Ideas. Creativity. Humour. Human ingenuity. Neuroscience. These are a few of my favourite things and with this newsletter I’m aiming to curate what I find into a collection you’ll find as interesting as I do.
I appreciate anyone who creates something new. So it got my attention recently that there were chemists who were literally creating new things at an atomic level. Borophene is a synthetic substance that could have many applications. Even at a single atom thick it’s strong, flexible and conductive.
Nick Cave’s latest tour was part solo concert and part Q and A. Continuing with that theme he’s also been answering fan questions on his site The Red Hand Files. It’s erudite, thoughtful, and honest. His writing crackles like many of the best lyricists, and it’s worth devouring every one of his answers.
Carlsberg beer had one of the world’s longest running and most famous taglines from ad history. Their latest campaign twists on that classic in a way that seems like contrary thinking but possibly has the opposite effect tot he one that was intended. David Mitchell in The Guardian dissects the new campaign.
4. The smallest release from Record Store Day
Vinyl records are completely impractical but that’s part of the reason why I love them. For this year’s Record Store Day, Crosley took the impracticality one step further and released a tiny turntable that plays three-inch records. This is more gimmicky than practical but it’s cute all the same. Why did they do it? Why not?
5. What’s the word I’m looking for?
I’m a big fan of new words that have a clear meaning you can infer just from listening to them, such as this one:
