Kickoff For October 10, 2022
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Monday Kickoff, a collection of what I’ve found interesting, informative, and insightful on the web over the last seven days.
This time around, nine reads that don’t really fit into any single category but which I think you’ll enjoy.
Let’s get this Monday started with these links:
How to Buy a New Mattress Without a Ph.D. in Chemistry, wherein Patricia Marx looks at modern mattresses and how something as seemingly simple as buying one has become more complex and confusing (and expensive) than it needs to be.
On Marble, wherein Rachel Cush looks at the fabled material and ponders how it can be the symbol and medium for the artist, the dictator, and the exploiter.
My Poison Snake: Erika Kobayashi on Growing Up in a Household of Sherlock Translators, wherein the Japanese novelist recalls her very un-Japanese formative years, when her family home was turned into a shrine of sorts to the fictional detective while her parents translated Sherlock Holmes stories into Japanese.
Love Song to Costco, wherein Yuxi Lin explains how visits to the wholesale giant with her family shaped her early days in the US, and how that helped frame her relationship with her parents.
What Lurks Inside Shipping Containers, wherein we learn about the toxic gases that are pumped into some shipping containers, the lack of warning that regularly accompanies that, and about the dangers of even traces of those gases for dockworkers.
‘Mad’ Mike Hughes’ Last Ride: Inside a Flat-Earther’s Doomed Mission, wherein author Kelly Weill explores the seeming death wishes of some proponents of so-called Flat Earth theory, who intend to risk life and limb to prove that our planet isn’t a sphere.
Shanghai Shelf Life, wherein Mimi Jiang takes us through the immediate aftermath of the city’s 2022 lockdown and how it has affected not just individuals but certain small businesses.
Another Patagonia, wherein Louis Rogers retraces Bruce Chatwin’s journey to the South American region and recounts discovering the tension with your own personal geography.
The Japanese Salaryman Who Quit His Job with Nothing but a Handpan, wherein we learn why former architect Kashiwa Hang, and why he left his career behind to play an obscure musical instrument professionally.
And that’s it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.