History

The Vikings were capturing rare gyrfalcons in Greenland and selling them to nobles of the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad, that's how interconnected the medieval world was. https://t.co/mDvnsxKqhs

— Zack Stentz (@MuseZack) September 13, 2026

 

An Insight

The reason they posted insane stuff like this all through late 2015 and most of 2016 is because they thought they had it in the bag. Their Young Global Leaders were installed throughout the West. They had just had Obama. They believe HRC was a shoo-in. They thought they had us. pic.twitter.com/4LEqR9tF1w

— James Lindsay, anti-Communist (@ConceptualJames) September 13, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

There is a place in Scotland where it is possible, with a strong arm, to throw a stone from the Atlantic Ocean to the North Sea.

The wonderfully named Mavis Grind in Shetland is around 80m (250ft) wide, and the place where the Atlantic Ocean and North Sea come closest. pic.twitter.com/hvUaE24Hew

— Iain Cameron (@theiaincameron) September 14, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

… pic.twitter.com/sCi2dn63yv

— Judianna (@Judianna) September 14, 2026

 

Data Talks

This seems like a big deal and is part of a larger trend of “delayed adulthood” that probably is not good for a lot of people’s mental health https://t.co/RvHlJmfXo7

— Marc Porter Magee 🎓 (@marcportermagee) September 14, 2026

 

New York City Evening, 2019 by Stefan Bleekrode

New York City Evening, 2019 by Stefan Bleekrode (Netherlands, 1986 - )

Click to enlarge.

History

The Paradox of Time according to Aristotle pic.twitter.com/Qu1rvlDR1e

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 13, 2026

 

An Insight

I'm closer to the technology than Devon is, and I endorse his analysis.

Except...the Singularity (collapse of predictive horizon) actually is here. We passed through the front wall about 2 years ago when LLMs started to get good.

The interesting part is that we blew through the… https://t.co/CLsgsJa98j

— Eric S. Raymond (@esrtweet) September 13, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

The first objects of the West Yorkshire Hoard were found by detectorist Frank Andrusyk near Leeds #OTD in 2008. The early medieval hoard comprises four gold rings, one with a garnet, a gold brooch fragment, gold ingot fragment and lead spindle whorl. 📸Leeds Museums and Galleries pic.twitter.com/GMP8YMjUN1

— North Ages (@NorthAges) September 14, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

don’t invite me to the function unless we’re doing whatever the hell this is pic.twitter.com/EcnbuCtJK2

— horse dentist (@equine__dentist) September 13, 2026

 

Data Talks

Men argue about what's true. Women argue about who's allowed to say it. That's why the second one always wins in politics. pic.twitter.com/B2e3LHj4TR

— UBERSOY (@UBERSOY1) September 15, 2026

 

Haskell's House, 1924 by Edward Hopper

Haskell's House, 1924 by Edward Hopper (America, 1882-1967)

Click to enlarge.

Exposure increases interclass marriage but has no detectable effect on interracial marriage

From Who Marries Whom? The Role of Segregation by Race and Class by Benjamin Goldman, Jamie Gracie, and Sonya R. Porter.  From the Abstract:

Americans rarely marry outside their race or class group, a pattern with well-documented implications for inequality and intergenerational mobility. Limited exposure may partly explain these low intergroup marriage rates. We instrument for exposure using variation in childhood neighborhoods based on whether other race and class groups had more opposite-sex children of similar age. Exposure increases interclass (high- and low-parent income) marriage but has no detectable effect on interracial (White and Black) marriage. A spatial marriage model predicts that residential segregation—one of many forms of exposure—accounts for more than one-third of marital sorting by class but less than 5 percent by race.

History

The Abenaki lined up with clubs to beat him. He grabbed the first one and started swinging back.

In 1752, a 24-year-old John Stark was captured by Abenaki warriors while hunting. He was dragged to a village in Canada and taken to the gauntlet:

Two rows of eager young warriors… pic.twitter.com/tnHwxpj0Vi

— History With Jacob (@HistoryWJacob) September 13, 2026

 

An Insight

Whenever anyone claims exponential growth, we know that's a physical impossibility.

The true curve is often an s-curve. In practice, it is very difficult to pin down the long term trend based on noisy observations.

Kudos to CC for buliding this fantastic illustration. https://t.co/ejmzNyDRmt

— Andrew Prock (@andrewprock) September 14, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

No sé qué hizo, pero que lo perdonen 🥺 pic.twitter.com/kEMck1s2cR

— Don Perignnon (@DonPerIgnnon) September 11, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

Happy Monday 🙂 pic.twitter.com/c5JlPzsXK0

— MedievalistMatt (@medievalistmatt) September 14, 2026

 

DataTalks

Teachers grade girls higher than boys https://t.co/YG3xB3BE4f

— Martin Robinson (@Trivium21c) September 14, 2026

 

My Secret Fantasy by Pamela Hoffmeister

My Secret Fantasy by Pamela Hoffmeister (America, 1955 - )

Click to enlarge.

