The Monday Kickoff

Start your week with nine curated reads, served fresh each Monday

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.

Let's get this Monday started with these links:

Crooks’ Mistaken Bet on Encrypted Phones, wherein we learn why criminals flock to hardened smartphones and private networks set up to support them, and how law enforcement has been able to penetrate those supposedly impenetrable networks and catch some of those crooks.

Astrophysics and stale beer: What life is like working at the South Pole, wherein we get not only a look at what it's like to work at an Antarctic research station, but also the motivations of some of the people who choose to work there.

Was Modern Art Really a CIA Psy-Op?, wherein Lucie Levin examines the closer-than-expected relationship between the Museum of Modern Art and the intelligence agency, and how art was used to win the hearts and minds of allies and nations sitting the fence during the Cold War.

The Prehistory of Glass Windows, wherein we learn a bit about how windows were made, and how they were viewed, in the time before glass became the material from which windows are made.

One man’s quest to make pickleball quiet, wherein we discover that the popular game is shockingly loud, and the ways in which retired engineer Bob Unetich is trying to dampen the sound of balls against rackets.

We need “good jobs” to restore trust and save capitalism, wherein Zeynep Ton argues that America needs more better-paying, less dehumanizing jobs to not only ensure that workers can support themselves but to also rebuild frayed bonds of trust between workers and employers.

The internet is unusable now, wherein Rachel Cunliffe argues that all of the (bad) things that make up much of the modern web — SEO, popups, overlays, algorithms, and the like — have made finding and engaging with anything online far more difficult than it needs to be.

Japan’s Akiya Houses, wherein Laura Pollacco looks at why there are so many empty houses in the Japanese countryside, and what's involved in buying and renovating one.

Notes on Craft, wherein Natasha Caulder explains how taking up bouldering helped her face and accept any failures she encountered as a writer.

And that's it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.

Scott Nesbitt

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.

Let's get this Monday started with these links:

Have you no shame?, wherein Niloufar Haidari looks at why some people overshare and behave outrageously online, and why that isn't always for the best.

The Two-Century Quest to Quantify Our Senses, wherein we learn about psychophysics and how scientists have tried to understand the mechanisms that underlie our senses and to explain them using data.

The V Files: The Shocking Legacy of an ’80s Sci-Fi Cult Classic, wherein we learn how to original idea for the series V changed from conventional drama to SF, how studio executives ousted the creator and ruined everything, and learn how V's creator is trying to take back the rights to the series.

No cellphone? No problem! The vintage radio enthusiasts prepping for disaster, wherein we learn about modern-day ham radio operators, who see their older technology of choice as a near-perfect way to effectively communicate during a crisis.

Do Animals Get Drunk?, wherein we learn the hows and whys of certain species consume large amounts of alcohol, and about the (believe it or not) evolutionary and nutritional advantages that has given those species.

Banks For The People, wherein Piper French looks at the wave of closures of bank branches in poorer American neighbourhoods, and at a less profit-driven and more community-base alternative.

Madame Mao’s Nietzschean Revolution, wherein Dylan Levi King examines how the German nihilist philosopher, and not Marx or Lenin, informed the revolutionary ideas of China's one-time first lady, and the effects that had on the country's cultural life.

The Long Delay Is Nearly Over, wherein Alex Dubin looks at the history of delays in returning humans to the moon, and why that's starting to change in this decade.

The City That Fell Off a Cliff, wherein Matthew Green introduces us to Dunwich, a once-thriving English port city that succumbed to erosion, and how the ruins of the city gripped the imaginations of artists and writers.

And that's it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.

Scott Nesbitt

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.

Let's get this Monday started with these links:

We’re effectively alone in the Universe, and that’s OK, wherein Paul Sutter explores why we haven't found evidence of other life in the universe, and the implications of that for us.

AI Shouldn’t Decide What’s True, wherein Mark Bailey and Susan Schneider argue that we shouldn't look to AI-powered chatbots to be the arbiters of truth or sources of truth, and discuss the dangers of doing that.

Most humans haven’t evolved to cope with the cold, yet we dominate northern climates – here’s why, wherein Laura Buck and Kyoko Yamaguchi explain how our distant ancestors were able to survive and thrive in regions to which they were physically unsuited.

