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home of fine hypertext products since 1998. https://kottke.org
Playwright Tom Stoppard has died at 88. Did you know he ghost-wrote George Lucas and Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? kottke.org/20/11/tom-st...
Tom Stoppard and the Last Crusade
Hermione Lee has written an authorized biography of playwright, screenwriter, translator, and man of letters Tom Stoppard, calle
kottke.org
November 29, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Playwright Tom Stoppard has died at 88. Did you know he ghost-wrote George Lucas and Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? kottke.org/20/11/tom-st...
Macaulay Culkin’s kids love Home Alone and don’t know their dad is Kevin. [kottke.org]
Macaulay Culkin Watches Home Alone With His Kids Who Don’t Realize He’s Kevin
On tour for the 35th anniversary of Home Alone, Macaulay Culkin said his kids love the movie, but don’t know he’s Kevin. They’re only three and four years old, so this makes sense, but it’s still hilarious.
And while th
kottke.org
November 28, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Macaulay Culkin’s kids love Home Alone and don’t know their dad is Kevin. [kottke.org]
Rebecca Solnit: A Year on From Trump’s Victory, Resistance Is Everywhere. “There has, in fact, been a tremendous amount and variety of resistance and opposition and it’s mattered tremendously.” [theguardian.com]
A year on from Trump’s victory, resistance is everywhere | Rebecca Solnit
Americans have shown a tremendous amount and variety of opposition – more than some may realize
www.theguardian.com
November 28, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Rebecca Solnit: A Year on From Trump’s Victory, Resistance Is Everywhere. “There has, in fact, been a tremendous amount and variety of resistance and opposition and it’s mattered tremendously.” [theguardian.com]
Atul Gawande of Harvard’s School of Public Health: The Trump regime’s destruction of USAID “has already caused the deaths of six hundred thousand people, two-thirds of them children”. [hsph.harvard.edu]
USAID shutdown has led to hundreds of thousands of deaths | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
The Trump administration’s decision to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths from infectious diseases and malnutrition, according to Harvard Chan School’s Atul Gawande.
hsph.harvard.edu
November 28, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Atul Gawande of Harvard’s School of Public Health: The Trump regime’s destruction of USAID “has already caused the deaths of six hundred thousand people, two-thirds of them children”. [hsph.harvard.edu]
A long profile of comics legend Alan Moore. “For the first time in his 45-year career, Alan Moore is alone on the page.” [metropolitanreview.org]
Giant of the Attic
On the Majesty of Alan Moore
www.metropolitanreview.org
November 28, 2025 at 6:26 PM
A long profile of comics legend Alan Moore. “For the first time in his 45-year career, Alan Moore is alone on the page.” [metropolitanreview.org]
I’m still working on the KDO gift guide for this year. In the meantime, here’s the 2024 edition, which has aged well and includes these popular Japanese nail clippers. [kottke.org]
The 2024 Kottke Holiday Gift Guide
Since 2013, I’ve done a holiday gift guide that’s basically a curated roundup of stuff from the best gift guides I can find. I always do it a little bit differently from year to year, and this year I’m going with a simple list. It’
kottke.org
November 28, 2025 at 4:32 PM
I’m still working on the KDO gift guide for this year. In the meantime, here’s the 2024 edition, which has aged well and includes these popular Japanese nail clippers. [kottke.org]
“Australia is on course to meet a target of eliminating cervical cancer by 2035, which, if achieved, will make it the first country to do so.” This is due in large part to their HPV vaccination campaign. [www1.racgp.org.au]
newsGP - Australia set for world-first cervical cancer elimination
Vaccination programs have played a key role, and GPs remain ‘instrumental’ in boosting screening rates to reach the 2035 target.
www1.racgp.org.au
November 28, 2025 at 3:52 PM
“Australia is on course to meet a target of eliminating cervical cancer by 2035, which, if achieved, will make it the first country to do so.” This is due in large part to their HPV vaccination campaign. [www1.racgp.org.au]
What are you thankful for today? [kottke.org]
What Are You Thankful For?
It’s been a really tough year for many of us, the citizens of the world. But on this day of thanksgiving in the US, I wanted to ask you all: what are you thankful for today?
I’m thankful that I was able to travel to say
kottke.org
November 27, 2025 at 4:56 PM
What are you thankful for today? [kottke.org]
Lovely, intricate map of all the rivers in the US (lower 48). [kottke.org]
All of the Rivers
Perhaps inspired by All Streets, Ben Fry’s map of all the streets in the US, Nelson Minar built a US map out of all the rivers in the country.
