Compact Substack

Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -50:24 Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. The Trump Administration announces that it will livestream the execution of the Fort Hood shooter; and the “AI bubble” threatens to burst. Ashley Frawley and Geoff Shullenberger join Matthew Schmitz. Compact Magazine is reader-supported. Become a member and gain unlimited access here.

Compact’s Week in Review, 10/5-10/9 SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen, completed 1960 Good morning, Compact readers. With the US news cycle still caught up in sex panic, I was eager to join Compact on the excursion its pages made to the Old World this week. But there was little comfort to be found in Michael Behrent’s piece on French student protests, Felice Basbøll’s on the myth of the “Nordic Model,” or Julie Bindel’s on the decline of Amnesty UK.

A rape allegation at Cornell dominates the discourse; an attempted pilot hijacking of a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv is thwarted; and Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro advance past the first round of elections in Brazil. Ashley Frawley and Geoff Shullenberger join Matthew Schmitz. Compact Magazine is reader-supported. Become a member and gain unlimited access here.

Blame Theory A podcast about the ideas that made—and ruined?—the world, hosted by Geoff Shullenberger and Ashley Frawley. A podcast about the ideas that made—and ruined?—the world, hosted by Geoff Shullenberger and Ashley Frawley.

Compact’s Week in Review, 9/29-10/2 View of a phalanstery, by Charles-François Daubigny Good morning, Compact readers. We’ve published two pieces this week on the crisis of liberal juridical principles, just as another round of online demand for arbitrary criminal punishment reaches its apogee.

Letters from Cyberia Introducing ‘Letters from Cyberia,’ and some thoughts inspired by Bruno Latour To start, a few words about what you’re reading. Letters from Cyberia is a new feature on Compact’s Substack, a regular newsletter in which I (Geoff Shullenberger) will explore (mostly) ideas about technology. The title comes from Chris Marker’s 1957 documentary and the name of the world’s first internet cafe (also the title of a Douglas Rushkoff book and a video game).

Florida’s AG seeks an injunction against OpenAI; Five suspects in a thwarted terrorist plot against an RAF base are released on bail; and college fraternities face sanction under a Biden-era anti-hazing bill. Ashley Frawley and Geoff Shullenberger join Matthew Schmitz. Compact Magazine is reader-supported. Become a member and gain unlimited access here.

Good morning, Compact readers. To those of you who have been regretting the late absence of The Week in Review, I am pleased to announce its revival under the custody of the present author and new Compact editorial fellow Benjamin Kay, a young writer from New York and a recent graduate of St. John’s College in Annapolis. R.

Indian-Americans find themselves in the crosshairs; the Trump White House kicks out news outlets, and the UK assesses rejoining the EU. Ashley Frawley and Geoff Shullenberger join Matthew Schmitz. Compact Magazine is reader-supported. Become a member and gain unlimited access here.

This was the week the US government declared war yet another enemy: Effective Altruism. Apparently, the attempt to make us terrified of Cuba wasn’t doing the trick; it’s striking that such a self-consciously Schmittian administration is so bad at identifying credible enemies. Don’t get me wrong, I actually do think Effective Altruism has had a somewhat unfortunate influence on American politics, albeit not in the way MAGA now claims.