Grokkist Press
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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.
27 Oct 2024
A surreal stop-motion short about 'the existence of dreams that have lost their dreamers' — deserted dream worlds that become physically real and drift through the cosmos as space-time bubbles, observed and archived for study. Like Wallace & Gromit's Grand Day Out as made by the Brothers Q
Read the note ↗27 Oct 2024
Twenty Thousand Hertz explores the stories behind the world's most recognisable sounds — the Netflix 'tudum,' subway announcements, the 8-bit music of Zelda. In this episode, the Apple design team pulls back the curtain on their sound-design philosophy, from the evolution of the classic 'T
Read the note ↗27 Oct 2024
Can someone be held responsible for a crime committed under a genuinely-held but mistaken belief? In 1800s London, a bricklayer in his white work clothes was mistaken for a ghost said to be terrorising Hammersmith — and shot dead by a resident determined to stop the hauntings. The shooter'
Read the note ↗27 Oct 2024
Pachelbel's Canon in D played on the hammered dulcimer — uplifting and transcendent. The chord pattern uses all six primary chords of a diatonic key, making it a natural fit for the instrument, though the original's staggered canon would need five instruments; here Timothy Seaman reimagine
Read the note ↗13 Oct 2024
Anyone can appreciate the economy of wordplay in a great headline, from 'Headless Body in Topless Bar' to 'Bezos Exposes Pecker.' But headlines are also derided as the empty calories of information — 'the art of exaggerating without actually lying' — and clickbait exploits the 'curiosity g
Read the note ↗13 Oct 2024
You may know the 'you have two cows' style of one-sentence satirical summaries of political systems. Here's a five-minute short film, shot in a style reminiscent of Childish Gambino's This Is America, that summarises today's political attitudes according to who does the laundry — usually '
Read the note ↗13 Oct 2024
When nostalgia meets curiosity: 'lostwave' is an online subculture dedicated to unearthing long-forgotten tracks — like the infamous 'Mysterious Song' taped by a German teen in the '80s, or a four-second snippet nicknamed 'Kenya Dance' that turned out to be a Ugandan gospel song found afte
Read the note ↗13 Oct 2024
A photo essay on the diversity and intricacy of avian architecture — from the Cape penduline tit's pear-shaped nest with a decoy chamber to fool predators, to the Liben lark's fragile breeding sites on Ethiopia's dwindling plains. Drawing on the Natural History Museum's vast nest and egg c
Read the note ↗29 Sep 2024
Are we sick from loneliness, or from not belonging? This isn't about 'fitting in' but about being wholly yourself while in loving relationship with others you also see as worthy. 'The paradox of belonging is much like the paradox of love. In order to experience belonging, you also have to
Read the note ↗29 Sep 2024
An informative, entertaining history of how little people have been treated across eras, presented by Aubrey Smalls, a Louisiana filmmaker who has dwarfism — from why Ancient Egypt was a good time to be a little person, to his beef with Aristotle, to the freak shows of the 1800s. As one co
Read the note ↗29 Sep 2024
Lumenate uses the flashlight on the back of your phone to neurologically guide you into a state somewhere between deep meditation and psychedelics — something its makers call 'neural entrainment.' In that state you can expect to be fully immersed in the present moment, with powerful closed
Read the note ↗29 Sep 2024
What makes someone famous for being bad — to the point where it defines their legacy? It's one thing to deliver a bad performance and fade into obscurity; another to be universally criticised yet keep landing leading roles. Stat Significant analyses the worst movie stars using a mix of onl
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