Instead of saving interesting links to my burgeoning bookmark manager (I recommend Raindrop and MyMind), I thought I'd share a curated listing of highlights.
The Art & Design section of The Guardian featured a selection of 28 famous images that have been manipulated and which apparently fooled the world. It's light in substance but nods to the wider issue of trust and authenticity in image creation and curates an interesting cross section of images. The last image reminds me of an article that Hany Farid wrote nearly a year ago on CAI regarding Gen AI and the rise of fake imagery:
Finally, I don't know why, but a constant over my past 25 years in the space of media forensics is that images with sharks are almost always fake, so much so that I'm not even sure any more if sharks are real.
I've been a long time fan of Tracy Chapman so enjoyed this recent New York Times piece. Incredible to think that she wrote Fast Car when she was 16. She is now 61. Equally, 'Talkin' Bout a Revolution' still feels as fresh as the first day I heard it.
I came across the artist Natasha Mann via Inigo in a profile featuring her Edwardian home in West Dulwich, London. The kaleidoscopic tessellations of shape and colour that define much of her work are deeply rooted in the decorative-arts traditions of Morocco. The intricacy and precision of her work is superb and the hand painted geometric ceiling must have been painstaking to create.
I always enjoy Marina Hyde's writing - some of her opinion pieces are not only elegant in prose but wry, excoriating and simply funny. It would be an act of journalistic irresponsibility on her part if she failed to comment on the vacuous inanity of the all girl space road trip: What's more vacuous than an endless vacuum?
Albert Watson is one of my favourite photographers and the last exhibition of note I saw of his was in 2012 at Deichtorhallen in Hamburg. Camera Work in Berlin who represent his work in Germany are currently staging an exhibition of his still life work in their virtual gallery: Albert Watson: The Silence of History. It runs to 22 May 2025 and is part of the gallery's annual presentation of a dozen or so exclusive group and solo exhibitions. More galleries should follow this model in presenting work in this way where it can be appreciated without distraction. The guided tour is also a worthy value add.
The British Library 'Food Season' starts in mid April. Now in its seventh year, it offers a series of events that highlight the stories, the politics and the people behind how and why we eat. What is the point of a Cookbook? and An A–Z of Language in Food look particularly interesting.
Disturbingly, Trump-style book censorship is spreading and appears to be crossing the pond. As the author points out, it is symptomatic of a febrile political culture and disregards the fact that librarians undertake years of training and devote a huge amount of time and care to curating a selection of books that will enrich children’s learning and expand their horizons. They’re also careful about ensuring books are age-appropriate and respond to the curriculum. Enabling access to a spectrum of ideas and enabling readers to explore different perspectives is essential to establishing critical thinking. For Trump, forever extolling the value of free speech would do well to heed the words of Salman Rushdie - "What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist." If you're in the US, Powells Books offer an excellent selection of banned books and deserve your support.
To us, the effort to ban a book is a symptom of, among other things, fear—not of the book but of the ideas within it. Yet, each of us generally has the confidence in our own judgment to know that a book filled with ideas we discount or despise will not magically cause us to embrace these ideas and reject our values. The crucial step is to grant that same confidence to everyone in our community—not to assume they will arrive at the same conclusions and keep the same values as you, but that they have the right to reach their own conclusions and keep their own values.
Every so often, you read a book that may be diametrically opposed or alien to your thinking and experience but the eloquence of the author compels you to expand your view and consider a different perspective. That should be celebrated and preserved.
In related regressive policies, the Trump regime has cratered US tourism according to the Financial Times: European travellers cancel US visits as Trump’s policies threaten tourism. The charts are equal part sobering and depressing. I have seen this widely reported with some estimates suggesting a US$90bn impact which is an unfathomable act of economic vandalism. But it aligns with other destructive policies around National Parks and substantial staffing cuts for the management of the incredible wilderness areas of America.
I saw this interesting interactive visualization by The Pudding on the shared DNA of music (hat tip to Kottke.org). It reminds me of a point demonstrated by Ed Sheeran in his response to the infringement claim brought against him relating to Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On". The fact remains that it's difficult to prove theft of protected elements from another composition and there is a fine line between inspiration and infringement in terms of artistic expression. Similarities can sometimes be coincidental or stem from common musical structures.
