The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads by Maria Popova

Partitura: Mesmerizing Music Visualization Software
Partitura: Mesmerizing Music Visualization Software

What neurological phenomena have to do with software and the future of live performance experiences.

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A Rare Look at Japan: Hand-Colored Images from the 1920s
A Rare Look at Japan: Hand-Colored Images from the 1920s

What Geisha parlors have to do with arranged marriages, Buddhist priests and earthquake recovery.

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In The Wilds: Illustrating the Charm of the Countryside
In The Wilds: Illustrating the Charm of the Countryside

An antidote to urbanity by way of bails of hay, or what Irish quasi-postmen have to do with art.

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Cultural Connectives: Understanding Arab Culture Through Typography
Cultural Connectives: Understanding Arab Culture Through Typography

What typography has to do with cross-cultural understanding and linguistic minimalism.

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Before Muybridge: Pioneering Nineteenth-Century Motion Photography by French Scientist Étienne-Jules Marey
Before Muybridge: Pioneering Nineteenth-Century Motion Photography by French Scientist Étienne-Jules Marey

What biking in the nude has to do with bird flight and the dawn of cinema.

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A Design Ethnography of South African Barbershops & Salons
A Design Ethnography of South African Barbershops & Salons

What the history of Apartheid has to do with signage design and communal storytelling.

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BBC’s The Human Animal
BBC’s The Human Animal

What offensive Italian hand-gestures have to do with beauty and the evolution of sexuality.

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The Music of Philip Glass, Visualized in Fractals
The Music of Philip Glass, Visualized in Fractals

What fractals have to do with classical music and the secret of Einstein’s genius.

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From Nature to NASA: The Fascinating Story of Velcro, a Pioneering Masterpiece of Biomimicry
From Nature to NASA: The Fascinating Story of Velcro, a Pioneering Masterpiece of Biomimicry

Innovation that sticks, or how to turn nature’s aggravations into universal usefulness.

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The Filter Bubble: Algorithm vs. Curator & the Value of Serendipity
The Filter Bubble: Algorithm vs. Curator & the Value of Serendipity

How the web gives us what we want to see, and that’s not necessarily a good thing.

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