Remembering Cordwainer Smith: Full-time Sci-fi Author, Part-time Earthling

This week’s news regarding the Biden Administration’s effort to force Alphabet to divest Google Chrome is consistent with shared anti-big business sentiments in large parts of the Republican right. The attack on American pillars of U. S. prominence, including technology, the food industry, pharmaceuticals, financial services, and higher education—all the envy of the rest of the world—hints an anger that is now bringing together America’s political opposites. Today’s self-styled MAGA followers and self-styled “progressives” are anchored in the common tradition of early 20th century agrarian populists like publisher politician Tom Watson on the right and urban populist union organizer Eugene V.

The United Nations climate conference, now in its final days in Baku, has exacerbated longstanding tensions between countries on the path to decarbonize the global economy. The role of fossil fuels, the financial obligations of wealthier countries, and geopolitical tensions have all contributed to a well-founded fear that this year’s talks—known as COP29—could collapse. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] These hiccups are just the beginning.

As a young physician in Sydney, Australia in 1979, Colin Sullivan conceived of an experiment to help people with nighttime breathing issues. After several months of waiting for the right patient, he met a construction worker so tired from disrupted overnight sleep that he habitually dozed off on the scaffolding.

This article is part of The D. C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox. For almost two years, J. D. Vance’s arrival at the Capitol was an unremarkable affair. A first-term Senator from Ohio, the Republican finance bro-turned-best-selling author-turned-NeverTrumper-turned-ForeverTrumper typically drew few looks and little attention.

For over a decade, companies have bet on a tantalizing rule of thumb: that artificial intelligence systems would keep getting smarter if only they found ways to continue making them bigger. This wasn’t merely wishful thinking. In 2017, researchers at Chinese technology firm Baidu demonstrated that pouring more data and computing power into machine learning algorithms yielded mathematically predictable improvements—regardless of whether the system was designed to recognize images, speech, or generate language.

Matt Gaetz withdrew Thursday as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general following continued scrutiny over a federal sex trafficking investigation that cast doubt on the former congressman’s ability to be confirmed as the nation’s chief federal law enforcement officer. The Florida Republican’s announcement came one day after meeting with senators in an effort to win their support for his confirmation to lead the Justice Department. “While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition,” Gaetz said in a statement announcing his decision.