Hope you’re having a great Sunday, everyone. Welcome to everyone who subscribed in the last week. Here goes this week’s list.
- Why Calvin and Hobbes is Great Literature - this has been doing the rounds. If you haven’t read yet, do!
- Why Britain Suddenly Has A New Prime Minister, Explained For Americans - on point.
- Thumb Suckers Anonymous - on the benefits of thumb-sucking: “It’s legal, free, instantly calming, aids in sleep and concentration, is quiet, drug- and calorie-free, non-intrusive, has benefits similar to meditation, and more.” And I would add, for me, it tends to stop time.
- Pokémon puns - BuzzFeed claims these will make you LOL. Open at your own risk.
- Sixty-five years later, we still don’t get ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ and Holden Caulfield - I couldn’t finish the book myself, it seemed too whimsical and shallow. Maybe that was the point? This piece makes a case for me to go back and finish Catcher today.
- Office Hours with George Saunders - a (short) video interview of one of my favourite storytellers, George Saunders. If you haven’t read his short story The Semplica-Girl Diaries, go read now!
- While we’re on the topic of short stories, here’s a great one I just read. Funes the Memorious, by Borges. Apologies for the bad pdf on the internet, couldn’t find a better version. It’s about a man who suffers an injury to the head and then starts to remember everything. Fascinating. If you have any good short stories to share, just reply to this email. Would love to read, and maybe share next week!
- Werner Herzog’s AMA - Don’t know too much about Herzog, but loved reading this thread anyway. Full of gems, like this
“Now, for me as a young German filmmaker, growing up I was raised in a generation after the Second World War. We had no father figures. Our cinema fathers and our real fathers were all caught in the barbarism of the Nazi regime, and the best ones either were murdered or they were exiled, and Murnau was one of those. And I had the feeling, since we had no fathers and since we were orphans, I was an orphan in the flow of cultural history in Germany. There was something interrupted, and that was barbarism. I wanted to connect to the generation of the grandfathers. And for me having connected with the film, Nosferatu, I had the feeling all of the sudden that I had solid ground under my feet. This is why I feel thankful now of anything connecting, I’m going to do alright.” - Bosch’s Owls - Delightful case study of owls in Hieronymus Bosch’s work. Read even if you’re not into art and the like. Owls owls everywhere.
“In the bird that sees clearly in the dark when all others are blind, and when it is hunted has the good sense and the caution to remain hidden all day, the Greeks saw a symbol in which were united the three qualities of wisdom, knowledge, and Prudence.” - A wonderfully written science piece on two women with the same genetic disorder, one who’s an Olympic-medal winning athlete, the other barely able to support her own body. Gripping read. Here it is.
- While we’re at science pieces, here’s another great one about Walter Pitts, an unsung hero of the cybernetic revolution. The Man who tried to redeem the world with logic.
Hmm, that’s it for this week. Feedback always welcome, and if you come across anything that you think is worth sharing, reply to this mail! Cheers, and have a great Sunday!
PS. I have a lot more to share, but bringing it down to the top 10/11. More would be overwhelming, I think. Any thoughts?