The Shaping of a Terrorist Mastermind

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The author of “The Bin Ladens: An Arabic Family in an American Century” details Osama bin Ladin’s indoctrination and evolution from billionaire heir to the international face of terrorism.

The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.

Black-and-white photo showing a disc-shaped object with a shadowed underside, floating in a blank sky—an iconic image from the UFO craze.

Books

Science fiction, Project Blue Book, and the beginnings of the UFO craze

In this preview from “The Saucerian,” author Gabriel Mckee explains how the combination of fantastical stories and obscure bureaucracy launched the “space age of the imagination.”

Starts With A Bang

Ask Ethan: Couldn’t COVID-19 have originated in a Chinese lab?

In theory, scientists could’ve produced a deadly virus that accidentally infected lab workers. In practice, we know that didn’t happen.

People in early 20th-century attire gather outside a building, as an intriguing green geometric pattern overlays the scene. This blend of classic and modern elements evokes the innovative spirit of AI art.

High Culture

The cinematograph, the “noematograph,” and the future of AI art

Hugo-winning author Ken Liu explores what early cinema and Chinese poetry can teach us about AI’s potential as a new artistic medium.

An illustration of a Martian Revolution showcases a colony with astronauts tending to plants in a greenhouse embedded in the surface, under a red sky with two suns.

The Future

Mike Duncan chronicles the history of the future Martian Revolution

Most people think that writing fantasy or science-fiction requires a strong imagination. Podcast host Mike Duncan shows a knowledge of real-world history is just as important.

Graph titled "The Post-WWII Boom 1945-1970" shows intersecting curves labeled "The Old World Is Dying" and "The New One Struggles To Be Born," with "JFK Was Here" marked at 1960.

The Past

America is going through its every-80-year reinvention

Americans have gone through three historic junctures like what we’re witnessing today — and they happen on an uncanny 80-year cycle.

Up Next

Technology & Innovation

Europe: The New Lehman Brothers

As European economies continue to restructure, the polite word for defaulting, the European Central Bank has appointed Mario Draghi, a former Goldman Sachs employee, to its top post.