Commonplace Reading - Issue #12
Well, hello again. Apologies for the near-three month break.
In case you've forgotten what this e-mail is about, it's a weekly dose of good, interesting or provoking reading from around the interwebs. It's not about the practice of journalism - as my blog is. It's about the fruits of journalism.
This is an even more temporally diverse set of links than normal - some of them have been sitting in my queue for months. But I guarantee that every one is worth is still worth your time - it doesn't alway have to be news, just new to you.
Enjoy.
Journalism and creativity
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/revue/items/images/001/427/734/web/OlympicLongJumper.jpg?1471069762)
How The New York Times used its archives to make the past a (virtual) reality
I tend to go on quite a lot about how publishers could make better use of their archives. This is a pretty extreme example of what can be done.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/revue/items/images/001/362/239/web/lambo.jpg?1467277342)
A Look Back At The World's Sexiest Job: Confessions of a 1970s Car Journalist
The man who inspired Jeremy Clarkson on hanging out with Enzo Ferrari and borrowing cars from Pink Floyd. Basically, all modern journalism is dull compared to this.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/revue/items/images/001/337/539/web/1*NEMVfMmVYpVX2X75KJGPoQ.jpeg?1465636783)
Why Excessive Consumption Limits your Creativity
I'm guilty of this - spending too much time research when I should be writing. I"m on holiday right now, and, unlike most people, I'm using the time to create rather than reading. And I'm enjoying it.
Pop Psychology
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/revue/items/images/001/427/736/web/10082_9b22a40256b079f338827b0ff1f4792b.png?1471069893)
Legendary Rock Climber Alex Honnold Gets Put Into an MRI, and the Results Are Surprising
Extreme sports means extreme brain - or rather a massively diminished ability to feel fear.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/revue/items/images/001/428/034/web/facebook.jpg?1471095515)
A Psychologist Analyzes Donald Trump’s Personality
This will not reassure you about him.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/revue/items/images/001/428/036/web/OC_LIND_PROFESSORS_BF_001.jpg?1471095647)
Intellectuals are Freaks
Intellectuals are quite literally not like everyone else. And might have significant problems understanding everyone else. Sobering in the age of Brexit and Trump.
Tech notes
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/revue/items/images/001/331/870/web/computer.jpg?1465289984)
I created Godwin's Law in 1990, but it wasn't a prediction - it was a warning
The law should be a reminder that frivolous invocations of Nazis, or the Holocaust, are a kind of forgetting.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/revue/items/images/001/331/852/web/Mosaic-sucked-in-final-2.jpg?1465289235)
Smartphones won’t make your kids dumb. We think.
Provisional science is provisional. But probably what we wanted to hear.
And Finally…
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/revue/items/images/001/348/217/web/facebook.jpg?1466373937)
Did Jesus Have a Wife?
A great piece of long-form investigation, as a journalist obsessively picks at a story of a discovered ancient manuscript that just seems too good to be true.