Transference in the afternoon
Donald Trump’s war with Iran expands beyond “the geography that has long defined Iranian power projection.” / The Diplomat
According to military reporters, the lack of information from the White House makes the war “something of a black box.” / Reliable Sources
Sources say the CIA started supporting Iranian Kurdish groups several months ago. / CNN
At the same time, Kurdish forces remember when Washington’s support vanished in Syria. / The National
Javier Blas: In Iran, drinking water is more valuable than oil and may possibly decide the war. / Bloomberg [$]
A federal judge orders the Trump administration to start refunding the more than $130 billion it collected from global tariffs. / NBC News
New to Hollywood: “niche-casting,” or making talk shows for trades or slices of industry. / The Hollywood Reporter
If you enjoy these headlines, please join us as a Sustaining Member to support what we do and unlock access to paywalled links.
A study says rising seas may threaten tens of millions more people than previously thought due to a mismatch between the way sea and land altitudes are measured. / The Associated Press
Another study says AI bots make it easier to unmask finstas or other “anonymous” online accounts. / The Verge [$]
A complaint filed yesterday appears to be the first time Google’s Gemini bot is cited in a wrongful-death suit. / The Wall Street Journal [$]
Unrelated: MrBeast becomes a banker with a new financial services app for young people. / The New York Times [$]
From January, some deep research and analysis into the vital question: how many shower controls are there? / Gwern Branwen
Some psychoanalytic writings and drawings by Louise Bourgeois. / Granta
And in case you’re a Granta subscriber, don’t miss “Transference in the Afternoon,” Jesse Barron’s eye-opening dive into an extraordinary case of alleged therapeutic malpractice. / Granta
And now a brief chat with new sustaining member Barb C.!
Hi, Barb! Thank you so much supporting. Thank you for your thank you.
When did you start reading TMN and/or the Tournament of Books? When I started my subscription. Had not heard of you before.
Wow! Well, welcome. If we may ask, why did you decide to support today? The email from Field Notes featuring that rooster got me. I knew I had to order some of those memos to send to my friends. Then I went down the rabbit hole (rooster hole? doesn’t quite work does it!) and found your site. Lest you think I am rollin’ in dough, due to a series of events I am living with my niece and her husband (TMI, I know) and Social Security goes a lot further when you don’t have everyday expenses. Right now I can indulge myself in cause—Unite Against Book Bans and support reading. Plus, your site sounds like fun. I plan to hang around and see what happens.
In the members area, unlocked links from Bloomberg, the Verge, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times ↓