At Vulture, my father* Abraham Riesman scored an interview with Olivia Jaimes, a mysterious young (?) cartoonist who’s
Borges on God’s Nonexistence and the Meaning of Life
This link comes from Zito Madu, who knows what I like. An interview with Jorge Luis Borges from 1981.
On the meaning o
Forget Book Trailers: Book Playlists are the New Hotness
Book trailers are already such a thing that there’s whole weekly columns devoted to them, a whole slew of tips and tric
Photography Tricks That Advertisers Use to Make Food Look Delicious
To make food look appetizing in advertisements, food stylists use a bunch of tricks that may not even involve edible ob
The 100 Best Pens
I’m certain the pen community has a lot to say about this New York Magazine list of the 100 best pens, but for the rest
Sixteenth-Century Flemish Superheroes
Sacha Goldberger made a series of portraits of characters from Star Wars and superhero comics as if they were the su
How Parmesan Cheese Is Made
Officially, according to the Italian government and the EU, parmesan cheese (or more formally, Parmigiano-Reggiano) ca
They Shall Not Grow Old
Earlier this year, I wrote that director Peter Jackson was working on a documentary about WWI that would feature film
The End of Space Travel?
Remember Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity? A missile strike on a satellite causes a chain reaction, which ends up destroying a
“Let It Be” - Life Advice from The Beatles
From illustrator Michelle Rial, a Venn diagram of some advice for when you’re sad, angry, stressed, or hurt in the for
The Effects of Pollution on Human Cognition & Performance
While I am not a big fan of shifting to an economic argument for things that are already plenty bad for other better re
ISS Time Lapse Video of Two Complete Trips Around the World
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first module of the International Space Station being put into orbit, ESA ast
The Testaments, Margaret Atwood’s Upcoming Sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale
On Twitter this morning, Margaret Atwood revealed that she’s writing a sequel to her 1985 dystopian novel The Handmaid
The Best Table Tennis Shot of 2018
This is probably the craziest and most unlikely table tennis shot you will ever see. Just watch. The guy who pulls it
These Are Barely Maps
Peter Gorman is creating dozens of minimalist maps that he’s rolling up into a book that will be ready late next year (
The Salty Avocado
My pals Aaron Cohen and illustrator Chris Piascik, both of whom have contributed to kottke.org for years now, have pro
If the Planets Were As Close As the Moon
Using 3D rendering software, Yeti Dynamics made this video that shows what our sky would look like if several of our s
How a Six-Year-Old Kid Saved Himself from Being Lost in the Woods
When he was six years old, Cody Sheehy got lost in the woods near his home in Oregon. Rather than panic or hunkering do
Watch It Live: NASA’s InSight Probe Lands on Mars Today
After a seven-month journey covering over 300 million miles, NASA’s InSight probe will land on the surface of Mars tod
Some Cyber Deals for Your Cyber Shopping on Cyber Monday
Retailers love invented holidays and so do shoppers looking for a bargain. The term “Cyber Monday” was coined fairly re
Chinese Scientists Are Creating CRISPR Babies
In an article for MIT Technology Review, Antonio Regalado reports that researchers in Shenzhen, led by He Jiankui, are
RIP Ricky Jay, Master of the Sleight of Hand Card Trick
Ricky Jay died yesterday, aged 72. He was a master magician with a deck of cards, an actor, writer, and historian. The
Beavers and Media Theory
In this short gem of an article for Wired, Virginia Heffernan connects the ecological transformation of the pre-human A
The Moon Is Flipped Upside Down in the Southern Hemisphere
How old were you when you learned that the Moon in the Southern Hemisphere is upside down? I was today years old…this i
Scuba Diving in an Underwater Wheelchair
For a cultural program to accompany the 2012 Olympics in London, artist Sue Austin created a video of herself explorin
Dogs Catching Treats
This is pretty straightforward and hilarious: using a high-speed setup, Christian Vieler photographs dogs catching tr
Fanciful Augmented Reality Sketches
The last time I posted a video by Vladimir Tomin I struggled to describe what it was about, eventually punting with “j
Studying Humpback Whales to Better Communicate with Aliens
In this video, a pair of scientists talk about their work in studying the communication patterns of humpback whales to
“Spaceships Are Now Older Than Airplanes Were When We Flew Our First Spaceships”
From XKCD, a reminder that human spaceflight is older than we might think and human flight is more recent.
I am a suck
Adult Nonfiction Adapted for Younger Readers
Lately I’ve been noticing that more and more authors seem to be adapting their adult nonfiction books for younger read
Tungrus and the Chicken from Hell
Tungrus and the Chicken from Hell is a short film by Rishi Chandna about an Indian family who inexplicably have a pet
How We Got to Now for Younger Readers
After hearing that the PBS series based on his bestselling book, How We Got to Now, was being watched by grade schoole
Blame Fox News for Fake News, Not Facebook
In the Washington Post, Henry Farrell interviews Yochai Benkler, whose recent book with co-authors Rob Faris and Hal Ro
RIP, Pablo Ferro
Film & design legend Pablo Ferro died this weekend at the age of 83. Ferro was known for designing the iconic openi
The Future of News on Smart Speakers
At Nieman Lab, Laura Hazard Owen checks in on whether and how people are consuming news on smart speakers and smart di
Hip-Hop’s Fragile Symbiosis With Pop Culture
For some reason, the only YouTube channels I subscribe to are about hip-hop (with one or two dead design vlogs thrown
The Curse of Winning “America’s Best Burger”
A surprising number of lottery winners will later tell you that winning the lottery was the worst thing that ever happ
The Wes Anderson Alphabet
Abbie Paulhus is selling copies of this great illustrated poster she made featuring a Wes Anderson alphabet on her Etsy
Making Maps and Watching Weather On Planets Like Ours
A team of astronomers believe theyve found an exoplanet orbiting Barnards Star, in the solar system closest to ours. T
Art on the Moon
The NY times recently asked eight artists what art projects they would do if they could fly to the Moon. Here’s Kara Wa
James Turrell, the Video Game
Designer Jacopo Colò has made a video game that allows you to spend an hour inside a 2013 James Turrell installation, T
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