History

When Swedish engineer Nils Bohlin invented the three-point seat-belt today in 1959, Volvo made the patent free for all competitors to use in order to save lives because it had more value as a free life-saving tool than something to profit from. pic.twitter.com/qbHtnE7rRX

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 13, 2026

 

An Insight

A lot of people are missing Terence Tao’s point and thinking “mathematicians are upset that AI is better than them.” That’s not what he’s saying, and some people are forgetting that Tao is one of the most AI-pilled mathematicians out there.

His point is that when people work on… https://t.co/5Rn3N4KZ1q

— Mark Bao (@markbao) September 11, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

American Airlines had the names, addresses, and credit card numbers of three 9/11 hijackers at least 20 minutes before Flight 11 hit the North Tower. The lookup only happened because one flight attendant had memorized her family's calling card number.

The airphones on that plane… https://t.co/5TecAPl54B

— Aakash Gupta (@aakashgupta) September 13, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

😎 pic.twitter.com/I7sr2aHhEq

— Judianna (@Judianna) September 14, 2026

 

Data Talks

Premarital partners strongly predict divorce likelihood.

People with 9 or more premarital partners are 151% more likely to dissolve their marriages compared to people who tie the knot as virgins.

In other words, this level of premarital sex increases the chances of divorce…

— Chris Williamson (@ChrisWillx) September 13, 2026

 

Young Corn II, 1949 by Grant Wood

Young Corn II, 1949 by Grant Wood (America, 1891-1942)

Click to enlarge.

History

Thomas Aquinas on the nature of Islam from the beginning:

“The point is clear in the case of Muhammad. He seduced the people by promises of carnal pleasure to which the concupiscence of the flesh goads us. His teaching also contained precepts that were in conformity with his… https://t.co/UDaUhaQYPh

— Doug Ponder (@dougponder) September 11, 2026

 

An Insight

Must-read article here from @jburnmurdoch about the global decline in test scores seen on PISA.

Global education systems have adopted some bad ideas just as technology is making good education ideas more vital than ever. https://t.co/W9MLLN8aiy pic.twitter.com/2hyx8yZd69

— Daisy Christodoulou (@daisychristo) September 12, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

There's no way you can walk into St Peter's, Tickencote, Rutland and not make a little sound of amazement when you first turn the lights on and see the stupendous 12thC chancel arch.#SundayStonework pic.twitter.com/LShMh6Nh2F

— Fiona Chartres (@chartres_Fiona) September 13, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

Mornin’ pic.twitter.com/aNQoHn3o0e

— Brandon Webb (@WebbBh) September 12, 2026

 

Data Talks

Stanford University charges $65,127 per year in tuition. A 4-year degree costs roughly $260,000 before room, board, and fees. The acceptance rate is 3.6%. For every 100 students who apply, 96 are told no.

Stanford has also published for free, online, accessible to anyone on…

— Jack (@jackcoder0) September 13, 2026

 

Anna Maria, 2004 by Henning von Gierke

Anna Maria, 2004 by Henning von Gierke (Germany, 1947 - ) 

Click to enlarge.

How cognitive pollution is made at mass scale.

From SLEEPY TIME ☙ Friday, October 16, 2026 ☙ C&C NEWS 🦠 by Jeff Childers.  The subheading is Trump DOJ sues California three weeks before the election for refusing last-minute integrity request--what it’s all about; another high-profile covid mRNA vaccine study goes down in flames; more.

This week’s news cycle delivered another ‘peer-reviewed’ jab study that turned out to be faked. Don’t be shocked: the balloon of guilt once again exploded all over the lone doctoral student, who quit science in disgrace, leaving the tenured professors blameless. In more than one way, this story is a tragic opera. on Wednesday the journal Science Translational Medicine reported, “Retraction of the Research Article “SARS-CoV-2 S2–targeted vaccination elicits broadly neutralizing antibodies.” (Hat tip toReact 19’s diligent team.)

This was not a minor study. Cited as authoritative in eighty-three other studies, it had twenty-one authors including PhD student Kevin W. Ng, his supervising professor, and over a dozen more from the prestigious Francis Crick Institute in London.

This makes the second paper to be retracted this year with Kevin’s name attached; now a third is under review (published in Nature). Only Kevin went under the bus; and having gone down there, he is accumulating scandals faster than a teenager finding something to do on chore night.

💉 I am quite sure you well remember the smug arrogance with which the pandemic’s white-coated fraudsters assured all of us ignorant rubes that the jabs were completely safe and effective because of all the gold-standard studies, which they inartfully referred to as a homogeneous blob —with much waving of hands— collectively called “the science.” And The Science, in its turn, had an insectile face— that of human cockroach Anthony J. Fauci.

