I read a BuzzFeed article about virality and go on a rant about the creator economy. PornHub has a new campaign to help bolster museum tourism. And we may have found a fingerprint from Michelangelo… on a statue’s butt. Sponsor: Green Chef, go to GreenChef.com/kottke100 and use code kottke100 to get $100 off including free shipping Links: His Video Got 75 Million Views But He Didn't Make A Cent (BuzzFeed News) I took Pornhub’s tour of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s nudes (Input Mag) Classic Nud...
Jul 30, 2021•17 min
Why it could take you months to get a new sofa. Kids are trying to get out of class by using soda to fake positive COVID tests. And how to reinvigorate your health with a “microadventure.” Sponsor: Green Chef, go to GreenChef.com/kottke100 and use code kottke100 to get $100 off including free shipping Links: The reason there's a furniture shortage (sorry, couch and table buyers). (Slate) COVID-19: kids are using soft drinks to fake positive tests – I've worked out the science and how to spot it ...
Jul 29, 2021•16 min
How a task force prevented the COVID-19 vaccines from being hacked because, yes, that was a real and valid concern. Plus, the sometimes controversial history of timekeeping at the Olympics and the AI-based innovations introduced this year. And, how the garbage industry is a lucrative one in the US because of course. Sponsor: Green Chef, go to GreenChef.com/kottke100 and use code kottke100 to get $100 off including free shipping Links: The COVID-19 vaccines weren’t hacked — this task force is one...
Jul 28, 2021•17 min
The history and future of billboard advertising. The surprisingly big challenge of recycling bowling balls. And the YouTube Creator who just got hired by Lucasfilm. Sponsor: Green Chef, go to GreenChef.com/kottke100 and use code kottke100 to get $100 off including free shipping Links: Billboard History: How Outdoor Advertising Came to Cover the Landscape (Tedium) Ford Wants to Bring Billboards Inside Your Car, Beamed to the Dashboard Screen (Motor Trend) Giant cat on 3D illusion jumbo display in...
Jul 27, 2021•18 min
A look back at when the Olympics used to give out medals in artistic categories, including the designing of Olympic medals, and the case for why they should bring that back this year in particular. Plus, some more background on how the wildfires on the west coast of Canada and the US are affecting weather and health all the way in New York City and beyond. And, the Cleveland baseball team has officially changed their name––something they used to do quite a bit around the turn of the century. Spo...
Jul 26, 2021•22 min
Rounding errors may cause winners to become losers and losers winners, Bezos and James Webb both fall to Earth, and beyond lobster shortages, now crabs. Links: The floating point: Rounding error in timing devices (American Journal of Physics) Apple’s weather app won’t say it’s 69 degrees (The Verge) Progressives call out Jeff Bezos’s space flight as “self-indulgent” and renew calls for wealth tax (CNN) NASA investigates renaming James Webb telescope after anti-LGBT+ claims (Nature) Consider the ...
Jul 23, 2021•21 min
Your payments for dog walking and, er, “love hotels” via Venmo are now no longer subject to global scrutiny, neutron stars have wee tiny mountains, smaller than predicted, pool parties by the hour via Swimply, and former Colombian guerrillas tour you through the beauty of the jungle they still inhabit. Links: Venmo drops the global social feed that could make your payments visible to strangers (The Verge) The Venmo App You Know and Love Now Has a New Look and Feel (PayPal Newsroom) Venmo payment...
Jul 22, 2021•18 min
How did paper sizes fall into their century-long groove, how low-wage workers seem to have the upper hand in the job market despite pandemic job losses, and the very newest, freshest words are in. Links: The Reason Why a Standard Piece of Paper Is 8.5 Inches by 11 Inches (Mental Floss) Grandma’s Cooking Secret (Snopes) Who decided our paper should measure 8.5” x 11”? (International Paper Company) Library of Congress Bibles Collection (Library of Congress) The Article About Paper Sizes You Didn’t...
Jul 21, 2021•19 min
Was the Chinese seed scare of mid-2020 just a matter of delayed orders and pandemic memory? The Ever Green clogging the Suez Canal is probably a sign of things to come, not a one-off accident. And Wally Funk returns from space—oh, also, Jeff Bezos was there and he gave a bunch of money to the Smithsonian. Links: 2016 clown sightings (Wikipedia) Invasion of the Clowns (New York Times) The Truth Behind the Amazon Mystery Seeds (The Atlantic) What Changes to the Universal Postal Union Treaty Mean f...
Jul 20, 2021•21 min
Coca-Cola brings your dead taste buds back to life with a new Coke Zero formulation that probably definitely certainly won’t produce a New Coke outrage, Olympic athletes can perform team gymnastics on the beds provided in Japan, and how to watch Jeff Bezos fly into space with all his money. All that and duck-tape fashion. Links: Coca-Cola Is Changing the Flavor of a Soda. Again. (New York Times) The Story of One of the Most Memorable Marketing Blunders Ever (Coca-Cola Company) Don Keough Speech ...
