Sunday assorted links

1. Ian Leslie on stories.

2. When and why did French fertility fall so rapidly?

3. Different accents in English.

4. Glimpse inside the Delhi punk scene.

5. Can you blame him?  A story of biryani.

6. Alas, GBD was not about protecting the vulnerable.  Sorry, people.

7. Is the standard model of the universe wrong? (NYT)

8. The invention of a new chess variant? (“Try as hard as you can to lose, and then win when your opponent resigns”?)