah Rothbard | September 4, 2020

When Cass R. Sunstein was serving as administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs under President Barack Obama, he oversaw major new legislation requiring chain restaurants …

When Numeracy Superseded Literacy—and Created the Modern World

The Renaissance's Embrace of Numbers Revolutionized Commerce, Science, and Art

by Michael E. Hobart | July 6, 2018

In 1025, two learned monks, Radolph of Liége and Ragimbold of Cologne, exchanged several letters on mathematical topics they had encountered while reading a manuscript of the sixth-century Roman philosopher, …

Why Artificial Intelligence Won’t Replace CEOs

An MBA’s Instinct Is Increasingly Vital in the Age of Information Overload

By Judy D. Olian | November 2, 2016

Peter Drucker was prescient about most things, but the computer wasn’t one of them. “The computer … is a moron,” the management guru asserted in a McKinsey Quarterly article in …

If You Think Libraries Are Redundant, Read This

More Than Strict Rules And Dusty Stacks, Libraries Build Community

By Sarah Rothbard | October 1, 2016

Twenty-first century librarians do not wear their hair in buns. They don’t relish levying fines on forgetful patrons. They won’t scold you for bringing a cup of coffee into the …

information