This essay was first published at The Pathos of Things newsletter. Subscribe here. Youtube is one of the most powerful educational tools ever created; so powerful, in fact, it can teach someone as inept as myself to fix things. I am slightly obsessed with DIY tutorials. Your local Internet handyman talks you through the necessary … Continue reading Design for the End Times

This essay was first published at The Pathos of Things newsletter. Subscribe here. Ever since Charles Frederick Worth sat down to have his picture taken wearing a dark beret, thereby inviting comparisons with Rembrandt, we have liked to think of fashion design as a glamorous art form. Worth, whose photograph also reveals a drooping moustache … Continue reading Infinite Style

This essay was first published at The Pathos of Things newsletter. Subscribe here. There is nothing inherently creative about vintage furniture, repurposed industrial materials or menus in typewriter font, but if you found yourself in a coffee shop with all of these elements present, then “creative” would be a common way to describe the vibe. … Continue reading The Rise and Fall of the Creative Class

This essay was first published at The Pathos of Things newsletter. Subscribe here. As I am making the final edits to this article, the media are reporting that Chinese fighter jets are flying along the narrow strait separating China from Taiwan. This dramatic gesture, along with other signals of military readiness, raises the spectre of a catastrophic … Continue reading How We Got Hooked on Chips