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.
31 May 2022
A raised garden-bed greenhouse that's self-watering and protected from birds and pests by a permeable mesh cover. I've had one on my apartment balcony for about a year — great for fresh veggies and herbs (gardening firmly belongs in my Becoming box). Don't miss the delightfully Aussie vide
Read the note ↗18 May 2022
If you haven't played Cuphead but you're at all interested in animation, the indie game-dev scene, or the highs and lows of bringing an ambitious passion project to life, this 24-minute mini-doco will have you captivated. If you have played it, you've probably already clicked.
Read the note ↗18 May 2022
Trapital, Dan Runcie's sharp podcast on where technology meets culture, is a weekly whirlwind on the business of music and media. Featured episode: Dan with AudioShake's Jessica Powell on the question every maker is circling — if AI can handle the cognitive work, what's actually left that
Read the note ↗18 May 2022
A free weekly newsletter on tech, design, ethics and sustainability, run by Kai Brach in Melbourne. I subscribe to dozens of newsletters; this is one of the few I always open, and Kai's work has long been influential for how I approach my own.
Read the note ↗3 May 2022
A comedy sketch anyone who deals with clients or works on projects will recognise instantly. How many of these people have you met — or been?
Read the note ↗3 May 2022
A careers video for Industrial Light & Magic that celebrates the importance of curious generalists — people who possess a high degree of proficiency across multiple disciplines. Very grokkist.
Read the note ↗3 May 2022
Song Exploder is a podcast where musicians take their songs apart and tell the story of how they were made, piece by piece. Start with this episode, which explains how Franz Ferdinand's 'Take Me Out' was inspired by a romantic metaphor from the siege of Stalingrad.
Read the note ↗3 May 2022
I've installed and abandoned dozens of sheet-music and music-training apps over the years. Tomplay is a thoughtful reimagining of what a digital-first sheet-music experience should feel like for the player — I can't read music (I play by ear) but this makes me want to have another go.
Read the note ↗19 Apr 2022
Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones — the two very silly, very rigorous Englishmen behind Map Men — take a question you thought had an obvious answer and cheerfully dismantle it. Joyful, fast, and secretly educational, right down to the jokes in the credits. Since I first shared them, the Ma
Read the note ↗19 Apr 2022
Benedict Evans is one of my essential reads. Always clear, precise and succinct, his weekly newsletter analyses macro-trends in tech and the questions that matter for how tech reshapes other sectors — and he's the best writer on tech regulation I've found.
Read the note ↗