Browser Daily Newsletter 1313T
Robert Capa’s Longest Day
Marie Brenner | Vanity Fair | 14th May 2014
Great story, great treatment. Capa, "the mysterious Hungarian Jewish refugee with the mass of dark gleaming hair and velvet eyes", shot some of the most remarkable war photography of the 20th century. He drank with Hemingway, romanced Ingrid Berman, landed with the First Infantry Division at Omaha Beach. A lab assistant overcooked his D-Day films, ruining all but 11 exposures; luckily, they were all classics (4,700 words)
Short Men, Unite
Reihan Salam | Slate | 14th May 2014
Objectively speaking, there are disadvantages to being short. Tall people tend to have better life chances. But short men make life harder for themselves by allowing society to divide and demoralise them. They lie about their height. They yearn secretly to be taller. It's time for a show of short pride: "When presented with the opportunity to seamlessly blend in with average-sized or tall people, reject it" (1,550 words)
What It’s Like To Own A Tesla
Matthew Inman | Oatmeal | 15th May 2014
Pretty good, apparently. "Consumer reports awarded the Model S 99 stars out of a possible 100. I am awarding my Model S one hundred stars, two black holes, five supernovae and an ever-expanding singularity of engorged Luck Dragons"
What’s In A Name
Oliver Farry | New Statesman | 15th May 2014
You can see why Józef Konrad Korzienowski chose to write as Joseph Conrad for an English audience; and perhaps why Wilhelm Albert Vladimir Apollinaris de Kostrowitzky published in France as Guillaume Apollinaire. But a writer generally gains from having a more distinctive, and thus more memorable, name. "If one is called Smith, it’s surely better to be a Zadie than a Jenny". Better still to be China Miéville (1,048 words)
Nine Questions About Nigeria
Mark Fisher | Vox | 14th May 2014
A clippings job, but a good one; may save a lot of Googling. "Nigeria is Africa's biggest economy and most populous country. The United Nations estimates that it will be the world's third most populous country by 2050. The population is about half Christian and half Muslim, with Christians primarily living in the south and Muslims in the north, and the middle of the country containing a mix of both" (3,300 words)
Russia Turns Elon Musk Into Tony Stark
Leonid Bershidsky | Bloomberg View | 14th May 2014
One unintended consequence of the Ukraine crisis may be to help Elon Musk wrest control of the US space launch market from its current operators, Boeing and Lockheed Martin. To launch NASA's rockets, the Boeing-Lockheed consortium relies on Russian engines — which Russia is threatening to withhold, and which Musk argues should be excluded by sanctions. Musk's SpaceX stands ready to fill the gap (818 words)
Video of the day: Window On The Future
What to expect: Clever, nuanced sci-fi film, just one minute long
Thought for the day:
"Divorce is taking things you no longer want from people you no longer love" — Zadie Smith