Here’s what all those experts always knew but never told us: studies that sound great at first often explode in disgrace. Not just crackpot studies from fringe epidemiologists, but peer-reviewed, top-tier, pharma-funded, 21-author, 83-times-cited studies from one of the most prestigious labs in Europe. This one stood for four years with fake data, and not one of Kevin Ng’s twenty co-authors noticed. Neither did the peer reviewers, the journal editors, or the 83 other scientists who cited it in their own papers, a magnificent masterwork of fraud spanning the globe.

There’s no such thing as a ‘gold standard’ study. Studies aren’t made of gold. Studies are called papers. And some papers turn out to be worthless checks.

What the experts definitely did not tell us was that inevitably, some of the pandemic’s rushed covid studies would later be quietly fed into the academic wood chipper —four years too late to save anyone— like this Crick Institute vaccine study. The Institute itself found, and I really do quote this time, “fabricated data are present … falsified images are present:”

[snip]

 I hope you’re sitting down. Retraction Watch’s ever-expanding list now exceeds 700 retracted Covid papers. Seven hundred! It’s become so commonplace that one more fraudulent covid study doesn’t make any news anymore, not even the science mags. It just is. It’s apparently an unremarkable fact of life, a force of nature, like how my city’s councilmembers can’t stop aggressive panhandlers occupying intersections, or for that matter, complete a grammatically correct sentence.

To the extent there is any, the scrap of good news is that 700 retracted covid papers shows the system is working. Granted, it is working slowly. And it is working too late to be any good to people who were forced to decide on short notice during the pandemic whether to take the shots or find a new job. But at least science is policing itself.

[snip]

So let’s see how well the academy policed itself in this case.

First, the rules. The rules require all named authors to meaningfully participate in the research, drafting, and supervision of any study bearing their name. Individual journals add their own rules; in the case of this study, each author was required to keep a copy of the data (they didn’t). There are even more rules for co-authors, and at the end of the day, leave little room for wriggling out of joint responsibility for papers you put your name on.

On paper, the ethical rules look just like you would hope. So you might fairly be wondering how Kevin Ng’s 20 co-authors slimed their way out of this meltdown.

💉 Personal accountability is always tricky. Humans make rules for others; humans want grace for themselves when things go sideways; so humans tweak the rules. So as ever, even though a massive superstructure of ethical rules hangs over publishing academics, there’s an escape hatch. A loophole. The fine print.

It turns out that, when a credible claim of academic fraud arises, journals assign the investigation to the sponsoring institution. On this covid vaccine paper, nineteen of twenty-one authors were with the Francis Crick Institute. So Crick investigated. Unsurprisingly, it found 20 of its senior academics to be completely innocent.

I am confident you are relieved to know they had nothing to do with it, and couldn’t possibly have prevented this from happening.

Retraction Watch said hey … wait a sec. How could it be, with all the ethical rules attached to co-authorship, that no one else shared any responsibility? That seems weird. It requested a copy of Crick’s investigative report. The Institute responded promptly and in full, by not responding at all.

The short, carefully scripted, one-paragraph article that began this section is all it has to say. Otherwise, you can talk to its lawyers.

Childers always follows things one step further.  For someone who is a successful lawyer, he is incidentally an awfully good investigative journalist in a fashion rarely seen these days.  And what he finds is often fascinating.  In this instance, improbable outcomes.

In the post-credit scene, after taking one for his team, Kevin quietly disassociated from the Crick Institute and Rockefeller University, surrendered forever his dream of becoming a famous bioscientist, and fell right into a whole new career. You won’t believe how he’s earning his living these days.

Ready for this? Kevin W. Ng is now a freelance music reporter for the New York Times. I promise I am not making that up.

That’s not even the strangest coincidence. Behold how Retraction Watch’s October 14th article described it: “Ng has pivoted away from science and now covers classical music, according to his website, an archived version of which lists his research and affiliations with Rockefeller and the Crick. Ng wrote an article on Giacomo Puccini’s opera ‘Turandot’ for The New York Times earlier this year.”

Um. Turandot is the opera featuring the aria ‘Nessun Dorma’ (literally, ‘none shall sleep’), which plays over the dramatic finale in the 2002 movie The Sum of All Fears. In the scene, framed by stirring opera music, the ‘white hats’ take out the bad guys worldwide all at once. Q’s Anons have linked that to the Trump Administration, and the President has leaned into it, playing the piece at rallies and the GOP nominating convention.

That’s the opera Kevin W. Ng, covid fraudster, patsy for the Francis Crick Institute, reviewed for the New York Times in his new music journalism job. I keep telling you that we can’t make this stuff up. So now you see why it is fair to call this story operatic.

History

Napoleon facing an army was one thing. Napoleon facing a crowd of hungry rabbits was apparently another.

According to a popular account, a rabbit hunt was arranged for him in 1807. But instead of wild rabbits, hundreds of tame ones were reportedly brought in.

