I was unaware of the Great Art Explained YouTube channel until two days ago, but after this 17-minute piece on Hokusai’s The Great Wave I am a) very impressed and b) a little bit smarter (video)
You may or may not be interested in the history of the Cornish pasty, but I think this piece is worth it because of sentences like this: “In some cases, there were even stoves built into the mines to heat up the raw pasties the workers brought from home—which is to say that if you’ve ever warmed up a Hot Pocket or anything similar in a workplace microwave, you’re basically doing a historic reenactment.”
I don’t know how I got sucked into this long story about “America’s Most Flamboyant Private Eye” who shoots guns with the hooks he has in place of hands, but I have to say, the writing is pretty compelling.
I love Mike Sowden’s newsletter, and especially this week’s, in which he dives into made-up places on maps.
Probably not for everyone: I don’t think I ever quite understood dub until I watched the Lover’s Rock episode of Small Axe last winter, but now I’m hooked on this Golden Age of Dub mix on YouTube
I Am “Wearing Pajamas At 7 p.m.” Years Old
Mike Dunn, a producer at The List, had the idea to turn my “Hill Climbing Strategies” post from a few weeks back into a fun TV segment
—Brendan