Science writer Jennifer Ouellette reflects on the 30th anniversary of Apollo 13, including the movie’s realism “The actors, once locked in, breathed air pumped into the suits just like the original Apollo astronauts.” I love Apollo 13.
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A Great Art Explained Book? Sign Me Up!
Ah, this is awesome: Great Art Explained is one of my favorite YouTube channels and there’s a book version coming out in the fall.
Art can be thrilling, and resonate on a deep personal level. It is how you view the work, place it in context and understand its history that makes an artwork truly come alive.
A fresh approach to a classic subject, James Payne’s no-nonsense analysis sheds new light on 30 masterpieces from around the globe and reveals what makes them truly timeless works of art.
Each chapter delves into not only the art itself but also the artist’s life, as well as the work’s place in their wider oeuvre; in other words, what makes it “great.”
You can preorder Great Art Explained from Bookshop or Amazon.
Tags: art · art school · books · Great Art Explained · James Payne
The detention center in Florida easily fits the definition of concentration camp....
The detention center in Florida easily fits the definition of concentration camp. “This facility’s purpose fits the classic model, and its existence points to serious dangers ahead for the country.” Alligator Auschwitz.
Conscientious SUV Shopper Just Wants Something That Will Kill Family In Other...
Conscientious SUV Shopper Just Wants Something That Will Kill Family In Other Car In Case Of Accident. “The last thing I want is a flimsy sedan that takes out Mommy and Daddy in the front seat but leaves behind a couple of orphans in the back…”
NPR Tiny Desk Concert by the cast of Buena Vista Social Club,...
NPR Tiny Desk Concert by the cast of Buena Vista Social Club, a hit Broadway musical about the Cuban musical ensemble.
An original technicolor print of Star Wars (before all of Lucas’s tinkering)...
An original technicolor print of Star Wars (before all of Lucas’s tinkering) was recently shown in Britain. “It was very clear — without a doubt — that Han shot first.”
Hued is a daily game in the vein of Wordle/Spelling Bee where...
Hued is a daily game in the vein of Wordle/Spelling Bee where you have three guesses to match a target color.
French artist Mantra paints photo-realistic murals that look like massive butterfly specimen...
French artist Mantra paints photo-realistic murals that look like massive butterfly specimen display frames. Fantastic.
There’s No Undo Button For Our Fallen Democracy
Tressie McMillan Cottom, one of America’s leading public intellectuals, posted this to Bluesky yesterday:
I’m going to be very honest and clear.
I am fully preparing myself to die under this new American regime. That’s not to say that it’s the end of the world. It isn’t. ...
I Will Do Anything to End Homelessness Except Build More Homes. “Look,...
I Will Do Anything to End Homelessness Except Build More Homes. “Look, if you give people homes, the next thing you know, they’re going to start to get their lives together and then get jobs and start organizing.”
Diogo Jota, Liverpool and Portugal footballer, dies aged 28 in car crash....
Diogo Jota, Liverpool and Portugal footballer, dies aged 28 in car crash. This is sad news. Jota was a favorite player of mine; he brought a positive energy to the pitch.
Kilmar Ábrego García says he was tortured in El Salvadorian prison. Hundreds...
Kilmar Ábrego García says he was tortured in El Salvadorian prison. Hundreds of people are still there, sent there from the US by the Trump administration to be tortured, all sanctioned by the Supreme Court and Congress.
Wanna Sit Down? You Gotta Solve The Rubik’s Cube Chair.
If you want to sit in this chair, you have to be able to solve a Rubik’s Cube because the chair is a Rubik’s Cube. (Ok, technically it looks like you only need to place the four leg corners of the chair correctly, but we’re not going to pick nits on this because it is fun and loooorrrrrrrd do we all need some fun right now.)
Oh and I like how the unsolved chair in the last photo looks like it’s striking a break dancing pose. Fresh! (via moss & fog)
Tags: design · furniture · games · Rubik’s Cube
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American science to soon face its largest brain drain in history. “Over...
American science to soon face its largest brain drain in history. “Over the first half of 2025, the US has cut science as never before. This disaster for American science may be a gift to the rest of the world.”
Architect David Romero has built several digital models of Frank Lloyd Wright’s...
Architect David Romero has built several digital models of Frank Lloyd Wright’s unrealized buildings, including a mile-high Chicago skyscraper with 528 floors.
8 Forgotten Figures From the American Revolution, including Margaret Corbin, Joseph Brant,...
8 Forgotten Figures From the American Revolution, including Margaret Corbin, Joseph Brant, James Armistead Lafayette, and Joseph Plumb Martin.
On global homogenetic culture. “GHC is Trader Joe’s bags outside of the...
On global homogenetic culture. “GHC is Trader Joe’s bags outside of the States. GHC is people en masse wearing the same exact outfits on accident in public. GHC is adult dorms. GHC is a Louis Vuitton in every city. GHC is Shake Shake going global.”
The Kindly Brontosaurus
I read this piece by Jessica Winter a few months ago and it’s come in handy a few times so I thought I’d share. If you want something from someone, adopting the pose of the Kindly Brontosaurus might go a lot further than throwing a fit.
A practitioner, nay, an artist, of...
Before he died, David Lynch talked to Natasha Lyonne about AI. “Natasha,...
Before he died, David Lynch talked to Natasha Lyonne about AI. “Natasha, this is a pencil. Everyone has access to a pencil, and likewise, everyone with a phone will be using AI, if they aren’t already. It’s how you use the pencil. You see?”
That Dropped Call With Customer Service? It Was on Purpose. “Not hiring...
That Dropped Call With Customer Service? It Was on Purpose. “Not hiring enough agents leads to longer wait times, which in turn weeds out a percentage of callers. Choosing cheaper telecom carriers [can mean] many of the calls disconnect on their own.” 🤬
Editorial Template for Every Time the United States Goes to War. “President...
Editorial Template for Every Time the United States Goes to War. “President [GUY WHO HAS COMMITTED MULTIPLE WAR CRIMES], a [REPUBLICAN / DEMOCRAT], sidestepped his [COMPLICIT / COWARDLY / TOTALLY INEPT] Congress…”
“The plot of this movie aged extremely well.” A remake of The...
“The plot of this movie aged extremely well.” A remake of The Running Man directed by Edgar Wright? Yes, please. Here’s the trailer.
Living Colour’s Tiny Desk Concert
Living Colour recently visited the NPR Music office for a Tiny Desk Concert. Cult of Personality might be an all-time top 10 song for me — I vividly remember their 1989 appearance on Saturday Night Live.1 They still got it!
- I probably saw their performance on Arsenio as well, but the SNL set is the one that sticks in my brain.↩
Tags: Living Colour · music · Saturday Night Live · Tiny Desk Concerts · video
Slice of Life
Slice of Life (trailer) is a feature-length documentary about the American Dream through the lens of former Pizza Huts that have been transformed into everything from bars to churches to candy stores to cannabis dispensaries. A woman who runs an LGBTQ+ church out of a form...
John Nichols remembers his colleague & friend, the legendary journalist Bill Moyers....
John Nichols remembers his colleague & friend, the legendary journalist Bill Moyers. “I can’t help but think that Bill Moyers was the best president we never had.”
“[Showing] people they are not alone in caring about an issue” is...
“[Showing] people they are not alone in caring about an issue” is an important and overlooked function of protest. “Silence begets silence, which begets further misunderstanding about what a society actually collectively believes or wants.”
“When I was in high school, my friends and I had a...
“When I was in high school, my friends and I had a game we used to play at the mall: we would go into the Apple store and try to make it to the back wall of the store, touch it, and exit out the front without an Apple staff person talking to us.”
ImillaSkate: The Cholita Skaters of Bolivia
ImillaSkate is a Bolivian female skate collective whose members dress in traditional cholita clothing. This is a great short documentary about the group, the challenges they face, and the change & joy they’re trying to bring to their communities.
Some people in my gen...
Busting the Top 5 Myths About the Big Bang. “Even asking this...
Busting the Top 5 Myths About the Big Bang. “Even asking this question relies on a misconception: a misconception that the Big Bang was like an explosion. As we’ve just covered, the Universe didn’t explode; it simply expanded.”
The Internet Archive estimates the Wayback Machine will hit a lifetime total...
The Internet Archive estimates the Wayback Machine will hit a lifetime total of 1 trillion archived web pages later this year in October.