When they were… pic.twitter.com/X9Ql7iOVio

— HerodotusWave (@HerodotusWave) September 13, 2026

 

An Insight

It seems to me that high-status people are something like the square root of any social system. In other words, the bigger the social system, the smaller the percentage of high-status people. The impact of mass communication has been to globalize the social system, thereby…

— William Meijer (@williameijer) September 11, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

How did the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth, form. pic.twitter.com/3G5rJpYGeV

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 13, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

pic.twitter.com/lCroZG7qjW

— OneIsWorse (@OneIsWorse) September 13, 2026

 

Data Talks

In class, I asked “Was the US right to drop nuclear bombs on Japan?” A chorus of Americans said “no,” but one international student said, “yes,” and made a solid case about saving Chinese lives by ending the war early.

After class, he stayed to chat. I told him I appreciated his…

— Carl (@HistoryBoomer) September 9, 2026

 

Fidelity, 1869 by Briton Rivière

Fidelity, 1869 by Briton Rivière (England, 1840-1920)

Click to enlarge.

Authoritarian regimes and execution as coercion

From Plunder: The Cataclysmic End to World War II in Europe by by Max Hastings.  

In World War I, 150 German soldiers were sentenced to death for serious crimes, of which a mere forty-eight were executed.  In World War II, thirty thousand death sentences were decreed by military courts, of which two-thirds were carried out, in addition to many more that took place without any judicial proceeding.  By contrast the British executed forty men, the French 103, the Americans 146, almost all the condemned Allied soldiers having committed capital crimes as defined in civil law, rather than being sentenced for dereliction of military duty.  Meanwhile the Japanese executed 22,253 of their own men, and the Russians at least 150,000, possibly as many as 300,000.

I am currently reading The Greatest Battle: Stalin, Hitler, and the Desperate Struggle for Moscow that Changed the Course of World War II by Andrew Nagorski.  He notes that the official figure of 158,000 executions is almost certainly an undercount.  These were the executions which were adjudicated and documented.  During the desperate days in the fall and winter of 1941, as the Germans approached Moscow, and as the leadership of the Soviet Union teetered on dissolution, Soviet battlefield defeats were so extensive and retreats so prevalent that executions that many executions occurred without process or documentation or even recollection.  

History

1902 Crime and Drunkenness Map of England and Wales. pic.twitter.com/nR3JZgTcxP

— Liverpool Vista (@LiverpoolVista) September 7, 2026

 

An Insight

High taxes don’t soak the rich. They exile them.

Founders, builders, and risk-takers don’t stay to be punished. They leave. Capital follows. Startups aren’t born. Jobs never appear. Growth stalls.

Politicians then raise rates on the middle class, who can’t leave, to cover the… https://t.co/w4vYgXOH0A pic.twitter.com/pzqMFW9kOs

— Michael A. Arouet (@MichaelAArouet) September 10, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

Wolf spider with a trapdoor burrow.

[📹 robinssci] pic.twitter.com/9369DGKzkG

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 13, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

A different point of view pic.twitter.com/Jdpw7sfKyE

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 13, 2026

 

Data Talks

White liberals remain the only segment of society that prefers other races to their own https://t.co/VNppxSzxcC

— Eric Kaufmann (@epkaufm) September 13, 2026

 

Through a Cottage window, Shipley, Sussex, ca.1930-1940 by Charles Ginner

Through a Cottage window, Shipley, Sussex, ca.1930-1940 by Charles Ginner (Britain, 1878-1952) 

Click to enlarge.

History

Prince William Will Be the First British Monarch Descended From Charles II — Through His Mother

The Windsors do not descend from the Merry Monarch. He left no legitimate children at all. The Spencers do, several times over.

Princess Diana descended from Charles II twice through… pic.twitter.com/CkmWKhRnSs

— Archaeo - Histories (@archeohistories) September 12, 2026

 

An Insight

If only this were shown to me in high school. https://t.co/iHpsZn5nDx

— William M Briggs - Statistician to the Stars! (@FamedCelebrity) September 10, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

Fun fact.

The creators of Barbie and Hot Wheels were husband and wife.

Ruth Handler created Barbie in 1959, and Elliot Handler created Hot Wheels in 1968. They also named the dolls after their children Barbara and Kenneth. More than 1 billion Barbies and 6 billion Hot Wheels… pic.twitter.com/QHCaA04gmH

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 13, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

there are like 5 unique sentences left pic.twitter.com/VL2dKfQoxx

— Dalton Mullinax (@MullinaxWX) September 11, 2026

 

Data Talks

There are zero females among the current top 100 chess players, and only one among the top 102 players of all time. https://t.co/0r2CGs5RS0 pic.twitter.com/nMmKe12sFr

— i/o (@avidseries) September 13, 2026

 

Tenderness, 2026 by Marney Ward

Tenderness, 2026 by Marney Ward (Canada) 

Click to enlarge.

History

“Discover to me a charm against death. If I have not one, what do you wish me to do? I cannot escape from death.”

Epictetus pic.twitter.com/sV8VFE2xRV

— Alan Cornett (@alancornett) September 12, 2026

 

An Insight

There is something deeply wrong with our scientific establishment.

Fraudulent Cancer Research Papers Increased 10x in Recent Years https://t.co/f79y0Te1Ys

— David Strom (@DavidStrom) September 9, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

1.8 billion years of continent movement in just one minute.

[🎞️ Howtown] pic.twitter.com/gaisGCZagS

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 12, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

Never trust a man who, when left alone in a room with a tea cosy, doesn't try it on. BILLY CONNOLLY

— Quite Interesting (@qikipedia) September 9, 2026

 

Data Talks

Foods With Long Shelf Life

🍯 Honey: stores for practically centuries
🧂 Salt: indefinitely
🍬 Sugar: 10+ years
🍚 White rice: up to 30 years
🫘 Dried beans/legumes: 25-30 years
🍝 Durum wheat pasta: 10-15 years
🥛 Powdered milk: 15-20 years
🌾 Buckwheat: 8-10 years
🥫 Canned…

— World of Statistics (@stats_feed) September 13, 2026

 

Full Moon Beach Point, 2022 by John Dowd

Full Moon Beach Point, 2022 by John Dowd (America, 1960 - )

Click to enlarge.

History

The bourgeois, voluntary, egalitarian, bettering ideology writ across a society is recent, and therefore cannot be put down to ancient risings of empires and strugglings of classes, or to biological evolution on a scale of centuries.

We did not become rich at the time of the… pic.twitter.com/ZWASpqVw7l

— Deirdre Nansen McCloskey (@DeirdreMcClosk) September 12, 2026

 

An Insight

The tweeting instinct is MUCH older than twitter

Julius Caesar gave an award to Roman slave Syrus for writing great one-liners

French aristocrats spent hours in salons, trading zingers

Nietzsche wrote his best ideas as aphorisms

Man's very soul yearns to speak in "bangers"

— Jash Dholani (@oldbooksguy) September 8, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

THE KING HAS ARRIVED! 🦏🌳 pic.twitter.com/E4vxOxemHT

— Nick Volpe (@nvolpewild) September 12, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

Morecambe, 1969. A gale tries to blow the beautiful Miss Great Britain finalists off their heels, and Wendy George of Derby wins after thinking she was too chubby to stand a chance. pic.twitter.com/gEFnScnfZp

— Bobbie (@bo66ie29) September 14, 2026

 

Data Talks

Why are so many young women being diagnosed with chronic health conditions? I investigated for the Telegraph: pic.twitter.com/gvPRc5oJKA

— Poppy Coburn (@kafkaswife) September 13, 2026

 

Coastal Scene by Pierre de Clausade

Coastal Scene by Pierre de Clausade (France, 1910–1976)

Click to enlarge.

History

2/3) The handprint is seemingly that of a large Roman man, who pressed his hand into the brick as it lay out to dry before firing – perhaps a signature touch applied by the brickmaker himself, or a mischievous contribution from a passer-by... pic.twitter.com/WyYNFlvJIa

— Gareth Harney (@OptimoPrincipi) May 4, 2024

 

An Insight

You need to clearly understand that if you're a parent of a Gen Alpha student who can read and write with full fluency you're raising a generational leader. That's the line. That's all it takes to be at the top of this cohort. https://t.co/jSb1z7Budc

— Hannah Ward 👩🏻‍🏫 Mom (x3) | Learning Designer (@HannahWardEdu) September 9, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

At Ground Zero, after the last living person was pulled out, the search dogs stopped eating.

So the police did something nobody had written down in any manual.

They climbed into the rubble, lay down, and pretended to be alive.

More than 300 dogs worked the World Trade Center…

— NOBUNAGA🇯🇵🏯_夏樹蒼依 (@japan_nobunaga) September 12, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

Life in 2026. pic.twitter.com/BvaNCtpsJt

— Jonathan Gunson. Writer (@JonathanGunson) September 9, 2026

 

Data Talks

This chart is jaw-dropping

Teachers unions do not care about children. pic.twitter.com/EeBTWomtWD

— Compound248 💰 (@compound248) September 12, 2026

 

Nasturtiums, 1894 by Jan Voerman, Sr.

Nasturtiums, 1894 by Jan Voerman, Sr. (Netherlands, 1857–1941)

Click to enlarge.

History

Honestly one of the best review essays I have read lately. https://t.co/53Bi6Aswvx

— Dr S Maitra (@MrMaitra) September 10, 2026

 

An Insight

St. Peter Claver went out each morning to the docks in Cartagena and looked to the horizon.
If he saw a slave ship arriving, he sprang into action.
He would rush out to the dock, set up a triage area and spend the rest of the day ministering to the slaves.
Day after day, year…

— Fr. Joseph Krupp (@Joeinblack) September 9, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

Fun fact:

Thomas Sowell dropped out of high school at 17 and worked various jobs, including as a machine shop worker, before eventually attending Harvard, Columbia, and the University of Chicago.