The Joy of Losing Your Phone, wherein Clare Coffey recalls leaving her smartphone in a taxi while in Mexico and how (in some ways) that was a liberating experience.

Tokyoids: The Aesthetics of Dismemberment in Japan, wherein François Blanciak explains how the idea of fragmentation is an essential part of many aspects of Japan, including aesthetics.

Skeletons in the Dungeon: Conspiracy Theory, Nationalism, and the French Revolution, wherein Nicole Bauer contrasts the climate of paranoia in post-revolution France with today's world, and find more than a few familiar parallels.

Noise Is All around Us—and It’s Affecting You More than You Think, wherein Bojan Furst looks at the impacts and effects that noise has on the well being of humans and animals, and what can (and should) be done about it.

My Mother, the Poker Shark, wherein Ian Frisch recounts how his mother, having to resort to whatever means she could to support the family, turned to playing competitive poker full time to pay the bills.

The One Best Way Is a Trap, wherein L.M. Sacasas examines philosopher Jacques Ellul's ideas around technique, and concludes that adopting the so-called one best way to do something is just a way of eliminating our freedom of action.

And that's it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.

Scott Nesbitt

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.

Let's get this Monday started with these links:

Beware a Culture of Busyness, wherein Adam Waytz explains that being busy isn't a measure of creativity or productivity on the part of employees, and offers some advice for reversing the prevailing reverence for busyness into something that actually benefits both employees and employers.

Nixon, NASA, And How The Federal Government Got Design, wherein we learn how, in the 1970s, US government agencies revamped their visual images, and about the bold, radical way in which they did it.

Throngs of Himself, wherein we learn about academic Paul Linebarger, who had an outsized influence on the fields and study of international studies and psychological warfare, and who also wrote pioneering SF under the name Cordwainer Smith.

Japan’s sleepy tech scene is ready for a comeback, wherein Roland Kelts looks at how a core of entrepreneurs are trying to revive their country's long moribund tech and startup scene.

Apollo: How Moon missions changed the modern world, wherein we learn the benefits that those of us here on Earth reaped from NASA's crewed moon missions in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

American Hippopotamus, wherein we learn of a fanciful scheme to import hippos to America and raise them for meat, and how two enemies became allies to try to make the scheme a reality.

The Work of the Audiobook, wherein we learn a bit about what goes into create the spoken version of a tome, from writers adjusting their styles to finding the right narrator to some of the production tricks used.

Why You Can’t Hear TV Dialogue, wherein explores the reasons (some of them technical) many people can't make out what's being said on a TV show. And, no, you're not losing your hearing ...

The Birth of Brainstorming, wherein we learn about Alexander Faickney Osborn, the head of an ad agency who helped pioneer and publicize a method for groups to quickly come up with and develop ideas.

And that's it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.

Scott Nesbitt

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.

Let's get this Monday started with these links:

**The crazy plan to explode a nuclear bomb on the Moon, wherein we visit one of the stranger episodes in the Space Race, sparked by a serious research paper, involving a proposal to put some fear into the Soviets by dropping a hydrogen bomb on the lunar surface.

How Google Docs Proved the Power of Less, wherein we learn how the search engine company's online word processor survived and thrived not by trying to mimic its desktop counterparts, but by being lean and subtracting rather than adding features.

Why willpower is overrated, wherein we discover why some psychologists believe that self control isn't the key to leading a good life, and why it seems like it is.

Bucky Fuller’s Most Complex Invention May Have Been Himself, wherein we learn a bit about the famed inventor, and about the public image he crafted for himself which was, in many was, at odds with his true self.

Why the Floppy Disk Just Won’t Die, wherein we learn why the obsolete storage medium is still in use today, as well as the problem facing those users as supplies of those disks are becoming more and more scarce.

The Merchant, the Marriage, and the Treaty Port: Reassessing Ōura Kei, wherein we learn about the important but little-know titular merchant from Nagasaki, and some of the challenges that she faced as a successful female business person in a very patriarchal society.

The Invention of the Polygraph, and Law Enforcement’s Long Search for a ‘Lie Detector’, wherein we learn about the origins of the polygraph, and how law enforcement first tried to prove that this unlikely contraption worked.

