Marvellous Kyffin Williams painting, up for auction.

When I teach high school students about searching online, I have a whole section on avoiding news aggregators, esp AI ones. It's a massive problem.

323. Our wisdom is no less at the mercy of fortune than our possessions are.

Data Work Is Too Secretive. Big Tech Should be Held Accountable. The data work industry, which collects information to train AI systems for tech companies, is often shrouded in secrecy, Tatiana Dias writes.

The data work industry, which monetizes the collection of information used to train AI systems, is often shrouded in secrecy. But a new report maps out how at least 30 data platforms are quietly connected to Big Tech companies, Tech Policy Press fellow Tatiana Dias writes.

322. Only the despicable fear being despised.

💥🇭🇺With 95% of votes counted, Hungary’s map shows the opposition Tisza party crushing Fidesz 94–12 in constituencies. Péter Magyar has secured a 2/3 majority, asked President Tamás Sulyok and other Orbán loyalists to resign immediately, and announced his first visit to Warsaw.

The moment Viktor Orbán concedes defeat after 16 years in power: “The election results are painful for us, but clear.”

Orbán just lost his populist touch The Hungarian PM misread his electorate by running a geopolitical campaign bashing the EU and Ukraine. People cared more about his cronyism and economic mismanagement.

Not even the gaming of the electoral playing field — or state capture rolled out over a decade-and-half in power — could save Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán from a crushing defeat today.

African youth wearing a turban. Early work by Gerrit Dou, who was born on this day more or less, in 1613.

https://omniatlas.com/maps/southern-asia/19170311/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_and_Sun_flag

https://x.com/mesutuyar10/status/2041750904152670398

Photograph @mesutuyar.bsky.social found in a 1915 printed #ww1 album. An Iranian flag can be seen within the crowd gathered when jihad was declared. #WWI was brutal on Iran as it was occupied by UK, Russian, and Ottoman Empires. A Famine caused millions of deaths en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian...

OpenAI puts ‘Stargate UK’ on hold in blow to Britain’s AI ambitions OpenAI said issues including the U.K.’s copyright rules and energy prices affect its investment decisions.

www.politico.eu/article/open...

Very good interview, Ed.

Investigating Altman With Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz Podcast Episode · Better Offline · April 9 · 43m

Here’s another ep of Better Offline.
I’m joined by @ronanfarrow.bsky.social and Andrew Marantz to talk about their investigation into Sam Altman, his ouster from OpenAI, and the consequences of trusting Silicon Valley with the future.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...
Linktr.ee/betteroffline

I bet they do.

321. We are closer to loving those who hate us than those who love us more than we want.

In this miniature of the Creation of the World, the Creator, flanked by angels, holds a disc with six circles representing the six days of creation. Inscriptions from Genesis describe the events of each day in latin. Read clockwise, the cycle moves around the disc to God's creation of the animals.

Did you guess correctly?

Learn about this work at gty.art/4szpwg0 and come see it in person in Beginnings: The Story of Creation in the Middle Ages, on view at the Getty Center through April 19, 2026!

#Medieval #Manuscripts #Museum #CreationStories

#DidYouKnow that 1769 was the “year of the generals”? #NapoleonicEra

On Lawfare Daily, @michael-feinberg.bsky.social sat down with human rights advocate @yaqiu.bsky.social to discuss the role of emerging technologies, like AI, in China’s surveillance and censorship apparatus. youtu.be/fT_albJp40A

A black and white line drawing: Christ crucified, in the centre, is flanked by small biplanes. Below him are Nazi (R) and Fascist (L) troops, and tanks in the foreground. At the margins are barefoot men in shorts, fleeing. A text in Amharic in the upper left corner explains that Fascism and Nazism are defeating the British in the name of Jesus. The text has been translated into Italian in a pencil note at top right.

An extraordinary piece of Italian propaganda from the East African campaign in 1940: fascism and Nazism advance in the name of Christianity, destroying the British and Haile Selassie's supporters

A view of Planet Earth in which the brown and green land is seen dotted amidst the blue sea. Some white whispy clouds roll across the hemispheres. The bottom right of the outline of earth is glowing from the light of the sun. The outline of the Orion window is faintly visible in the photo

PHOTO OF THE DAY: Perhaps of the greatest photos ever taken.

Captured by the crew of Artemis II this morning, looking at all of us through the window of the Orion capsule. The outline of the window is faintly visible in the photo.

Breathtaking.

(📸 NASA)

Went to the Gwen John exhibition at the National Museum in Cardiff yesterday and it was wonderful

President Trump's Iran Address Left Critical Questions Unanswered | Council on Foreign Relations The president's speech last night dodged the most significant questions that Americans, and U.S. allies, have about Operation Epic Fury.

President Trump’s speech on the Iran war last night dodged the most significant questions that Americans—and U.S. allies—have about Operation Epic Fury, writes CFR expert James Lindsay.

This story has everything. Thank goodness for top colleague Helena Horton in these trying times...

I read that Jonathan had died on BBC news last night, & had no reason to doubt it. I'm glad he's still alive.

Why has Israel invaded Lebanon? - Monocle Israel has invaded Lebanon, again. With more than 1,000 people killed and 1.2 million displaced, many fear a return to...

Latest Foreign Desk on Monocle Radio takes a look at Lebanon, with @nickpw.bsky.social of @cnn.com, Hanin Ghaddar of @washinstitute.bsky.social and Nada Maucourant Atallah at The National. monocle.com/radio/shows/...

Bruce: "Federal troops brought death and terror to the streets of Minneapolis. They picked the wrong city. The power and the solidarity of the people of Minneapolis and of Minnesota was an inspiration to the entire country. Your strength and your commitment told us that this is still America."

Super-excited for this book release in October 2026 - author (and friend of the podcast) Andrew Roberts has put together a fascinating deep dive into my favorite topic, Napoleon’s Marshals! #france #napoleon #historybooks #marshalsoffrance

I bet that will be really good. Great title. I think that's Bernadotte on the front cover.