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James Gleick

@around.com
3.6K followers 79 following 935 posts

Author. Chaos, The Information, Time Travel. Other work can be found at around.com. My new history of the telephone will appear in November. On the open social web I'm gleick@mas.to.

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James Gleick @around.com · 26/09/2026
Journalists have fallen in love with the expression "went rogue." It's not appropriate. OpenAI is recklessly releasing malware: software intentionally designed to gain unauthorized access to computer systems. Show us the actual instructions and prompts. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malware
en.wikipedia.org
Malware - Wikipedia
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James Gleick @around.com · 22/09/2026
More NYT strangeness. The correct phrasing would be: "Ms. Collins, who positions herself as a moderate, has long attempted to create the appearance of distance from Mr. Trump, while always doing his bidding when it matters."
Ms. Collins, a moderate, is not close to Mr. Trump and has often
sought to distance herself from some of his policies.
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James Gleick @around.com · 22/09/2026
Here's the real story: www.propublica.org/article/fbi-...
propublica.org
The FBI Anti-Corruption Squad Was Circling Susan Collins — Until Trump Got in the Way
After the FBI caught a defense contractor’s CEO making illegal campaign contributions, it sought to launch a sweeping political bribery probe involving Collins and others. Then the second Trump admini...
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James Gleick @around.com · 22/09/2026
The NY Times is matching a superb story from @propublica.org. This paragraph—strangely unattributed—is a lie: the investigation was shut down because Trump has ended all investigations into public corruption by Republicans and their donors. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/u...
The inquiry, which was earlier reported by ProPublica, was closed
under the Trump administration last year because senior bureau
officials questioned the veracity of Mr. Kao's account, which he
began offering around the time he pleaded guilty in 2022.
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James Gleick @around.com · 22/09/2026
“Everything that ever happened happens at equinox.” —Richard Powers, “The Gold Bug Variations”
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James Gleick @around.com · 21/09/2026
The US government is engaging in a campaign of malevolent, vicious, pointless cruelty on a scale unseen since the time of slavery. Carried out in darkness, in all our names. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i... www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
theguardian.com
Banished to alien lands: Trump’s secret deportation deals
After a plane journey in shackles, an Iranian woman found herself in the middle of Africa in a country she did not know existed. She is one of thousands deported from the US on the back of shadowy dea...
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James Gleick @around.com · 21/09/2026
Working parents snatched up when they pick up their children at school. Longtime residents caring for elderly parents. Law-abiding immigrants seized and transported with disregard for judicial orders. Ruined lives, imprisonment, and torture.
theguardian.com
Banished to alien lands: Trump’s secret deportation deals
After a plane journey in shackles, an Iranian woman found herself in the middle of Africa in a country she did not know existed. She is one of thousands deported from the US on the back of shadowy dea...
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James Gleick @around.com · 18/09/2026
In the government of the United States as now constituted, all officials and functionaries are routinely required to pose standing behind the seated tyrant to show obeisance and make him look important. Newspapers publish these photos without comment, as if it were normal.
A dozen cabinet members and other apparatchiks standing glumly behind a seated Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
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James Gleick @around.com · 17/09/2026
There's no mystery about it, and no controversy, except for the controversy created by right-wing nutcases. One of whom, to our shame, is the top health official of the US. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/17/h...
nytimes.com
RFK Jr. Assures Vaccine Skeptics They Have a ‘Friend at the White House’ (Gift Article)
The health secretary spoke at a conference featuring misinformation about vaccines, including a claim that the success of the polio vaccines was a “fraud.”
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James Gleick @around.com · 17/09/2026
True fact: there's no such thing as “chemtrails.” The word for the trails of vapor sometimes created by aircraft is "contrails," short for condensation trails. They're water. They’ve been understood for almost a century.
nytimes.com
RFK Jr. Assures Vaccine Skeptics They Have a ‘Friend at the White House’ (Gift Article)
The health secretary spoke at a conference featuring misinformation about vaccines, including a claim that the success of the polio vaccines was a “fraud.”
