Castaway, Myth, Primate, Words, Libs
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Castaway Cuisine
Christine Baumgarthuber | Austerity Kitchen | 3rd October 2021
Remembering Alain Bombard, a French doctor who believed that shipwrecked sailors could survive by drinking seawater so long as they did so in moderation. He tested his thesis in 1952 by sailing from Monaco to Barbados living mostly on fish, plankton and seawater. "He calculated that fish juice alone carried him through 43 days of his voyage; seawater alone through fourteen" (1,550 words)
Yesterday’s Mythologies
Ryan Ruby | New Left Review | 5th October 2021
Jonathan Franzen, hailed as the Great American Novelist, has become "the inescapable literary figure of the world’s inescapable nation". Guilty of regularly producing "prose of a very deep shade of purple", his work cannot now be separated from the publicity machine that promotes it. His latest novel is not one that America needs, but it is "exactly the one it deserves" (2,895 words)
Primate Memory
Tetsuro Matsuzawa | Inference Review | 11th October 2021
Primatologist reflects on a long career. The 1.2% DNA difference between humans and chimpanzees is most evident in our diverging capacities for memory and communication. Chimpanzees have extraordinary recall and can quickly absorb all details of a new situation, whereas humans rather evolved the ability to focus on one aspect, give it a label and share that information with a group (4,329 words)
Podcast: Corpse, Corps, Horse And Worse | 99% Invisible. Arika Okrent explains why English spelling and pronunciation lurches from the inconsistent to the incomprehensible. (30m 29s)
Video: Libertarian James Bond | Reason | YouTube | 5m 23s
"Bond is back in an explosive new film filled with action, intrigue, and a lengthy discussion of Federal Reserve monetary policy"
Interview: Chris Williamson Talks To Baiqu Gonkar
Baiqu sits down with Chris Williamson to discuss finding meaning in life, figuring out masculinity for a working-class northern man, having an existential crisis on Love Island, and cooling mattress pads. (33m16s, or read the transcript here)
Afterthought:
"In the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you"
— Leo Tolstoy