James Frey's Blog, page 18

Next To Heaven (Summer 2025)

from Publishing Perspectives

Authors Equity’s First 100 DaysMadeline McIntosh introduces the concept behind Authors Equity at the 2024 Readmagine conference in Madrid. Image: Publishing Perspectives, Porter Anderson

Since Readmagine, Authors Equity has issued a list of the first 10 authors and books it has named for publication—a list released on the new company’s 100th day in business, which may be a record for a new publishing house.

You can read the list and some of the rationale around each selection here at Authors Equity’s Substack. We’ll run through the simplest listing of books, authors, and projected publication dates here:

This is Strategy by Seth Godin (October 22)Don’t Believe Everything You Think: The Expanded Edition by Joseph Nguyen (October 29)New book by Rachel Hollis (December)Superagency: Empowering Humanity in the Age of AI by Reid Hoffman and Greg Beato (January 28)We Hold These “Truths” by congressional staffer turned George Washington University legislative affairs professor Casey Burgat (February 4)Kweli Journal’s 15th Anniversary Short Story Collection (spring 2025)Next to Heaven by James Frey (summer 2025)New series from Kyle Mills (summer 2025).Pregnancy Personalized by Rachel Swanson (fall 2025)

[ click to read at Publishing Perspectives ]

Assange Down Under

from Associated Press

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returns to Australia a free man after US legal battle ends

BY  RICK RYCROFT AND ROD MCGUIRK

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returned to his homeland Australia aboard a charter jet and raised a celebratory clenched fist as his supporters cheered on Wednesday, hours after pleading guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with Justice Department prosecutors that concludes a drawn-out legal saga.

Assange told Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a phone call from the capital Canberra’s airport tarmac that Australian government intervention in the U.S. prosecution had saved his life, Assange lawyer Jennifer Robinson said.

Assange embraced his wife Stella Assange and father John Shipton who were waiting on the tarmac, but avoided media at a news conference less than than two hours after he landed.

[ click to continue reading at AP ]

There is no dark side of the moon…

from NPR

China has just returned the first-ever samples from the far side of the moon

by Geoff Brumfiel

The Chang’e 6 capsule landed in the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia on Tuesday. / CCTV Screenshot by NPR

A Chinese probe has returned to Earth carrying the first samples ever taken from the far side of the moon. Chinese state television broadcast images Tuesday of the capsule holding the samples, as it floated down under parachute onto the grassy steppe of Inner Mongolia.

Scientists say the rocks inside the little space capsule could open a new window into how our nearest neighbor formed.

Chang’e 6, which landed on the far side in early June, wouldn’t be the first space mission to send home moon rocks that rewrote textbooks. Samples taken by Neil Armstrong during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969 upended what was then the prevailing theory about how the moon came to be.

[ click to continue reading at NPR ]

Do It Mayor Adams!

from Bloomberg

New York City Schools Should Be Next to Ban Mobile Phones

Los Angeles is moving in favor of students’ well-being. Mayor Eric Adams can ensure NYC does, too.

By  Michael R. Bloomberg

This isn’t working.Source: monkeybusinessimages/iStockphoto

Last week the Los Angeles Unified School District took a big step in favor of common sense: It voted to ban mobile-phone use during school days. Other districts should follow its lead, starting with the largest one in the country: New York City.

Two decades ago, our administration banned mobile phones in all public schools, despite the storm of protests it generated. The ban was one of many policy changes that allowed us to transform the school system in ways that dramatically raised student achievement levels. Although it was undone by our successor, public support for mobile-phone bans has grown nationally — and across party lines.

Teachers know all too well how disruptive phones are to learning, with 72% of high school teachers nationwide calling phone use a “major problem.” No wonder: One study found that 97% of teens use their phones during school hours, receiving a median of 237 push notifications a day. Much of that screen time consists of playing video games, browsing social media and watching pornography — not exactly the three R’s.

[ click to continue reading at Bloomberg ]

Biology Lesson From The ’40s

Another Big Boom

from The Hill

‘Once-in-a-lifetime’ explosive event in space expected soon: What to know

BY ADDY BINK

A conceptual image of how to find Hercules and his mighty globular clusters in the sky created using a planetarium software. Look up after sunset during summer months to find Hercules! Scan between Vega and Arcturus, near the distinct pattern of Corona Borealis. Once you find its stars, use binoculars or a telescope to hunt down the globular clusters M13 and M92. If you enjoy your views of these globular clusters, you’re in luck – look for another great globular, M3, in the nearby constellation of Boötes. Credit: NASA

(NEXSTAR) — Stargazers and skywatchers have been treated to a stunning show of celestial events already in 2024: the total solar eclipse, the return of the ‘devil comet,’ and multiple nights colored by the northern lights have undoubtedly topped the list for some. 

But if that wasn’t enough for you, space experts say we’re due for another stellar sighting: a rare nova explosion that’ll bring a “new star” to the night sky. 

Earlier this year, NASA reported a star system, some 3,000 light years away, is expected to erupt. 