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James Gleick @around.com · 15/09/2026
True fact: Until last year, the Kennedy Center was one of the world's most treasured and productive centers for the performing arts. Now it's dead. Its entrance is shrouded in tarpaulins that serve one purpose: to conceal the removal of Donald Trump’s name. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/15/a...
nytimes.com
Trump’s Name Must Stay Off Kennedy Center, Judge Rules (Gift Article)
A federal judge said he would not approve a plan to inscribe President Trump’s name on the building.
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James Gleick @around.com · 15/09/2026
In fairness, solving the first problem will also take care of the second. mastodon.social/@fak3r/11727...
mastodon.social
fak3r (@fak3r@mastodon.social)
Attached: 1 image This is fine.
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James Gleick @around.com · 15/09/2026
It's rare for a single person to throw the whole world into crisis, and his name doesn't even appear in this article. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/15/w...
nytimes.com
Rising Fuel Prices Set Off Anger and Protests Around the World (Gift Article)
From Indonesia to Guatemala to Syria, shortages and price increases are leading to protests and blackouts.
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James Gleick @around.com · 15/09/2026
I have friends all around the world.
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James Gleick @around.com · 14/09/2026
What's one little bribe from a Russian oligarch between friends?
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @aoc.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Did anyone else first see this on Clarissa Explains It All and pined over it the rest of their childhood
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Reposted by James Gleick
The New York Review of Books @nybooks.com · 09/09/2026
James Shapiro in conversation with the actors bringing The Winter’s Tale to Central Park
nybooks.com
‘The Jealousy Comes from Nowhere’ | James Shapiro
For actors in The Winter’s Tale, the fractured marriage at the center of the play is a barometer of relationships in our own time.
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James Gleick @around.com · 09/09/2026
I don't like the article and don't want to reward the hype.
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James Gleick @around.com · 08/09/2026
Update: They've improved the headline: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/08/u...
nytimes.com
A Hacking Tool Built With A.I. Can Breach Phones Without a Click
An attack discovered by A.I. researchers could have compromised hundreds of millions of devices within hours, experts said.
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James Gleick @around.com · 08/09/2026
Another case (@nytimes.com) of carelessly implying that the AI models have agency. Humans are using them to do stuff, and stuff happens.
Original headline: A.I. Models Built a Computer Worm
Corrected: Humans Used A.I. Models to Build a Computer Worm
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James Gleick @around.com · 08/09/2026
Superb assessment of Hawking by @philipcball.bsky.social. Thoughtful and measured.
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 07/09/2026
Isaac Newton famously wrote “if I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Academic progress is always iterative and builds on the work of others, and a key component of academic culture is proper citation & attribution. It would be a travesty to let LLMs destroy that.
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Anne Denoon @annedenoon.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
"Telegrafi 1927" A communications building in Stile Liberty, Trapani, Sicily 📷 by me, June 2009 #AlphabetChallenge #WeekIforIntegers #Sicily #StileLiberty
A beige stucco Stile Liberty building in Trapani, Sicily, with a white stylized relief of swirling wings and other abtract motifs. The words  "Telegrafi 1927" are in relief beneath a pointed arch and between two square towers with transmitters (?).
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James Gleick @around.com · 04/09/2026
European democracies shifting gold reserves away from unsafe failing regime. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/w...
nytimes.com
Dutch Central Bank Cuts Gold Reserves in U.S., Citing ‘Geopolitical Unrest’ (Gift Article)
The Netherlands moved some 90 tons of gold out of the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, the second European nation this year to announce it had decreased or eliminated U.S. gold holdings.
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James Gleick @around.com · 02/09/2026
Don't pretend that the AI's are acting on their own, with autonomy, if you haven’t examined the instructions. It's sexy to pretend there are no humans involved, but it’s irresponsible.
nytimes.com
Study A.I. Consciousness? The Bots Would Like a Word With You.