Minar put all the data and files he used up on Github so you can make yo
kottke.org
November 26, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Lovely, intricate map of all the rivers in the US (lower 48). [kottke.org]
“Art is valuable precisely because it is not easy to create. We are interested in art, in any and all of its forms, because humans made it. That’s the very thing that makes it interesting; the who, the how, and especially the why.” [joshcollinsworth.com]
Alchemy
Some thoughts on attempts to create gold out of nothing, and how generative AI, in many ways, mirrors that doomed pursuit
joshcollinsworth.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:42 PM
“Art is valuable precisely because it is not easy to create. We are interested in art, in any and all of its forms, because humans made it. That’s the very thing that makes it interesting; the who, the how, and especially the why.” [joshcollinsworth.com]
If Quantum Computing Is Solving “Impossible” Questions, How Do We Know They’re Right? “In order to validate quantum computers, methods are needed to compare theory and result without waiting years for a supercomputer to perform the same task.” [scitechdaily.com]
If Quantum Computing Is Solving “Impossible” Questions, How Do We Know They’re Right?
A new Swinburne study is addressing a core paradox: if quantum computing is solving problems that cannot be checked by conventional methods, how can we be certain the results are correct? Quantum computing has the potential to tackle problems once thought unsolvable in areas including physics, me
scitechdaily.com
November 26, 2025 at 6:52 PM
If Quantum Computing Is Solving “Impossible” Questions, How Do We Know They’re Right? “In order to validate quantum computers, methods are needed to compare theory and result without waiting years for a supercomputer to perform the same task.” [scitechdaily.com]
Thoughts and Prayers is an HBO documentary about “the impact of the $3 billion active shooter preparedness industry on schools and communities across America”. It’s completely sickening that we choose to live this way in America. [kottke.org]
Thoughts and Prayers
This is the trailer for an HBO documentary called Thoughts and Prayers about “the impact of the $3 billion active shooter preparedness industry on schools and communities across America”.
It’s tough to watch, as is th
kottke.org
November 26, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Thoughts and Prayers is an HBO documentary about “the impact of the $3 billion active shooter preparedness industry on schools and communities across America”. It’s completely sickening that we choose to live this way in America. [kottke.org]
In a London increasingly dominated by rideshare services, some drivers are still opting to study for years for The Knowledge, “the grueling examination that requires applicants to essentially memorize more than 100 square miles of city streets”. [nytimes.com]
November 26, 2025 at 5:02 PM
In a London increasingly dominated by rideshare services, some drivers are still opting to study for years for The Knowledge, “the grueling examination that requires applicants to essentially memorize more than 100 square miles of city streets”. [nytimes.com]
My Recent Media Diet, the Japan Edition. Includes mini-reviews of One Thing After Another, A House of Dynamite, Deacon King Kong, The Age of Innocence, and a bunch of stuff I did in Japan. [kottke.org]
My Recent Media Diet, the Japan Edition
Konnichiwa! I’m back from Japan and finally getting over my jetlag, which took much longer than I expected. Here’s a list of all the things I’ve been reading, watching, listening to, and experiencing over the past few mo
kottke.org
November 26, 2025 at 1:52 PM
My Recent Media Diet, the Japan Edition. Includes mini-reviews of One Thing After Another, A House of Dynamite, Deacon King Kong, The Age of Innocence, and a bunch of stuff I did in Japan. [kottke.org]
Chindōgu is the Japanese practice of inventing things that are not exactly useful but neither are they useless; they’re more unuseless. E.g. tiny umbrellas for shoes or chopsticks with a tiny fan on them to cool your noodles before you slurp them. [kottke.org]
Chindōgu: The Japanese Art of “Unuseless” Inventions
Chindōgu is the Japanese practice of inventing things that are not exactly useful but neither are they useless; they’re more unuseless, a term coined by chindōgu’s originator Kenji Kawakami. Some examples are tiny umbrel
kottke.org
November 25, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Chindōgu is the Japanese practice of inventing things that are not exactly useful but neither are they useless; they’re more unuseless. E.g. tiny umbrellas for shoes or chopsticks with a tiny fan on them to cool your noodles before you slurp them. [kottke.org]
To Explore Violence Against Women, She Drugs Herself Onstage. “It’s an attempt to explore whether performance can give form to the disorganizing experience of trauma, its gaps and obsessional thinking.” [nytimes.com]
To Explore Violence Against Women, She Drugs Herself Onstage
With her performance piece ‘The Bride and the Goodnight Cinderella,’ Carolina Bianchi poses questions about trauma, art — and where the two connect.
www.nytimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:42 PM
To Explore Violence Against Women, She Drugs Herself Onstage. “It’s an attempt to explore whether performance can give form to the disorganizing experience of trauma, its gaps and obsessional thinking.” [nytimes.com]
What’s the difference between an artist and a creator? “An artist is a self-directed artistic expressor” vs. “a creator is a self-directed market expressor”. (Wondering where I fit on the 4-quadrant graph…) [ystrickler.com]
What’s the difference between an artist and a creator?
