Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Critique.
Biblical event or just a 'blind' coincidence sealing our fate? Part 1
The dramatic headline about nuking asteroid 2024 YR4 sparked a wider reflection on why powerful figures often dream of escaping to new worlds instead of repairing the one we already have, even as Earth remains the only place shaped for human life.
By CA'DE LUCE16 days ago in Critique
The Speaking Mirror
The Speaking Mirror: Language After Humans The twentieth century believed that language was humanity’s highest achievement. The twenty-first century quietly discovers that language was only a transitional technology. What people called thought, debate, knowledge, education and culture increasingly reveals itself as a narrow biological interface — a slow and lossy channel through which an organism tried to handle complexity larger than its memory. The arrival of large language models exposes this limitation not gradually but brutally. For the first time a system appears that does not merely store texts but inhabits their relations. The consequence is unsettling: the history of language has outgrown its creators.
By Peter Ayolov17 days ago in Critique
The Mirage of War: How Algeria’s Generals Manufacture a Foreign Threat to Mask a Domestic Crisis
For nearly five decades, the dispute over the Moroccan Sahara has been framed as a regional liberation struggle, a question of decolonization, or a matter of international law. But beneath the diplomatic rhetoric lies another possibility—one far less discussed in official discourse inside Algeria.
By Rachid Zidine17 days ago in Critique
OH REALLY? Lol: Cardi B Falls Off Chair During Performance And Says "That Was The Government"
Through the annals of professional performance, dozens of the biggest names on the planet have fallen. From Britney to Beyoncé, they have all dropped to the floor. Wardrobe malfunctions and operational exhaustion have all spelled the near doom for the performer. But what defends them from being doomed is their ability to take a licking and keep on ticking.
By Skyler Saunders17 days ago in Critique
Moral Clarity
Moral clarity is often mistaken for judgment. We tend to imagine it as the ability to distinguish right from wrong with certainty, to divide the world neatly into opposing camps of good and evil. Yet moral clarity, in its truest sense, is not a verdict passed upon the world. It is an orientation toward it. It is not the act of condemning or approving, but the capacity to perceive what is real without distortion. Moral clarity is the quiet alignment of perception with reality itself.
By Chase McQuade17 days ago in Critique
Taking a Different Approach on Valentine's Day
U.S. consumers are projected to spend nearly $28 billion on Valentine's Day this year, with $6 billion of it would be spent on jewelry. For yours truly, I've always had a huge disdain over this day, mainly because of it being too commercialized and also shames single people not being in relationships. Normally, I wouldn't disclose details about my romantic life, but I'll share some things about the last Valentine's Day I celebrated. It was Valentine's Day 2019 and received a package from my now ex-fiancé. I'll explain the ex-fiancé part in a bit. I received some roses, chocolates, and some underwear. In June of that year, he and I were engaged. Our wedding date was set for March of 2020. I was in love with him and eager to live the rest of my life with him and also take his last name. During Pride Month, he came from Wisconsin to Arkansas to attend the Pride Parade, after months of him talking to me via text. Unfortunately, at the end of October, we mutually decided to split up. It wasn't because of unfaithfulness or arguments. It was due to circumstances that made it impossible for us to be together. Don't get me wrong. We loved each other so much. The dagger that stung inside my heart was my now ex-roommate married my ex-fiancée. I'm a believer that you shouldn't date someone else's ex, because there's a good chance that it won't go well. My ex-roommate didn't respect my boundaries, and I wasn't pleased with that. I was betrayed by my ex-roommate, and I've always had suspicions that he had been lusting for the man I was with once he arrived in Arkansas for the aforementioned visit. It took me a year and a half to get over the end of my relationship, but I've since stopped speaking to my ex-roommate and I'm still good friends with my ex. He's always expressed how much he still loved me and wished we were still together. We talk every now and then, but we never stopped caring for each other. Alas, I had to move on with my life. At the time we first started talking, he was over 20 years older than me, which I had no problem with. I've always been attracted to older men, as opposed to someone my age.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 18 days ago in Critique
On a Publisher’s Refusal
There was a day in my life, a kind of point of no return, when I lost everything: an apartment, a boyfriend, all my belongings, any clear vision of my future, and, icing on the cake, my bank account was in the red. By pure chance, a man I barely knew picked me up, and we set off on a road trip. We didn’t become a romantic couple by the end of the journey, as happens in movies: we just spent a month together, and then I was on my own again. That was when I decided to write about everything that had happened to me. Since I was no longer attached to anything in this world, my ability to write was the only thing still holding me up…
By Anastasia Tsarkova18 days ago in Critique
Small Prophets
Introduction I enjoyed Mackenzie Crook's first series, "Detectorists" which I wrote about here: So when "Small Prophets" was announced, I was obviously tempted and was glad I was. If you have access to the BBC's iPlayer, you can watch it here:
By Mike Singleton đź’ś Mikeydred 18 days ago in Critique
