Weekend reads — and the last song on earth

Happy Saturday! We have a great collection of links for you today: on why Jordan Neely’s murder reflects America’s present descent into 1861, pre-Civil War vibes; on the promise and perils of A.I., and a unionization victory by the people behind the machines; on what is really behind the concerted, apocalyptic assault on the very small minority of trans people; on whether efforts to associate elements of our culture with “white supremacy” went too far; and on the Biden administration’s quiet but significant break from 40 years of the Reagan consensus on markets and government.

And a song, tailor made for this moment in time, that you won’t get out of your head.

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“I heard a story—and it has always stuck with me—about how this former astronaut, decades after going to the moon, would stand in his backyard and look up at the moon and think it was so beautiful. He would then randomly remember, “Oh, fuck, decades ago I went up there and walked around on that thing. That’s so crazy.” I sort of hope that’s how I feel about OpenAI.” [The Free Press]