Kickoff For July 15, 2019
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.
It’s an interesting (at least I think it’s interesting) mix this week, with a few article from some sources I don’t usually dip into. That doesn’t mean they’re not the usual quality I look for. It’s just that there’s always something new to discover.
Let’s get this Monday started with these links:
Arts and Literature
When the Highest Paid Hollywood Director Was a Woman, wherein Sasha Archibald introduces us to the life and work of pioneering filmmaker Lois Weber, and to the attempt to write her out of film history.
Malcolm McDowell and the making of Lindsay Anderson’s ‘O Lucky Man!’, wherein we learn about the beginnings and fraught journey to completing the classic early 1970s film O, Lucky Man.
Was Shakespeare a Woman?, wherein we’re drawn into another chapter of a never-ending saga, and are introduced to yet another theory about who actually wrote the plays and sonnets attributed to the Bard of Avon.
Technology
The Do’s and Don’ts of Tech Regulation, wherein Aral Balkan shares some ideas about the right ways and wrong ways in which governments can regulate companies like Facebook.
Cheating At Monopoly, wherein Rob Larson reminds us that, regardless of what certain founders and their cheerleaders say, the basis for what many tech giants are peddling wasn’t created by them, but was the result of government-funded research at academic institutions and by the military.
Most Tech Today Would be Frivolous to Ancient Scientists, wherein we take a walk down the path of what’s new is old again and learn that, despite modern STEM sorts, imagining they had invented everything, the work of ancient Greeks and Romans is the foundation for much of today’s engineering and technology.
Odds and Ends
The Torments of Spring, wherein Christopher Benfey examines why some people dread the onset of the season before summer, and how April can be the cruelest month.
Notes on Being Very Tall, wherein Nicholas Kulish explains the physical, social, and psychological roadblocks that people over two metres in height face.
The violent attack that turned a man into a maths genius, wherein we hear the story of how Jason Padgett went from being concerned only with having a good time to someone who sees math everywhere, all thanks to a brutal blow to the head.
And that’s it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.