Links 13 November 2026

Tsurikawa, "Triumphant Return," 2023

"Be curious, not judgmental" –Marguerite Shearer (not Walt Whitman)

Alex Tabarrok's list of the ten best posts on Marginal Revolution, impressive stuff.

The health effects of the Little Ice Age in Europe, focusing on Vitamin D deficiency. This was understood to some extent in the 1800s, which is why some people were working so hard to get fresh milk into poor urban neighborhoods, which is why Louis Pasteur became an instant international hero when he announced pasteurization.

Matt Yglesias, The Rise of the Hispanic Moderate.

Short tweet summarizing Ukraine's recent attacks on Russian oil refineries. Reuters estimates that Rusian refining capacity has been reduced by 30 percent, and gas lines are back.

Noah Smith is bullish on the Indian economy.

Bronze Age hoard and casting molds found in Germany.

How has the arrival of photographic portraits changed culture and how we see the past?

Thread about the arrest of Russian war blogger Romanov, apparently for reporting the truth. Nice look at the state of Russia.

Matt Yglesias, 23 Points about the Midterms. One of them is this, which I think is a good take on MAGA in general:

I hope that at some point immigration restrictionists will try to explain to me more clearly why they didn’t even try to pass an immigration bill. Did they think they were going to govern forever? They had a real shot to make a durable change in a policy area they care a lot about, and what happened instead was the Department of Homeland Security posted a lot of edgy memes.

How a tower crane works, 30-second video.

Major archaeological site from 125,000 years ago found in Saudi Arabia.

Review of a new biography of H.H. Munro, aka Saki.

The promise of mitochondrial transplantation.

Summary of Ukraine's November 11 drone attack on Leningrad Oblast, Twitter/X. And an update on the ongoing refinery attacks. And photos of the latest. 

Another take on the negotiations from a Russian commentator, via Chris O. The cynicism of the Putin regime is staggering.

The lands drowned by sea level rise at the end of the last Ice Age, which may have seen some of the first stirrings of agriculture and the rise of "civiliation."

Speaking of drowned lands, Cosquer Cave is a cave in southern France where an entrace 37m (120 feet) below sea level leads to dry rooms with Paleolithic paintins.

Attending a French festival of American literature.