If you had to guess, how many people would you estimate you could reasonably call friends? Of course, this will vary person to person and also depends on how we define “friend”. Think about it, take a guess, and read on to see how close you came to Dunbar’s Number.
This is the most powerful and memorable article I read this week. Ostensibly about the fight over one man’s last request, it speaks to a much larger question.
In my younger years I spent a ridiculous amount of time perusing The Book of Lists’ fasinating collections of arcana. I mean, who could possibly resist a list of famous people who died during sexual intercourse?
This poignant tale of grief and recovery is the best article I read this week.
Depending on your risk tolerance, this video will give you either sweaty palms or a vicarious adrenaline rush.
Did you know that your eyes can’t properly focus on blue colored objects and your brain compensates for this built-in design problem? This article does a lovely job explaining why.
This beautiful short film tells the unforgettable story about a young man who spent three years living in a tree, along with several associates, to protect a grove of ancient redwood trees.
This short video is a fascinating study in the reaction to panic. The subject is virtuoso pianist Maria Joao Pires, who faces a performer’s worst nightmare - she prepared for the wrong piece.
There’s a worrying social trend in the US that is going largely unnoticed:
Nearly half of middle-class workers may be forced to live on a food budget of as little as five dollars a day when they retire.
In 1969, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young performed for nearly half a million people at the legendary Woodstock Festival. A year later they released their first album, Deja Vu, which sold 14 million copies worldwide. Then, things started coming apart.
This is effectively a one and a half minute commercial, but it’s also one of the most soothing, satisfying things you’ll see today.
In Bret Victor’s groundbreaking talk Stop Drawing Dead Fish, he compellingly argues that new media call for new ways to express ourselves, and not just to repeat our old styles of expression in a new format.
What happens when you hit the big time but can’t scale your production fast enough to keep up with demand? When your product is digital, there’s a solution for that (it’s called cloud computing). But when your product is physical, gooey, and melts fast at room temperature, “move fast and break things” doesn’t work so well.
In the last few decades, the World Wide Web, search engines, mass video broadcasting, social networks, and many other tools attributed to the so-called “attention economy” have fundamentally changed human behavior and self-organization.
My favorite article of the week is this tongue-in-cheek review of the product that no one needs - the Microclimate Air.
In a mere four minutes, this interactive page imparts some of the most basic rules of good web design. Even if you’re not a web designer, it’s a great investment in 21st century literacy.
Everyone knows the sad story about how John Lennon was senselessly killed on the street in front of his apartment by a deranged fan. This article provides an intimate glimpse into what Lennon’s life was like on that last day.
As 2020 draws to a close, check out this fascinating summary of things learned this year, from a very inquisitive person.
Check out this beautfully written profile of a woman caring for her husband, who has developed rapidly progressing Dementia in the prime of his life.
If you’re of a certain age, then you remember Pez, the candy, and even more so, the ingenious spring-loaded mechanical dispensers. They were the kid’s equivalent of a gold cigarette lighter.
If you really want to know what’s going on, ask the people on the front lines.
Check out Google’s annual year in search video. What a weird year this has been - so sad, yet so inspiring.
Check out this pleasantly concise and coherent description of how mRNA-based Covid vaccines work.
Check out the stunning work of Belgian photographer Sebastien Nagy.
Title says it all.
Check out this New York Times photojournal of still-standing vestiges of segregation and racial oppression in US history.
This powerful animated short film takes you inside an ER struggling with the Covid outbreak.
Samuel Wilmot rates benches throughout the UK on Instagram. Seriously, that’s what he does with most of his free time. And his reviews are sincere, thorough, and accurate.
Do men and Women experience dating sites differently? How does someone’s profile affect their experience? These and other burning questions answered in the linked study.
