Reading archive 2026-06-24

‘It’s PR, not the ER’: Gen Z is resisting the workplace emergency: As the workforce evolves, younger generations are rejecting a frenetic approach to work that can create undue stress and cross work-life balance boundaries. - "It’s a little morbid, Jiles said, but she thinks of something her mother told her: 'At the end of the day, if you pass away, they’re just going to post your position and talk about how nice you were,' Jiles said. 'Do what you can. Do it well, but that’s it.'"

With Cuba, Trump had better beware of what he wishes for: What obligation does the U.S. bear toward the impoverished island prison?

Rocked by the Iran war, the UAE sours on Trump: ‘We got played’: Across the Persian Gulf region, the president was viewed as a pro-business ally, but his decision to wage war on Iran and his erratic conduct have tarnished his image.

Another Top General Is Out at the Pentagon: C. D. Donahue, the last American soldier to leave Afghanistan, is the latest in a long line of military departures. - "Donahue would be at least the sixth three- or four-star Army general to depart unexpectedly, out of the roughly 60 generals in the service who hold those ranks. They include the well-regarded General James Mingus, a former Army vice chief of staff. 'It's interesting that the guy who says he wants to bring back the warrior culture is expunging the biggest warriors in the Army ranks,' one retired Army officer told us. 'This is not a war on woke. This is a war on warriors.'"

SpaceX Just Needs the Money: What this year of humongous IPOs says about the tech industry - "Historically, this combination of a wave of IPOs and a rise in existing companies issuing more stock has not boded well for stocks in the long term. In many cases, a big surge in stock supply overwhelms demand-and raises questions about whether markets are properly reflecting value or inflating a bubble. As the economist and hedge-fund manager Owen Lamont has written, 'When firms are selling, you should generally sell as well.' The volatility of SpaceX stock, which has tumbled for days, erasing nearly all of the gains enjoyed by the average investor, shows just how much uncertainty attends even the most hyped stock offerings in a risky industry."

Inside the Dirty, Dystopian World of AI Data Centers: The race to power AI is already remaking the physical world. - "For now, using existing power sources more wisely, rather than building new ones, may be all the AI industry needs. Electrical grids are designed for periods of peak demand - cooling on summer afternoons, heating on winter mornings - but mostly they run well below maximum capacity. Researchers at Duke University have shown that if data centers reduced their electricity consumption during some of those peaks, it would free up enough electricity to accommodate the country's planned data centers for years. Google and xAI have already entered agreements to do so."