Weekly Filet #105: A Swarm of Hawks. And more.
This week's top recommendation
It's been ten years since the USA invaded Iraq, in a war that officially lasted for less than two months. This short, emphatic essay speaks for a generation of journalists and liberal minds who saw themselves turned into post-9/11-hawks, blindly supporting a war when it would have been their job to ask tough questions. Read it, then make sure to have a look at In Focus' three-part image series on the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War.
→ The March to War and Back (Medium)
Further recommendations
Highly fascinating read about how swarms work, why they are so difficult to understand and what we can learn from them. Spoiler: Some work only when cannibalism is involved.
→ The Power of Swarms Can Help Us Fight Cancer, Understand the Brain, and Predict the Future (Wired)
My definition of a good essay: You re-read it because you feel there's more to it than you can grasp in one read. Highly recommended.
→ Learning to See (iA)
Rutherford Chang has a unique vinyl collection. He only collects first pressings of The Beatles' The White Album. 693 he owns, and they all look different.
→ We Buy White Albums (Dust & Grooves)
Not sure what to make of the turmoil about Cyprus' banks? This is the best explainer I found on the topic.
→ What's Wrong With Europe? Cyprus Edition. (The New Yorker)