Wandering around an infinitely complex, ever-changing world. This is an automated Substack Account of https://brianklaas.substack.com Discover more/Create at: @skystack.xyzhttps://bsky.app/profile/brianklaas.skystack.xyzhttps://bsky.app/profile/brianklaas.skystack.xyz/post/3m62ijv6zwk2fA Little Pause • Coming back in the New Year https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/a-little-pause09 Nov 2025 21:22 +0000at://did:plc:fgd5mtnmljbfy2ag7ibi4wtf/app.bsky.feed.post/3m62ijv6zwk2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/brianklaas.skystack.xyz/post/3m62ijve4zc2f"Good Heavens what insect can suck it?" • The stranger-than-fiction miracles of coevolution in nature and human society. (Or: what connects avocados, ants who farm fungus, karma, and our relationship with dogs?) https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/good-heavens-what-insect-can-suck04 Nov 2025 09:44 +0000at://did:plc:fgd5mtnmljbfy2ag7ibi4wtf/app.bsky.feed.post/3m62ijve4zc2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/brianklaas.skystack.xyz/post/3m62ijvhams2fThe Dictator's Voodoo Priests and the Forgotten Attack on the White House • In 1994, America nearly went to war because voodoo priests interpreted a failed attack on the White House as an auspicious sign. It's a true story of bags of cash, voodoo diplomacy, and secret deals. https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/the-dictators-voodoo-priests-and-0de31 Oct 2025 12:36 +0000at://did:plc:fgd5mtnmljbfy2ag7ibi4wtf/app.bsky.feed.post/3m62ijvhams2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/brianklaas.skystack.xyz/post/3m62ijvlcj22fBrain Food • Ancient boats, obliterating viruses and cleaning air with UV light, a magic ant that gives birth to two species, Fukuyama redux, the next big volcano, The Perfect Neighbor, and a must-listen podcast. https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/brain-food-60323 Oct 2025 10:04 +0000at://did:plc:fgd5mtnmljbfy2ag7ibi4wtf/app.bsky.feed.post/3m62ijvlcj22fhttps://bsky.app/profile/brianklaas.skystack.xyz/post/3m62ijvpo5s2fIs social media just...boring now? • Social media is destroying democracy and accelerating idiocracy. But it's also just...really, really boring. https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/is-social-media-justboring-now17 Oct 2025 09:55 +0000at://did:plc:fgd5mtnmljbfy2ag7ibi4wtf/app.bsky.feed.post/3m62ijvpo5s2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/brianklaas.skystack.xyz/post/3m62ijvu6os2fThe yogurt kingpin, the radio DJ coup, and the most interesting island on Earth • Madagascar is a fascinating island home to 30+ million people. It's also home to bizarre, volatile politics that virtually nobody knows about. And the president just escaped on a helicopter. https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/the-yogurt-kingpin-the-radio-dj-coup-ab014 Oct 2025 09:34 +0000at://did:plc:fgd5mtnmljbfy2ag7ibi4wtf/app.bsky.feed.post/3m62ijvu6os2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/brianklaas.skystack.xyz/post/3m62ijvzfok2fShould we just give cash to the homeless? • A new charity is tackling homelessness with a simple approach. Does it work? https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/should-we-just-give-cash-to-the-homeless09 Oct 2025 10:13 +0000at://did:plc:fgd5mtnmljbfy2ag7ibi4wtf/app.bsky.feed.post/3m62ijvzfok2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/brianklaas.skystack.xyz/post/3m62ijwan4s2fWe are different from all other humans in history • Countless experiences that have become routine for us are unprecedented in the history of our species. Here's why that matters. https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/we-are-different-from-all-other-humans-ad006 Oct 2025 10:08 +0000at://did:plc:fgd5mtnmljbfy2ag7ibi4wtf/app.bsky.feed.post/3m62ijwan4s2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/brianklaas.skystack.xyz/post/3m62ijwk6s22fIn Defense of Dan Brown • Brown's new book doesn't offer award-winning literary prose. But intellectual snobbery and review elitism is foolish in an era of growing cultural ignorance and counterproductive political sneering. https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/in-defense-of-dan-brown26 Sep 2025 10:03 +0000at://did:plc:fgd5mtnmljbfy2ag7ibi4wtf/app.bsky.feed.post/3m62ijwk6s22fhttps://bsky.app/profile/brianklaas.skystack.xyz/post/3m62ijwxvbc2fDemocracy in the Crosshairs • Political violence is surging in the United States. Here's how to understand it. https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/democracy-in-the-crosshairs19 