He went from being a high school dropout to one of the most influential…

— Thomas Sowell Quotes (@ThomasSowell) September 10, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

Russian officials have biologically evolved to be harder to push out of windows. https://t.co/sBYSXsWhbp

— Zoska 🐴 🦈 (@TotallyNotZoska) September 8, 2026

 

Data Talks

You are not crazy if you think that post 1940s buildings are uglier than older ones. In fact, a vast majority of people agree, according to the best survey data we have!

Professional architects like the types of buildings that most people find ugly. This explains why all the… https://t.co/OiivzPx48M

— Ruxandra Teslo 🧬 (@RuxandraTeslo) September 11, 2026

 

Data Talks

Teacher unions are good if you want your state to spend more and have fewer literacy programs.

Union strength correlates with school spending. r = 0.68, or 0.78 weighted by pop.

States that spend more adopt fewer literacy programs. r = -0.50, or -0.70 weighted by pop. https://t.co/TThNcoa8gr pic.twitter.com/mAI6kwN8Kv

— Smirkley (@Smirkley) September 12, 2026

 

Rainy Day at Kongens Nytorv, c. 1925 by Paul Gustav Fischer

Rainy Day at Kongens Nytorv, c. 1925 by Paul Gustav Fischer (Denmark, 1860-1934)

Click to enlarge.

History

The intellectual father of radical Islam and AQ was inspired by what he considered the grotesque green lawns, attractive women, and “tapping feet, enticing legs, arms wrapped around waists” of the scandalous sock hops of Greeley, CO in 1949, but go on, counselor. https://t.co/iQkeOxWPmo

— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) September 9, 2026

 

An Insight

“The enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan.”

- Carl von Clausewitz pic.twitter.com/RyYlWnmycd

— 33 Strategies of War (@33StrategiesBot) September 9, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

i know everyone is already saying this but man if you get the chance to see the bayeux tapestry you simply must. what an incredible, singular, moving piece of art. pic.twitter.com/CAdzURheBw

— weird medieval guys (@WeirdMedieval) September 11, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

Just had a debate with a grocery store manager and it is a prime example of why some people should not be in leadership roles..

Cashier: "May I see your ID?"
Me: Shows my military ID
Cashier: "I need your Drivers License for your birthdate"
Me: Points to Date of Birth
Cashier:… pic.twitter.com/IvlLG5Jl2e

— MOONFISH 🕊 (@moonefish) September 8, 2026

 

Data Talks

Non-heterosexuals tend to have worse mental health compared to heterosexuals. Is this due to minority stress–stigma and discrimination? In a new study, we should that the answer is “mostly not.” Link to the article in the next post, followed by an explanatory thread. (1/n)

— Michael Bailey (@profjmb) August 11, 2026

 

Philosophy, 2022 by Hiroki Kawanabe

Philosophy, 2022 by Hiroki Kawanabe (Japan, 1983 - )

Click to enlarge.

History

I came across this story while reading Herodotus, and honestly, this one stayed with me.

Croesus, the king of Lydia, was known for being extremely wealthy. He had everything a powerful king could want, and he was proud of it.

When Solon of Athens visited him, Croesus showed him… pic.twitter.com/hxsN8bGAGO

— HerodotusWave (@HerodotusWave) September 9, 2026

 

An Insight

Great post, a ton of bad criminal justice reform ideas have had in common this exact partial equilibrium problem. https://t.co/DdbNxTL5uB

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) September 8, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

Intonation changes meaning. pic.twitter.com/mxm37PZtt6

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 9, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

AfD’s leader Alice Weidel being a lesbian makes this incredibly funny, sorry https://t.co/IDvnxOrp1u

— Gray Connolly (@GrayConnolly) September 9, 2026

Data Talks

Barcelona has changed dramatically in just 30 years: the share of residents born in Spain fell from 96.4% in 1996 to 63.7% in 2026. pic.twitter.com/TTPQBMaf5t

— Xavi Ruiz (@xruiztru) September 9, 2026

 

Marie in the Garden, 1895 by Peder Severin Kroyer

Marie in the Garden, 1895 by Peder Severin Kroyer (Denmark, 1851-1909)

Click to enlarge.

History

Franz Kafka (1883–1924) and Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821–1881) stand among the most influential figures in world literature. Both writers became known for their profound examinations of the human mind, suffering, isolation, and the struggle to find meaning in existence.

Dostoevsky, a… pic.twitter.com/bvTakpVmxt

— Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) September 9, 2026

 

An Insight

When pundits and podcasters demand “spending cuts,” ask them where, how much SPECIFICALLY. Watch how vague the discussion becomes. Then what would happen in the next election cycle if their cuts occurred? https://t.co/SoKNyzrLOj

— Cernovich (@Cernovich) September 8, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

I can never get enough of Bobby hearing a story

[📹 robertsquirrel] pic.twitter.com/e079uPSTHI

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 9, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

The only true education is the kind that leads a student to wake up one morning and say:

“It is absolutely imperative and a matter of existential urgency that I read all the Greek tragedies.”

