“How did medieval French handwriting become ‘the Nazi font?’ And why did Hitler make it illegal?” TIL that Hitler gave a speech to the Reichstag about how much he disliked blackletter fonts. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
Do you remember Oddpost? It was an early email web app that used dynamic HTML to mimic the design and functionality of a desktop mail app, 2 years before Gmail launched. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
Tinder Hasn’t Worked, So I’m Putting Myself on Zillow . “I realize that my late-’80s construction might not land me in the “trending” section right away…” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
Close-up Photographer of the Year announces the winner of its 7th edition. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article The Forest-Like Interior of Coral Takes
"If Rotten Tomatoes has become a tool of Hollywood’s homogenizing marketing machinery, Letterboxd is something else: a cinephilic hive buzzing with authentic enthusiasm and heterogeneous tastes."
How can art institutions reject corrupt funding, the Washington Post lays off its art critic, art books to read this month, and our weekly community columns.
An age-old debate about human nature is being energised with new findings on the tightrope of cooperation and competition - by Jonathan R Goodman Read on Aeon
The narrative we run in our head is a choice. It might or might not be based on objective reality and verified history. Doesn’t matter, it’s still a choice. There are millions of ways we can remind ourselves about the events of our lives and the systems we live in. But in this
Khipus, the portable information archives created by the Inca, may stir up memories of 1970s macrame with their long strands of intricately knotted, earth-toned fibers, but their function more closely resembled that of a densely plotted computerized spreadsheet. As Cecilia
In this edition: Bezos, paper, scissors; feast or famine; one reason to stay here; any way you slice it; the real Winter Olympics, and more.
“The three volumes of Green’s Dictionary of Slang demonstrate the sheer scope of a lifetime of research by Jonathon Green, the leading slang lexicographer of our time. A remarkable collection of this often reviled but endlessly fascinating area of the English language, it
I’ve always said more popstars should duet with puppets, so Sabrina Carpenter and Kermit the Frog singing Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s ‘Island in a Stream’ as part of The Muppet Show’s latest special is perfect (to me). 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
How do we empower arts leaders to reject funding from corrupt individuals in favor of donors who have proven themselves to be civic leaders?
The London curator is tapped to curate the SITE biennial, Mnuchin Gallery closes, a buyer spends big money on a tiny Michelangelo foot drawing, and other industry news.
Economist Thomas Piketty, writing for Le Monde ( archive ) on the success of Europe’s social democratic model and countering “the narrative of a ‘declining’ continent”: If someone had told the European elites and liberal economists of 1914 that wealth redistribution would one
Professor Walt Hunter on the merits of challenging students: Stop Meeting Students Where They Are . “Whole novels aren’t possible to teach, we are told, because students won’t (or can’t) read them. So why assign them?” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
“Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy” (c. 1625) is the first work by the Italian Baroque artist to enter the institution’s collection.
This week: the art of writing love letters, Black-owned bookstores across history, poets on the Parthenon Marbles, opening a 1926 time capsule, and more.
“We love that we’re able to make art as queer artists inside a church.”
The Mountain That Weighed the Earth . How scientists in 1774 used a Scottish mountain to estimate the mass of the Earth to within 20% of the modern number by measuring the mountain’s gravitational effect on a precision plumb line. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
In addition to his great series Subway Takes , Kareem Rahma does another series called Keep the Meter Running where he hops into NYC cabs, interviews the drivers, and asks them to take him to their favorite places. In the run-up to the NYC mayoral election last year, Rahma
Some cool animations made from Japanese receipts by Michele Merlo . 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
"At 25, I saw my grandfather’s ghost. At 52, I think of what it may mean to be a ghost."