Imagine tossing a coin repeatedly until you get a certain pattern, let’s say HTT (head, tail, tail).
Looking for something to take you away from your phone but tend to get bogged down by long novels? Try a short story! This article from one of my favorite literary sites, Longreads.com, features ten recommended short stories.
One of my favorite movies is Adaptation, in no small part because of the way it cleverly refers to itself. It’s a movie about a movie (actually it’s a movie about a movie about a book). If that doesn’t make sense, try watching it and you’ll see what I mean.
In no particular order, here are the best books I read this past year.
You’re a pharmacist and you’ve just taken delivery of ten bottles of 1,000 pills each. But before you have a chance to put them away, your supplier calls to inform you that, due to a glitch at the factory, one of the ten bottles is tainted.
Try this simple puzzle about the likelihood of gender distribution among four children.
If you’re a Beatles fan you already know this but Peter Jackson just released a new documentary on Disney+ featuring hours of never before seen footage of the Beatles writing and recording material shortly before they broke up.
This short video from Vox reports on a phenomenon I’d not heard about but, as a central London resident, is apparently happening all around me.
This is the most powerful and memorable article I read this week. Ostensibly about the fight over one man’s last request, it speaks to a much larger question.
Check out this fascinating and beautifully produced visual explaination of the wonders of your immune system. You’ll be amazed by the incredible things going on in your body every day, about which you are able to remain blissfully ignorant, unless they stops working.
My Mom was born in 1932.
Which seems an impossibly long time ago,
A time when people existed in black and white,
A time as different as 1960 must seem to my own daughter.
In my younger years I spent a ridiculous amount of time perusing The Book of Lists’ fasinating collections of arcana. I mean, who could possibly resist a list of famous people who died during sexual intercourse?
Part travelogue and part profile in courage, this film tells the story of Aaron Ralph’s insane 2,700-kilometer bikepacking trip from the bottom to the top of the United Kingdom.
Watch this beautifully filmed, intimate conversation between two people from radically different backgrounds, yet strikingly similar experiences, reflecting on their respective journeys.
This poignant tale of grief and recovery is the best article I read this week.
Depending on your risk tolerance, this video will give you either sweaty palms or a vicarious adrenaline rush.
Check out this beautiful and sad original song by Reina Del Cid, performed with fellow musician and youtuber Josh Turner.
Did you know that your eyes can’t properly focus on blue colored objects and your brain compensates for this built-in design problem? This article does a lovely job explaining why.
This beautiful short film tells the unforgettable story about a young man who spent three years living in a tree, along with several associates, to protect a grove of ancient redwood trees.
Check out this beautiful short film showing some of the most dramatic tides in the world on the northwest coast of France.
Peter Jackson’s documentary on the Beatles’ final chapter is due out this Fall. Until then, enjoy this whirlwind tour, courtesy of Google Earth, of notable places in Beatles music.
Twitter’s 280 character limit raises an interesting question: how many tweets are possible before nothing new can be said?
This short video is a fascinating study in the reaction to panic. The subject is virtuoso pianist Maria Joao Pires, who faces a performer’s worst nightmare - she prepared for the wrong piece.
Right now - do you have hundreds or even thousands of emails in your inbox? I hate feeling like my main communication channel is a godawful mess. The good news: the road to gmail bliss is easy, just follow me…
Today you’re going back to school. Imagine you’re standing at one end of a corridor, with exactly 100 lockers all in a row, all of which are initially closed.
Check out this video of street busker Damiyr, working one of the toughest crowds in the world - New York subway commuters. He performs an original interpreation of Asaf Avidan’s “One Day”, when a dancer spontaneously joins in.
I just read this article: Programming is Hard. I agree with several points made therein, but I have a different way of explaining how hard it is to be a programmer. I like to ask, by analogy, how hard is it to learn to play piano?
There’s a worrying social trend in the US that is going largely unnoticed:
Nearly half of middle-class workers may be forced to live on a food budget of as little as five dollars a day when they retire.
