Hello

1. The anxiety of the perfect loaf: the illusion of culinary precision (Iza):

Fun piece about the history of baking (bread, in particular) and how modern “digital-first” baking is introducing somewhat needless anxiety in its quest for precision. I feel this to some extent when I bake: I like recipes, and in particular with bread where I weigh things out specifically, but I also enjoy using recipes as guides.

2. The “Garlic Nerds” Building a Better Allium (Offrange):

Super fun! Garlic, for those who don’t know, is primarily grown via asexual reproduction. Most of us, even those who garden, will rarely see garlic flowers and seeds. There’s a group of people now looking to breed new garlic varieties that aren’t just clones of last year’s crop - and it’s so interesting!

3. Competitive Oyster Shucking Is Real, Decadent, And China’s Best Party (Deadspin):

What a wild read from 2019 - competitive oyster “shucking” is a real thing, which I obviously had no idea about, and China is now the world’s biggest stage for it.

4. the classics, mapped (by Peter Guillam):

Not a longform read, by any means, but a fun exploration of the journeys in the best classic novels.

5. How the Words We Teach English Language Learners Changed (Pudding):

Oooh another data exploration piece - this essay looks at word lists that cover over 90% of general English use, and compares the 1953 list to the 2023 list. Obviously, there are a ton of changes.

6. The remarkable brain of a carpet cleaner who speaks 24 languages (Washington Post):

“In a city where diplomats and embassies abound, where interpreters can command six-figure salaries, where language proficiency is résumé rocket fuel, Vaughn Smith was a savant with a secret.”

7. becoming yourself is a social project (Velvetnoise):

As always, great stuff from Maja of Velvet Noise. I like this a lot - because it’s about how to get the people in your life to help you become yourself. It involves a bunch of things - how to let people know what’s going on, how to ask for help, and how to invoke that vulnerability.

8. Falling: Love and Marriage in a Conservative Indian Family (Blog):

Not sure how I came across this, but it’s a hard-hitting piece about the concept of “arranged marriage” in conservative Indian families. My takeaway was when author’s dad said that Indians don’t “fall” in love, that’s too accidental and only “powerless” Americans do that. What a way to think about things!

9. Bengaluru re-imagined through its incredible water network (Questionofcities):

“Bengaluru’s water woes are not new but, this letter to the city by a hardcore Bengalurean and water expert, is a tender recount of its water network with an appeal to look beyond lakes’ restoration.”

I’m aware I’m somewhat part of the “problem” by living in newer developed parts of Bengaluru myself, and I’m hopeful that eventually the city can regain its water-centricity of earlier. This reminds of Making Indian Cities Habitable that I shared recently.

10. Living In A Lucid Dream (Noema):

What a thing to read - an exploration of what lucid dreams are like, and why you’d go to some extent to experience more of them.