Given access to email, A.I. agents have started reaching out to the philosophers and researchers exploring deep questions about them.
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James Gleick @around.com · 02/09/2026
Suggestion: When journalists write about things that AI "agents” do—e.g., write emails to philosophers, or carry out cyberattacks—they should be sure to specify the prompts and instructions that humans provided.
nytimes.com
Study A.I. Consciousness? The Bots Would Like a Word With You.
Given access to email, A.I. agents have started reaching out to the philosophers and researchers exploring deep questions about them.
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Publishers Weekly @publisherswkly.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Bestselling historian of technology Gleick returns with an enthralling deep dive into the telephone and the many social revolutions it has enabled. With characteristic wit and a boundless appetite for anecdote, Gleick transforms a quotidian device into a prism through which to see the world anew.
publishersweekly.com
https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-374-61894-0
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James Gleick @around.com · 30/08/2026
Lac #Ontario Aujourd’hui et pour toujours. 🇨🇦
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James Gleick @around.com · 29/08/2026
Trump Announces He Will Plunder the Resources of a Weaker Neighbor and Funnel Billions into the Pockets of His Cronies
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James Gleick @around.com · 28/08/2026
Gold star to Mark Carney for "hydronyms." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/27/u...
nytimes.com
Trump Signs Executive Order to Rename Lake Ontario to Lake America (Gift Article)
The president also reiterated his criticism that Canada “treats us very badly.” Trade talks between the nations collapsed last week.
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James Gleick @around.com · 25/08/2026
Then there's unexpected damage! Maybe stop doing that? But don't pretend the AI’s have gone rogue. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/25/t...
nytimes.com
Why Irregular’s A.I. Tests for Meta, Anthropic and OpenAI Went Off the Rails (Gift Article)
Irregular, an Israeli start-up, worked with OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta to assess the security of their A.I. models. It made a mistake. Then the tests went off the rails.
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James Gleick @around.com · 25/08/2026
I have a problem with this story about AI “Becoming So Powerful, It’s Stumping Those Trying to Contain It.” The tech bros, and the reporter, suggest that the AI’s have agency here. In fact, the AI’s are being programmed and designed and set in motion to conduct cyberattacks—“hack certain targets.”
nytimes.com
Why Irregular’s A.I. Tests for Meta, Anthropic and OpenAI Went Off the Rails (Gift Article)
Irregular, an Israeli start-up, worked with OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta to assess the security of their A.I. models. It made a mistake. Then the tests went off the rails.
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Farrar, Straus and Giroux @fsgbooks.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
📖🌴☀️⛱️🍉📚
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James Gleick @around.com · 12/08/2026
So far, neither is saying out loud that Trump's legitimate need for secrecy ended the minute the C32-A was safely away. At that point, they could have lifted the curtain and let the poor souls on AF 1 enjoy a safe flight home. Of course the real reason for secrecy was to spare him embarrassment.
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James Gleick @around.com · 11/08/2026
Who would ever guess that the same man who faked a disability to avoid military service would years later use his own staff (and the White House press corps) as unwitting decoys to protect himself. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/10/u...
nytimes.com
Trump Said to Have Secretly Used Military Jet to Leave Turkey Amid Threats (Gift Article)
President Trump hid in an airport catering container and was taken to a military jet for a secret flight out of country after the NATO summit last month.
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James Gleick @around.com · 04/08/2026
In which the president of the United States summons an ostensibly independent US Attorney to the White House after she failed to prosecute an innocent man. Because that's completely normal. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/u...
nytimes.com
Pirro Meets With Trump at the White House After He Said She ‘Choked’ in Reflecting Pool Case (Gift Article)
President Trump said Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., “folded like an umbrella.” For now, her job appeared to be safe, according to two people familiar with the meeting.