Jul 19, 2021•17 min
The flood of robocalls may soon abate due to a technology named after James Bond’s martini instructions to bartenders, an ethical debate over whether we can revive the dead’s voices to simulate what they said or wrote in life after a documentary filmmaker deep-faked Anthony Bourdain, and dropping fish from planes, Among Us in Irish, and the Hubble, rebooted. Sponsors: Indeed, Get a free $75 credit at Indeed.com/goodnews Credit Karma, creditkarma.com/podcast Links: How Do You Stop Robocalls? (New...
Jul 16, 2021•17 min
It’s not mind reading, but a man’s ability to convey words is partially restored through electrodes and machine learning; NASA carefully prepares to press Control-Alt-Delete on the Hubble Space Telescope; look to the skies, the Perseids are coming; inexplicable black ice worms emerge by the billions from glaciers; and happy 22nd birthday, MetaFilter. Sponsors: Credit Karma, creditkarma.com/podcast Indeed, Get a free $75 credit at Indeed.com/goodnews Links: Tapping into the Brain to Help a Paraly...
Jul 15, 2021•18 min
It’s all greeked to me, some new history about the old text “lorem ipsum”; Europa may hide its secrets more deeply than previously thought; and a man happily discovers 160 bowling bowls under his house. Sponsors: Indeed, Get a free $75 credit at Indeed.com/goodnews Credit Karma, creditkarma.com/podcast Links: Lorem Ipsum: Filler Fail, Killer Tale (Antigone) De finibus bonorum et malorum (Internet Archive) Description of the “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet” text that appears in Word Help (Microsoft S...
Jul 14, 2021•18 min
Archeologists dig up a massive cache of 15th century metal printing type in South Korea, a baby beaver is born in Exmoor, what if ice cream but also macaroni and cheese, a video-game breaks records and may indicate a sales bubble, and Nic Cage’s Pig: probably good? Sponsors: Credit Karma, creditkarma.com/podcast Indeed, Get a free $75 credit at Indeed.com/goodnews Links: Earliest Hangeul metal movable type blocks excavated in Seoul (Korea Times) Goryeo Metal Type (918–1392 era) (National Museum ...
Jul 13, 2021•18 min
Houseplants became Instagram models in 2020 driving sales up by billions and overwhelming mail-order and garden-supply stores; we know a lot more about the bulbous shape of the sun’s shield against the ravages of the interstellar medium due to data gathered over a decade; and creators learn more about reclaiming their copyright after decades have passed. Sponsors: Indeed, Get a free $75 credit at Indeed.com/goodnews Credit Karma, creditkarma.com/podcast Links: How the Pandemic Has Changed the Ho...
Jul 12, 2021•19 min
New findings in the debate about whether the dinosaurs were actually already in a sharp decline before the asteroid hit the Earth. A rumination on private ownership and how, by 2030, we might not own anything at all, just subscribe to services. And an upcoming Pride and Prejudice-themed reality dating show. Links: Scientists propose wild new theory for what originally killed the dinosaurs (Inverse) Dinosaurs May Have Been Declining Before the Asteroid Struck Earth (Smithsonian Mag) Dinosaurs wer...
Jul 08, 2021•19 min
Could lead poisoning have led to the fall of Rome? The Australian craft brewery using algae to offset their carbon emissions. And Moderna has started human trials of their mRNA flu vaccine. Sponsor: Credit Karma, creditkarma.com/podcast Links: The White House killed William Henry Harrison (Washington Post) How Lead (Maybe?) Caused the Downfall of the Roman Empire (Reactions, YouTube) Did lead poisoning cause downfall of Roman Empire? The jury is still out (Ars Technica) Why ancient Rome kept cho...
Jul 07, 2021•19 min
Why do we have a five-day work week and could changes from the pandemic be enough to finally implement the long held fantasy of the four-day work week? Are we looking at a passwordless login landscape in our near future? And vinyl is more popular than CDs, but could disruptions to supply and demand change that? Sponsor: Credit Karma, creditkarma.com/podcast Links: Will the post-Covid world include a 4-day workweek? As Kickstarter tests it out, some predict it will catch on (CNBC) Iceland ran the...
Jul 06, 2021•19 min
The restaurant that inspired Taco Bell, its larger legacy, and the question of authenticity. Plus, the new species of beetle that was discovered in some fossilized dinosaur dung. And the communities of people who devote their time to uncovering the mystery of dogman. Sponsor: Credit Karma, creditkarma.com/podcast Links: How Taco Bell 'stole' the taco (BBC) Newsletter: The best thing our restaurant critic ate this summer (LA Times) Perspective | I’m from a Mexican family. Stop expecting me to eat...
Jul 02, 2021•18 min
This week has proven we need air conditioners more than ever, but we also need them to be better than ever. Here are some of the innovations being considered. Plus, one of the women from the secret Mercury 13 program at 1960s NASA is finally getting the chance to go to space this month. And the UAE’s Hope orbiter on Mars has picked up something scientists have never before been able to capture on the red planet. Sponsor: Credit Karma, creditkarma.com/podcast Links: How to Prevent Air Conditioner...
