David Byrne will always be most widely known as the co-founder and frontman of Talking Heads. That may count among the greatest possible achievements for any artist — to the minds of many an Open Culture reader, at least — but it must occasionally frustrate the man himself.
What it is, why it's important, and how it's being used.
Why do some ideas spread like wildfire, while others resist being seen — despite their importance? A new book by Nadia Asparouhova explores the emerging phenomenon of antimemetics. Published by the Dark Forest Collective.
Humanity is under assault by malevolent "antimemes"—ide…
Here are the best books to become an expert in Quantum Mechanics, with no experience needed.
And six short story collections
For 140 years, part of the Yongle Encyclopedia sat unread in a Paris attic — a researcher’s keen eye and an entrepreneur’s deep pockets brought it back to China.
At Bayou Bar, music and food go hand in hand. Which is why a new cookbook from chef Brian Landry and bandleader Peter Harris has recipes from the menu and stories from the musicians who play there.
Serious literature is better when it’s funny.
Ten of Margaret Atwood's must-read science fiction books, including classics and modern hits, that have shaped the whole genre.
Exactly what the title says.
Author Sarah Pierce explores dating apps, loneliness and human connection through a novel about a corpse-matching algorithm
It can be useful to see reality as malleable.
A novel theory of how technological revolutions affect the rise and fall of great powers
Do you want to learn how Chinese women abort their baby girls today because the Titanic sank in 1912? Or how the bikini trend owes its existence to the Chicago sewer system of the 1860s? Or, say, how mirrors started the Renaissance? Then you will enjoy Steven Johnson’s How We…
...so I vibe-coded a tool for finding more of them
Short correction note for the random seed in Listing 6.5 on page 198 of Build a Reasoning Model From Scratch.
CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) provides a powerful parallel programming model AI engineers can use to tap the massive processing power of NVIDIA GPUs. CUDA delivers direct control, debugging power, and acceleration at the GPU level that can’t be matched by other…
Emma Chapman's "The Echoing Universe" is a vivid survey of the hidden parts of the cosmos and those who seek them out.
Some stories are worth revisiting at every stage of life.
This book demonstrates how to work with mathematical modeling and solve problems with Python's numerical, symbolic, and visualization techniques.
Literati has spent years rebuilding the elementary school book fair into something closer to an art installation. Now, with an acquisition by private equity, it's ready to scale fast.
A curated list of best cuda programming books
Project Gutenberg is a library of free eBooks.
Learn how to put Large Language Model-based applications into production safely and efficiently.
In "Huge Numbers," mathematician Richard Elwes spotlights some of the largest numbers humans have ever contemplated.
By default, general purpose LLMs are not optimized for specific domains and business goals. Using techniques like specialized fine-tuning, pruning unnecessary neural components, and knowledge distillation, you can rearchitect your models to cost less, run faster, and deliver…
In my opinion, there are few investments more valuable than a good book.
As if you didn't already have enough on your reading list.
I am happy and relieved to release Understanding Quantum technologies 2025. It is the 8th edition of this book and the fifth in English. For the first time, I reduced its size, from 1,554 to 1,524 pag...
The New Orleans writer Nancy Lemann conjures scenes of booze-soaked calamity, where everyone and everything is on the verge of rot, Brandy Jensen writes.
Imagine you could talk to Hieronymus Bosch, the authors of the Book of Revelation, or of the Voynich Manuscript—a bizarre 15th century text written in an uncrackable code; that you could solve centuries-old mysteries by asking them, “what were you thinking?” You might be…
Once again, John le Carré is back. The TV series inspired by his post-Cold War novel, The Night Manager, is returning to our screens on New Year’s Day. There’s an exhibition about his “tradecraft” on
Kevin Kelly co-founded Wired magazine and is the author of the book Excellent Advice for Living. We cover his concept of the Technium, why rituals are an underappreciated part of society and family life, and the importance of developing your authentic self over a lifetime.
LibriVox
Illustrated titles that teach kids to love literature
Joshua Rothman writes about common knowledge and the book “When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows . . .,” by Steven Pinker.
Where to begin? Brown bagging is one of those social practices that continues to feel senseless even after it’s been explained.
Common knowledge, he explains, isn’t just what we know but what we know is known. It’s different from “mutual knowledge,” which is held by multiple people but not openly.
The long read: Between 2022 and 2023, as many as 170 rare and valuable editions of Russian classics were stolen from libraries across Europe. Were the thieves merely low-level opportunists, or were bigger forces at work?
Mary Roach unpacks the millennia-long effort to replace failing body parts—and the reasons that modern medicine still struggles to match the original designs.
There is hardly any theory which is more elementary than linear algebra, in spite of the fact that generations of professors and textbook writers have obscured its simplicity by preposterous calcul...
[WIP] Resources for AI engineers. Also contains supporting materials for the book AI Engineering (Chip Huyen, 2025) - chiphuyen/aie-book
One especially appealing aspect of philosophy, as a field of study, is that you don't have to go anywhere to learn it but the library. And these days, you don't necessarily have to go there, now that so many philosophical texts have become freely available on the internet.
Compendium of free ML reading resources
Special books issue, curated by you.
«For most of my life, I've felt like my inability to do "just one thing" was a weakness. This book helped me realise it's a superpower.» — Adam Thomas