In 1973, experimental filmmaker Hollis Frampton wrote a letter to MoMA that captures a paradox that still defines creative work today. The Museum of Modern Art had offered the filmmaker a retrospective of his work. However he was also told there would be “no money included at all” and it
www.ystrickler.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:52 PM
What’s the difference between an artist and a creator? “An artist is a self-directed artistic expressor” vs. “a creator is a self-directed market expressor”. (Wondering where I fit on the 4-quadrant graph…) [ystrickler.com]
Does Harrison Ford Know His Lines? Vanity Fair quizzed Ford on his lines from movies & TV shows and he did pretty well. Great stories & lore too. On Blade Runner: “I like any cut without the narration.” [kottke.org]
Does Harrison Ford Know His Lines?
Vanity Fair sat down with Harrison Ford and asked him to identify which of his lines he’d said in which movie, mostly as a way of getting him to talk about his career. A few observations:
I love that they trolled him
kottke.org
November 25, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Does Harrison Ford Know His Lines? Vanity Fair quizzed Ford on his lines from movies & TV shows and he did pretty well. Great stories & lore too. On Blade Runner: “I like any cut without the narration.” [kottke.org]
There are two of these in my small VT town. It's hilarious/disturbing to see them in the grocery store lot parked next to some RAM F150 Hemi SuperCab behemoth.
Small Japanese Pickup Truck Shows Bigger is Definitely Not Better. “Kei trucks are city-sized, not highway-sized.” [nyc.streetsblog.org]
SEE IT! Small Japanese Pickup Truck Shows Bigger is Definitely Not Better - Streetsblog New York City
One Brooklyn business has seen the future of safe streets and heavy lugging — and it’s going to be O-KEI!
nyc.streetsblog.org
November 25, 2025 at 5:11 PM
There are two of these in my small VT town. It's hilarious/disturbing to see them in the grocery store lot parked next to some RAM F150 Hemi SuperCab behemoth.
Small Japanese Pickup Truck Shows Bigger is Definitely Not Better. “Kei trucks are city-sized, not highway-sized.” [nyc.streetsblog.org]
SEE IT! Small Japanese Pickup Truck Shows Bigger is Definitely Not Better - Streetsblog New York City
One Brooklyn business has seen the future of safe streets and heavy lugging — and it’s going to be O-KEI!
nyc.streetsblog.org
November 25, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Small Japanese Pickup Truck Shows Bigger is Definitely Not Better. “Kei trucks are city-sized, not highway-sized.” [nyc.streetsblog.org]
America’s Polarization Has Become the World’s Side Hustle. “Social media monetization programs have incentivized this effort and are almost entirely to blame.” Team USA just scoring own goal after own goal these days. [404media.co]
America’s Polarization Has Become the World’s Side Hustle
The ‘psyops’ revealed by X are entirely the fault of the perverse incentives created by social media monetization programs.
www.404media.co
November 25, 2025 at 3:12 PM
America’s Polarization Has Become the World’s Side Hustle. “Social media monetization programs have incentivized this effort and are almost entirely to blame.” Team USA just scoring own goal after own goal these days. [404media.co]
Requiem for Early Blogging. “I still look for people with early blogger energy, though — people willing to make an effort to understand the world and engage in a way that isn’t a performance, or trolling, or outright grifting.” [elizabethspiers.com]
Requiem for Early Blogging
As part of Talking Points Memo’s 25th anniversary, I wrote an essay on early blogging, and what I miss about it. Here it is, in its entirety: Whether I like it or not, the first line of my obituary will probably be that I was the founding editor of Gawker.
www.elizabethspiers.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Requiem for Early Blogging. “I still look for people with early blogger energy, though — people willing to make an effort to understand the world and engage in a way that isn’t a performance, or trolling, or outright grifting.” [elizabethspiers.com]
The Surprising Benefits of Giving Up. A recent meta-analysis reveals that “adjusting our goals in response to stress or challenges, rather than grinding on, is often ‘a more appropriate and beneficial response’”. [nautil.us]
The Surprising Benefits of Giving Up
The Surprising Benefits of Giving Up: Ditching or adjusting goals in the face of adversity might often be the best thing for us.
nautil.us
November 24, 2025 at 11:36 PM
The Surprising Benefits of Giving Up. A recent meta-analysis reveals that “adjusting our goals in response to stress or challenges, rather than grinding on, is often ‘a more appropriate and beneficial response’”. [nautil.us]
A thread of “feel good” YouTube channels to watch. E.g.: “CinemaTherapy. Two former college roommates (one a filmmaker, the other a therapist) analyze movies.” [threads.com]
November 24, 2025 at 10:22 PM
A thread of “feel good” YouTube channels to watch. E.g.: “CinemaTherapy. Two former college roommates (one a filmmaker, the other a therapist) analyze movies.” [threads.com]
I love these poetic textural landscapes by Korean artist Lee Hyun-Joung. [kottke.org]
Poetic Textural Landscapes by Lee Hyun-Joung
I’ve posted about Korean artist Lee Hyun-Joung’s swirling and swooping work before, but I recently saw one of her pieces in person and decided to feature some of her most recent stuff. It’s always a good time t
kottke.org
November 24, 2025 at 9:12 PM
I love these poetic textural landscapes by Korean artist Lee Hyun-Joung. [kottke.org]