Thom's Link Emporium No. 0008 - 11 March 2022

Links

An excellent history of the archeological excavations around the ancient site of Troy in the Smithsonian Magazine.
10 ways to make better decisions from the New Scientist which contains some sort of comfort for the sad amongst us:

there is one emotion that seems to help us make good choices. In their study, the Chicago researchers found that sad people took time to consider the various alternatives on offer, and ended up making the best choices. In fact many studies show that depressed people have the most realistic take on the world. Psychologists have even coined a name for it&colon; depressive realism.

And one more for luck?

Whatever the future holds it will hurt or please you less than you imagine

Vanity Fair interview Grimes. So much to love here, not least the fact that she inadvertently(?) reveals their second baby. I also like the idea of Elon Musk as a cheapskate:

“But at the same time…” I can physically observe her brain cells saying screw it. “Like, bro wouldn’t even get a new mattress.” This was back when they were both living in Los Angeles. Her side of the mattress had a hole in it. When she raised the issue, he suggested they replace his mattress with the one at her house. The mattresses are fine now. Still: “Bro does not live like a billionaire. Bro lives at times below the poverty line. To the point where I was like, can we not live in a very insecure $40,000 house? Where the neighbors, like, film us, and there’s no security, and I’m eating peanut butter for eight days in a row?” She is well aware that many see Musk as some embodiment of luxurious excess, and Grimes is here to tell you she fuckin’ wishes.

Want to cheer yourself up a bit? Well, in that case I wouldn’t read this in-depth article on the effects of a nuclear explosion. On a similar note, Charlie Warzel interviews Alex Wellerstein about Nuke Map where you can test the effects of bombs of different sizes on a world map (apparently Americans tend to test nukes on their own country, whereas the small number of Israeli users seem to try out Iran).
When did we start trying to keep plants alive inside our houses? How does it link in with colonialism? There’s lots to learn from this excellent piece on houseplants.
Charlie Brooker has a new Netflix series out, so here’s a profile in the newspaper he used to write for

Listening

I went down an internet rabbit hole when a song on a friend’s playlist sent me off investigating Fred Again, someone who I was beginning to be aware of, but whose career I had never pieced together. The song in question was Daddy’s Car (Spotify,  Music, YouTube, YT Live) from Someday World by Eno * Hyde, the album that Brian Eno made with Karl Hyde of Underworld in 2014. Fred Gibson was working in Eno’s a cappella group at the time but showed skill in Logic Pro, so helped produce the album, and got Eno as a mentor. Since then, he’s produced and co-written Shotgun by George Ezra (Spotify,  Music, YouTube), and loads of Ed Sheeran and Stormzy stuff, but I came to know him through two excellent tracks from last year Angie (I’ve been lost) (Spotify,  Music, YouTube) and Baxter (These Are My Friends) with Baxter Dury (Spotify,  Music, YouTube). It’s hardly like he’s one to watch since he’s been successful already (a couple of Ivor Novello nominations and a Brit), but he’s certainly worth exploring.
It was a shock to hear Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode announce the end of their run on the BBC this week. Their show is probably the one I’ve listened to the longest in any format. I just hope that the way that it’ll be “alright in the end” is by them taking the podcast private, and preferably ad-free.

Reading

I love Shirley Jackson and this article on her five best books is an excellent introduction. Be wary that the article spoils the ending of her best short story, The Lottery, so I recommend reading it first here.

Watching

It’s got some mixed reviews, but I’ve been enjoying The Witchfinder on iPlayer. Tim Key and Daisy May Cooper are excellent and although the show is a bit hit and miss with jokes, I hope it shows enough promise for a second series.

Quote

An expert is someone who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field.
Niels Bohr

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