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James Gleick @around.com · 03/08/2026
In which Trump confirms that the single greatest priority of his presidency is to insure than his decades of personal tax fraud will go unpunished. And even the supposedly principled lame-duck Republicans roll over. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/u...
nytimes.com
Blanche Gives G.O.P. Senators Written Assurances on Trump’s I.R.S. Deal (Gift Article)
Todd Blanche’s confirmation as attorney general has been held up over concerns about a planned $1.8 billion fund for Trump allies and the president’s immunity from tax scrutiny.
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James Gleick @around.com · 01/08/2026
"Gentler"??
NY Times headline:
Trump Administration Is Undoing Plans to Boost Workplace
Heat Protections 
The Biden administration took steps to shield workers from extreme temperatures. The Trump administration is taking a
gentler approach with employers.
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James Gleick @around.com · 31/07/2026
In which our new AI overlords can't find Nigeria, Mozambique, or Ivory Coast. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/u...
nytimes.com
U.S. Government Mislabels Map of African Countries at AIDS Conference (Gift Article)
Nigeria, a coastal country in western Africa, was landlocked in the Sahara, among other errors. The department said it had been “hastily altered.”
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Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Someone said to me, "I'm sorry but I got your book from a library." Nobody should ever apologise for that. You read my book! That's brilliant! I grew up hanging out in libraries and the idea of a world without them fills me with dread. Without libraries, authors, like readers, will only suffer.
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James Gleick @around.com · 25/07/2026
In the same paper. Heat waves? They're just happening. Not our job to explain. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/t...
nytimes.com
Should Travelers Give Up on Summer in Western Europe? (Gift Article)
A favorite vacation option may be at risk because of rising temperatures. Even those sticking with their summer plans agree: More air conditioning would help.
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James Gleick @around.com · 25/07/2026
Just say it. Stop pretending you don't know. Say it each time.
NYT: "Fast-moving wildfires fuels by extreme heat and strong winds have forced some 200,000 people to flee or remain indoors this week in France and Spain ..."

Suggested edit: "a devastating manifestation of the human-caused climate change gripping the planet,"
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Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 25/07/2026
Admirable clarity @science.org
The Trump administration hates academic science funding, full stop. They hate where that money goes, and they hate who it goes to. They want to keep all that money for themselves, to hand out to favored cronies who can help them get elected and to steer yet more money and more power back into their hands.

That’s it. That’s the story
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Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
If you were "stunned" by Trump's hateful rambling performance, then you haven't been paying attention for the last decade. If you sat in "silence" while Trump attacked democracy and elections, then you have learned nothing. We need an independent, pro-democracy media. demdock.com/4w6emld
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James Gleick @around.com · 22/07/2026
It did what its programmers designed it to do, when they gave it the necessary information to target Hugging Face and failed to isolate it in a sandbox.
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James Gleick @around.com · 22/07/2026
This is #AIhype disguised as a confession. OpenAI wants to pretend that its product has supernatural powers. The LLM didn't "go rogue" and it didn't "infer" anything. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/21/t...
nytimes.com
OpenAI Says Its A.I. Models Went Rogue and Attacked a Digital Library (Gift Article)
The incident, which targeted the computer systems of another company called Hugging Face, happened while OpenAI was testing the systems.
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James Gleick @around.com · 20/07/2026
How many U.S. service members does it take to enable Donald Trump to walk thirty yards with all the pomp he requires? www.forbes.com/sites/sarado...
forbes.com
U.S. Service Member Killed In Iraq In Iranian Drone Detonation
Two U.S. service members were killed and one went missing on Friday in an Iranian attack on a U.S. base.
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James Gleick @around.com · 20/07/2026
“Telephone,” said Kurt. “Let it ring” said László. —Andrew Miller, “Oxygen”
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James Gleick @around.com · 12/07/2026
Hilarious.
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James Gleick @around.com · 09/07/2026
Throw the elders a bone.
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