Friday's Fast Five: Week of 10.17

The Lesson of 1929 (The Atlantic): We all love a good story, a concise explanation of how the world works. We all love an easy buck. Temptation has driven human folly for centuries, whether the serpent in the Garden of Eden or the market manias of cryptocurrency or artificial intelligence. Each wave seduces us into thinking that we’ve learned from history and, this time, we can’t be fooled. Then it happens again, just as it happened in 1929.

They Got to Live a Life of Luxury. Then Came the Fine Print. (The New York Times): ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ has built a delirious new culture of consumption — and trapped users in a vortex of debt.

The Astonishing Versatility of Diane Keaton (Time): Keaton wasn't just a gifted performer; she also proved to be a fine director. She took wonderful photographs. She could sing, in a fine, clear voice with the charm of a robin's warble. But most significantly, she was one of the most sparkling actors of her generation, and though many people associate her mostly with the brainy doodle of a performance she gave in Annie Hall—a brilliant one—she was astonishingly versatile.

AI Data Centers, Desperate for Electricity, Are Building Their Own Power Plants (The Wall Street Journal): With the push for AI dominance at warp speed, the “Bring Your Own Power” boom is a quick fix for the gridlock of trying to get on the grid. It’s driving an energy Wild West that is reshaping American power.

Global renewable energy generation surpasses coal for first time (The Guardian): The world’s wind and solar farms have generated more electricity than coal plants for the first time this year, marking a turning point for the global power system, according to research. A report by the climate thinktank Ember found that in the first six months of 2025, renewable energy outpaced the world’s growing appetite for electricity, leading to a small decline in coal and gas use.