My weekly collection of the provocative, intriguing, or curious, in a world where the house is falling down. The contextual, the cultural, and other things that catch my eye.

The future as seen from the 1920s. Image: Max Saunders, via The Conversation.

‘In 2030 we ended the climate crisis’. Here’s how. A striking image of the future, and our path to it in The Correspondent.

If companies are serious about the environment, there’s no excuse. They can start by putting their best people on it. Related: Siemens’ extended special pleading about the Adani Carmichael project is how not to do it.

The free market paradigm is over. It has been killed off by the inter-connected nature of digital engagement, says Diane Coyle. [May require registration]

Machine learning is basically conservative. It looks for things that are just like the things it’s already learned. Cory Doctorow has a sharp essay in LARB

Back in the 1920s, people started getting intrigued by the future. The Conversation on a whole generation of idiosyncratic optimists.

The films listed for the Best International Feature Film Oscar are usually overlooked. But they can be a useful guide on what’s being made worldwide. Vox published a guide.

The Coventry Carol survived from the middle ages through a series of accidents. As this BBC Soul Music podcast explains, it is a song about loss. (30 mins)

“The whole world’s at sixes and sevens, and why the house hasn’t fallen down about our ears long ago is a miracle to me.” (Thornton Wilder)