Happy Friday,
Here are five things I thought were worth sharing this week:
Christian Lorentzen’s coverage of the antitrust trial ultimately preventing the Penguin -Simon & Schuster merger was journalism at its finest. Factual, written in his trademark dry wit, with a dash of humanity tossed in to remind you of all the people impacted by this decision. Also, pulchritude.
The largest order of fitness equipment ever: What happened with the US Army placed an order for 36,000 kettlebells.
The birth of the tennis shoe brought a “relaxed, modern masculinity [to] everyday life.”
“The only limit set to their work is the absolute physical inability to hold the needle another minute.”
William Heath’s March of Intellect cartoons were a series of prints predicting and satirizing progress in 1820s England. In the wake of the Industrial Revolution, many were concerned with not only what automation might to do the job market, but also the indulgences people would allow themselves without work to occupy their time and attention. My favorite of the prints shows a carriage driver engrossed in a newspaper, rather than paying attention to his horses – and with a passenger! The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Currently reading: Millennium, by Tom Holland
Have a creative weekend.
Image: Arranging Daffodils, Thomsen, Carl. 1894. Danish.
