How Steinbeck Wrote East of Eden

Jillian Hess | Noted | 5th October 2026

The book came together in a ledger Steinbeck kept double-entry style. On every right-hand page was the manuscript. Facing it on the left of each spread was the journal he kept as he wrote, which mostly took the form of letters to his editor. When he was finished, he unbound the notebook and put the pages in a mahogany box, into the lid of which he had carved the novel's title (1,500 words)

Puzzle: Play Nomido, the Browser’s daily word game.

EV Listening

William Harris | n+1 | 5th October 2026

In places where "the now-antique rip and bust of internal combustion engines" still dominate the urban soundscape, the artificial whines and pulses of EVs catch the ear. "The result is a tune from nowhere, deep and airy, without the shrill oblivion of the sun recordings or the ribcage resonance of the didgeridoo... EVs sound like tinny spaceships, or a soulless rendition of a lone Brian Eno loop" (1,200 words)

Long Island City

Rob Stephenson | The Neighborhoods | 2nd October 2026 | U

This northwestern area is "the closest Queens gets to Manhattan, both geographically and architecturally". It's one of the fastest-growing neighbourhoods in the US, with tall buildings full of luxury condominiums sprouting by the waterfront. The gentrification and transformation is so drastic that a visitor from twenty years ago would be completely lost. The 19C history here is an urbanist's delight (2,600 words)

Puzzle: Play Nomido, the Browser’s daily word game.

At The Conformation Show

Hannah Berger | Paris Review | 3rd September 2026 | U

Dispatch from a dog show at which purebreds compete to see "which one adhered most closely to an ancestral ideal". "The dogs also have shorter call names, but their full identifiers resemble product codes. Like people in institutionalised settings, dogs in conformation shows pass from subject to object and back again. They are family and property at once. Companion and commodity" (2,200 words)

Podcast: History’s Craziest Frauds | The Story Of Money. Financial historian describes some of the most shocking frauds in history (45m 42s)

Video: Light That No Longer Exists | YouTube | Wolfcrow | 9m

Appreciation of Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon.

‘No-Contact’ In The 1700s

Katie Barclay | Zócalo Public Square | 1st October 2026

Long before we had phones with a "block" function, family members have been going their separate ways. Medieval European folklore is full of people walking off into the woods after a family rift. In the early modern period, parents sometimes publicly cut ties with offspring who married without consent. Over the centuries, single, childless and poor people have found it easiest to make a clean break (1,300 words)

The Illusion Of Representation

Cyril Hédoin | The Archimedean Point | 30th September 2026

A healthy liberal democracy should be more than just a string of referenda where the majority make the decisions. The perfect franchise is an illusion. "Democracy is not only about voting so that one’s voice is heard. It’s also, and foremost, about guaranteeing that individuals have various ways to voice their concerns and are offered credible and realistic exit options in case they are not satisfied" (2,100 words)

What Is Going On With Ceiling Fans

Kate Wagner | McMansion Hell | 29th September 2026

A surge of unwanted creativity and variety, that's what. "Blades made of plastic, shades made of plastic, bodies made out of metal, wrought iron, and plastic made to look like metal and wrought iron! You name it, it’s there! Chaos, it seems, reigns in fanville." LED light fittings give greater design flexibility, which has in turn been used to create whole new genres of hideousness. Witness: the "fandelier" (1,200 words)

Puzzle: Play Nomido, the Browser’s daily word game.

Pirating The Pirates

Devan Scott | Mubi | 28th September 2026

Amateur film preservationists have been fighting the good fight against sub-par home video releases for decades. Too often, what is released on DVD or streaming services is a poor quality or even remixed version of the film — or perhaps the director was allowed to make a revisionist edit or two after release. Enter "an illicit cottage industry" dedicated to lovingly yet illegally correcting matters (3,100 words)

Floating Life In A Fallen Realm

Jeremiah Jenne | China Books Review | 29th September 2026

Shen Fu, a ne’er-do-well Qing dynasty scion, began composing Six Records of a Life Adrift after his wife’s death in 1803. “At once a confessional, a heartbreaking eulogy, a travelogue, a gardening manual and one of China’s best-loved romantic tales”, the book may have been lost to time if not for a man who found the incomplete manuscript in a second-hand book stall and had it published, 70 years later (2,600 words)

Puzzle: Play Nomido, the Browser’s daily word game.

