The latest (somewhat random) collection of essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. . Shouting into the institutional voidGeorge Packer, The Atlantic, 5 June 2020 The urban unrest of the mid-to-late 1960s was more intense than the days and nights of protest since George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis policeman. More people died then, more buildings were gutted, more businesses were ransacked. But those years had […]

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The latest (somewhat random) collection of essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. .   The urgency of critique New Frame, 21 May 2020 In South Africa there is, to our collective shame, a long list of unarmed people who have been killed by the police in the post-apartheid era. People have been killed during protests, as well as during various forms of armed state action such […]

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The latest (somewhat random) collection of essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. . Why we fail to prepare for disasters Tim Harford, Financial Times, 16 April 2020 You can’t say that nobody saw it coming. For years, people had warned that New Orleans was vulnerable. The Houston Chronicle reported that 250,000 people would be stranded if a major hurricane struck, with the low-lying city left 20ft […]

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The latest (somewhat random) collection of essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. . Social distancing is a privilege Rama Ayyub, Foreign Policy, 28 March 2020 Ghanshyam Lal, a migrant laborer who works in a Mumbai tannery, has been feeding a family of eight on his daily wage of $3 a day. He told me he didn’t care about the virus as much as he did about […]

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The latest (somewhat random) collection of essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. . Why the coronavirus has been so successful Ed Yong, Atlantic, 20 March 2020 The new virus certainly seems to be effective at infecting humans, despite its animal origins. The closest wild relative of SARS-CoV-2 is found in bats, which suggests it originated in a bat, then jumped to humans either directly or through […]

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The latest (somewhat random) collection of essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. . The disappeared Aura Bogado, Reveal News, 18 February 2020 A massive Department of Justice seal towers over the bench, flanked by giant windows that allow a glimpse of the downtown skyline. At one table, an attorney representing Immigration and Customs Enforcement faces the judge. Every 10 minutes or so, a new young client […]

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The latest (somewhat random) collection of essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. . We’re banning facial recognition. We’re missing the point. Bruce Schneier, New York Times, 20 January 2020 Facial recognition is a technology that can be used to identify people without their knowledge or consent. It relies on the prevalence of cameras, which are becoming both more powerful and smaller, and machine learning technologies that can […]

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Another year of Pandaemonium, and three lists to finish off the year: the most read posts in 2019, the most read posts published in 2019 (because most of most-read posts from this year are actually from previous years) and my favourite posts of the year. My thanks to all readers of, and contributors to, Pandaemonium. And most especially to all the Patrons. And best wishes to all for 2020. . Most read posts in 2019 . 1 What’s the problem […]

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The latest (somewhat random) collection of essays and stories from around the web that have caught my eye and are worth plucking out to be re-read. . India’s new citizenship act legalizes a Hindu nation Anil Varughese, The Conversation, 18 December 2019 India’s recently passed Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 is a frontal assault on the idea of India as a secular, pluralist democracy. For the first time, legal sanction has been given to the recasting of India as a Hindu majoritarian […]

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