Last year again saw deep congressional dysfunction in the US, but, noted The Verge recently, state legislatures were busy passing laws that govern everything from AI to social media to the right to repair. California passed a parcel of AI-related rules last year, most prominently SB 53, a transparency law that requires major AI companies to publish safety and security details and protects whistleblowers. Several other bills deal with more specific implementations of AI. However, in December, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that blocks states from enforcing their own regulations around artificial intelligence

  Frank Webster paints landscapes, from delicate, page-size watercolors to works on canvas that span close to ten feet in width. Above: Monacobreen IV, acrylic on canvas, 2024. He seems equally at home painting on a Zodiac in the frozen North—and in the even more frozen South, as he is working the finishing touches In his studio. Based on what he brings in to Studio 12 at the Art Students League, where he teaches watercolor techniques, I asked him about his library. This is...