On Education

Musa Al-Gharbi | Symbolic Capital(ism) | 28th September 2026

Detailed essay about education in America. None of the experiments to end social disparities in education have worked because schools cannot erase fundamental differences in ability and life circumstances. “The main reasons elite schools have different outcomes is they just pull from different pools of people: they only admit those already poised for success and then take credit for that success” (13,400 words)

There Is No Adventure Without Risk

Jimmy Chin | Outside | 28th September 2026

Profile of Yvon Chouinard, who began climbing as a kid to escape his alcoholic father, climbed Yosemite’s El Capitan in 1964, founded outdoor gear company Patagonia, made “clean climbing” a global standard for climbers, invented the “dirtbag” aesthetic, redefined ice climbing, and then in 2022, gave the company away to a non-profit. “It’s so easy to complicate your life. It’s so much harder to simplify it” (4,000 words)

Puzzle: Play Nomido, the Browser’s daily word game.

Would You Quit Sleeping?

Rebecca Lowe | Ends Don’t Justify The Means | 27th September 2026

Thought experiment. If someone created a drug that took away the need for sleep with no side-effects, would you take it? Many of the immediate reasons that spur a “no!” would not hold up on scrutiny. If you are not aware that you are asleep, you cannot enjoy it. The pre- and post-sleep rituals that humans claim to enjoy are coping strategies for the fact that we need sleep, putting us back in square one (2,400 words)

Garlic

Anca L. Szilágyi | Orion | 23rd September 2026

Meditations on what has been called "the poor man's spice", with reference to Les Blank’s 1980 documentary Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers. Slice the clove lengthways for the mildest flavour, and mince for a punch. Add more than the recipe suggests if the recommended amount seems too "meek". Chase the feeling of "garlic euphoria", a heightened sense of confidence caused by overindulging (1,200 words)

Puzzle: Play Nomido, the Browser’s daily word game.

What Americans Get Wrong About Canada

Paul Theroux | Walrus | 22nd September 2026

Canadians are good at understanding their neighbours to the south. Americans don't generally return the favour. Canada is either “America’s Hat”, or a frozen wasteland not worth thinking about. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were in favour of annexation. Resistance to such an idea is built into Canadian nationalism. "Sanctimony is a Canadian weapon, a blunt one, but there it is" (2,700 words)

Podcast: Never Give Up, Even In The Face Of Terrible Odds | Life Lessons From History. The state of medicine in the 1600s was such that sick people needed to be very resilient to pull through — a trait we could stand to imitate today (29m 40s)

Video: Selectramatronics | YouTube | Ancient | 13m 9s

A sphere o’ mouths lip-syncing, to uncanny effect.

Puzzle: Play Nomido, the Browser’s daily word game.

Now Entering: The Era Of Bleh

Aaron Horwath | Noema | 24th September 2026

On the dangerous homogenisation of knowledge work, as caused by AI. "All day, humans across the same industry — ostensibly hired for their unique critical thinking and experience — collectively pump every thought, business challenge, idea and solution through the same set of AI tools. Almost as if all these companies have simultaneously hired the same single employee: Mr Claude" (3,800 words)

Puzzle: Play Nomido, the Browser’s daily word game.

The Downfall Of An American Manufacturer

Keyana Sapp | Worse On Purpose | 23rd September 2026

The quality of Singer sewing machines has declined sharply. It's a familiar story: competition from better Japanese models in the 1950s led to international consolidation, then forced the closure of American manufacture in 1980. Wall Street arrived and started carving up the business, making the machines cheaper and far worse. The best thing to do is to buy an old refurbished one (2,800 words)