— Magister Iācōbus (@latinedisce) September 8, 2026

 

Data Talks

Products from one barrel of crude oil pic.twitter.com/0pk3K3hLGI

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 13, 2026

 

History

Around 1,000 Greek words can’t be traced to any Indo-European language. Where do they come from?

In this issue of the Linguistic Discovery newsletter, we’ll dig through layers of linguistic history to reveal the mystery language that influenced Ancient Greek.…

— Linguistic Discovery (@lingdiscovery) September 8, 2026

 

An Insight

Best comment on the FT I’ve seen for a while.

Explains a lot of the last 14 years.

I would probably edit to

“ if reasonable people don’t address reasonable voters reasonable concerns then unreasonable people will , and unreasonably ” pic.twitter.com/yFJaWO7vEM

— Tom Goodwin (@tomfgoodwin) September 8, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

You must ALWAYS stop and photograph new cicadas! 😍 https://t.co/gkiak2FPfr pic.twitter.com/TZrh8WY0hX

— Nick Volpe (@nvolpewild) September 8, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

pic.twitter.com/Col9wnsfEW

— Niccolò Machiavelli | The Prince ⚔️ (@NiccoloDaily) September 8, 2026

 

Data Talks

Almost every promise of modern technology has delivered the opposite result

- Social networking made historically less social
- Unlimited information made people much stupider
- Technology use during childhood has made children less advanced https://t.co/JJGMOXjhwe

— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) September 8, 2026

 

Bahama Breeze by Peter Vey

Bahama Breeze by Peter Vey (America, 1957 - )

Click to enlarge.

History

To curb infanticide the laws of Theodosius established child welfare across the Roman empire:
"if any parent should report to you a child which he is unable, because of poverty, to raise, there be no delay in issuing food and clothing..We offer funds for this program from our… pic.twitter.com/iDzhoc2Ysk

— LiorLefineder (@lefineder) September 8, 2026

 

An Insight

Brazil had more slaves, for longer. Brazil did not become a world economic power. https://t.co/vMTViUIKbw

— David Bernstein (@ProfDBernstein) September 3, 2026

 

An Insight

"I like to quote the founder and proprietor of Our World in Data, who said that the papers could have had the headline: “187,000 people escaped from extreme poverty yesterday, every day for the last 30 years.” But you never saw that headline, and as a result, a billion people… pic.twitter.com/uCIVYF6ke8

— Steven Pinker (@sapinker) September 9, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

There was a paper sign taped to the door of a gas station.

Spaghetti dinner. Ten dollars. All proceeds to the Hensley family.

I did not know the Hensley family. I went because a man at the counter said "you going?" in a way that was not a question.

It was held in a fire hall.…

— NOBUNAGA🇯🇵🏯_夏樹蒼依 (@japan_nobunaga) September 8, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

🤌😂 pic.twitter.com/hsfIYMcW2L

— ⋆｡˚✴︎⋆Anastasia⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ (@StarsNastja) September 5, 2026

 

Data Talks

A new review paper evaluated the "Diversity Hypothesis" in the sciences—the claim that "diversity" produces "more original and impactful science."

Results: Demographic diversity was more often associated with lower, rather than higher, productivity and impact.

Another thing… pic.twitter.com/hbeFfcAgKi

— Colin Wright (@SwipeWright) September 8, 2026

 

Portnahaven, Islay by Pam Carter

Portnahaven, Islay by Pam Carter (Scotland, 1952 - )

Click to enlarge.

History

A Bronze Age sword recently unearthed in Germany is in pristine condition; it still glints. Forged more than 3,200 years ago, the weapon is so well balanced that it would have been effective for cutting or slashing. But it was likely never used …https://t.co/tmzn4yezQA pic.twitter.com/4BT7rWVNro

— Archaeology Magazine (@archaeologymag) September 8, 2026

 

An Insight

“It takes something more than intelligence to act intelligently.”

- Dostoevsky

Solomon's Paradox is the tendency to reason more wisely about other people's problems than our own.

It's named after the biblical King Solomon — famous for his wise judgments, but who in his later… pic.twitter.com/XOpx1mBHuG

— Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) September 3, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

ant mimicking crab spider

📸Thiago Carvatho pic.twitter.com/5SwiHK1QMR

— Science girl (@sciencegirl) September 8, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

It has to be Kierkegaard https://t.co/i4jF2F4tj9 pic.twitter.com/QjCvyNHxwa

— Dylan O'Sullivan (@DylanoA4) September 8, 2026

 

A Blue Evening in a Quiet Room by Neon Mary

A Blue Evening in a Quiet Room by Neon Mary (Germany, 1990 - )

Click to enlarge.

Early Morning, 2006 by Bruce Cohen

Early Morning, 2006 by Bruce Cohen (America, 1953 - )

Click to enlarge.

