Some Deep Thinking

Matthew Engelke, How to Think Like an Anthropologist, is a very good introduction to exactly what the title promises


If you’re from Czechoslovakia, and you’re over 50, there are jokes about Stalin you'll never forget

In case you are looking for something to cook this weekend, the 1878 “Jam Bolaya” recipe, lacking sausage, is….

“Have the lard hot, put in flour, cook to a light brown, with a medium-sized onion. Take the giblets, neck, small part of the wings and feet of your chicken, and put in the lard; add half a cup of prepared tomatoes, two dozen oysters, with their liquor, pepper and salt to taste; put in nearly a pint of rice, one table-spoonful of butter, stir frequently when nearly done, set back on the stove and let steam.”

MICHAEL WALSH: Who Loves a Parade? “We don’t want to be the Soviet Union. But neither do we want to be France.”

IMPRESSIVE. MOST IMPRESSIVE. This is How the World’s Most Covetable Cameras Get Made. “Have you ever wondered what goes into that ‘Handmade in Sweden’ inscription?”

These Australian Bees Have Upped Their Architecture Game and Build Spiral Hives Core77 

PM's office allegedly stepped in to ensure Barnaby Joyce's girlfriend moved from his office

The Psychology Of Midlife Crises

If you’re a jerk, it’s useful to have a midlife crisis; it gives your irresponsible behavior an existential sheen. Almost certainly, the term is overused. … Read More

Published in The New Yorker on 02.03.18

World Bank President Jim Kim arrived promising reform—now he’s cozy with the capitalists.

↩︎ Somatosphere

Carl Zimmer, She Has Her Mother’s Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity.

A DACA Poet Speaks Out: The story behind one Dreamer's life in America and the poetry he has produced.

YOU MEAN TELLING PEOPLE THAT EVERYTHING THAT GOES WRONG IN THEIR LIVES IS SOMEONE ELSE’S FAULT DOESN’T IMPROVE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE.  I AM SO SHOCKED:  An Inside Look at a Social Justice Factory.

These Musical Instruments Are All Made of Ice | Travel | Smithsonian


Feted and then forgotten.Charles Sprawson, the bard of swimming, was hailed for his literary debut. Now he wanders a hospital ward looking for a pool 

Westminster scandal: Report shows one in five people in Parliament have experienced sexual harassment Independent

China’s Surveillance State Should Scare Everyone Atlantic 

The Four Tribes Of Art Collectors

"The most enjoyable part of leading the art division of a private bank is working with the great characters of the art market. In my experience, serious collectors tend to fall into one of four 'tribes,' each with their own behaviors, insecurities, strengths, and motivations for seeking, acquiring, and appreciating art." Herewith, Evan Beard of Bank of America taxonomizes The Connoisseur, The Enterprising Collector, The Aesthete, and The Trophy Hunter. …Read More

How To Diversify Your Museum? Here’s What Works

Whose point of view are art museums in the business of representing? As one interviewee at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) succinctly put it, if you have a diverse curatorial staff, you curate differently. … Read More

Some Deep Thinking About What Enjoyment Is

Philosophers have puzzled over the question of what enjoyment is, proposing competing accounts of pleasure, but we can take a straightforward view that enjoyment is a distinctive state of finding an experience pleasurable. The hallmark feature of pleasure, in turn, is its feel-good quality. An enjoyable experience feels good. And it can be distinguished thus from a painful one, which feels bad. Does then the transitory nature of enjoyment undermine its worth? Or might that very brevity of enjoyment be part of its importance in human life? … Read More

A Rare John Coltrane Vinyl Recording Selling For $19,000?

A Love Supreme is widely lauded as a high water mark of the genre. The test pressing is in VG condition, exists in a generic sleeve, and has a Van Gelder Stamp on both sides of the vinyl. …Read More

Today’s Bands Making It By Playing More, Smaller Markets

“If you’re only playing 10 or 12 or 15 markets, and touring is the income-generator, there’s a real temptation to play markets too often. It’s a real tough balancing act between playing often enough in the same market, or market area, and playing too much.” … Read More

 Data is the new lifeblood of capitalism – don’t hand corporate America control Guardian

The Amazon worker: paid £18,000 a year to shift 250 items an hour Guardian (JT McPhee).

There Are 2 Vacant Investor-Owned Homes for Every Homeless Person in America GritPost

Commentary: There Are Still 40 Million Slaves Worldwide. How Can We Free Them? Fortune

Liberalism is the most successful idea of the past 400 yearsThe Economist

My Inheritance Was My Father’s Last Lesson To Me And I Am Still Learning It Buzzfeed

What Is The Last Question? The Edge

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