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How the West was fun

Be it movie mythos or nostalgia for a ‘simpler’ time, there’s an undeniable allure in stepping into the American West - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon

Badge vs Scoreboard

Our world is shaped by contagious and competitive games. Along the way, we invent scoreboards that change the culture, and badges that we award to various players. An example: How did we end up with weddings that cost $200,000? It’s a great example of a runway cultural dynamic,

Some Newsletter Tidying

Just a short note to say that because of some internet scammer shithousery, I had to bulk-unsubscribe a bunch of email addresses from the KDO Newsletter subscriber rolls. If you subscribed to the newsletter back in Dec 2025 and don’t get the next issue (which I’m sending out a

Tarot for a Broken World

With some of the oldest surviving tarot decks on view, the Morgan’s exhibition traces how a Renaissance card game became something far more powerful.

Mary Cassatt: The Impressionist Who Painted The Mind

I always learn so much from Evan Puschak’s videos about art. In this one , he takes a look at the work of Mary Cassatt, who, unlike many of her male peers, used the flattened perspective of Impressionism to reveal the thoughts and feelings of her subjects. Like Manet, she’s

KnotChat: Rodrigo Delavina Simon

Who’s it for? This problem you’re solving–is it your problem or are you focused on someone else? I had a conversation with Rodrigo about his restaurant in Mexico: You can have your own conversation with a colleague: find the free tool at: theknot.chat

Dimensional Drawings of Apple Products

So that companies can use them to make accessories like cases and bands, Apple maintains a collection of downloadable dimensional drawings and tech specifications for many of their products, including the iPhone, AirPods, Watch, and iPad. They are beautiful. I love their

How to Hold the Darkness: Notes on Living Through Uncertainty

There are times in life when the continent of certainty parts underfoot and, as the ash cloud of the old world rains darkness upon us, we are asked to swim in the rivers of lava that will make the new. “Almost it would appear that it is useless in such confusion to ask,” wrote