Glass wasn’t always ordinary. In ancient Egypt, it was as precious as gems. Making it required the right mix of rare materials, extreme heat, and years of apprenticeship. Everyone knew it was hard, and that is why it had value. Today, you flip a factory switch and glass appears. Cheap. Uniform. Abundant. So… Read more: Do You Know How to Make Glass?

China has mandated “AI education” for every child. The reaction was immediate: China is pulling ahead. America is falling behind. Beijing is about to win the future. This rests on the old fantasy that central planning can mandate brilliance, as if it were a software update. But China’s record with mandates isn’t impressive.… Read more: China’s AI Kids

The History Think Blog is on YouTube. For the first History Think video essay, I tried to take a different approach to conspiracy debunking by looking at the death of Stalin. No leader has arguably been more effective at maintaining control than Stalin. He was the uncontested and unquestioned leader of the USSR—the… Read more: History Think Blog is on YouTube