The Golden Giraffes
As we near the end of 2018, it’s our pleasure to announce the re-introduction of The Golden Giraffes, an award celebrating the best of The Browser’s curated articles from the last twelve months. By calculating the most-read articles of 2018 (our readers’ choices), we have narrowed down the 1,500 articles we recommended in 2018 to the finest five. Our expert panel of Robert Cottrell (Founder and Editor), Caroline Crampton (Audio Editor) and Dhashen Moodley (Radio Browser Host) will now choose their favourites from this shortlist, with the top three choices receiving fabulous prizes of $1000, $250 and $100 –– not to mention a stuffed giraffe. The winners will be announced on the 29th December; until then, let us know online what you think of the nominees! — Uri Bram, publisher
The Golden Giraffes Nominees 2018
Against The Grain
Tove Danovich | Ringer | 28th February 2018
Portrait of an ex-prisoner who founded a bakery in Portland, then sold it for $275 million. Genius takes many forms. “Dave takes a Camel Wide out of his pocket and lights it. It has a strong flavor, which is exactly what he’s after. ‘As long as I’m going to fuck myself up, I might as well do it right’. Alcohol; dealing meth; robbing homes and convenience stores — he says all that is behind him. But smoking is the one habit he hasn’t broken. Dave goes to painstaking lengths to keep it self-contained” (6,150 words)
How Big Should Your House Be?
Kate Wagner | Curbed | 11th July 2018
“Nobody is actually using their formal living and dining rooms. Families spend their time in the kitchen and the informal living room. We need that second dining room because it is an architectural manifestation of our above-average social lives and unnaturally large circles of friends and admirers. But not all of us were built for entertaining, and perhaps we should examine ourselves and our social preferences before building massive spaces for people we most likely won’t ever see” (1,720 words)
How This All Happened
Morgan Housel | Collaborative Fund | 14th November 2018
“If you fell asleep in 1945 and woke up in 2018 you would not recognise the world. The growth that took place during that period is virtually unprecedented. If you learned that there had been no nuclear attacks since 1945, you’d be shocked. If you saw the level of wealth in New York and San Francisco, you’d be shocked. If you compared it to the poverty of Detroit, you’d be shocked. If you saw the price of homes, college tuition, and health care, you’d be shocked. Our politics would blow your mind. And if you tried to think of a reasonable narrative of how it all happened, my guess is you’d be totally wrong” (4,830 words)
iPhones Are Hard To Use
Joe Clark | Fawny | 22nd October 2018
iPhone users, prepare to be gripped. Android users, pass by on the other side. “iPhone owners know how to force-quit apps. They know how to set a ringtone and choose atrocious wallpaper. That’s it. People don’t know that they can swipe up or down from top or bottom of screen. I never see anybody turn wifi on or off that way (it’s almost always through Settings). They don’t know what Control Center and Notification Center are by name. They also don’t know what their iSight camera is. They don’t know what Springboard is, and shouldn’t have to. But do they know what the home screen is? (3,500 words)
You Probably Don’t Have A Book In You
Kate McKean | Outline | 25th July 2018
A literary agent explains why you shouldn’t write that book. “It is my full-time job to find new books and help them get published. When people talk about ‘having a book in them’, or when people tell others they should write a book (which is basically my nightmare), what they really mean is ‘I bet someone, but probably not me because I already heard it, would pay money to hear this story’. Here’s what they don’t know, and what most beginner writers might not realize, either” (1,100 words)
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