Grokkist Press
Reading Room
Snackables
Things we found elsewhere and pass on: a film, a tool, an essay, a corner of the old internet. A few lines on why, then off you go. New ones join the shelf as we find them, newest first.
26 Jan 2025
Spencer R. Scott offers a nuanced take on the 'extractive class' — not a simplistic villain but a framework for understanding how wealth and power flow out of communities, turning entire regions into sacrifice zones. From fossil fuels in Louisiana to copper in Zambia, the pattern repeats:
Read the note ↗26 Jan 2025
'May you look beyond my words and see my heart.' When the Buddhist master Hsing Yun lost his sight and could no longer read, he turned to calligraphy — not to pass the time, but to cultivate focus and clarity. His 'one stroke calligraphy,' flowing in a single uninterrupted line, becomes a
Read the note ↗26 Jan 2025
From Norway's stomach-dropping Atlantic Ocean Road — where the Storseisundet Bridge looks like a rollercoaster gone rogue — to China's Guoliang Tunnel, hand-carved through a mountain by villagers who refused to stay isolated, plus Swindon's chaotic Magic Roundabout and the world's steepest
Read the note ↗26 Jan 2025
The art of Ramin Nazer, aka Rainbow Brainskull, is a vibrant fusion of surrealism, psychedelia and spiritual whimsy — intricate details and bold, kaleidoscopic colours where cosmic symbolism, ancient wisdom and metaphysical mischief meet Saturday-morning cartoons on a mind-expanding journe
Read the note ↗26 Jan 2025
A two-minute timelapse follows a pinecone's journey over 653 days, quietly unfolding into something much greater than itself. There's something deeply satisfying about seeing life move at a pace we rarely get to witness — a reminder that patience and persistence sit at the heart of everyth
Read the note ↗12 Jan 2025
At 70, Bella DePaulo has lived alone her entire adult life — and, as a scholar of single life, explores what it means to be 'single at heart': not a fallback but a deliberate, fulfilling way of living. She challenges the idea that coupledom is the ultimate path to happiness, reflecting on
Read the note ↗12 Jan 2025
Bartosz Ciechanowski has built a deep grok of everything you could want to know about Earth's closest neighbour. The Moon isn't just a passive presence but 'a fellow companion that gently affects our own existence.' Through stunning interactive visuals and hands-on explanations, he unpacks
Read the note ↗12 Jan 2025
Plumes has found a singular way to connect with animals: by singing to them. From cows and meerkats to tapirs and a shy okapi, his music draws them in, creating moments of quiet connection as heartwarming as they are surprising. 'It has changed my perception of the animals. I could see how
Read the note ↗8 Dec 2024
Mandy Brown delves into the pervasive restlessness induced by constant engagement with screens — a 'strangely disembodied experience' where our minds race while our bodies stay static and our spirits unsettled. She reframes distraction as a form of separation, sediment scattered through wa
Read the note ↗8 Dec 2024
Never Too Small — a channel devoted to small-footprint design — turns its eye to circular design in this gorgeously produced mini-documentary series. Six designers tackle construction waste, following a co-creation process with local communities to turn discarded materials into innovative
Read the note ↗8 Dec 2024
It's easy to dream of a better world; harder to escape the traps of the old one. Vincent Sánchez-Gómez names three pitfalls of chasing 'impact' inside legacy systems: reducing impact to metrics, conflating growth with success, and separating values from core operations. They're seductive b
Read the note ↗8 Dec 2024
How far into the future can we imagine? Wikipedia's Timeline of the Far Future offers a mesmerising glimpse into events tens, hundreds, even billions of years ahead. In 100,000 years, Betelgeuse goes supernova, visible in daylight; in 10 million, Africa splits to form a new ocean; in 7.5 b
Read the note ↗