FYI #42
Botanical stylist Yasuyo Harvey’s stunning transformation of a standard suburban semi, via the Modern House. Film: Edmund Cook. Photography: Taran Wilkhu
Moleskine Mania: How a Notebook Conquered the Digital Era, via The Walrus. Written by Roland Allen, author of The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper.
The Future is Analog (If You Can Afford It), via Tech Policy Press, by Maroussia Lévesque… ‘The idea of "analog privilege" describes how people at the apex of the social order secure manual overrides from ill-fitting, mass-produced AI products and services.’
Why A.I. isn’t going to make art, by Ted Chiang, via the New Yorker… ‘Art is notoriously hard to define, and so are the differences between good art and bad art. But let me offer a generalization: art is something that results from making a lot of choices.’
Can you judge the tech bros by their bookshelves?, by John Naughton, via the Observer. Naughton’s Substack Memex 1.1 is a favourite.
Mendelssohn Octet (excerpt) | Richard Tognetti | Australian Chamber Orchestra | On The Pier Session
Cast of Hamilton perform Chappell Roan's 'Good Luck, Babe!' live on triple j
Let’s Bring the Blog-Roll Back, via Swiss Miss
A mulberry leaf, by Alexis Madrigal, via Oakland Garden Club. Madrigal’s forthcoming book is on my list, The Pacific Circuit: A Globalized Account of the Battle for the Soul of an American City (2025).
CHAPTERS: Jami Attenberg, via Rachel Schwartzmann’s Slow Stories.
New Books: Autumn 2024, via the Sea Library and The Reading List: 25 Fiction Releases We’re Bookmarking This Autumn, via Service95.
Tim Bowden’s (1937 - 2024) book, One Crowded Hour (1987) about camera person Neil Davis (1934 - 1985) made an impression on me in my late teens.
Stop Surveillance Copaganda… Stories shape our future….To affirm human rights with more just and accurate depictions of centralized surveillance technologies, we are running an open call for short stories to be used as the foundation for a new toolkit.
‘This transformative power resides not in the map, of course, but rather in the power possessed by those who deploy the power of that particular map’ (87) Seeing Like A State, James C. Scott (1936 - 2024)
The Peter Mitchell Churchill Fellowship exploring how to design better cities for women and girls through urban planning and design, report by Estelle Grech, planning policy manager at the Committee for Sydney
Podcast listening highlights this week:
Osher Günsberg, on Marieke Hardy Is Going To Die
Konfekt Korner episode 43
Olivia Laing & Jon Day: The Garden Against Time, on the London Review Bookshop podcast
Cooking in the Age of Infinite Recipes, Anne Helen Peterson with Lilah Raptopoulos, on the Culture Study podcast
Sofia Samatar's "Opacities: On Writing and the Writing Life", with Kate Wolf on the LARB Radio Hour. I’ve added Samatar’s new book to my reading list.