• The Browser
    The Browser

Nap, Pail, Owl, Prize, Dish

  • 2 Jun, 2021

A report on the increasingly murky world of "art-nappings", text of a commencement speech advising perpetual curiosity, how professional "sweepers" treat consumer competitions as a job, how to grow a human brain in the lab, and more.

The Missing Magritte

Joshua Hunt | Vanity Fair | 27th May 2021 | BMP 1/m

Report on the increasingly murky world of "art-nappings", as demonstrated by the 2009 theft of a Magritte painting. Rather than being stolen for their own sake, transnational organised crime groups treat such works as "any other illicit chattel" and merely a means to raise funds. There are now market rates for art ransoms, one of many signs that art theft has become utterly professionalised (5,578 words)

The Great Mistake

Write a comment ...

Write a comment ...

The Browser logo
    • Change PhotoChange photo
    • Create A Unique Profile PhotoCreate A Unique Profile Photo
  • Delete photo

The Browser

The world's favourite curation newsletter

  • 15 Followers

  • 1 Following

  • Fork, Secret, Troll, Model, WreckFork, Secret, Troll, Model, Wreck

    Fork, Secret, Troll, Model, Wreck

    Treasured objects lost in the Californian wildfires, a missed opportunity to grow up bilingual, what the “Nefertiti Hack” says about digital colonialism, the real Lord Of The Flies, and more.

    The Browser
    The Browser
    ₹ 10
  • Duns, Cicada, Tea, Dream, WineDuns, Cicada, Tea, Dream, Wine

    Duns, Cicada, Tea, Dream, Wine

    How to speak Cicada, America’s forgotten filling stations, Ramallah's thriving artistic life, is the second-cheapest wine a rip-off, and more.

    The Browser
    The Browser
    ₹ 10
  • Hyphens, Buildings, Labs, Lines, LaurelsHyphens, Buildings, Labs, Lines, Laurels

    Hyphens, Buildings, Labs, Lines, Laurels

    The hyphenated history of "New York", a conversation on the practice of science, how to start a novel, the myth of the Olympics, and more.

    The Browser
    The Browser
    ₹ 10
  • Windows, Words, Moods, Modi, ShapesWindows, Words, Moods, Modi, Shapes

    Windows, Words, Moods, Modi, Shapes

    How breaking and then replacing a window might generate economic activity, consciousness and punctuation, an overview of depression, the best books on contemporary India, and more.

    The Browser
    The Browser
    ₹ 10
  • Marx, Space, Orwell, Roux, RaftMarx, Space, Orwell, Roux, Raft

    Marx, Space, Orwell, Roux, Raft

    What the West gets wrong about China, the dream of long haul space travel, all Is Orwell, Thor Heyerdahl's expedition from Peru to Polynesia, and more.

    The Browser
    The Browser
    ₹ 10
  • Lie, Stunt, Rose, Twin, PoolLie, Stunt, Rose, Twin, Pool

    Lie, Stunt, Rose, Twin, Pool

    Why scientific fraud persists in academia, interview with an ageing stuntman, commentary on The Hunt of the Unicorn, meditation on the plight of the American salesman, and more.

    The Browser
    The Browser
    ₹ 10
  • Bottles, Birds, India, Mesmer, BaltimoreBottles, Birds, India, Mesmer, Baltimore

    Bottles, Birds, India, Mesmer, Baltimore

    How birds build their nests, Covid in the Himalayas, notes on Franz Mesmer's invention of "animal magnetism", poor treatment of rape victims and destruction of evidence, and more.

    The Browser
    The Browser
    ₹ 10
  • Saris, Straights, Crooks, Bony, IceSaris, Straights, Crooks, Bony, Ice

    Saris, Straights, Crooks, Bony, Ice

    The borders of the sari, the studies of straightness, what if Napoleon had conquered Britain, a letter for the world's crime bosses, and more.

    The Browser
    The Browser
    ₹ 10
  • God, Guilty, History, Headlines, GamesGod, Guilty, History, Headlines, Games

    God, Guilty, History, Headlines, Games

    Is God an old-fashioned liberal, a juror’s guide to going rogue, a polish system of history, a brief history of the past 100 years, and more.

    The Browser
    The Browser
    ₹ 10
  • Red, Beauty, Glass, Drum, WesternRed, Beauty, Glass, Drum, Western

    Red, Beauty, Glass, Drum, Western

    Champagne Socialism, notes on D.H. Lawrence, on glass politics, mastering IBM’s Chinese typewriter, and more.

    The Browser
    The Browser
    ₹ 10
  • Bag, Ball, Card, Self, TrainBag, Ball, Card, Self, Train

    Bag, Ball, Card, Self, Train

    Susannah Clapp | London Review Of Books | 15th May 2021 | BMP 1/m

    The Browser
    The Browser
    ₹ 10
  • Spider, Plato, Cover, Paper, NiblingSpider, Plato, Cover, Paper, Nibling

    Spider, Plato, Cover, Paper, Nibling

    What is philosophy, the appreciation of manhole and drain covers, how critical the filing cabinet was to the information infrastructure of the 20th-century, what makes a beautiful word, and more.

    The Browser
    The Browser
    ₹ 10
  • Finnegan, Games, Phrases, Buildings, PeacocksFinnegan, Games, Phrases, Buildings, Peacocks

    Finnegan, Games, Phrases, Buildings, Peacocks

    At lunch with Freeman Dyson, an anthology of Texan turns of phrase, construction projects measured against Adam Smith's platonic pin factory, a farmer discovers the pleasures of acquiring a peacock, and more.

    The Browser
    The Browser
    ₹ 10
  • Wig, Cloud, Wound, Prado, ForestWig, Cloud, Wound, Prado, Forest

    Wig, Cloud, Wound, Prado, Forest

    Confessions of a hair-based hustler, how geography is the chessboard of history, the invisible injuries of soldiers, on the particular pleasures of walking through the Prado each day, and more.

    The Browser
    The Browser
    ₹ 10
  • Plane, Novella, Bell, Cell, MagicPlane, Novella, Bell, Cell, Magic

    Plane, Novella, Bell, Cell, Magic

    The long history of skyjackings, novels, novellas and tomes, the anatomy of incarceration, the inexplicable world of dowsing, and more.

    The Browser
    The Browser
    ₹ 10
  • Lie, Church, Clue, Hume, GlossyLie, Church, Clue, Hume, Glossy

    Lie, Church, Clue, Hume, Glossy

    The biggest churches in the world, learning from a crossword AI, the Hume Paradox, the enemy as ociologist

    The Browser
    The Browser
    ₹ 10
  • Hamlet, Victims, Marcus, War, MonnetHamlet, Victims, Marcus, War, Monnet

    Hamlet, Victims, Marcus, War, Monnet

    Identity and self in Hamlet, the anatomy of victimhood, the life and times of Hugo Marcus, Jean Monnet the Guerilla bureaucrat, and more.

    The Browser
    The Browser
    ₹ 10
  • Souls, Services, Leaks, Trees, TrousersSouls, Services, Leaks, Trees, Trousers

    Souls, Services, Leaks, Trees, Trousers

    How to sell your soul to Satan, the basic urban services in India, the origin of Covid, trees that aren't trees, and more.

    The Browser
    The Browser
    ₹ 10
  • Face, Aladdin, Brain, Elite, JoyFace, Aladdin, Brain, Elite, Joy

    Face, Aladdin, Brain, Elite, Joy

    The troubling pursuit of human metrics, the travels of a master storyteller, the internet is a better metaphor, when is the revolution in architecture coming, and more.

    The Browser
    The Browser
    ₹ 10