History

Smile, it’s Friday! 😃

Meet ‘The Oldest Smile in the World’ a tiny face that’s been smiling for some 7,400 years!

Carved from oak during the Mesolithic, this small human figure was found in 1966 in a layer of peat during dock construction at Willemstad in the Netherlands.… pic.twitter.com/wCRFgJaGGj

— Alison Fisk (@AlisonFisk) September 25, 2026

 

An Insight

pic.twitter.com/kVpCXdOxn2

— Thomas Sowell Quotes (@ThomasSowell) September 3, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

>Catholic, Former 22nd SAS soldier
> Picks up a random hitchhiker who tells him in an unnatural voice, “May God bless you many times this day.”
>Hears about a terrorist attack happening at a hotel
>Grabs his gear and drives toward the scene
>Enters the building alone. Moves floor… pic.twitter.com/lEhVvNQPVy

— Trad West (@trad_west_) September 2, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

A factory that produces absolutely nothing. No profit and no revenue. It cost a billion dollars to build and will cost $100 million dollars per year to operate. It will capture less than 0.003% of the world's CO2 output.

They're calling it the most European project of all time. https://t.co/CVh28UQPay

— varrock (@varrock) September 7, 2026

 

Data Talks

America’s 15 year old boys actually went up in math on the PISA while girls scores dropped again. The gender gap is now 24 points. Wow. pic.twitter.com/PlZpREWSuJ

— Marc Porter Magee 🎓 (@marcportermagee) September 8, 2026

 

On the Alster in Hamburg, 1910 by Max Lieberman

On the Alster in Hamburg, 1910 by Max Lieberman (Germany, 1847-1935) 

Click to enlarge.

History

E.F. Benson on the remarkable fact that, for hundreds of years, if you could win a King's Scholarship to Eton as a teenager, you could spend the rest of your life as a Bachelor Fellow of King's, Cambridge, devoted to either scholarship or "the gentle art of doing nothing at all". pic.twitter.com/ZhlhrZVvUB

— Antigone Journal (@AntigoneJournal) September 3, 2026

 

An Insight

Bede (in A.D. ~730) and the Beowulf poet both include a story of young men racing their horses. Bede clearly considered it a vanity, but in Beowulf it’s only described in a positive light.

If we grant that Beowulf was an early 8th century Mercian composition, Bede and the… pic.twitter.com/rIh2MH4W81

— Grǣġhama (@grahamscheper) September 3, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

In 1989, a pelican named Katta-kun began going to a kindergarten in Japan where it played and interacted with the children as if it were one of them. pic.twitter.com/h6eqRIYQa0

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 3, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

Anybody remember this? Still one of the funniest clips.

“Who are you?”

Not just Jeremy Corbyn here, look who’s sat right next to him…. it’s his left hand man Andy Burnham. pic.twitter.com/DmWIWv9cjK

— Kevin Edger (@KEdge23) September 3, 2026

 

Data Talks

My friend made this graph he wanted me to share because he's afraid of posting it.

It depicts the population of Detroit over time.

It has utterly collapsed. pic.twitter.com/qm33x822xr

— Crémieux (@cremieuxrecueil) September 3, 2026

 

Data Talks

State of the Union by European Commission President @vonderleyen:

„We will“ - 56 times
„We need to“ - 18 times
„We must“ - 10 times
„We should“ - 4 times

Implementing - Zero times
Doing - 4 times
Achieved - Zero times

Two summits & a new European security strategy announced.

— Velina Tchakarova (@vtchakarova) September 16, 2026

 

Summer Day by Arnold Böcklin

Summer Day by Arnold Böcklin (Switzerland, 1827-1901)

Click to enlarge.

History

The actual quote, which I just retrieved, is actually more brilliant than that:

"Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own… https://t.co/3XHr3c7X0y

— Gad Saad (@GadSaad) August 14, 2026

 

An Insight

“Civilization is like a thin layer of ice upon a deep ocean of chaos and darkness.”

- Werner Herzog

Werner Herzog sees human civilization as thin and impermanent — a fragile barrier against a deep chaos. To him, our laws, customs, and institutions are just a veneer over the… pic.twitter.com/AI8ACuhZHL

— Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) September 3, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

Buford the hero dog, brings a missing 2 year old boy back home safely..🐕🐾❤️ pic.twitter.com/wjzzEo7tDS

— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) September 3, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

A fantastic day at school! pic.twitter.com/Zow3U9Q6m3

— Rare 🇺🇸 (@RareImagery) September 2, 2026

 

Data Talks

If you use the same 43 states as Steve but use all industries, there’s positive wage growth: r = +0.42, p = 0.006.

Pop adjusted = +0.48.

In other words, more ICE arrests = more wage growth. https://t.co/HeNPatePJO pic.twitter.com/iyLU5cabG0

— Smirkley (@Smirkley) September 3, 2026

 

Where Day Meets Night by Michiel Schrijver

Where Day Meets Night by Michiel Schrijver (Netherlands, 1957 - )

Click to enlarge.