The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Recommending excellent stories from Lewis Hyde, Reeves Wiedeman, Sam Myers, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and David W. Brown.
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Memories without brains
Certain slime moulds can make decisions, solve mazes and remember things. What can we learn from the blob? - by Matthew Sims Read at Aeon
The World’s Oldest Cookbook: Discover 4,000-Year-Old Recipes from Ancient Babylon
If asked about your favorite dish, you’d do well to name something exotic. Gone are the days when a taste for the likes of Italian, Mexican, or Chinese cuisine could qualify you as an adventurous eater. Even expeditions to the very edges of the menus at Peruvian, Ethiopian, or
Agency and contribution
What’s possible and what’s required? It’s still surprising to me that some of these ideas aren’t widely held, because they seem so clear to me: Skill is a choice. Talent is overrated, and if we choose to get better at something, we probably can. Responsibility is a privilege.
The Best Stunts of All Time, Over Nearly 100 Years of the...
The Best Stunts of All Time, Over Nearly 100 Years of the Oscars . Buster Keaton, King Kong, Errol Flynn, Ben-Hur, Bullitt, Smokey and the Bandit, Top Gun, Speed, The Matrix, Kill Bill, Unstoppable, Mission Impossible, etc. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
When the Klan Got Kicked Out of Town. “More than 500 Lumbee...
When the Klan Got Kicked Out of Town . “More than 500 Lumbee men and women showed up, many of whom were war veterans. Some came with shotguns. Some came with baseball bats.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
The Art of Roland-Garros. Each year since 1980, the French Open has...
The Art of Roland-Garros . Each year since 1980, the French Open has selected an artist to make an official poster for the tournament; this site displays all of the posters from 1980 to 2025. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
What Were Federal Agents Doing at a Puerto Rican Museum in Chicago?
The museum described the surprise visit as a “targeted” attempt to intimidate staff and patrons ahead of a lineup of Latine cultural celebrations.
Required Reading
This week: Houston’s legendary muralist, the history of slo-mo in film, NYC art schools see an increase in applicants, whales speak with bubbles, Moo Deng turns one, and much more.
Shortlist for the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2025 Competition
In looking over the shortlist for the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2025 competition , I thought about how I’ve seen thousands or even tens of thousands of incredible astronomical images and yet there are always new, mind-blowing things to see. Like this 500,000-km Solar
A View From the Easel
“I’m drawn to how things fold, hold, or blur together.”
The Pliable Philosophy of Brazilian Geometric Art
An exhibition emphasizes the fluidity between Brazil’s Constructivist, Concrete, and Neo-Concrete movements.
Unity and Resilience Flow Through Taquen’s Gestural Compositions
In a recent excursion, the artist traveled to Africa to participate in the Sahara Marathon. 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 Unity and Resilience
Archaeologists Reconstruct Ancient Roman “Jigsaw Puzzle”
The thousands of fragments once formed an enormous fresco that decorated around 20 walls in a building in central London.
New Sphere-Packing Record Stems From an Unexpected Source. “Sometimes all a sticky...
New Sphere-Packing Record Stems From an Unexpected Source . “Sometimes all a sticky problem needs is a few fresh ideas, and venturing outside one’s immediate field can be rewarding.” I love reading about science/math breakthroughs… 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
No One Else Has a Bike Like Mine. “The most elaborately decorated...
No One Else Has a Bike Like Mine . “The most elaborately decorated e-bikes often include colorful adhesive ribbons wrapped around the posts, seat tube and headset, spoke covers and LED lights…” How NYC delivery folks trick out their bikes. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
Why Take a Selfie in 2025?
It’s been a decade since selfies took over the internet. While it’s clear that they’re here to stay, the way we take and post them has drastically shifted.
A Dance and Film Series Choreographs Five Poetic Approaches to Beginning Again
A five-part series confronts the inevitability of change through poetic, if not dizzying movement. 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 A Dance and Film
The Bayeux Tapestry is returning to the UK for the first time...
The Bayeux Tapestry is returning to the UK for the first time in more than 900 years . “The huge embroidery - which is widely believed to have been created in Kent - will go on display at the British Museum in London next year.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
Mitchell Johnson Exhibits New Paris Paintings
With a focus on Parisian views and architecture, the artist’s new series is on view in Menlo Park, California, through August 26.
A New Genetic Map of Human Disease for the Past 37,000 Years
Carl Zimmer writes about the results of a new genetic study of humans and the diseases that afflicted us over the past 37,000 years . It’s a really fascinating read — in part because of how scientific results can defy our expectations. For instance, the researchers expected to
The Menagerie Lurking in Rural America
"Not far from my Ohio hometown, a notorious tragedy shook America. Years later, its legacy lives and breathes—and occasionally runs away."
Craig Mod: Overtourism in Japan, and How it Hurts Small Businesses. When...
Craig Mod: Overtourism in Japan, and How it Hurts Small Businesses . When your bar gets TikToked: “The only reason he opened the bar, he said, was so locals and friends like her would come. Now, all he had were customers he couldn’t talk to.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
Becoming Earth
"But here the line is blurred. In the afterlife of cedars, nothing is ever dead."
“Lately, it has been difficult to ignore a tendency at the NY...
“Lately, it has been difficult to ignore a tendency at the NY Times to make astonishingly bad news judgments. As Republicans increasingly circulate insane conspiracy theories and racist nonsense, the cult of centrism has taken a self-destructive turn .”
What If You Replaced the Moon With a Black Hole?
A question from a viewer of XKCD’s What If? series: “What would happen if the Moon were replaced with an equivalently-massed black hole? And what would a lunar (“holar”?) eclipse look like?” The answer to the first part of the question is: not that much. But the explanation of
When Moderation Becomes Appeasement. “Because reactionary centrists do not really have values,...
When Moderation Becomes Appeasement . “Because reactionary centrists do not really have values, they struggle to understand the motivations of those who do.”
4.6 Billion Years On, the Sun Is Having a Moment. “Instead of...
4.6 Billion Years On, the Sun Is Having a Moment . “Instead of relying on scattered deposits of fossil fuel — the control of which has largely defined geopolitics — we are moving rapidly toward a reliance on diffuse but ubiquitous sources of supply.”
Tenderly Crocheted Sculptures by Caitlin McCormack Contend with Existential Dread
The Philadelphia-based artist channels a nostalgic medium to peer more closely at what we ignore in the present. 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
How to Save a Dog
"For nearly a year, a motley crew scoured New Orleans for a shaggy white mutt named Scrim."
How Superman Became a Character for the Ages
The superhero from Krypton has a forgotten superpower: the ability to connect to people across space and time