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Notes

Jun. 01, 2025 |

‘River King.’ The Stockholm-based post-punk band Viagra Boys put out their fourth album last month, and this, the closing track,

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May. 30, 2025 |

‘You Got Time and I Got Money.’ Smerz is a Norwegian electronic music duo that splits their time between Oslo

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May. 28, 2025 |

Under Paris skies, cont. Victor Granic writes in re. Pavel Durov’s detention in France: “… the question is why Durov

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| Justin Callais & J.J. Gould

Connections

What does financial repression in autocracies have to do with financial freedom in democracies? Justin Callais on human flourishing in the modern world.
12 minute read
| Roger Huang & Gustav Jönsson

House money

Why are countries around the world developing virtual legal tenders? Roger Huang on the origins, implementation, and implications of central bank digital currencies.
8 minute read
| Gustav Jönsson & Farida Nabourema

Untouchable

Why has Bitcoin become so popular with dissidents living in dictatorships? Farida Nabourema on what the emerging technology has in common with an old suitcase stuffed with cash.
11 minute read
| Allison Braden & Félix Maradiaga

Cash grab

What is financial repression? Félix Maradiaga on how autocratic regimes are using the global banking system, international law, and new technologies in an old struggle to suppress dissent and hold power.
12 minute read
| SGNL

Story time is over

Member’s despatch, Week XXI: Why’s a new book about former U.S. President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline getting so much attention? Germany’s first foreign military presence since WWII. & Looks like we’ve been evolving for longer than we thought. + Music from A.B. Quintanilla III. What is cumbia? &c.
18 minute read
| Allison Braden & Ioakim Boutakidis

Lost men

Why do boys keep falling further behind girls in school? Ioakim Boutakidis on a half-century, still-elusive global achievement gap.
9 minute read
| SGNL

King’s rules

Member’s despatch, Week XX: Why would Donald Trump accept a $400 million jetliner from the dictatorship in Qatar? A rebel group fighting for almost half a century disbands. & A rare copy of the Magna Carta has been hiding in plain sight. + Music from Cybotron. What is electro? &c.
19 minute read
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