The Internet: A Warning From History
The residents of 2068 look back at The Internet, one of the greatest disasters to befall mankind.
A History of Intellectual Property in the United States
Intellectual property in the United States — not an ideal topic for a podcast . . . or is it? This episode of BackStory with the American History Guys is compelling on many levels.
Daniel Day-Lewis in Spielberg's New Biopic, Obama
When a versatile actor who really “becomes” his characters tackles a new biopic, he really transforms himself.
iAnnotate — Whatever Happened to the Web as an Annotation System?
A meeting about annotation services and software shows how new tools may be on the horizon, and reminds us that our audiences are likely to be the heaviest users once these emerge.
Interview with Michael Bierut — Typography, Modern Applications, and Timeless Communication Challenges
An interview with designer Michael Bierut, about the history of typography, its current manifestations, the power of habituation, and why Parma matters.
What Keeps a Train on a Track? It's Not What You Might Think
A question you’ve probably never thought to ask, an answer that is more insightful than you might have imagined.
The 1% Infographic Animation — An Exercise in the Slow Shock of Reality
A new infographic presentation shows just how effectively a story can be told around data. It also reveals how divergent perceptions, ideals, and reality can be.
A Thousand Posts — A Milestone or a Millstone?
When your blog lets you know it’s impressed with your production level, you know you’ve done something that’s both impressive and regrettable.
Walter Cronkite Tours the Home of 2001 — Complete with the Information Console
What an idea! Information consoles in the home of the future. They only missed the existence of wi-fi and cellular, and how those made everything portable.
Ignorance As Argument — A Chemist Alleges Publishers Exploit Typography for Money
A chemist complains about publishers exploiting authors through typesetting controls, but fails to understand exactly what it is and why it’s important.
And Now We Are Five — The Scholarly Kitchen Reaches the Half-Decade Mark
The Scholarly Kitchen turns five this month. How time flies when you’re having fun.
Why the Moon Landing Could Not Have Been a Hoax — It Wasn't Technologically Possible to Fake It
A great analysis of why it was technologically impossible to fake the 1969 moon landing.
Ask the Chefs: What Are STM Publishers Doing Right?
In the follow-up to “What Are STM Publishers Doing Wrong?” we explore what STM publishers are doing right. It’s an impressive list.
Ask the Chefs: What Are STM Publishers Doing Wrong?
The first of a two-part series, today we review a long and complicated list of things STM publishers are doing wrong. Tomorrow, we’ll explore the opposite question — what are STM publishers doing right?
Environmental Lead and Crime — A Story of How Science Needs Storytellers
I forget exactly when I first came across the idea that environmental lead, leftover from decades of leaded gasoline, was a factor in mental acuity, violent tendencies, and potentially crime. It must have been at least 20-25 years ago. Since […]