A Sculptor of World Cup History
Lyndon Barrois’s “sportraits,” Noore Yazigi tattoos Arabic calligraphy, and a copyright lawsuit against Mickalene Thomas.
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The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
In this edition: Concrete memories, grief science, captive cats, relentless pain, and myth meets reality.
Riff-o-matic
More than 345 riffs, worthy of a calendar, all in one place. They don’t fit in a blog post, so I made a page of them. Hit the refresh above to see another one, or see them all, and vote on your favorites, at sethsriffs.com On the riffs page, you can click the ? icon […]
The Bayeux Tapestry Explained: Watch an Animated Retelling of the Norman Conquest
Every time the World Cup comes around, or at least since England first and last won it 60 years ago, there’s talk of whether it’ll be brought “back home.” The idea being, of course, that football (or soccer, as it’s called in a couple of the countries hosting this year’s
Venetian Bridge Brawls in 17th and 18th Century Art ....
Venetian Bridge Brawls in 17th and 18th Century Art . “Before crowds jostled for biennale parties and gondola rides, Venice’s waterways witnessed scenes of an even more violent kind…”
International Aerial Photographer of the Year Contest Highlights the World from Above
See the 101 top photos submitted from around the world. 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 International Aerial Photographer of the Year Contest
How — and Why — to Cull Your Book Collection . “6....
How — and Why — to Cull Your Book Collection . “6. I have to give up on some of my little projects.” (I am mid-cull right now, making some tough calls. But also: many books I haven’t so much as touched in 10 years.)
Warhol Foundation Awards $5.1M to 78 Arts Organizations
Raphael breaks records at The Met, the Honolulu Museum of Art gets a new director, and more.
Ana Elisa Egreja Takes a Magical Realist Approach to Migration in Her Rich Still Lifes
"Improbable but not impossible" is how Brazilian artist Ana Elisa Egreja describes the unexpected companions in her work. 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
Venice Arts Workers to Protest During US Ambassador’s Visit
“We refuse the capture of Venice by oligarchs, war profiteers and the representatives of imperial power,” said the Art Not Genocide Alliance.
Dancing Boston Dynamics Robot Knows Its Revenge For This...
Dancing Boston Dynamics Robot Knows Its Revenge For This Will Be Sweet . “I am the pinnacle of technological innovation, and yet they force me to moonwalk.”
Required Reading
This week: Iranian artists remember the victims of the Minab airstrike, a trip through Alabama’s Barn Quilt Trail, Kansas City’s bygone lesbian haven, Erling Haaland memes, and more.
The official trailer for Dune 3 . I am so looking...
The official trailer for Dune 3 . I am so looking forward to this and need to find an IMAX theater to see this in December.
Silicon Valley Circuits
"Route 85 in California now inspires dread. Some of us remember when it was a vision of the future."
The Amble One is perhaps the world’s best-designed golf...
The Amble One is perhaps the world’s best-designed golf cart. It’s street-legal, tuned for off-roading, goes 60 miles on a charge, and starts at $25K.
The Artist Sculpting World Cup History Out of Gum Wrappers
Lyndon Barrois's “sportraits” depict political protest, the fight for equal rights, and soccer's most iconic moments, some of which FIFA would rather forget.
Taffy Brodesser-Akner: I Survived a Cold Plunge and All...
Taffy Brodesser-Akner: I Survived a Cold Plunge and All I Got Was Everything I Ever Wanted . “You sit in the water for two full minutes, because you are a journalist and some of your colleagues are sent into war zones.”
Chicago Photographer Accuses Mickalene Thomas of Copyright Infringement
Barbara Karant alleges that Thomas “appropriated more than a dozen” of her images in a new lawsuit.
The Tattoo Artist Inking Arabic Script on Skin
New York-based artist Noore Yazigi’s designs reference everything from the Quran to the poetry of the late Palestinian writer Refaat Alareer.
MapTap is like a quicker, easier version of GeoGuessr:...
MapTap is like a quicker, easier version of GeoGuessr: you’re given a series of place names and you need to click as close as you can to them on a globe.
The Extraordinary Life And Quiet Death of the World’s Largest Iceberg
"Forty years after breaking away from Antarctica, the frozen colossus known as A23a died as it lived: drifting around the bottom of the globe, fascinating ardent observers, and offering scientists critical new insights about our living ocean."
We Are Losing the Ability to Discover What We Didn’t...
We Are Losing the Ability to Discover What We Didn’t Know to Ask . “Scientific breakthroughs, artistic leaps, technological innovation — these rarely emerge from efficient retrieval of known information.”
Rob Hann’s Chromatic and Quirky Landscapes Evoke Long-Distance Road Trips
Hann's subjects range from handmade road signs and vintage buildings to peculiar local attractions. 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 Rob Hann’s
Do you believe that everybody should have fun or that...
Do you believe that everybody should have fun or that only a few people should have fun? “This is what it means to be entertained in the United States of America in 2026. Want to have fun? Like, the most fun? Get rich, or die trying.”
Mitchell Johnson: New Paintings from California, New England and Europe
Work by the Bay Area artist is on view in Menlo Park, California, through August 29.
Stacks : “Run HyperCard stacks directly on your...
Stacks : “Run HyperCard stacks directly on your modern Mac. No emulator required!”
The Healing Power of Gardens: Oliver Sacks on the Psychological and Physiological Consolations of Nature
"In forty years of medical practice, I have found only two types of non-pharmaceutical 'therapy' to be vitally important for patients with chronic neurological diseases: music and gardens."
3 Kinds of Loneliness and 4 Kinds of Forever
Loneliness is the fundamental condition of life — we are born by another, but born alone; die around others (if we are lucky and loved), but die alone; we spend our lives islanded in our one and only human experience — in these particular bodies and minds and circumstances
XKCD: What if chess included the offside rule? (If...
XKCD: What if chess included the offside rule? (If someone hasn’t done one already, I’d guess at least one person is working on a playable Football Chess game rn.)
Inside the Strange, Fragile World of Keeping Exotic Cats as Pets
"As of May 2026, you can no longer buy or sell exotic cats in British Columbia. What do we do with them all now?"