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event that will create a lot of new astronomers out there, giving young people a cosmic event they can observe for themselves, ask their own questions, and collect their own data,” Dr. Rebekah Hounsell, an assistant research scientist specializing in nova events at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said in a statement. “It’ll fuel the next generation of scientists.”

Here’s what you need to know.

[ click to continue reading at The Hill ]

Beautiful Americans

from The Wall Street Journal

Europe Has a New Economic Engine: American Tourists

Free-spending visitors are fueling a powerful boom in southern Europe, flipping economic power in the EU. Some economists think it could end badly.

By Tom Fairless

A tourist poses for pictures in Lisbon’s Praça do Comércio, also known as Terreiro do Paço.

LISBON—The Americans are here, and this sun-bleached coastal city is booming. 

At bars, hotels and restaurants that line winding cobblestone streets, business is so good that Mayor Carlos Moedas recently slashed local income tax for residents. With economic growth of 8.2% last year and a 20% rise in tax revenue from prepandemic times, he’s also made public transportation free for young people and the elderly.

Centuries-old facades are being polished up after years of neglect. Planning is under way for a new airport, twice the size of the existing one, and for a three-hour high-speed rail link to Madrid in neighboring Spain. The Tribeca Film Festival will come to town this fall. 

Room rates in the city are rising, and tourism investment is flooding in. Gonçalo Dias, director and co-owner of the Ivens, a $1,000-a-night hotel in downtown Lisbon, said he plans to add a jazz club in the basement. More than half of his room reservations come from Americans. 

“Great times. The best times for the last 45 years,” he said. “It’s crazy.” 

[ click to continue reading at WSJ ]

Donald Sutherland Gone

from the Los Angeles Times

Donald Sutherland, stately star of ‘MASH,’ ‘Ordinary People’ and ‘Hunger Games,’ dies at 88

By  Nardine Saad

Donald Sutherland, the prolific Canadian actor who roared to fame in the irreverent antiwar classic “MASH” and captivated audiences with his dramatic performances in films such as “Ordinary People” and “Don’t Look Now,” has died.

A mainstay of Hollywood for more than six decades, Sutherland died Thursday in Miami after a long illness, his agency confirmed in a statement. He was 88.

Son Kiefer Sutherland also confirmed his father’s death “with a heavy heart” in a statement Thursday morning on social media. “I personally think one of the most important actors in the history of film. Never daunted by a role, good, bad or ugly. He loved what he did and did what he loved, and one can never ask for more than that. A life well lived.”

Donald Sutherland’s body of work showcased his transformative range, shifting comfortably from drama to comedy and bouncing between heavier and lighter roles with ease. Tall at 6-foot-4 with a shock of white hair and piercing blue eyes, he was difficult to miss whether he was playing a zany oddball, an icy tyrant or a sadistic villain. In all, he had nearly 200 film or television roles.

[ click to continue reading at LAT ]

A Toast to the Boogie: Art in the Name of Funkadelic

from WUSA 9

Founding father of funk George Clinton to launch new art exhibit in DC

The summer exhibition celebrates funk, and its impact on D.C.’s music scene.

Go-Go may be D.C.’s official music, but the District has gotta have that funk, too. Parliament-Funkadelic Founder George Clinton is in D.C. Tuesday to kickoff a new funk-centric art exhibit celebrating the genre. 

The new exhibit, “,” opens Tuesday at the I Street Gallery. It will feature works of art from 50 artists, including 16-year-old Sophia Sterling. The exhibition focuses on Clinton’s funk group Parliament-Funkadelic and the group’s influence on Washington D.C.

An  is happening Tuesday night. Clinton will also be part of a panel discussion on Wednesday at the Rubel Museum.

In addition to artwork, there will also be never-before-seen memorabilia from the Clinton family on display.

“As a professional musician, this project is near and dear to my heart,” said DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities Executive Director Aaron Myers. “Seeing all these beautiful and vibrant paintings, the creative sculptures, the original photos of Parliament-Funkadelic from the Terrell family and the memorabilia from the Clinton family takes me back to the days of my childhood hearing the lyrics of the song ‘One Nation Under a Groove’ on the radio,” Myers added.

[ click to continue reading at WUSA 9 ]

Cup o’ Genes

from Xataka On

All the Data on Earth Can Fit in a Cup Full of DNA. This Is MIT’s Jurassic Park-Inspired Project

by Juan Carlos López

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the molecule of life. While there are other essential molecules for life as we know it, DNA holds a special significance because it contains the instructions that cells use to produce proteins or RNA (ribonucleic acid) molecules. DNA is also responsible for genetic inheritance. However, this is far from everything DNA can be used for.

Since the early days of computing, scientists have been intrigued by the idea of using DNA to encode and store information, similar to how it functions naturally within living organisms. However, they’ve encountered challenges in manipulating DNA and preserving it over time without degradation, making it difficult to recover stored information in perfect condition.

Chemist James Banal, Jeremiah Johnson, and other scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology argue that DNA is the future of data storage. They also believe that DNA’s density is so high that it’d be possible to store all the information currently contained in all the computers and servers worldwide in a coffee cup if it were filled with DNA molecules. Because of the work of these scientists, we’re now closer than ever to achieving this goal.

[ click to continue reading at Xataka On ]