Welcome to Friday,
This weekend marks the 75th Frankfurt Book Fair. Take a look at how the fair has practiced “book diplomacy” over the years, addressing frictions with neo-Nazis, controversy with China, Cold War demonstrations, and the fatwa on Salman Rushdie, among others.
‘Tis clove season; the humble spice is both an enricher of empires and an example of nature’s refusal to be bound by humanity.
In the 19th century, hotels began offering darkrooms for photographers to develop their plates. At the time wet-plates were the most popular form of the medium and required silver nitrate to develop. As hotels began noticing their towels were stained with silver, they kept the stained towels to offer to future photographer guests. This developed (ha!) into hotels offering darkrooms as amenities to attract photographer guests.
A look at tomb raiders, freeports, and international art theft.
A thoughtful piece about grief – and the recent promises out of Silicon Valley to “eradicate” it. While grief is not something to wish on anyone, it is a formative part of the human experience. What might our country and world look like if we spent more attention and funding on building resilient humans, instead of trying to make life some sort of endless playtime ruled by algorithms?
Currently reading: Out of Sheer Rage by Geoff Dyer
Have a creative weekend.
Image: Scene in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Williamson, John. American. circa 1880.