Sep 2025 10:03 +0000at://did:plc:fgd5mtnmljbfy2ag7ibi4wtf/app.bsky.feed.post/3m62ijwxvbc2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/brianklaas.skystack.xyz/post/3m62ijx3ji22fDrunken Apes and the Rise of Civilization • New research reveals the primate origins of alcohol consumption—and how a single boozy mutation may have helped give rise to social complexity and large-scale civilizations. https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/drunken-apes-and-the-rise-of-civilization10 Sep 2025 10:44 +0000at://did:plc:fgd5mtnmljbfy2ag7ibi4wtf/app.bsky.feed.post/3m62ijx3ji22fhttps://bsky.app/profile/brianklaas.skystack.xyz/post/3m62ijxb46s2fGuns at Annunciation • I was baptized at the church where kids were murdered. It's a canary in the coal mine for a dystopian America, where people blame everything but the real cause: a country awash with unlimited guns. https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/guns-at-annunciation02 Sep 2025 10:11 +0000at://did:plc:fgd5mtnmljbfy2ag7ibi4wtf/app.bsky.feed.post/3m62ijxb46s2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/brianklaas.skystack.xyz/post/3m62ijxoltc2fThe Grifted Age • Move over Gilded Age. In the 21st century, hucksters and swindlers are exploiting mass stupidity and conspiratorial thinking—and getting filthy rich in the process. Why is this happening? https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/the-grifted-age29 Aug 2025 12:32 +0000at://did:plc:fgd5mtnmljbfy2ag7ibi4wtf/app.bsky.feed.post/3m62ijxoltc2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/brianklaas.skystack.xyz/post/3m62ijy7pok2fBlood Diamonds and the Lottery of Earth • How geography and geology shapes our destinies. https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/blood-diamonds-and-the-lottery-of-85e25 Aug 2025 10:11 +0000at://did:plc:fgd5mtnmljbfy2ag7ibi4wtf/app.bsky.feed.post/3m62ijy7pok2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/brianklaas.skystack.xyz/post/3m62ijz5pnc2fBrain Food • Alzheimer's breakthroughs of mice and men, the stranger-than-fiction phenomenon of comb jelly intelligence, RIP Dobby, and three recommendations. https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/brain-food-18a22 Aug 2025 11:19 +0000at://did:plc:fgd5mtnmljbfy2ag7ibi4wtf/app.bsky.feed.post/3m62ijz5pnc2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/brianklaas.skystack.xyz/post/3m62ijznpec2fThe Despot's Guide to Job Statistics • Dictators routinely lie about economic growth. Trump just took a page from their playbook in appointing an unqualified, Nazi-admiring, January 6th hack to run the Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/the-despots-guide-to-job-statistics14 Aug 2025 10:00 +0000at://did:plc:fgd5mtnmljbfy2ag7ibi4wtf/app.bsky.feed.post/3m62ijznpec2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/brianklaas.skystack.xyz/post/3m62ijzsgq22fJust War Theory and the Philosophers of Gaza • Philosophers have long tried to develop clear moral principles to govern the conduct of warfare. Here's why they're engaged in a fierce debate over Gaza. https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/just-war-theory-and-the-philosophers06 Aug 2025 06:58 +0000at://did:plc:fgd5mtnmljbfy2ag7ibi4wtf/app.bsky.feed.post/3m62ijzsgq22fhttps://bsky.app/profile/brianklaas.skystack.xyz/post/3m62ijzw3w22fThe Red Queen Fallacy • Humans weren't made to tick off checklists and clear inboxes. We've lost sight of who we are, amid the mindless excesses of hustle culture and a drive-thru existence. Here's the case for slowing down. https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/the-red-queen-fallacy-9c329 Jul 2025 12:06 +0000at://did:plc:fgd5mtnmljbfy2ag7ibi4wtf/app.bsky.feed.post/3m62ijzw3w22fhttps://bsky.app/profile/brianklaas.skystack.xyz/post/3m62ik23jqk2fThe Death of Democracy Promotion • Murdered by Donald Trump and his acolytes, as they embrace dictators and declare open season on global election rigging. https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/the-death-of-democracy-promotion25 Jul 2025 10:19 +0000at://did:plc:fgd5mtnmljbfy2ag7ibi4wtf/app.bsky.feed.post/3m62ik23jqk2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/brianklaas.skystack.xyz/post/3m62ik27nlc2fJerome Powell and the Authoritarian Sirens of Odysseus • Why strongman presidents become weaker—to everyone's peril—when they remove constraints on their own power. https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/jerome-powell-and-the-authoritarian17 Jul 2025 10:08 +0000at://did:plc:fgd5mtnmljbfy2ag7ibi4wtf/app.bsky.feed.post/3m62ik27nlc2f