I’m not going to lie—I’d rather be writing about Led Zeppelin. But when there’s an 11-year-old girl in the house, everyone’s a Swiftie, even the grumpy, dad-bod types. Here’s an attempt at compiling the 15 best Taylor Swift songs, modified by the aforementioned pre-teen and her rather opinionated older brother. Because we believe in equal opportunity, each of Swift’s 10 albums is represented at least once on this wildly subjective list.   “Picture to Burn” When Swift convinced her parents to move from Pennsylvania to Nashville, it was with the dream of being a country music star. This tra ..read more

Cities have brands, and the one sported by Denver, Colorado, is a good one. Enough said, right? Well—a quick look at a map suggests there might be something strange going on. Colorado, after all, abuts states like Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma, none of which are known for their glamour appeal. In other words, this place is worthy of further study, Q&A style.   Why does Denver exist? Native cultures had a presence in the area for years, but the history as we know it began in 1858 when Denver—named for a governor of the Kansas Territory—was founded as a mining town after the d ..read more

Instant gratification. Narcissism. Arrogance. These are the qualities valued in the 21st century. And that’s why you know nothing about Nikola Jokić, one of the greatest talents to ever play in the NBA.   The Beginnings Nikola Jokić entered the world in 1995 in the sleepy northwestern Serbian city of Sombor. The son of an agricultural engineer, his upbringing was not one of excess—two bedrooms served as an abode for six people, including his two older brothers. He was a doughy adolescent—but a tall one—and what he lacked in raw athletic talent he made up for with hand-eye coordination. Th ..read more

Inspired by the 2023 PGA Championship held at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, here are 20 haikus about golf.   1 Oh wow, Rochester You really can be lovely If the sun comes out   2 A pristine golf course Cutting-edge facilities What money can buy   3 Looking at this place No one seems all that worried About the water   4 It’s a little weird All this for a tiny ball Humans can be strange   5 The poor—where are they? Nowhere to be found I see They must be working   6 Hmmm, segregation? Technically not I guess But the history   7 It’s a classy spor ..read more

It’s not often that when two things are labeled as equally wonderful, everyone gets pissed. Here’s one such example. It’s called Hindi vs Urdu, otherwise known as being unable to see the forest for the trees.   A Word on Language Language, it turns out, is about more than simply being able to communicate. It carries with it history, culture, and deep-rooted identities. In other words, to question one’s language is to question one’s existence. At least that’s one take. The other is to just accept that we’re making random noises to which we attach meaning. In fact, when we don’t understand ..read more

Twenty percent of American doctors are of Asian origin. Kim Thayil is not one of them. Born in Seattle in 1960 to immigrants from the Indian state of Kerala, Thayil, it could be said, chose a different path.   The Life As children of mid-20th-century Asian immigrants will tell you, there were two options—assimilate or perish. Thayil opted for the former, dabbling in what all American kids did—baseball and punk rock. His mother was a classically trained pianist from London’s Royal Academy of Music and his father a chemical engineer, the latter vocation prompting a family move from the Paci ..read more

Led Zeppelin was the greatest rock band of all time. The soaring vocals of Robert Plant. The blistering guitar riffs of Jimmy Page. The commanding drums of John Bonham. And behind it all was the glue—the secret weapon, if you will.   John Paul Jones Yes, I have a soft spot for the understated keyboardist types, as I might live with one. And perhaps I’m biased in favor of the mundane family man, as I might be one myself. But personal leanings aside, this dude is worthy of reverence. Born into a musical family, John Paul Jones gained his footing in the British music industry of the 1960s th ..read more

Residents of the good ol’ US of A have a reputation for being a bit loud, a trait that comes in rather handy when you’re trying to eavesdrop. Here are 10 things I’ve heard Americans say about Europe.   10 Is that the country that thinks we’re really stupid?   9 My stepfather’s mother’s mother’s father was from there. Or was it Ohio?   8 Do those twigs eat at all?!   7 Why would they call the sport where you kick a ball with your foot football?   6 The McDonald’s over there is sooo good.   5 Wait, how do you spell Europe?   4 How do those losers survive withou ..read more

This AI stuff is moving quickly—perhaps too quickly. But now’s not the time to pine for the rotary phone. Here’s the AI vocabulary you need to stay in the loop. Don’t worry—there’s no math, because I struggled with pre-algebra in seventh grade.   Artificial Intelligence (AI) A broad concept that refers to machines imitating intelligent human behavior.   Machine Learning A subset of AI focused on the ability of computers to learn a task without being explicitly programmed. The general idea is to provide a machine with a ton of data and then have it figure out how to achieve a specific ..read more

If you peripherally follow Western news outlets—in between watching the NFL draft—you know a tiny bit about Sudan. Something about genocide, splitting into two countries, and more conflict as of 2023. To help fill in the gaps, rather than strain my human neurons—which I need to preserve for Buffalo Bills draft analysis—I thought I’d let AI do the heavy lifting. In this case, that’s Google Bard, Google’s answer to ChatGPT. This large language model uses something called Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA), provides access to up-to-date information from the web, and makes my life a ..read more