Japanese illustrator Takumi made these illustrations of characters from Avengers: Endgame in the style of Ukiyo-e prin
How to Make Data-Driven Visual Essays
Ilia Blinderman of The Pudding has written a pair of essays about how to make data-driven visual essays. Part 1 covers
Fan-Made Productions Celebrate Alien’s 40th Anniversary
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of Alien, 20th Century Fox commissioned six fan-made short films that
How Disco Made Pop Songs Longer
In the latest episode of Earworm, Estelle Caswell notes that the length of a pop single was rarely more than 3m30s bec
How Does Venice Work?
The canals, the sewers, the buildings, the bridges and the rest of the Venice’s infrastructure has all been engineered
In Remembrance of Photographer Michael Wolf
German photographer Michael Wolf, who documented life in our densest cities, has died at the age of 64.
Though seldom
Good Things By Their Nature Are Fragile
From a 2005 post by Michael Barrish:
In 1988 Laura and I created a three-stage model of what we called “living process
Balanced Anarchy or Open Society?
A clip from 1985 of James Burke talking about how microchips will change politics by making it possible for everyone’s
Birds in the Ancient World
Birds play an outsized role in most cultures’ collective imaginations, which makes sense; they’re our near neighbors,
Monk Hacks: Dealing With Distraction in Late Antiquity
For monks, concentration wasn’t just a practical necessity, but a spiritual discipline. Consequently, they spent a lot
The Books Shakespeare Read
Five Books is a pretty cool website I’d never heard of before; it’s a recommendations website, anchored by interviews
Why Everyone Is Watching TV with Closed Captioning On These Days
A few months ago I noticed that several friends (who speak English and aren’t deaf) routinely watch TV and movies with
Cultural Cartography
In 2017, BuzzFeed’s Publisher Dao Nguyen did a TED Talk about how the company thinks about producing content.
In it, s
Fred Rogers’ 2002 Dartmouth College Commencement Address
In 2002, Fred Rogers gave the commencement address at Dartmouth College, where he attended school as a freshman before
Tiny Impressionist Oil Paintings Inside the Covers of Altoids Tins
Painter Matthew Betancourt paints these miniature works of art inside the covers of Altoids tins. Aside from the play
A Short Summary of the Contemporary Republican Party’s Strategy
In a recent interview, Noam Chomsky gave a short summary of how the modern Republican Party coalition between the rich
The Fantastical Drawings of an Inventive 15th-Century Italian Engineer
Sometime in the early 15th century, an Italian engineer and inventor Johannes de Fontana produced a sketchbook that wou
Stunning Overhead View of Shaolin Kung Fu Training Exercises
As part of their show Earth From Space, the BBC Earth team shows the coordinated movements of thousands of Shaolin Kun
The Beautiful Ones, a Forthcoming Memoir From Prince
Before his death in 2016, Prince had begun work on a memoir about his wonderfully creative life. The Beautiful Ones, d
Perfectly Normal, How Autism Feels From the Inside
This short film by Joris Debeij features Jordan Kamnitzer talking about his experience as someone who is on the autism
Winter Is Coming, the Climate Change Message at the Heart of Game of Thrones
In a Q&A with the NY Times back in October, George R.R. Martin connected the goings-on in Westeros with the challen
The Extinction Symbol
With its recent use by the participants in the Extinction Rebellion, the extinction symbol has become much more widely
David Attenborough Hosts “Climate Change: The Facts”
From the BBC and hosted by David Attenborough, “Climate Change: The Facts” is an hour-long program on the science of c
Resources for Living a More Ethical Life Online
Ethical.net has compiled a list of resources for “discovering ethical alternatives to stuff”. Their list includes web b
Physical Data Visualizations
For almost as long as we’ve had civilization, people have been making data visualizations.1 The availability of paper a
The Secret Pigeon Service
This short piece in the London Review of Books about pigeons is fascinating. I learned many new things about pigeons an
Life Aboard a Finnish Icebreaker
Monocle has produced a pair of videos about what Finland’s fleet of icebreakers do and what daily life is like for the
Public Sans, a New Typeface from the US Government
As part of their recent announcement of a new web design system for US government websites, the General Services Admin
Colorful Pixelated Murals by Alberonero
I love these colorful pixelated exteriors by Italian artist Alberonero. These are going on the mood board for my theo
The Saturday Night Live Portrait
Since 1999, Mary Ellen Matthews has been the official photographer of SNL. For each show, Matthews captures a stylize
The Failure of the Great Tip-Free Restaurant Experiment
Over the past three years, a number of restaurants across the geographic and economic spectrum of America have experime
Only Mass Protests Can Prevent “an Ecological Apocalypse”
In an opinion piece for the Guardian, George Monbiot argues that mass protests are “essential” to force a political res
Rebuilding the Notre Dame with Strong Trees and Laser Scans
According to an expert, France doesn’t have any of the large, old trees necessary to replace the burned wooden beams in
The Notre Dame Fire and the Invisible Tragedy of the Everyday
In the aftermath of the fire that ravaged the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, two French billionaires stepped in to pled
The Little Book of Fixers
Jan Chipchase’s Studio D has recently released their latest booklet, The Little Book of Fixers.
Fixers and guides are
Strange Stars and Strange Matter
Nuclear physicists hypothesize that when the cores of neutron stars are subject to enough pressure, the quarks that ma
Going Real Estate Shopping in a Climate Change-Threatened Miami
Sarah Miller went looking for real estate in Miami, a place where the sea level could rise between one and three feet i
Beyoncé Drops “Homecoming”, a Live Album of Her Coachella Performance
With a tweet at 3:20am this morning, Beyoncé announced her latest album, a 40-track live album of her acclaimed 2018 Co
The Rise of Selective Empathy
Over the past 20 years, the kind of empathy practiced by many Americans has shifted from a universal empathy — putting
The Music of Halt and Catch Fire
Volume 2 of the Halt and Catch Fire soundtrack recently came out and I’ve been listening to it on repeat ever since @mw
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