The USPS is honoring longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek with a stamp that cleverly mimics a blue Jeopardy! answer — and the whole sheet of stamps looks like the game board. The text of the answer reads: This naturalized U.S. citizen hosted the quiz show “Jeopardy!” for 37
As part of the effort to incorporate the Negro Leagues into MLB history, MLB held a pair of games at Birmingham, Alabama’s Rickwood Field , “the oldest professional ballpark in the United States and former home of the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues”. During the
Hockley Clarke on his relationship with a blackbird who lived in his garden . “There was perfect trust between us, a source of joy to me, and it must have been a comfort to him. Perhaps birds understand more than we think.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
Ta-Nehisi Coates is coming out with a new book this fall (Oct 1, 2024) called The Message and it sounds really interesting: Ta-Nehisi Coates originally set out to write a book about writing, in the tradition of Orwell’s classic “Politics and the English Language,” but found
Walmart is switching to electronic price tags that “allow employees to change prices as often as every ten seconds”. No one wants this!! No one wants surge pricing on ice cream and price increases on items already in your cart. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
If you were born in the past three or four decades, you may not remember much about the former Eastern Bloc , a group of countries aligned politically and economically with the Soviet Union, or USSR, from 1945 to 1991. The coalition was characterized by its alignment with the
After four years, Roxane Gay signs off from her Work Friend column . I am not an idealist or much of an optimist, but being your Work Friend pushed me in that direction. I want, too. I want a world where we can all live our best professional lives. I want everyone to make a
How do we know how many people died of Covid-19? “After four years and dozens of studies, we know everything we’re going to know about the death toll of the Covid pandemic.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
50 Years Ago in Photos: A Look Back at 1974 . Gas shortages, Hank Aaron, streakers, Skylab, Vietnam, Nixon’s resignation, desegregating schools, gay pride, the Troubles, and the Rumble in the Jungle. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
"A spoiled heir to an auto-dealership empire responded to a threatening text by ordering two murders. Four years and a jury trial later, what motivated his ruinous decision remains a mystery."
In 1930, Iowa artist Grant Wood painted American Gothic . The models he used for the painting were his sister Nan Wood Graham and his dentist, Byron McKeeby. Here they are next to the painting: Wood made the painting after spotting a small house in Eldon, Iowa: [This is a
"Decades ago, Kris Hansen showed 3M that its PFAS chemicals were in people’s bodies. Her bosses halted her work. As the EPA now forces the removal of the chemicals from drinking water, she wrestles with the secrets that 3M kept from her and the world."
From bright yarns, pony beads, and cowry shells, artist and activist Xenobia Bailey hand-crochets elaborate shooting stars, suspended shelters, and sacred forms. Wall works and standalone sculptures incorporate the artist’s signature use of crochet into vibrant, sometimes
Featuring stories from Sophie Vershbow, Sharon Lerner, Geoffrey Gray, Christopher Solomon, and Abe Beame.
You might feel you can trust your gut to tell right from wrong, but the friction of social change shows that you can’t - by Daniel Kelly & Evan Westra Read at Aeon
The Carnegie Hall YouTube Channel sets the scene: On January 28, 2023, pianist Yuja Wang joined The Philadelphia Orchestra and conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin at Carnegie Hall for a once-in-a-lifetime, all-Rachmaninoff marathon that featured the composer’s four piano concertos
When the telephone began to gain traction, the monopoly of the time, Western Union, decided to get even better at sending telegrams.
It doesn’t take an expert in the field to know that, around the world, there is much disagreement on the subject of religion. But as explained in the UsefulCharts video above by Matt Baker, whose PhD in Religious Studies makes him an expert in the field, every source does agree