Superman, Firewall, Murmur, Boil, Bike
Superman: Yesterday's Man Of Tomorrow
The Writer's Bloc | YouTube | 3rd July 2021
On the betrayal of Superman. Like Siegel and Shuster, his Jewish creators, "Superman was an immigrant, an alien raised in a working-class America, his ancestral home destroyed forever but never forgotten"—and yet in recent interpretations he's come to represent nationalism and even fascism. How did this happen? (15m 28s)
The Evil Business Of China's Great Firewall
Ordinary Things | YouTube | 5th July 2021
WeChat, China's messaging app, "now functions as your driver's license, your bank card, and it's where you pay your landlord, book flights, hotels, and even doctor's appointments." China has also been looking to export its values: "the communist party have also spent the last year in the studio cooking up some sick English-language state-funded rap songs about their economic prosperity" (21m 43s)
Murmuration
Mattia Palombi | Vimeo | 4th January 2021
Symbolic tale—told through stunning black-and-white still photographs—about a man searching China for a flock of birds that bestow hope. The story is nothing special, but the visual style, reminiscent of Chris Marker's La Jetée, really captures the stark, industrial feel of poverty in the 21st century. A final twist brings it unexpectedly close to home (8m 05s)
How People First Boiled Food
Adam Ragusea | YouTube | 5th July 2021
Recreating the first "boiled" food: stone soup, i.e. using hot rocks ("potboilers") to heat water, a method which was likely discovered more than 50,000 years ago. It was a big step up from roasting, because rather than dripping down into the fire, all the juices and nutrients get preserved. "You can simply feed more people with stew" (13m 22s)
Charming Video Of The Week
Strangely hypnotic montage of vintage motorbikes
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