Alex Burns

I define third-order vanity not by performed modesty but by performed confidence . Think of the influencer who pouts casually for 30 versions of the same photo, edits every pixel of the chosen image, then tortures a caption about feeling hot before posting it. Now, this distinction could just be a matter of taste—some prefer to come off bashful,... See more

DeLong and Hofstadter both found great beauty in what the latter called strange loops—occasions when mathematical systems or works of art or pieces of music fold back upon themselves. M. C. Escher’s drawings are a great, overt example of this. Take his famous picture of two hands drawing each other; it’s impossible to say where it starts or ends.... See more

Whether it be sex with exes, dirty rhyme schemes, or being hot, a clown, or the other woman, Carpenter’s surprisingly long career has been seriously devoted to never taking things too seriously. With an SNL appearance on the horizon, and her airy track looking to be the inescapable song of summer — on Friday, May 17, Carpenter released an “Espresso... See more

Are you a Creative Pragmatist? You know I pretty much abhor labels, I find them constricting. Except when they are not. And this is one of those times. You see, the label “CP” gives a name, permission if you will, to those whose style is Creative, but still Pragmatic. And some days, the scale may tip more creative. And then quite the opposite on... See more

A fan of both Herman Melville and long-forgotten archives, Grann landed on the journals of a 16-year-old midshipman who was stranded with his crew members on an island off the coast of Patagonia. It was not the document’s descriptions of typhoons, shipwreck, or mutinies, however captivating, that convinced Grann the story of The Wager was worth... See more