Jason Kottke's Blog

This podcast episode looks really interesting: Tressie McMillan Cottom, Jamelle Bouie, and David French “explore how the nation’s fascination with Southern culture reveals deeper truths about race, class, belonging and the power of Trumpism”.

‘I get to do whatever I want in the moment’: why more...

‘I get to do whatever I want in the moment’: why more people are going to gigs, festivals and clubs alone.

Gina Trapani on how she thinks about and uses AI as a...

Gina Trapani on how she thinks about and uses AI as a former full-time software engineer. “It’s remarkable and so very bad at the same time.”

I’m visiting Kyoto soon, so I reread Lauren Groff’s piece about The...

I’m visiting Kyoto soon, so I reread Lauren Groff’s piece about The Tale of Genji: A Tale of Sex and Intrigue in Imperial Kyoto. “I believe that places, like people, hold memory, and when place memory announces itself, it does so through the body.”

💬 Join the discussion on …

The Jacket Potato Jacket. “Supermarket chain Aldi has teamed up with London...

The Jacket Potato Jacket. “Supermarket chain Aldi has teamed up with London fashion brand Agro Studio to create a puffer coat that resembles a giant baked potato.”

Bear Breaks Into California Zoo to Mingle With Other Bears. “A bear...

Bear Breaks Into California Zoo to Mingle With Other Bears. “A bear came in from the wild, introduced itself to the zoo’s bears and played with their toys, before being shown the exit.”

A Reminder that Protected Bike Lanes Can Make Streets Safer for Everyone....

A Reminder that Protected Bike Lanes Can Make Streets Safer for Everyone. “A 2019 study spanning thirteen years in twelve cities found that protected bike lanes dramatically reduced fatalities for all road users on the streets that added them.”

The ‘Anti-Woke’ Tax That All Americans Are Paying. “Tariffs are the most...

The ‘Anti-Woke’ Tax That All Americans Are Paying. “Tariffs are the most obvious example” but also food prices rising due to the immigrant crackdown, rising energy prices bc of the regime’s anti-solar bias. And the tax is flowing into corporate coffers.

New essay collection from classicist Emily Wilson: Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea. “From...

New essay collection from classicist Emily Wilson: Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea. “From Athenian comedy and Rome’s love of Greek culture to Han Kang’s novels, Cardi B’s lyrics and the discoveries she made whilst translating Homer…”

Ethan Hawke Breaks Down His Career

Listening to Ethan Hawke talk about his career for 30 minutes is a treat. He starts with Explorers (which I loved as a kid) and continues with Dead Poets Society, Before Sunrise, Boyhood, and First Reformed. Good Lord Bird is on the list as well…I’m making my way through …

Hitler, Stalin, Freud, Trotsky, and Franz Joseph all lived within a radius...

Hitler, Stalin, Freud, Trotsky, and Franz Joseph all lived within a radius of a few km in Vienna in 1913-14. “Stalin could have, with real probability, walked past a homeless Hitler trying to sell his mediocre watercolor paintings on the street…”

The Neurodivergent Genius Who Invented Formula 1 For Marbles. “This is the...

The Neurodivergent Genius Who Invented Formula 1 For Marbles. “This is the story of how one creator on the autism spectrum redefined online sports through marbles, community, and viral spectacle.”

Playing Boards of Canada on a DEC PDP-1 from 1959

This is so so cool and an arrow-splitting bullseye in the middle of my wheelhouse: a short Boards of Canada tune played on a DEC PDP-1, one of the most significant machines in the history of computing.

Here’s a description of what’s going on, courtesy of @dryad.technology …

The Sordid Mystery of a Somalian Meteorite Smuggled into China. “The journey...

The Sordid Mystery of a Somalian Meteorite Smuggled into China. “The journey of the ninth-largest meteorite in the world involves lies, smuggling and possibly death.”

Ira Glass’s Subway Take is genuinely shocking: “Every podcast is better at...

Ira Glass’s Subway Take is genuinely shocking: “Every podcast is better at 2.0 speed!”

Flashbak has a collection of photos that offer an inside look at NORAD’s Cheyenne Mountain Combat Center as it looked in the mid-60s.

Come See Me in the Good Light

1 week, 5 days ago

It’s not often that a movie trailer makes you cry — but this one might.¹
Come See Me in the Good Light is a documentary film about poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley facing a cancer diagnosis that took Gibson’s life earlier this year.

This is …

Inside NORAD’s Cheyenne Mountain Combat Center (c. 1966)

1 week, 5 days ago

These display screens would display signs of air attack against Canada and the United States. By pushing buttons, the NORAD battle staff …

Phil Gyford, writing about when he first got online in 1995: My...

1 week, 5 days ago

Phil Gyford, writing about when he first got online in 1995: My First Months in Cyberspace. “It was a miracle and it changed my life. All of our lives.”