How to Live

How to Live: Or, a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer by Sarah Bakewell Other Press (20 September 2011) Amazon Michel de Montaigne is one of my favourite philosophers ever, and How to Live by Sarah Bakewell is one of my favourite biographies. It's not just a conventional cradle-to-grave … Continue reading How to Live →

10,000 Days and Cultural Capital

Cover art for 10,000 Days by Alex Grey. Image via Volcano II/Tool Dissectional. "Although the art world is frequently characterised as a classless scene where artists from lower-middle-class backgrounds drink champagne with high-priced hedge-fund managers, scholarly curators, fashion designers and other 'creatives,' you'd be mistaken if you thought the world was egalitarian or democratic. Art … Continue reading 10,000 Days and Cultural Capital →

Vicarious

Music video for "Vicarious." Image via Volcano II and Tool Dissectional. "Nature has gone to great lengths to hide our subconscious from ourselves. Why?" -Robert Wright "Vicarious" was the lead single from Tool's 2006 album, 10,000 Days. It is one of their most recognised songs, and probably the one that truly cemented the band in … Continue reading Vicarious →

Where’d You Go

Single artwork for "Where'd You Go." Image via Machine Shop/Warner Bros. Records. "When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability... To be alive is to be vulnerable." -Madeleine L'Engle The fourth and final single from Fort … Continue reading Where’d You Go →

Everything Changes

Cover art for the "Everything Changes" single. Image via Flip/Atlantic Records. "Consider the lives led once by others, long ago, the lives to be led by others after you, the lives led even now, in foreign lands. How many people don't even know your name. How many will soon have forgotten it. How many offer … Continue reading Everything Changes →

Coming Undone

CD single artwork for "Coming Undone." Image via Virgin/EMI. "The world breaks everyone, and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills." -Ernest Hemingway "Coming Undone" was the second single from Korn's seventh album, See You on the Other Side. Released on 21 February 2006, it reached … Continue reading Coming Undone →

The Image

The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America by Daniel J. Boorstin Vintage (1 September 1992) Amazon One of the best books I've read on media, ever. The Image examines how modern life became dominated by manufactured realities. Events, people, and experiences are created to be reported, promoted, and consumed. Author Daniel Boorstin argues that … Continue reading The Image →

Bloggers Boot Camp

Bloggers Boot Camp: Learning How to Build, Write, and Run a Successful Blog by Charlie White and John Biggs Routledge (28 April 2014) Amazon Bloggers Boot Camp is a handbook aimed at anyone who wants to start a blog, or improve an existing one, with the goal of building an engaged audience. It's not so … Continue reading Bloggers Boot Camp →

Regret the Error

Regret the Error: How Media Mistakes Pollute the Press and Imperil Free Speech by Craig Silverman Union Square Press (3 February 2009) Amazon An influential book, and a good blog too. Regret the Error is about media accountability, journalistic mistakes, and why they matter. Known as an expert in fake news, Craig Silverman started his … Continue reading Regret the Error →

Technopoly

Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology by Neil Postman Knopf (1 June 1993) Amazon First published in 1992, Technopoly is an essential text on media, describing a society in which technology is deified. That is, "the culture seeks its authorisation in technology, finds its satisfactions in technology, and takes its orders from technology." Prior … Continue reading Technopoly →