- I’m skeptical of personality quizzes but still take them all the time. I have to admit that 538’s Big Five quiz is more interesting—and, for me at least, much more accurate—than most. What shapes are you? ※ Previously: Uncovering The Secret History Of Myers-Briggs.
- Whoa…the story of Esteban, The Escaped Slave Who Discovered America.
- I’m a notorious purveyor of “dad jokes” to my (now adult, but daddy don’t care) children. But until this article about The Dad-Joke Doctrine, I hadn’t thought much about how they work, despite humor being one of the most fascinating areas of cognition and linguistics. ※ Can’t end without sharing some jokes: Reddit’s dadjokes board remains very active, as does Twitter’s DadSaysJokes…and there are some classics of the genre in the listicle 50+ Dad Jokes That Are Actually So Bad You’ll Laugh.
- The Return of Handwriting? I didn’t know it had ever gone away. ※ See also: A tiny, in-demand restaurant in Maine asked for reservations by notecard — and got 20,000 of them.
- On the other hand: SLOWLY is a smartphone app that connects you with virtual “pen friends” to exchange virtual letters and stamps. “Meet a new pen friend, seal your letter & place a stamp,” all on your phone…and the further away your correspondent is, the longer it takes for your “letter” to reach them.
- Mr. TH.INK feeds my Nutella obsession with a link to The Nutella Billionaires: Inside The Ferrero Family’s Secret Empire. ※ Previously: Nutella: How the world went nuts for a hazelnut spread (in which we learn that the original Nutella was a loaf, among other things) and the Quartz Obsession: Nutella.
- I might have found the culprit behind my (un)creative life: Tutivillus (or Titivillus), a medieval demon of writing and literacy.
- Via Reader B., a peculiar story of a lost Da Vinci masterpiece that may or may not be lost (and may or may not be by Da Vinci)…and how it might be at the center of—and key evidence in—the investigation into Donald Trump’s possible collusion with Russia.
- You might care about the value (or not) of Really Bad Reviews, or you might revel in the copious examples linked therein. Or both. Either way, The Art of the Pan is a good read.
- Today in 1949, FBI founder and then Director J. Edgar Hoover invites twenty-one-year-old actress Shirley Temple to watch Harry S. Truman’s inaugural parade from his office balcony, where he gives her a tear-gas emitting fountain pen. A routine victim of threats and harassment since her first days as a child actress, Temple developed a friendship with Hoover during FBI investigations and would later ask Hoover to perform a background check on her future husband Charles Alden Black.