Architecture & Urbanism
On Good Urbanism: Wrath of Gnon is my favorite Twitter account, and this thread shows why. In it, Gnon meticulously deconstructs why traditional, medieval villages are so enchanting and contrasts them to today’s car-centric metropolises. Instead of building cities with unique character, we’re building generic, lifeless Copy-and-Paste Cities.
How Buildings Learn: Based on his book of the same name, Stewart Brand’s 6-part docuseries explains what it means to build for the long-term. Even if you’re not into architecture, don’t worry. Most of the book’s original evangelists were actually software engineers. For a quick preview, check out this clip about The Oak Beams of New College, Oxford.
Designing a New Old Home: Simon Sarris realized that modern houses are often designed for one purpose: to maximize square footage. Having grown up in an 1800s home, he knew there was something special about older houses, so he decided to build one for himself. He talks through his decisions in designing the optimal layout, spending on design, and optimizing for long-term quality.
The Dutch Solution for Safer Sidewalks: When it comes to transportation planning, the Netherlands does it better. This is especially true for pedestrian infrastructure, so it’s interesting to see the contrast between Dutch cities and traditional North American cities, which prioritize cars and at the expense of people, public transportation, and bikes.
Art & Creativity
Henri Rousseau’s Struggle for Acceptance: Henri Rousseau is my favorite artist. His magical jungle paintings feel straight out of a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel. But he wasn’t always appreciated. For years, Rousseau struggled to gain acceptance from critics and art lovers. It was a long, slow grind. Nevertheless, he persisted, only to realize he had been successful the whole time. This profile by Maria Popova beautifully highlights his journey.
The Shock of the New: This series is awesome. It feels like one of those videos you’d watch in school whenever you got a sub, but the content is actually fascinating. World-class art critic Robert Hughes examines how art has changed since the impressionist era. My favorite episode is The Mechanical Paradise, where Hughes showcases technology’s influence on art.
The Nerdwriter: The Nerdwriter is easily my favorite YouTuber. He’s a master of deconstructing abstract subjects – art, movies, speeches – and revealing their magic in a way that feels genuine and raw. As an intro, I recommend his videos about the Japanese art of embracing damage called Kintsugi or on Edward Hopper’s famous painting Nighthawks.
The Making of “One”: If there were ever a relic that captured the iterative process from start to finish, it’s this. The video shows an abbreviated version of Swedish House Mafia’s creative process, while they were composing their hit song “One.” The video ends with the song’s debut on stage. Masterful.
History, Society & Philosophy
Atheism 2.0: Since I left religion over a decade ago, it’s been hard to replicate the sense of community religion creates. Therefore, one of the questions I frequently ask myself is How can we cultivate the strength and connection of religious communities in non-religious settings? In his TED talk, philosopher Alain de Botton comes very close to that answer.
Business & Technology
Culdesac: Culdesac is the most exciting project in the world right now because it’s breaking our deeply-seated cultural norms. Over the past century, cities have been planned around cars at the expense of everything else. Public transit, bikes, and pedestrians have been pushed aside. In most places, they’ve been ignored altogether. Culdesac is flipping that model on its head by building cities for people, not cars, and their first project is in my home state of Arizona. For a good intro, check out this New York Times article.
The Artificial Intelligence Revolution
Other
Jeff Bezos’ Regret Minimization Framework
How to concede a presidential election