Too big for your boots, britches + trumpet
Q. It’s inspiring to see humility amongst those with otherworldly skills. Not a humble brag in sight despite an ability to will pucks into the net, scribble down musical masterpieces in a day, restore the peace in a bicker-heavy room. Contrast that to those who swan in with booming braggadocio
The Uffizi
Q. What is it about the Uffizi Gallery that drives art lovers to return to Florence again and again? . A. The Uffizi Gallery houses an extraordinary collection of paintings, with masterpieces from Boticelli to Michelangelo, Caravaggio to Giotto, Leonardo to Raffaello. This world-renowned gallery sits in the first two
That Sounds Tasty
Q. Sizzle, fizz, pop, crunch. Does the sound of food – while we’re preparing it, while we’re eating it – affect our perceptions of its taste? And how about the ambient sounds that surround us while we eat? Can playing this piece versus that song affect the degree to which
Most Memorable Movie Characters
Q. It’s the dream: create a character so riveting that people remember details about them years, even decades later. All the more brilliant if the perfect actor steps into the role with flair and nuance. Who are the movie characters who sit most vividly in your brain? If you were
Hit The Road To Hit The Sack
Q. Through the tumult of the last years, is it any wonder that we dream about escaping for carefree holidays? What activities do our idyllic vacations include for 2024? . A. To build their Travel Trends 2024 reports, Skyscanner studied search and booking data, and polled thousands in Canada, the
Eating Hot Hot Hot
Q. Indonesia, Mexico, India, The West Indies – places known for the heat in their sun, and the heat on their plates. If I’m feeling adventurous in Jamaica, I’ll go for spice with my breakfast omelette. I mean: I’m half-Jamaican. I can handle it, right? ‘Spice’ is scooped out of
Dystopian Doppelgänger Deepfakes
Q. At the end of each year, Merriam Webster mines their search data to see which words have been intriguing and puzzling readers for the past twelve months. Which word winners did they find for 2023? . . A. i. Authentic 👑 ii. Rizz iii. Deepfake iv. Coronation v. Dystopian
American Gothic
Q. It’s one of the world’s most recognizable paintings. From the moment that the Art Institute of Chicago put Grant Wood’s ‘American Gothic’ on display, visitors were intrigued. What on earth was the story here? What indeed. . . A. The story starts with an Iowa-born artist’s sugar problem… Grant
Googlegangers + Widdershins
Q. What is that thing called again? . A. Thanks to Phineas and Ferb, millions of families now know the name of the small, protective metal or plastic tube at the end of a shoelace. All together now… the aglet. What are some other unusual words that describe the things
But Did You Bring Cloves?
Q. The wasps – ugh – were at peak annoying this summer. ‘I’m sorry, did you think we would just let you sit outside?’ Were those giant monsters murder hornets, or just garden variety villains fat from all the sugar water they were stealing from the hummingbirds? To combat this