So, ever since I'd heard that Bill Murray had to drop out of filming Asteroid City, I've wondered which role he'd mea
Four Quick Links for Friday Noonish
The Supreme Court Is Headed Back to the 19th Century. "The justices again appear poised to pursue a purely theoretical
"The Supreme Court Has Killed Affirmative Action. Mediocre Whites Can Rest Easier."
Elie Mystal writing for the Nation on the Supreme Court's recent decision that declared affirmative action in college a
The Winners of the 2023 Audubon Photography Awards
The National Audubon Society has announced the winners of the 2023 Audubon Photography Awards. I've highlighted a fe
Five Quick Links for Thursday Noonish
After 20 years of observations, scientists find "strong evidence" that the universe is awash with huge gravitational wa
The Radical Theology of Mr. Rogers
From Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, a piece on the still-radical teachings of Fred Rogers, who emphasized the "love thy neighb
The 40 Greatest Tech Books of All Time
The Verge has published a list of the 40 best nonfiction books about "tech" (which relates to the industry centered ar
The Chickening
The Chickening is a surreal visual remix of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining done by Nick DenBoer and Davy Force. It mostl
Behind the Scenes of Wes Anderson's Asteroid City
The other day I posted about how contemporary filmmakers, Wes Anderson in particular, use miniatures in their films. Th
Four Quick Links for Wednesday Noonish
Trump's animatronic in Disney's Hall of Presidents was repurposed from presumed election winner Hillary Clinton's. "The
Footage of the First NYC Gay Pride Parade in 1970
From the Library of Congress, footage of the first gay pride march in NYC in 1970. The march, called the Christopher St
What If Ruff But Too Much?
Love these absurdist portraits of over-luxuriated nobles in the style of Rococo and Baroque European painters by Vol
How NASA Writes Space-Proof Code
When you write some code and put it on a spacecraft headed into the far reaches of space, you need to it work, no matte
The Wellington Family
Meet the members of the Wellington Family, foods related in spirit and structure to Beef Wellington: pigs in a blanket
Design Notes on the Alphabet
From XKCD, some notes on the design of the alphabet. I actually hadn't noticed the spacing of the vowels before.
See a
Six Quick Links for Tuesday Noonish
Is the Army's New Tactical Bra Ready for Deployment? "Yes, it's flame-resistant, but what else can it do? Shoot bullets
It's Time To Subsidize E-Bikes
My pal Clive Thompson, who is in the midst of a two-part bicycle ride across the United States and is writing a book on
The Ambient Machine
Yuri Suzuki's The Ambient Machine is a device for creating atmosphere, playing ambient sounds. The machine has 32 togg
The Value of Reparations
In 1990, the US government sent $20,000 and a formal letter of apology to more than 82,000 Japanese Americans who were
Five Quick Links for Monday Noonish
The U.S. Bicycle Route System, "a developing national network of bicycle routes connecting urban and rural communities
How Wes Anderson Uses Miniatures to Create His Distinctive Worlds
Vox talks to prop & model maker Simon Weisse, who made miniatures for Wes Anderson's Asteroid City, about the perha
Chris Ware Does Candide
This is apparently extremely old news (like almost 20 years old), but I ran across the cover that Chris Ware did for V
Two Quick Links for Saturday Morning
The decline of American playtime — and how to resurrect it. "If you take away play from children, they're going to be d
Are Viral Cat Videos Actually Viral?