Jul 01, 2021•19 min
What’s with the on-going trend of horror films and TV shows being set in the 1980s? Is sunscreen worse in the United States compared to Europe? And one of the sports returning to the Olympics next month has a deadly precedent. Sponsor: Credit Karma, creditkarma.com/podcast Links: Screams, slashers and Thatcher: why horror films are going back to the 80s (The Guardian) Why So Many Modern Horror Movies Are Set In The 1980s (Screen Rant) Are European Sunscreens Better Than Those in the U.S.? (Disco...
Jun 30, 2021•17 min
Why exactly were McDonald’s french fries so good back in the day? Why did they change and can the secret original recipe be recreated? Plus, a new sort of post-post-punk subgenre is emerging in the post-Brexit United Kingdom. And, a completely pointless but wonderful website I discovered last week. Links: My Hunt for the Original McDonald's French-Fry Recipe (Atlas Obscura) McMenu Grinding It Out by Ray Kroc (Internet Archive) The New Wave Of Post-Brexit Post-Punk, From Dry Cleaning To Squid (NP...
Jun 29, 2021•20 min
As promised on Friday, more information on the so-called Dragon Man––the recently unveiled 140,000-year-old skull that may be a new species of extinct human. The science behind why all your in-person coffee dates since reopening have been so awkward. And a first-of-its-kind study puts a number on the nonbinary population in the US. Links: Discovery of ‘Dragon Man’ Skull in China May Add Species to Human Family Tree (NY Times) Move Over Neanderthals, Newly Discovered ‘Dragon Man’ Might Be Our Tru...
Jun 28, 2021•19 min
Researchers have found evidence of a coronavirus epidemic from 20,000 years ago. A new blood test that can detect fifty different types of cancer. And what the lowercase “i” in Apple products stands for and why they stopped using it. Links: A Coronavirus Epidemic Hit 20,000 Years Ago, New Study Finds (NY Times) 20,000 years of coronaviruses (and counting) (Cosmos Magazine) A Coronavirus Epidemic Hit Humanity 20,000 Years Ago, DNA Study Reveals (Science Alert) Blood test that finds 50 types of ca...
Jun 25, 2021•20 min
The growing attempts to put flavor back into our produce because, yes, apparently it left. An update on the lumber industry and what it could mean for the economy overall. And the surprisingly strange things astronauts have done with their dirty laundry, plus the introduction of NASA Tide. Links: How farmers and scientists are engineering your food (BBC) Lumber Prices Are Falling Fast, Turning Hoarders Into Sellers (Wall Street Journal) Lumber price decline supports Powell's view that inflation ...
Jun 24, 2021•17 min
A very big and very strange comet-ish object has entered our solar system. Some tips to help your body recover from a year of virtual learning, working, and socializing. And the two badass twelve-year-old girls going to the Tokyo Olympics for skateboarding. Links: A huge comet called 2014 UN271 is heading toward the Sun (Syfy’s Bad Astronomy) Visitor From Oort Cloud Could Be Among the Largest Comets Ever Documented (Gizmodo) Unexpected Minor Planet to Visit the Inner Solar System Soon (Kottke) E...
Jun 23, 2021•17 min
How a single-celled yellow slime is changing the way scientists think about intelligence. A new upcycled food label that would let you know when your food has been made with food scraps that would’ve otherwise gone to waste. And everything you need to know about this week’s Strawberry Supermoon. Links: This Weirdly Smart, Creeping Slime Is Redefining Our Understanding of Intelligence (Science Alert) How This Blob Solves Mazes (Wired, YouTube) 'Upcycling' promises to turn food waste into your nex...
Jun 22, 2021•18 min
What will our homes look like in the future and how much has the pandemic shaped that vision? Plus, why are humans so thirsty? And, Brian Eno has found a home for hundreds of his previously unreleased songs. Links: America Should Become a Nation of Renters (Bloomberg) What Will Future Homes Look Like? Filmed in the 1960's - Narrated by Walter Cronkite (16mm Educational Films, YouTube) The New American House - Post-Pandemic Architecture and Design 2021 (Veranda) Human Evolution Led to an Extreme ...
Jun 21, 2021•18 min
A new species of giant rhino might be the largest land mammal that ever walked the earth. Did you know there are probably dinosaur teeth on the moon? For real. The Girl Scouts have millions of leftover cookies and we must do our part by eating as many as we can. And China sent its first crewed mission up to their new space station yesterday. Sponsors: Credit Karma, creditkarma.com/podcast UTEP Connect, Apply at online.utep.edu or call UTEP Connect at 1-800-684-UTEP Links: National Geographic Fos...
Jun 18, 2021•17 min
A ranking of the top ten best places in our solar system to find extraterrestrial life. Plus, you know about the food pyramid, but what about the nature pyramid? Also called the 20-5-3 rule. And, I guess we have to talk about that Jeff-Bezos-Eating-the-Mona-Lisa petition. Sponsors: UTEP Connect, Apply at online.utep.edu or call UTEP Connect at 1-800-684-UTEP Credit Karma, creditkarma.com/podcast Links: The best places to find extraterrestrial life in our solar system, ranked (MIT Tech Review) Al...
Jun 17, 2021•20 min
