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Home of The Culturist, Big Ideas and other special collections. Kick back with long articles, best of the week, and entertainment guides galore.

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The 25 Designs That Shape Our World
Architectural Digest - Elizabeth Stamp
Some designs are smart. Some designs are beautiful. Some designs are instantly ingrained in our lives. It’s the rare design that combines all three qualities. Some date back to the late 1800s; others came
Design
The brilliant UI and UX design of classic 1990s anime
Fast Company - Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan
We can learn a lot from the user interfaces found in anime that was made three decades ago. UI in anime is amazing. Partially because it’s overdone, partially because it’s choreographed into the narrative,
Bobby Berk
5 reasons why ‘Queer Eye’ is the best design show right now
Curbed - Diana Budds
Is it possible to design a better you? On each episode of Netflix’s Queer Eye, the answer is a resounding yassss—if you’re willing to air emotional trauma, buy appropriate clothes, pick up a trick or in
Art
Preview 11 of Burning Man’s Most-Anticipated Artworks
artsy.net - Artsy Editors
Thom White and Piece of Cake Productions, final rendering of Happy Birthday! (MEGA CAKE) by Thom White. Courtesy of the artist and Piece of Cake …
Magic: The Gathering
'Dicey Dungeons' Will Help You Understand the Best New Genre in Games
VICE - Austin Walker
In the world of video games, it’s hard to miss the arrival and ascent of a new hit genre. From mid-2017’s breakout hit PUBG, through the rise of Fortnite later that year, and to the debut of the greatly
entertainment news
'Oninaki' game review: An ideal J-RPG for the Nintendo Switch
Business Insider - Kevin Webb
I grew up playing classic Japanese role-playing games like "Final Fantasy" and "Dragon Quest," but as I got older, I struggled to make time for these long, sprawling adventures that took 30 hours or more
travel news
LA's Magic Castle: The Complete Guide to the Members-Only Mansion
tripsavvy.com - Carrie Bell
The Magic Castle is a members-only clubhouse in the heart of Hollywood that has been conjuring up good times full of prime rib and prestidigitation …
No Man's Sky
No Man’s Sky Beyond scrapes away the grind, finds the fun
Polygon - Jeffrey Parkin
No Man’s Sky was never going to live up to its own ridiculous hype when it was released three years ago. The game that launched in 2016 was equal parts impressive, confusing, and frustrating. But the support
Home Building
A Legendary Film Location For Spy Movies Gets Made Into a Spectacular Five-Star Hotel
dwell - Kate Reggev
Budapest's Paris Court—one of the most ornate buildings in Europe—is renovated and repurposed into a five-star hotel. Originally completed in the early 1900s during the height of Budapest’s belle epoque
Home
Here’s Why You Should Be Paying Close Attention to Colombia’s Design Scene
dwell - Jenny Xie
Rooted in rich craft traditions, Colombia’s luminous young designers are leading the way in the country’s upswing. Nestled at 8,600 feet in the eastern branch of the Andes Mountains, Bogotá offers a captivating
Nayarit
The elusive Mexican beach on every Instagrammer's bucket list
CNN - By Dana Freeman, CNN
(CNN) — When the Mexican military used the Marieta Islands for target practice in the early 1900s, little did they know their efforts would lead to the creation of a future tourist destination . But, fact,
Air Travel
Book Your Labor Day Flights This Week for the Best Deals
Lifehacker - Emily Price
If you’re planning to travel on Labor Day weekend, then the time to book your flight is now, as in right now. Data from CheapFlights.com suggests that …
Nigeria
The stories in Rion Amilcar Scott's 'The World Doesn’t Require You' stun and challenge
USA TODAY - Emily Gray Tedrowe
"The World Doesn’t Require You" (Liveright, 384 pp., ★★★½ out of four stars), a bleak and beautiful collection of short stories, is the second book by Rion Amilcar Scott, winner of the prestigious PEN/Robert
Marijuana
The 8 Best Weed Books to Read Right Now
Rolling Stone - James Schiff
This article is a part of RS Recommends, an editorial series reviewing products in music and entertainment. Items are independently selected; Penske …
Lisbeth Salander is back — and angrier than ever
The Washington Post - By Richard Lipez
Somebody very droll got into Stieg Larsson’s Wikipedia page. Recently, an entry on his Millennium crime series described Lisbeth Salander, the series’ popular continuing character, simply as “a woman her
Culture
A Perfect Summer Book, 'Late Migrations' Reminds Us Of Life's Beauty And Fragility
NPR - Maureen Corrigan
Essayist Margaret Renkl writes about what she calls "backyard nature," which, to those of us who live in crowded cities, might call to mind creatures to trap or squash, like rats, squirrels, mice and bugs.
