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CURIOUSMINDS
A weekly serving of great articles we curate, and original content we produce. So, all you have to do is pick, read, watch and listen. |
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Issue #217 - FEBRUARY 2026
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Stories from Around the World that Affect Us All |
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Ukraine's Winter of Discontent When the power grid is targeted, you can't call this life. It's just survival.
Since shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Persuasion has been following the war through the voice of one Ukrainian, Kateryna Kibarova. Kateryna’s accounts of the ongoing horrors—from the first days, to her return home to Bucha, to surviving the most recent winter amid constant bombardment—capture the seemingly never-ending nightmare facing civilians far from the frontlines.
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 South African Political Assassination sparks Human Rights fears
Daily Maverick(Human/Civil Rights)
The General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (Giwusa) expressed shock at the assassination, saying Mkhize was the latest casualty in a long list of the movement’s leaders to be silenced by assassins’ bullets. Zwelinzima Vavi, the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) president, has called on government and law enforcement agencies to urgently conduct a transparent investigation into the assassination of Abahlali baseMjondolo leader Zweli “Khabazela” Mkhize. Mkhize was shot and killed while visiting a friend at the eNkanini settlement in Elandale, Gauteng, on 12th February 2026. Vavi described Mkhize’s killing as a targeted political assassination.
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 Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor Arrested
BBC Andrew released under investigation after arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been released under investigation following his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office. 19th February 2026 Thames Valley Police said it had arrested a man in his 60s in Norfolk and was carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk. King Charles III said the "law must take its course" in response to Andrew's arrest and that the police had his "full and wholehearted support and co-operation". Police had previously said they were considering investigating Andrew over allegations relating to his association with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and were reviewing allegations he shared confidential material. |
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Wuthering Heights - New Adaptation
“If you’re going to show us two freaks in love, show us two freaks in love” Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights is finally out, so let’s get into it. To discuss, we invited film, culture, and literary critics Elissa Suh, Radhika Jones, and Eliza Brooke to jump into a Google doc. Mina Le moderated the conversation, as our panelists dove into the questions plaguing this adaptation of Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel: Are Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi believable as Cathy and Heathcliff? Did the movie need that opening scene? And what’s the deal with the eggs?
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Quote of The Week
It is easier to destroy than to create. But without the creator nothing can be destroyed.
- James King -
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Top Stories from our favourite publications to stimulate your curious mind, |
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The Humanities Are About to Be Automated AI can now write convincing academic papers. There’s no more room for denial.
There has long been a divide between those who believe that artificial intelligence is an enormously transformative technology and those who believe that it is hopelessly overhyped. Never has that divide been more enormous than in the last weeks. Most people who have regularly used the technology in the recent past believe that the rate at which the state-of-the-art models progress is extremely rapid. They are now capable of engaging in long chains of reasoning that dramatically increase their problem-solving abilities in areas from financial analysis to molecular biology.
And yet, many people, especially in the humanities, continue to be in deep denial about the state of this technology. Perhaps the most common way in which they dismiss the importance of this technology is to claim that AI models are not intelligent or creative. Sure, they say, these stochastic parrots can do some impressive things like summarize an email or write boilerplate corporate language; but they are congenitally incapable of making a genuine intellectual or artistic contribution.
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Why You?
THE MARGINALIAN (Literature/Philosophy)
For millennia, the whole of Eastern philosophy and myriad other ancient traditions have made the dissolution of that illusion — painful, perplexing, disorienting dissolution — the great achievement of existence. For those of who chanced by birth into the modern West, where the self roils with its grandiose claims of authorship, to keep questioning the story of who we are — this handful of unchosen stardust on short-term loan from the universe — is an act of countercultural courage requiring exceptional devotion and discipline. |
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A Day in the Life of the Average Gazan
THE LITERARY HUB (Human Rights)
I looked at her and got out of bed, thinking to myself, We can’t even enjoy a night’s rest anymore. I went to the bathroom to wash and perform ablutions, but there was no water. I remembered that I’d not filled the tank because Abu Jamil, the water-truck man, hadn’t come yesterday. The municipal water had been cut off from our area for some time because of a lack of fuel. I used a bottle of drinking water for the ablutions, got dressed, and walked to the bakery not far from our home. |
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How long do you think you may live?
Hidden Longevity Signals from Japanese Centenarians
After reading a fascinating little book titled–IKIGAI–the Japanese secret to a Long and Happy Life–I stumbled on an article, by accident, which I found most interesting, and have summarised. The article challenges the common belief that aging is simply a gradual decline.
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The Fallacy Fallacy
Have you ever wondered why people believe the moon landing was faked, vaccines secretly poison us, and Mercury in retrograde can ruin your love life? Why does irrationality seem so pervasive? A popular answer, beloved by academics and educators alike, points to fallacies—certain types of arguments that are deeply flawed yet oddly seductive. Because people keep falling for these reasoning traps, they end up believing all sorts of crazy stuff. Still, the theory offers hope: if you memorize the classic fallacies—ad hominem, post hoc, straw man—you will inoculate yourself against them. It’s a neat little story, and I used to believe it too. Not anymore. I’ve become a fallacy apostate.
