Daily Bafflements

• “The chances are no specific event or Svengali-like radicalisation inspired the Tsarnaev brothers to blow up the Boston Marathon,” writes Gary Indiana in the LRB, “The Tsarnaevs were a ‘tight-knit family’ in the most ruinous sense that family alone provided each member’s sense of identity and direction. If one ran awry, eventually they all would.” Noam Chomsky and Kade Crockford discussed the Tsarnaev trial with The Baffler in January, and you can watch the video here.

• Over at The Atlantic, Megan Garber writes on the de-meaning-ing of words, especially in a political context. If this is your bag, do revisit Evgeny Morozov’s salvo in Baffler no. 22 on the shameless branding, then rebranding of terms like “open source,” by Tim O’Reilly. 

• In rare praise of the millennial: “Is it any wonder that as more of the younger generation becomes educated they chafe at the idea of a life of meaningless labor? Fuck—if you’ll excuse my casual millennial tone here—that.”

• Salutes to Jeremy Corbyn, the beige-clad dad who managed to scuttle under Donald Trump’s radar.