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TikTok Users Are Resurfacing Classic Songs

Unfortunately, the TikTok algorithm will always win out over your parents’ tastes. - Toronto Star

Ron Popiel And The Art Of The Infomercial

Even if you aren’t in the market for a rotisserie or a youth serum, infomercials can be enticing. The most sales-resistant person might start wondering whether there isn’t something to it. - Los Angeles Times

The Book Business Has Always Been Roiled By Technology

The 19th century witnessed a transformation of the book business as dizzying as our own: New reproduction technologies dramatically drove down the price of books and increased print runs by orders of magnitude... - Wall Street Journal

Why Are Very Smart People Sometimes Very Stupid?

What exactly is stupidity? How does it relate to morality: can you be morally good and stupid, for example? - Psyche

Los Angeles Libraries Considering Abolishing Fines

If it passes, the county will move to waive fines and fees for overdue books and other materials for its system, which serves 3.4 million residents in unincorporated L.A. County and 49 incorporated cities. - Los Angeles Times

Wanna Be Creative When You’re Old?

Dare to dawdle; to create without purpose; to be mediocre, even outright bad, at whatever it is you want to try. In short, let yourself waste time, as if you were young again and too immortal to know any better. Yes, this can and will be terrifying. - The New York Times

Why The Icelandic Sagas Remain So Readable After All These Centuries

It's not just that they came from a culture more like ours than most medieval societies (no hereditary aristocracy, a genuine parliament). It's that, "from a modern perspective, this literary universe combines the best of epic poetry with the best of soap opera." - Literary Hub

Offloading Our Brains

The framing of the brain–body complex as a borderless thinking apparatus is interesting, bringing together a wide range of research, from education and business practice to psychology and cognitive neuroscience. - Nature

Italy’s Best Wood For Musical Instruments May Be In Danger

For centuries, the spruces of Val di Fiemme have been used in the greatest instruments Italy produces, from Stradivari violins to Fazioli pianos. Here's why these evergreens are so good for their purpose — and what threats they face, from bark beetles to wind storms. - Atlas Obscura

Unopened Vintage Super Mario Brothers Game Sells For $2 Million

Demand for collectibles has surged during the pandemic, along with many other forms of investment, as people stuck at home look for ways to spend their money. - The New York Times

Texas Monthly’s Lucrative New Income Stream: Selling Old Articles To Hollywood

The magazine has secured rights deals with film and TV production companies for more than 20 pieces from its archives so far — a sideline expected to earn $1 million this year. - Business Insider

Why I’m Investing In Creative Youth

"While the pandemic magnified the already apparent need for young people to develop artistic and employable media arts skills, calls for racial justice showed the imperative for adults to provide movement-building support and guidance to young people." - Philanthropy News Digest

The Most Reliable Stage Director Working In Opera Today

That's how Joshua Barone of The New York Times categorizes Robert Carsen: "His work is by no means repetitive, cautious or dull. But in more than 125 productions over three decades in the field, he has been peerlessly dependable." - The New York Times

AMC Will Accept Bitcoin For Movie Tickets

The company's CEO says AMC will be technologically equipped to start accepting Bitcoin payments for U.S. movie tickets and concessions ordered online by the end of the year. - Deadline

How Did Synchronized Swimming Become “Artistic Swimming”?

The sport's governing body pushed the name change through in 2017, reportedly at the request of the IOC. The athletes weren't consulted, and many are furious that the respect they spent decades earning from the wider sports world may have been tossed away. - The Atlantic

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