Merle Hazard

New and funny, from Steve Young youtu.be/TTF9u6vx3g0?si…

In honor of Presidents’ Day and its fabled discount mattress sales, here is a photograph of President Truman’s White House mattress in 1952:

Tom Lehrer is no longer with us, but this piece of satire from him, “Send the Marines,” is still on point youtu.be/3f72CTDe4-0?si…

I had one of those headbanging holiday flight experiences recently. Bad weather, serial delays, changing explanations, dropped calls/long holds on customer service. I got home 3 hours late. Here's what I found notable: not once did I notice someone yell, loudly complain, chew out the gate agents or customer service reps, cut a line, invoke premium status or urgency. Passengers with special needs companions, small children, etc, all quietly coped. People are, fundamentally, decent and civilized. Let's give 'em credit.

Alison Gopnik spent most of the conversation trying to hide the ball, but made a great point here:

100 years ago this month: This December 1925 photo shows a meeting between physicists Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein who met in the Netherlands in an attempt to resolve their scientific differences regarding the developing quantum theory. #ThrowbackThursday

Interesting on its own, from a father of quantum mechanics. Bonus factoid: Olivia Newton-John was his granddaughter. (Sounds like I made that up, but it’s true.)

I am now convinced that theoretical physics is actually philosophy. -- Max Born

Good, short article on the caustic tongue of Wolfgang Pauli

Ooh, an idea: if the Nobel Prize 🏆 Committee really wants to send a message, they could give Gavin Newsom’s press office the prize for Literature.

RIP, Tom Lehrer, 1928-2025. A total hero. A favorite story: when scientists came up to him and said how much they liked his song, "Wernher von Braun," he would think to himself, "You idiot. It's about YOU." True story.

New song on the history of the Medicaid program. It was a collab among @Erika_Beras, @alisononbanjo, and me. For this new Planet Money episode. The whole show is very well done, but if u r in a hurry, fyi our song is around the 32 min mark. wrvo.org/2025-06-26/eco…

Just follow Steve Martin’s simple and very easy to understand instructions.

I am shocked, shocked I tell you, to discover that the odds being produced by a bunch of gamblers accessing a gray betting market through a VPN might be prone to manipulation.

A haunted house, but each room is a different regional aircraft

Hah!

Worth keeping in mind. Popular opinion on business is mostly not well informed.

@sendvictorious Wow, David! I’m flattered. Thank you. Ordering it this instant. Great title by the way.

Happy Birthday, Arnold Schoenberg! Born 150 years ago today. youtu.be/gzodB0Sp6ZI?si…

The style of the song is Country and Webern, as someone more clever than I put it the other day.