Amazon is buying massive quantities of books, scanning them for AI training data, and destroying them in the process. A 404 Media investigation was able to reveal Amazon’s book buying operation, which hasn’t been previously reported, by placing a tracking device in a rare book we suspected would be acquired

Books “Life of M,” the novelist’s latest book, continues a career-long attempt to dismantle character in fiction. Has she succeeded? August 16, 2026 Freedom is something that Cusk’s characters—particularly her female characters—long for and lack.Photo illustration by Jack Smyth; Source photographs from Getty The protagonist of Rachel Cusk’s new novel,

This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here. Updated at 11:25 a.m. ET on August 18, 2026 Yesterday in London, Jason Arday, the controversy-plagued British academic and author, was found dead. Made famous as the youngest Black professor in Cambridge’s more

When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited AI leaders to a meeting in New Delhi earlier this year, security protocols allowed each executive to bring one additional person with them. Most brought colleagues, but Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei brought his wife, Cami Clark. Clark doesn’t work at Anthropic, but she