Probes

Scribbles from Italy: Intelligence

By Vian Andrews | 2023 March 24

Vian Andrews is out in the olive orchards, clearing brush from under the trees and thinking about ChatGPT and the future of artificial and other kinds of intelligence. The latest passage from Andrews’ journal about life in the Umbrian countryside, “Scribbles from Italy.”

Reality Hunger: A Manifesto / b / mimesis

By David Shields | 2023 March 24

A tour through the history of writing. From David Shields’ 2010 manifesto, “Reality Hunger.” Time for a second look.

The Sussex Variations, or Two Boars (Ch. 4): Concentration, and Testicles

By Brian Fawcett | 2023 March 19

Brian Fawcett learns about the gory details of life on the farm. Ch. 4 of “The Sussex Variations.”

From the Archives: 20 Years Ago, in 2003, the U.S. invaded Iraq. Here’s what Dooney’s said about the imperial “punitive expedition.”

By Stan Persky | 2023 March 18

From the Archives: Twenty years ago, the U.S. invaded Iraq. Here’s what Dooney’s said two decades ago about the American imperial “punitive expedition,” as it rolled across Iraq.

The Sussex Variations, or Two Boars (Ch. 3): Females and Males

By Brian Fawcett | 2023 March 13

Brian Fawcett learns about males and females, both human and porcine, on a pig farm in Sussex, England in the early 1960s.

Scribbles from Italy: The Thing About Sex; Standards of Measurement; Simplifications; No Oil…

By Vian Andrews | 2023 March 12

Vian Andrews hiking and thinking in the Umbrian countryside, amid olive groves in the rain and “sentieri” paths between mountain hamlets.

Women I Read: International Women’s Day

By Stan Persky | 2023 March 8

An International Women’s Day game: who would be on your list? One way to mark IWD: thinking about the women writers we read.

The Sussex Variations, or Two Boars (Ch. 2): Stress, Distress, and the Sussex Downs

By Brian Fawcett | 2023 March 5

Brian Fawcett’s “Sussex Variations, or Two Boars,” Ch. 2. People feel distress. So do pigs. Living and learning on an English farm.

After the Asshole Apocalypse

By Daniel Gawthrop | 2023 March 1

From the Archives: How to keep thinking and acting during and after the Apocalypse. Daniel Gawthrop has some practical suggestions.

The Sussex Variations, or Two Boars (Ch. 1): Luck, Generosity and the Rules

By Brian Fawcett | 2023 February 27

Brian Fawcett, age 18, from northern British Columbia, arrives at his uncle’s and aunt’s pig farm in Sussex, England, and comes-of-age as two 400-pound boars charge into battle.