Can We Make Bicycles Sustainable Again?, wherein Kris De Decker looks at how environmentally unfriendly the manufacturing of bikes is, and at some ways in which to make that manufacture more sustainable.

The Sanctions Age, wherein we learn about the effects of unilateral American sanctions on other nations, and about the knock-on effect of some of those sanctions on both countries allied with the US and firms from those countries.

And that's it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.

Scott Nesbitt

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.

New month, but not much else new. That's not necessarily a bad thing. There's nothing wrong with a bit of continuity.

Let's get this Monday started with these links:

Your to-do list is sabotaging your true productivity. Here’s what to do instead, wherein Ayetekin Tank argues that instead of tackling a bunch of small tasks (many of which are not all that important) you should focus on one, big meaningful task.

REGAN Vest: Inside Denmark's secret nuclear bunker, wherein we get a tour of a formerly secret Cold War facility that the Danish government intended to use to ensure continuity of government in the event of a nuclear war.

The Gruesome Ways Volcanoes Kill Fish, wherein we learn what a volcanic eruption does to undersea life, and about what scientists still need to learn about this.

The Modern World Is Aging Your Brain, wherein we learn about studies that compare brain ageing of people in industrial and non-industrial societies and the (maybe not) surprising results so far.

Domicide, wherein Regan Good takes us on a tour of several neolithic Turkish sites, which were large complexes of buildings that someones deliberately buried.

Channel None, wherein we learn about a news channel that was created for, and piped directly, to schools in the US but which also was concerted foray by corporations into classrooms.

Remembering America's first social network: the landline telephone, wherein we dip into the what's new is old again files and discover how the analog telephone not only helped masses of people connect but also informed how we communicate without seeing the person at the other end of the line.

The Filmmakers Who Voyaged Inside the Body, wherein we learn about Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor, former anthropologists turned documentary makers, and what drives them to create the films that they do.

Bad Manors, wherein Kate Wagner looks at so-called McMansions, why they came about and flourished, and what their future might be.

And that's it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.

Scott Nesbitt

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.

Let's get this Monday started with these links:

4 reasons why you should read old, classic books, wherein we learn that reading so-called classics is something everyone should try, if only to learn about the present by holding it up to the mirror of the past.

A fiery end? How the ISS will end its life in orbit, wherein we learn the eventual fate of the orbiting habitat/lab, and the challenges of sending the station to its final end.

Living Beyond A Life Well-Lived, wherein we learn about how millions of used vehicles from Japan gain a (long) second life in Africa.

The hunt for life in Alpha Centauri, wherein we learn why more than a few astronomers are focusing on the star system nearest to our own to find evidence of extraterrestrial life.

How Two Jewish Kids in 1930s Cleveland Altered the Course of American Pop Culture, wherein we learn how Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created, despite various obstacles in their way, one of the most iconic fictional characters of the 20th century (and beyond).

My Father-in-Law the Japanese Radical, wherein David McNeill recounts the activist life of his wife's father, who vigorously (and often violently) opposed the construction of Tokyo's Narita airport.

Fountain Society, wherein Shannon Mattern looks at the wondrous history and variety of the public drinking fountain, and explains why they're unsung public amenities ... (providing) free access to a vital resource.

Department Store as Dreamscape, wherein Adrienne Raphel looks at the department store, in literature and in life, and how it has a long history as the locus of fantasy and lust.

The New Workplace Surveillance, wherein Karen Levy examines digital enforcement technologies which, for the most part, are intended ot be a method for compelling compliance with the aims of management and which do employees harm in a variety of ways.

And that's it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.

Scott Nesbitt

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.

Let's get this Monday started with these links:

The problem with Japanese homes, wherein we learn why many modern Japanese homes have a lifespan of around 30 years, and how that's slowly starting to change.

Lies We Tell Ourselves About Economics, wherein Charles Blahous examines how we deceive ourselves about what we pay versus what we want to pay — for consumer goods and for government services.

Borges and $: The Parable of the Literary Master and the Coin, wherein Elizabeth Hyde Stevens looks at how financial patronage — from family and other sources — helped the great Argentine writer focus on his craft and hone and develop it into art.

Where Did Mars' Moons Come From?, wherein we learn about two missions to study the Red Planet's twin satellites, and that discovering how the moons formed is really fundamental to us understanding the dynamics of our solar system.