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Why are Monarch butterflies struggling?
THE LAND DESK (Environments)
Climate change is just the latest in a list of threats to the beleaguered and iconic monarch butterfly. “Saving an iconic butterfly is important and would help us sustain beauty, wonder, and majesty in nature,” wrote Anurag A. Agrawal, a professor of environmental studies at Cornell University, in 2019. “But for me, the concern is much larger than a single species. Monarchs are sentinels, traversing the continent and tasting their way as they move. Thus, to understand what is happening to environmental health more generally, monarchs may be a source of information for both our own population and biodiversity writ large.”
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UPGRADE to PAID
CURIOUSMINDS content and opinions contain important information curated from reliable sources. We rely on reader support to keep it FREE. We want it to reach as many people as possible. If you value what we do and would like to help us sustain it, please consider a small monthly or annual contribution. Contributing subscribers get full access to all James King Publications including archives of CURIOUSMINDS, and a valuable BONUS: FREE ebook versions of all James King’s published books.View them at Amazon · Donate via the - Choose a subscription plan - page. If you are not a subscriber already - Go to the Welcome page |
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James King Blog offers valuable resources for students of Arts and Humanities. Particularly those interested in Environments, Literature, Performing Arts, Visual Art, Philosophy, Travel, and Human Rights. The articles provide insights into complex interactions between humans and their environments, and the ethical and moral dimensions of environmental issues. The Blog is relevant to students of all ages and those who are just fascinated by the Arts and Humanities. |
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 UN Protecting Human Rights – Important Look at the Global EffortsThe role of the United Nations (UN) protecting human rights is crucial. The UN commitment to promoting and preserving fundamental rights can be traced back to its inception. Since the horrors of World War II the UN has developed human rights laws to serve the needs of vulnerable groups. |
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FREE BOOKS223 Mystery, Thriller, & Suspense FreebiesThese Promos Close 25 and 28 FebruaryThriller authors join forces in joint promotion campaigns to introduce themselves to readers. You can download as many books as you like.
I hope you find plenty to entertain you. CLICK THE BANNERS TO VIEW THE PROMOS - AND GRAB AS MANY BOOKS AS YOU WANT |
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INVISIBLE ENEMY - a Short Story
A psychological thriller – Short Story - that will change the way you look at humankind. It’s 2021 and the world is paralysed by Covid-19. The invisible microscopic organism looks on, astonished at Man’s inability to solve his problems. Despite the warnings and having all the resources available to do so, humans run in circles desperate to escape the clutches of an invisible enemy. Commissaire Pascal de Gaulle is focused on other pressing matters, when a man falls to his death in the centre of Paris, carrying a secret. De Gaulle discovers the Drug Squad, a syndicate of drug traffickers, and the virus itself are all part of the puzzle he must solve. Is it suicide or is it murder? And how will he save his orphaned godchild from leukemia? Do not read Invisible Enemy if you don’t like puzzles.
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THE KENRIGHT CHRONICLES - SERIES
The Kenright Chronicles is a psychological thriller series. Jack Kenright, a young investment banker gets involved in an international art swindle. which cripples his business and threatens his life and his family. He ends up a recluse, working for the FBI undercover and exposes massive corruption in the gambling world. |
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The Last Masterpiece By Laura Morelli
A Novel of World War II Italy In a race across Nazi-occupied Italy, two women—a German photographer and an American stenographer—hunt for priceless masterpieces looted from the Florentine art collections. In the summer of 1943, Eva Brunner is taking photographs of Nazi-looted art hidden in the salt mines of the Austrian hinterland. Across the ocean in Connecticut, Josephine Evans is working as a humble typist at the Yale Art Gallery. When both women are called to Italy to contribute to the war effort, neither imagines she will hold the fate of some of the world’s greatest masterpieces torn from the Uffizi Galleries and other Florentine art collections in her hands. |
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The StrangerBy Albert Camus
1942 novella written by French author Albert Camus. The first of Camus' novels published in his lifetime...
The story follows Meursault, an indifferent settler in French Algeria, who, weeks after his mother's funeral, kills an unnamed Arab man in Algiers. The story is divided into two parts, presenting Meursault's first-person narrative before and after the killing. "This is not light reading. Despite its length of 123 pages, The Stranger is a literary endurance test: exhausting, exhaustive, excruciating ... and excellent."
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Substack - Creative Xellence -
Join us at Creative Xellence where we are building a home for James King's Poetry, Short Stories and serialised Novels. Subscribe for Free and you will be notified of new content and recieve the Newsletter.
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Medium
At Medium we curate high value informative articles related to A&H from major publishers and authoratative sources. And we publish a smattering of selected articles from James King Blog and articles written by James King for Medium Publications.
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