Kickoff For May 14, 2018
To be honest, I can’t think of anything interesting or profound or especially pithy to introduce this week’s kickoff. So I’m not going to try. Instead, let’s get this Monday started with these links:
Arts and Literature
Crime and the City: Seoul and Pyongyang, wherein we get a glimpse of some of the better crime fiction rooted in the Land of the Morning Calm, and which takes place in the capitals of both Koreas.
200 Years of Frankenstein On Stage and Onscreen, wherein we get a short history of Mary Shelley’s classic in the visual media and how that book became inseparable from its film incarnation.
‘Drawing Is Always a Struggle’: An Interview with Art Spiegelman, wherein the celebrated artist and writer discusses his work and a creative process that doesn’t always cooperate or make his professional life easy.
Science
Kurt Gödel and the mechanization of mathematics, wherein we learn about the intersection of mathematics and metaphysics and philosophy in the work of German mathematician Kurt Gödel.
Feathered, Furred or Coloured, wherein Francis Gooding reviews Palaeoart by Zoë Lescaze and reveals modern society’s long-standing fascination and unease with extinct reptiles.
How to hunt a giant sloth - according to ancient human footprints, wherein we learn how our ancestors managed to stalk, and take down, big, scary mammals using only basic tools and misdirection.
Writing
Stories in your pocket: how to write flash fiction, wherein we’re treated to a very detailed tutorial on how to write very short pieces of fiction. There are a few lessons in writing tightly for non-fiction writers in there, too.
Plain Language is For Everyone, Including Experts, wherein we learn a valuable lesson about using clear language when writing: it benefits both consumers and organizations.
How Not to Kill Each Other: A Writer’s Guide to Collaboration, wherein we learn that writing isn’t always a solo effort, that collaborating with other writers can be tough, and that there are strategies for making the collaboration work.
And that’s it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.