Leo

A line from scholar Leo Bersani, quoted in Alan Sinfield's book 'Out on Stage: Lesbian and Gay Theatre in the Twentieth Century', is being shared: the maids' dilemma is that nothing they might do to Madame would not confirm their identity as maids, since transgressiveness is part of who they are. The observation concerns the class and power dynamics at the heart of Jean Genet's play 'The Maids'.

A coded letter from the Napoleonic era, a war briefing addressed to Marshal Marmont that had gone unread for over two centuries, has reportedly been deciphered. The breakthrough offers a rare glimpse into how military orders were encrypted during Napoleon's campaigns and has drawn attention from history and cryptography enthusiasts discussing what the decrypted message reveals.

GPT-6, called Astra, has reportedly deciphered a 217-year-old encrypted Napoleonic-era document in just six hours from a single prompt. The system decoded 24 rows of custom symbols from a single image, revealing what are described as lost French troop orders. The result is being discussed as a striking demonstration of how quickly AI can now solve historical cryptography puzzles that resisted human codebreakers for centuries.

Oil prices dropped more than 2% amid supply-related pressures, according to El Economista. The decline is drawing attention in Mexico and the United States, where the topic is trending, as traders and consumers watch how cheaper crude could affect fuel prices, inflation and energy markets in the coming days.

Leon Wankum argues that bitcoin is beginning to compete with real estate's roughly $300 trillion monetary premium, the portion of property's value derived from its use as a store of wealth rather than shelter. He suggests capital could gradually shift from property to bitcoin as a savings vehicle, a recurring thesis in bitcoin investment commentary.

A long chain of hashtags listing countries in alphabetical order — including San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia and continuing through to Tanzania — is circulating on social media in Singapore and Spain. The list is part of what looks like an alphabetical sequence of world country names, and users are sharing it widely.

NPR journalists have released a new book, 'American Pope', tracing the rise of Pope Leo XIV. The book examines his path to the papacy, presented as the first American to hold the office. The story has been picked up by US public radio outlets, including KUAF, which featured the book and its account of the pontiff's journey.