Or rather, protozoan? Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite which is transmitted from rodents to cats through a cra
Lego Stop-Motion Recreation of Iconic Scenes From The Shining
The creepy twins. Jack feverish at the typewriter. Danny riding his Big Wheel through carpeted hallways. The elevators
Four Quick Links for Thursday Noonish
"My e-bike has changed my life. I’m happier, healthier, and more active. My relationship to my community has been compl
The Reason Why Cancer Is So Hard to Beat
Using the metaphor of a cancerous tumor as an unruly village, Kurzgesagt explains how cancer develops in the human body
Why Pop Radio Stations All Sound the Same
On his YouTube channel this week, Phil Edwards explores the question of why all pop music radio stations in the US soun
Kurt Vonnegut's Response to Book Burning
Kurt Vonnegut is just the bee's knees, isn't he? Here's a letter he wrote in 1973 to the head of the school board at Dr
Five Quick Links for Wednesday Noonish
Search engine logic: The Sega Genesis was also known as the "Mega Drive" so if you search Google for "the book of megad
A Little Baby With Really Good Taste
This conversation with musician Perfume Genius about his creative process is interesting throughout. This is something
1968 Howard Johnson's Kids Menu Featuring 2001: A Space Odyssey
In the 60s and 70s, Howard Johnson's was the largest restaurant chain in the US — the restaurants and their associated
Two Quick Links for Monday Noonish
The Story We've Been Told About Juneteenth Is Wrong. "What are we celebrating when we observe it, and should we be cele
Three Quick Links for Saturday Noonish
Looks like this fall's Covid shot is going to be targeted towards omicron, XBB.1.5 specifically.
Sigur Rós is out with
Four Quick Links for Friday Noonish
Digits is a new puzzle game from the NY Times that's pretty fun. Here's how the game was designed.
GB Studio is a drag
Musicless Music Videos
Mario Wienerroither takes music videos, strips out all the sound, and then foleys back in sound effects based on what p
A New Dialect Emerges in South Florida
According to recent research from linguists Phillip Carter and Kristen D'Alessandro Merii, a new dialect of English is
Seven Quick Links for Thursday Noonish
Beeper is a universal chat app that supports iMessage, WhatsApp, Instagram, Discord, Twitter, Slack, Google Chat, and o
The Supreme Court Just Made This Gerrymandered Map Illegal
This short video from Vox takes a look at the recent Supreme Court decision that struck down a gerrymandered congressio
The New Rubik's Cube World Record Is Just 3.13 Seconds
In roughly the time it took you to read this sentence, Max Park solved a Rubik's Cube. With his time of 3.13 seconds, P
Six Quick Links for Wednesday Noonish
The history and significance of various LGBTQ+ flags explained. The six colors of the traditional pride flag all mean s
The Absurd Logistics of Concert Tours
I was totally fascinated by this look at the absurd logistics of concert tours and now have a newfound appreciation for
The Spider-Verse Lego Scene Was Created By a 14-Year-Old Animator
After 14-year-old Preston Mutanga's Lego version of the trailer for Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (embedded above
Four Quick Links for Tuesday Noonish
For the first time, wind and solar generated more power than coal in the US over the first five months of 2023.
Studio
Swimming Pool Stories
Icelandic filmmaker Jón Karl Helgason has made a film called Sundlaugasögur (Swimming Pool Stories) about the central
A Massive 5.7 Terapixel Mosaic of the Surface of Mars
Using imagery from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Bruce Murray Laboratory for Planetary Visualization at Caltech
Vintage Analog Photo Booths
FotoAutomat restores vintage analog photo booths and redeploys them around Europe, mostly in Paris.
There are less
Five Quick Links for Monday Noonish
If you're still looking for a last-minute gift for your dad, check out the 2023 Father's Day Gift Guide.
If it's aspara
Forgetting How to Be Yourself
For the New Yorker, Louisa Thomas on major league pitcher Daniel Bard, who has struggled with the yips on and off durin
Watch a Traditional Japanese Noh Mask Being Made
Noh is a classical Japanese art of dramatic dance that's been performed since the 14th century. The masks worn by char
Real-Life Infrastructure That Looks Like Sci-Fi
Kane Hsieh, proprietor of the excellent MachinePix, has collected a bunch of photos of infrastructure that looks like s
Four Quick Links for Wednesday Noonish
I've been reading a lot about the end of Succession and thought this piece by Brian Phillips was particularly interesti
The Train Speed Optical Illusion
If you watch the video above of a front-facing camera on a moving train, the train appears to move much faster in the
Four Quick Links for Tuesday Afternoon
Some myths about blogging that stop people from writing, including "writing boring posts is bad" and "more material is
Blackstar — The Sun In A New Light
Blackstar is a relaxing and meditative 45-minute video of the Sun made by Seán Doran using footage from the Solar Dyna
The 2023 Food Photographer of the Year Awards
The Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year awards have been announced for 2023 and there is lots of good work in m
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