Mosquitoes
Catch a Buzz With Two New Books About Bugs
The New York Times - By SAM KEAN
BUZZ, STING, BITE Why We Need Insects By Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson Translated by Lucy Moffatt THE MOSQUITO A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator By Timothy C. Winegard If you happen to hit the beach any
entertainment news
People Are Praising @MissyElliott For Dropping A New Video And Her First Music Collection In 14 Years
BuzzFeed - Patrice Peck
Kanekalon double dutch ropes, Afro wig pom-poms, and wig snatching galore! MISSY ELLIOTT IS BACK WITH NEW MUSIC!!! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!! Late last night, the iconic music visionary dropped a surprise
Music
Jay Som Keeps Expanding Her Inner World on Her Sweet New Album ‘Anak Ko’
Rolling Stone - Jon Dolan
Melina Duterte (a.k.a. Jay Som) makes music that often gets lumped in with that intimately delicate, richly interior kind of indie-rock called …
Vince Gill
Vince Gill weighs hard truths with emotional depth on 'Okie'
Associated Press - By KRISTIN M. HALL
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Vince Gill might make people break down in tears when they listen to his vulnerable new record in which he sings about regret, marriage, faith, sexual abuse and hard choices. But
Allison Mack
Lifetime drops a breathless trailer for its movie about the NXIVM sex cult
The A.V. Club - Randall Colburn
NXIVM, the bizarre “sex cult” that counted Smallville actress Allison Mack in its ranks, is too weird a story to not get dissected to death. HBO, for example, has a documentary on the way, while Lifetime,
Lady and the Tramp
Live-action Lady and the Tramp trailer brings the star-crossed canines to the real world
Polygon - Petrana Radulovic
Disney’s not slowing down with the remakes of their animated films. The latest classic Disney movie to get this live-action treatment is Lady and the Tramp, but unlike The Lion King, Aladdin, and Dumbo,
The Mandalorian
In the First Mandalorian Trailer, a Lone Ranger Survives on a Galaxy's Edge
io9 - James Whitbrook
Live-action Star Wars is returning to TV with The Mandalorian, the first non-animated Star Wars TV project since the infamous Caravan of Courage. Now, we …
13 Reasons Why
Netflix’s ‘13 Reasons Why’ Season Three Uses a School Shooter as a Crass Soap Opera Twist
The Daily Beast - Kevin Fallon
The cliffhanger end to season two of 13 Reasons Why was, as has become a pattern with this show, startling and triggering, and ignited a debate over …
Mexico City
The Haunted Street Children of “Tigers Are Not Afraid”
The New Yorker - Anthony Lane
Melding chilling fantasy with gritty realism, Issa López’s film suggests that, for the victims of drug cartels, the urge to tell stories can be a means of survival. We never learn the name of the town
Barack Obama
Obama's New Netflix Doc Is Good—But Based on a Flawed Concept
VICE - Zeeshan Aleem
Ever since leaving the White House, Barack Obama has kept a fairly low profile. But his latest venture suggests he’s interested in getting back into the fray. On Wednesday, Higher Ground, the new Netflix-partnered
Product Reviews
Erica is a surreal, dreamlike full-motion video game that benefits from friends
Polygon - Cass Marshall
Erica begins with a younger version of our titular protagonist going through an occult ritual with her father. He instructs her to gaze into the fire, and imagine the future. She sees a dreamlike, hazy
Gaming
Telling Lies is a complex, tense mystery that you unravel yourself
The Verge - Andrew Webster, Megan Farokhmanesh
In 2015, developer Sam Barlow broke away from his work on games like Silent Hill: Homecoming to release a live-action whodunnit called Her Story. It was an instant hit, praised for its true crime flair
Jim Henson
Dark Crystal Age of Resistance Review: It's Game Of Thrones With Puppets
GameSpot - Chris E. Hayner
When The Dark Crystal was released into theaters in 1982, it was a confusing piece of filmmaking. After all, this was a Jim Henson film that was a massive departure from the Muppets--the property he's
Laundry
This Is What It Looks Like To Confront Your Trauma
Refinery29 - Us
Seeing a therapist in New York City has become so ordinary, it's akin to doing your laundry: It's just something that people do. That said, it's important not to take it for granted, even when it becomes