The Untold Story of the Boldest Supply-Chain Hack Ever, wherein we learn how a massive hack of corporate and government computer systems occurred, why it took so long for the hack to be discovered, and the problems that hack caused (some of which continue to this day).

A New Idea for How to Assemble Life, wherein we learn about assembly theory, which attempts to explain why and how life, in any form and from any basis, comes to be.

On Butterflies, wherein Herman Hesse muses about those beautiful, diaphanous insects, and about humanity's wider relationship with nature.

I Tried to Cure My Burnout. Here's What Happened, wherein Jamie Ducharme looks at the difficulties in trying to alleviate burnout in employees, and how it's really a matter of changing the conditions that cause burnout.

The World’s Oldest Ultramarathon Runner Is Racing against Death, wherein we learn about Dag Aabye, an 81 year old who pushes his body to limits that would destroy someone a fraction of his age, but who continues pushing despite his declining physical prowess.

And that's it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.

Scott Nesbitt

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.

Let's get this Monday started with these links:

In Praise of the Long Movie, wherein Richard Brody examines the tensions between filmmakers trying to push boundaries and create art on their terms and the demands of studio executives.

Meet the people who use Notion to plan their whole lives, wherein we're introduced to folks who bring the productivity tools that they use in the workplace to bear on their personal lives, but who can also fall into the trap of spending more time organizing than actually doing.

All of our “theories of everything” are probably wrong. Here’s why, wherein Ethan Siegel argues that scientists may never devise a single all-encompassing theory to explain everything that goes on in the universe.

The Time Thief Who Stole 106 Rare Clocks in a Daring Heist, wherein we learn about the 1983 robbery of a Jerusalem museum that netted tens of millions of dollars worth of rare timepieces, some of which are still unaccounted for.

Is Time Travel Possible?, wherein Sarah Scoles explores the problems confronting anyone who wants to visit other points in time.

The Hotel-Spirit, wherein Henry Grabar looks back in time for a solution to the housing shortage and finds one in the form of once-common residential hotels.

Why we can dream in more than one language, wherein Sophie Hardach looks at the role that sleep and dreaming play in learning, maintaining, and using languages (including our native ones).

Is that a bowling lane, or a piano?, wherein we learn about some of the novel ways in which entrepreneurs are trying to revive casual bowling.

How might telepathy actually work outside the realm of sci-fi?, wherein Gary Lupyan and Andy Clark look at the barriers to actual brain-to-brain communication, and how it's not as clear cut as some tech lords make it out to be.

And that's it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.

Scott Nesbitt

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.

Let's get this Monday started with these links:

When a marathon isn’t extreme enough, run backward, wherein we're introduced to some of the offbeat ways in which a small number of runners make competing in marathons more challenging (and more fun).

There Is No AI, wherein Jaron Lanier argues that the technology that we call artificial intelligence isn't, and instead is an innovative form of social collaboration.

Drivers vs. Everybody, wherein Michelle Cyca looks at the difficulties — both political and cultural — involved in making city roads friendly to cars, bicycles, and pedestrians alike.

How physicist Sameera Moussa went from a role model to a target, wherein we learn about the crusading Egyptian scientist who tried to use atomic energy for good and made efforts to involve the public in that choice, and about her mysterious death.

‘My remaining 13 million minutes’: productivity, ambition and being realistic in older age, wherein Jane Hutcheon ponders what it means to be productive as we get older, and whether or not exiting work (rather than continuing to work) in our later years is actually giving up.

Also Italian, wherein Dylan Byron describes the political friction in the city of Trieste in the last century, and how Italian was one of the most important, and perhaps the most important, of the three main languages spoken there.

Conspiracies are the price of freedom, wherein Terry Eagleton argues that the growth and spread of outlandish conspiracy theories is a by-product of liberalism, and because of that the truth (and not those theories) eventually wins out.

We’re All Living Under Gravity’s Rainbow, wherein John Semley argues that Thomas Pynchon's best-known novel, despite being 50 years old, is a field guide to modern times and a must-read to understand our era.

Pick a Practical Major, Like French, wherein Freddie deBoer looks at what people perceive as a practical major at university, and how that definition is constantly morphing.

And that's it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.

Scott Nesbitt

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