Max Norman

4 weeks ago | newsletter.thedriftmag.com | Max Norman

I don’t typically put much stock in the literary tastes of tech executives. But I was intrigued when, in a March 11 post on X, the OpenAI CEO Sam Altman teased “a new model that is good at creative writing” and shared a 1200-word story it had produced. “This is the first time i have been really struck by something written by AI,” Altman added.

2 months ago | nybooks.com | Max Norman

Two men in dark coats and fedoras stand on the sidewalk, their backs to the camera. The taller man, on the left, has the posture of someone who wants to keep moving. But the shorter man grasps his companion’s arm, as if taking him aside to whisper something. Next to him is a gigantic ear, like an angel’s wing emanating from his back.

Dec 9, 2024 | flipboard.com | Max Norman

Maid of Honor Refusing To Attend Sister’s Wedding Over Dog’s Name CheeredA woman who was supposed to serve as her sister's maid of honor but backed out over her sibling's choice of dog name has been backed online. According …

Dec 7, 2024 | newyorker.com | Max Norman

Jon Fosse’s “Septology,” the seven-novel sequence about art and God that helped win its author last year’s Nobel Prize in Literature, stars two men and a dog. The men are both painters, and, confusingly, both named Asle. The dog, however, is quite straightforward: he’s called Bragi. He is the all-comprehending, inky-eyed companion to the first Asle, though he belongs to the other Asle, who’s ill and can’t look after him.

Nov 19, 2024 | economist.com | Max Norman

Britain could end up losing its marblesBy Max Norman, Culture correspondent, The Economist The Parthenon Marbles have not budged from the literal and figurative centre of the British Museum in London since they were purchased from Lord Elgin in 1816. The sculptures—about half of the marbles that survive from the temple in Athens—have also been at the centre of the world’s most famous dispute over cultural property since Greece formally demanded their return in 1983.