1. PLAYING GO(d): AI Just Outmatched the Human Brain, 10 Years Ahead of Schedule
If eternity really is found in the hearts of men, it may look something like a game of Go. And Google just won it.
2. This Is a Good Story About Growing Up Evangelical
“It is easy to be cynical about in-group dynamics and communities; cynical is something I have been about the church. Underneath that cynicism, though, I give my assent: It IS good and pleasant — very good, even — when people who love each other live in unity.”
3. White Working-Class Nostalgia, Explained by John Wayne
“Though Donald Trump has made it easy to see white backlash purely in terms of anger and prejudice, I think it's a useful exercise, intellectually and empathically, to try and understand what reactionary white voters crave, what they feel is missing.”
Pour yourself some coffee and curl up with this weekend longread from The Atlantic. Jeffrey Goldberg paints a masterful picture of how President Obama has managed America’s shifting place in the world.
5. Series: When Politics Interrupts Pilgrimage
Columnist Jeff Chu offers stirring dispatches from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Rome. Included: the hidden agenda of every pilgrim, what Italy’s witchcraft trials teach us about fear and belief, and how a chance meeting with an Israeli official can call personal religion, and professional identity, into question.
6. For Vulnerable Teenagers, a Web of Support
“The offer is unconditional support. A student will not get kicked out, no matter how hard he or she tests volunteers.”
7. Leaked ISIS Documents Reveal Recruitment Strategy
“What's your first and last name? Your education and work experience? Do you have recommendations? And are you willing to be a suicide attacker or would you prefer to be a fighter for ISIS?”
A new kind of movement found its moment. What will its future be? The New Yorker’s Jelani Cobb investigates.
9. ‘The Most Interesting Man in the World’ Is Retiring
Dos Equis, the company behind the meme, is replacing him with a younger version “aimed at millennials.” And millennials everywhere say, "You mean ‘the most interesting millennial in the world’ besides me, right?"
10. The Psychological Benefits of Choral Singing
“If only there was a way to periodically step out of our egocentric lives and join forces with a group of like-minded others, ideally to produce something beautiful…” This just in from Pacific Standard: Go on, join your church choir already.
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