In Princeton, New Jersey, a short stroll from the university you have heard of, there lies a little campus home to the Institute for Advanced Study. It was founded in 1930 not to confer degrees nor—God forbid!—to make money, nor even to conduct research toward any end in particular. The institute proclaims that its purpose is “the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake.”

Founder Abraham Flexner reckoned that brilliant minds, once freed to pursue “useless satisfactions,” would stumble upon discoveries of “undreamed-of utility,” as he wrote in a magazine a few years into the institute’s work. It seems to have worked for Albert Einstein, who had an office there. J. Robert Oppenheimer, too.

Enjoy this week’s useless satisfactions. I look forward to your theory of everything the week after.

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Tuesday, January 20, 2025

Whereas Swedish institutions select the winner of every other Nobel Prize, the award for peace is conferred by a committee from what country? — From Anne Applebaum’s analysis of Donald Trump’s threatening Greenland letterWhat 1986 sports movie follows the boys of tiny Milan High School to their state-championship victory over Muncie Central? — From Keith O’Brien’s article on the end of the underdogThe Barbz are—or were—the fan base of what “Anaconda” rapper, who recently alienated many of them when she appeared at a Turning Point USA event alongside Charlie Kirk’s widow? — From Spencer Kornhaber’s essay on Trump’s ever-stalled effort to win the culture war

And by the way, did you know that throughout the history of the Nobel Prizes, there have been years so turbulent that the Peace Prize committee determined not to confer an award, even as other categories went on?

This happened in a few of the interwar years as Nazi Germany rearmed, Italy invaded Ethiopia, and peace generally disintegrated. It was also the case for the years of World War I, with the exception of 1917, when the committee recognized the Red Cross for its humanitarian aid. (All of the Nobel Prizes were suspended during the early years of World War II.)

The circumstances were a bit different in 1948, when the committee ruled that “there was no suitable living candidate.” The clear message was that the award—which by rule cannot be given posthumously—should have gone to Mahatma Gandhi, assassinated earlier that year.

Answers:

Norway. Neither of those countries, you’ll note, is Denmark, the Scandinavian state that Greenland is a part of. Still, Anne writes, in a letter to Norway’s prime minister, Trump threatened invasion of the territory as a consequence of his not receiving a Nobel Peace Prize—never mind that Norway’s government doesn’t determine the winner, either. Read more.Hoosiers**.** The real-life miracle that immortalized Milan, Indiana, is perhaps the underdog story in sports. The University of Indiana’s win on Monday in college football’s national championship is, likewise, a great story, O’Brien writes—but no matter how many Hoosier comparisons commentators make, the victory is not the tale of an underdog. That storyline, at least in college football, is kaput. Read more.Nicki Minaj. Minaj’s appearance at AmericaFest was certainly a “plot twist,” Spencer writes, but it’s also in keeping with conservatives’ attempt to so disorient America that they can graft “a new zeitgeist” onto the culture. Alas—ask a Barb—culture is still too surprising and messy to control. Read more.

How did you do? Come back tomorrow for more questions, and if you think up a great question after reading an Atlantic story—or simply want to share a fact—send it my way at trivia@theatlantic.com.

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