The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Trapped in the system. Surgery uncertainty. What school could look like. The universality of loss. And wildlife cams (and those who ovsess over them.)
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Fugitive imagination
Wherever people are confined, displaced, silenced or made disposable, fugitive forms of knowledge and imagination emerge - by Shahram Khosravi Read on Aeon
A Toolkit for a Liberated Art World
Amin Husain and Nitasha Dhillon on Marco Baravalle’s new book, plus Jasmine Wahi on the continued fight for arts and culture after the midterm elections.
One Woman’s Fight to Free Herself From a Mental Hospital
"First there was the cancer, then the devastating breakup, and finally came the breakdown. Millie Kerr sought help at one of America’s top psychiatric institutions. It turned into a nightmare."
Ten minutes a day
You can’t become fluent in a foreign language in ten minutes a day, even if you try for months. On the other hand, here are a dozen things many of us can do (or do better) if we stick with it: Three-ball jugglingTouch typingRubik’s CubeDrawingMental mathMemorizing a deck of
When Animals Were Put on Trial in Medieval Europe
Most of us twenty-first-century urbanites have a fairly sentimental view of farm animals, precisely because so many generations have gone by since they’ve been part of our daily lives. (In South Korea, where I live, the agricultural past remains just within living memory.
European Intellectual History Since Nietzsche: A Free Online Course from Yale
Taught by historian Marci Shore, “European Intellectual History Since Nietzsche” surveys the story of modern thought, from the late 18th century to the late 20th. Along the way, the course explores major trends in modern European thought: Marxism-Leninism, psychoanalysis,
Protesters Urge Steven Spielberg to Boycott MoMA Over Leon Black’s Epstein Ties
Activists rallied at the museum ahead of a benefit for the Debra and Leon Black Family Film Center, decrying the board member’s Epstein connections and his pro-Israel support.
Print Center and Women’s Studio Workshop Name New Leaders
Plus, SITE Santa Fe artists announced, awards for Lorna Simpson and Wolfgang Tillmans, and Penske Media partners with Amazon … because of course.
How to Free the Art World From Its Neoliberal Capture
In “The Battleground of Art,” curator and activist Marco Baravalle dissects the art establishment's co-optation of radical politics and uplifts the stories of collectives that resist it.
How Sky Glabush Conjures Atmospheric Landscapes in Sand and Oil Paint
Sky Glabush identifies the feelings he associates with a particular place and translates that through color and intuitive interpretations of the terrain. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for
After the Midterms, the Real Work for Arts and Culture Begins
Democratic leaders need to understand that cultural funding cannot stop at large museums and institutions; it must reach the people whose labor makes it possible.
Richard Scarry Illustrations Paired With Karl Marx Quotes
Writer and comedian Zach Mander took quotes from Karl Marx and paired them with illustrations from books by Richard Scarry like What Do People Do All Day? and Cars and Trucks and Things That Go. See also Mamdani’s Richard Scarry socialism . Tags: books · illustration
Human Rights Orgs Denounce Egypt's Arrest of Mada Masr Editor Lina Attalah
Attalah was accused of publishing false news and operating without a license amid Egyptian authorities’ extensive crackdown on independent press.
Riding the Rails With America’s Last Train-Hoppers....
Riding the Rails With America’s Last Train-Hoppers . “There are still people today who risk injury and arrest to climb aboard freight trains, still moving through the country in cars designed to carry things rather than people.”
The corkscrew car jump from the Bond film The Man With...
The corkscrew car jump from the Bond film The Man With The Golden Gun was extensively modelled on a computer in 1974 . “McHenry took all the measurements and simulated the stunt using the equations of the 18th-century mathematician Leonhard Euler.”
Peter Morris Architects’ Pastel Pink ‘Cloud House’ Billows in Northwest London
Ten years in the making, "The Cloud House" is a whimsical response to its eclectic neighboring architecture. 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 Peter
“Today’s rich people are richer than ever, and that seems...
“Today’s rich people are richer than ever, and that seems to have made them worse than ever . More shameless. More out of touch. Less empathetic. Thinner-skinned. And…angrier. They’re people who consider equality for others oppression for themselves.”
$160,000 Hans Arp Sculpture Stolen From Art Cologne
“S’élevant (Rising)” (1962) was snatched from Gallery Ludorff's booth on November 8.
Map of New England Places Everybody Pronounces Wrong
As part of the 30 Day Map Challenge , Maxwell Howe created a map of New England places that many out-of-towners mispronounce ( Instagram ). As you would expect when you start talking about local pronunciations and accents, he’s getting some blowback: You’re mixing accent with
How to Hear the Song of Life
“When we have learned how to listen to trees,” Hermann Hesse wrote in one of his least known, most beautiful essays, “then the brevity and the quickness and the childlike hastiness of our thoughts achieve an incomparable joy. Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer
Hiroshi Sato’s Art Against Enshittification
“Insincere ironic detachment is abundant,” the Bay Area artist told Hyperallergic. “What is niche now are sincere depictions of the present.”
Celebrate Indigenous Cinema and Storytelling with Free Films
Available for only two weeks, this curated selection of 14 Indigenous films features stories of resilience, inspiration, and hope.
ShopPurple
Launching today: a collection of hundreds of stores that are worth detouring past Amazon to get to. The stores were nominated by you, the readers of this blog, and are only lightly curated. There’s no business model for the site, just a collective sharing. Click and explore.
Rembrandt’s “Night Watch” Is Alive!
The Dutch masterpiece is teeming with microbes, and scientists hope this invisible life will be a key to unlocking some of the painting’s mysteries.
Starting today at 7pm in NYC, 400 volunteers will read...
Starting today at 7pm in NYC, 400 volunteers will read Robert Caro’s The Power Broker in 10-minute increments for 4 days . They’re gonna livestream it on YouTube .
Get Up-Close to Cells, Ink, and Insects in the Nikon Small World Photomicrography Contest
A big stage for itty bitty subject matter. 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 Get Up-Close to Cells, Ink, and Insects in the Nikon Small World
Place, Personhood, and the Hippocampus: The Fascinating Science of Magnetism, Autonoeic Consciousness, and What Makes Us Who We Are
"Often the places we grow up in... influence how we perceive and conceptualize the world, give us metaphors to live by, and shape the purpose that drives us."
Nope, this is not at all metaphorical: “In its glory...
Nope, this is not at all metaphorical : “In its glory days, the S.S. United States was fast, luxurious and all but indestructible.” RIP, the United States.
My I.R.L. Adventures in the Land of the Eagle Cam
"I traveled to Big Bear Lake, home of a viral live feed of an eagle’s nest, and found very human shenanigans."
Robyn’s Tiny Desk Concert
NPR recently welcomed Swedish pop star Robyn to their office for a Tiny Desk Concert . She sings four songs, including one of her first hits, Show Me Love. Every choice here is a tender one, down to the teardrop glued to her cheek. Every move is confident, yet comes from a