- I will not read your fucking script. Fair enough point I guess, but also oh to have your troubles, right?
- “ The Mongolian locals will try to rip you off in a far more slick and intelligent way than Chinese usually do, so be smart.” Ross’ continuing adventures in deep Asia.
- Beautiful photos of Hindu religious ceremonies.
- Wha, Philadelphia is shutting down its public libraries?! (via)
- The Beatles’ complete recorded output has been remastered and repackaged. Very responsible and predictable reviews at Pitchfork (including a generous helping of 10.0’s), and the expected goofiness from Klosterman (“I arbitrarily decided to give this hippie shit an informal listen. And I gotta admit—I’m impressed.”).
- Exploring the Maunsell Towers, anti-aircraft forts rising out of the ocean off the coast of England, built during WWII.
- What would happen if you put your car in reverse while driving? Probably not much, but do not try it.
- GQ tries to bury a story about Russia.
- A 10-cent increase in cost per gram of ethanol results in a 60% increase in the actual cost of drinks.
- Franklin Einspruch on reasonable Republicans’ disgust with Glenn Beck et al. (chew on this: I have been registered Libertarian for as long as I’ve been registered to vote (although over time my views have gradually leaned more and more liberal)). Also: Franklin’s most beautiful site design in years.
- Beach Boys rehersals, 1967 (only up for a few more days!).
- Ted Talk du jour: Hans Rosling on how a lot of what you know about the world is wrong (and he’s addressing the US State Department!).
Author: Alesh Houdek
Bill Clinton speech before WebTrends
Something is rotten in the state of C-SPAN: I subscribe to C-SPAN’s Podcast of the Week [iTunes link], and yesterday heard a pretty great speech that Bill Clinton gave [mp3] last month to the Netroots convention. Pretty great speech, if only just to hear how well he can hold interest over a near-hour. Thing is, that link goes directly to an mp3, hosted locally at that, because I have no idea what’s going on with C-SPAN’s site. This page refers to the podcast, and as of this moment still links to the audio file, but there is no reference to the speech anywhere else on C-SPAN’s site that I can find, and no permanent link to the podcast item. Pardon me, but this does not seem like the right way to run a service that is the de-facto record of our government’s activities, does it?
What the internet knows about YOU
What the internet knows about YOU — “since the problem isn’t an issue with any particular Web browser, but inherently tied to the way the Web works, there are no quick and painless ways to fix this issue.” (via)
The complete Seinfeld series
If you have any inclination to purchase the complete Seinfeld series (currently: $140), Walter has some thoughts intended to push you over the edge.
Gizmodo’s essential iPhone apps, Fall 2009
Gizmodo’s essential iPhone apps, Fall 2009. I’m not much into iPhone games, but that Star Defense is pretty cool.
To The Best of Our Knowledge
You know how episodes of This American Life are supposed to be based on a theme? But they’re not, right? The “theme” thing is a conceit, and the episodes are really an excercise in tying together the most disparate possible group of stories. It’s pretty fantastic, but what if a radio program picked a theme and really tried to explore and shed some light on that theme. Well, that radio program would be To The Best of Our Knowledge. But TTBook, as it calls itself, is not dry and didactic. It’s every bit as poetic and inspirational as This American Life. It’s contributors have enough Midwestern NPR sincerity make Steve Inskeep sound like Steven Colbert, and they sometimes veer dangerously close to paralyzing self-consciousness, but it’s always in the line of trying to get to the real heart of the issue.
But the best way to explain how great this all is might be to present a few episodes. Almost all of the episodes on the site are in RealAudio(!), so I figured I’d try to make them a little more user-friendly. I’d suggest subscribing to the podcast for future episodes.
The New Abolitionists: There are more human slaves in the world today then at any other time in history. The first interview in this show is with a woman who was abducted from the street in New York, and spent 5 years as a slave. The second, with a journalist who wrote a book on contemporary slavery, is about going to Haiti to purchase a child. Then follows the story of the successful abolitionist movement in Britain, over two hundred years ago, which succeeded — while innovating many of the techniques still used by political activists — because it got the whole of society to care. Finally, looks at a modern-day family’s attempts to come to grips with its slave-trading legacy and an interview with a Nobel Peace Prize winner about the economics of poverty which drive slavery. In one hour, the program explains how slavery works, argues that it can be stopped, and explains how to stop it. mp3 link
Alone Time: The first two segments are the quintessential TTBOOK juxtaposition: an in-depth discussion of the neurological and evolutionary origins and consequences of the cognitive process of loneliness, followed by an interview with a guy who spent a year living in complete isolation in the near-Antarctic part of Chile. Plus songs of loneliness, and a look at how American society is becoming increasingly isolated. mp3 link
David Foster Wallace: Obviously a labor of love for the crew, this posthumous look at DFW’s life and writing includes interviews with book critics, family, editors, and the writer himself (the program interviewed him three times between 1996 and 2004). There are links at the bottom of the page to the full versions of these interviews (recommended!) as well as an excerpt from the famous commencement speech DFW gave at Kenyon College in 2005. mp3 link
Photographed every year
Diego, Susy, and their kids, photographed on June 17th of every year since 1976. (via)
Photographs from Russia from just before the Leninist revolution
A collection of colorized photographs from Russia from just before the Leninist revolution (about 100 years ago). I wish someone would create a slideshow of these returned to black and white — compare the image above to #25 for reference.
The tall bike kids of Yogya
Pivotal points in various figures’ lives
A list of pivotal points in various figures’ lives, ordered by their age at the time. Hank Williams starts drinking liquor at age 9, Grandma Moses has is discovered at 78, has a show at MoMA one year later.