The premature sheen

I find Brian Eno to be a fascinating chap. His music isn’t my cup of tea, but I really enjoy hearing his thoughts on art, creativity, and culture. I’ve always loved this short piece he wrote about singing with other people. I’ve passed that link onto multiple people who h…

Top 5 Cameras in Gen Z’s Most-Searched List Before Black Friday

Young photographers often wait for discounts or rebates to purchase a camera that they have been eyeing for a while. We chose to examine the devices that have been trending on Google Trends over the past 10 days, and it appears that the most searched options have been vintage of…

Echolens Review: The Kodak Charmera on Steroids

While all the other photo publications are chasing companies that don't care about us for review units on the newest cameras, I've decided a while ago that I've mostly given up on the big three. At this point, asking the non-existent avodacos in my fridge to stop browning feels…

How Mira Nair Built the World That Made Zohran Mamdani. “Zohran has...

How Mira Nair Built the World That Made Zohran Mamdani. “Zohran has been marinated in love, not just from us, his parents, but from intergenerational family life. He’s so secure in knowing who he is.”

EPIRBs

BSIM

Just a question If we Thank God It's Friday, should we Blame Satan It's Monday?

Stress Is an Ancient Superpower That Is Slowly Killing You

Stress in pre-modern times was a “biological superpower” that helped humans hunt for food and survive in harsh environments and situations. But our bodies can’t easily tell the difference between the stress of encountering a lion in the jungle and a worrying email from y…

How to Photograph an Active Volcano Without Getting Vaporized. “It’s dangerous and...

How to Photograph an Active Volcano Without Getting Vaporized. “It’s dangerous and completely mesmerizing. Everyone edges closer even though your brain’s screaming don’t. It’s pure moth-to-flame energy.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

The Look of Nikon’s Most Iconic DSLR: In a Preset

We really worked very hard to get the look of the old Nikon D700 in a great preset.. Our presets are designed to make editing a minimal task so you can get back to shooting! We're in love with Retro Digital. Luckily, that's when we founded the website closer to two decades ago.…

Gundam is just the same as Jane Austen but happens to include giant mech suits

A friend recently asked how to get started watching Gundam, and as I tripped all over myself, equal parts excitement and not wanting to sound like a lunatic, I fumbled around for a good answer. What I landed at was inelegant and I eventually panicked and found a watch list onli…

Climate Change in America: Is It Too Late to Wake Up?

From Vann R. Newkirk II, a editor & journalist who hosts the Floodlines podcast (about Hurricane Katrina), a long piece about the climate chaos that’s taking hold in the US: What Climate Change Will Do to America by Mid-Century. Over the next 30 years or so, the changes to Am…

Clint Smith recently talked to students around the country about the “complexities...

Clint Smith recently talked to students around the country about the “complexities and contradictions” of US history (including slavery) and found they were receptive to it. “Doesn’t seem that hard. Just say both things.” 💬 Join the discussion on kott…

Kevin Kelly shares some essential apps & services for independent travel in...

Kevin Kelly shares some essential apps & services for independent travel in China. “A good rule of thumb is to download your apps outside of China before you leave, because most are behind their great firewall.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

All the Cats, Explained

From MinuteEarth, a quick tour of all the different kinds of cats in the world, extinct, wild, and domesticated, and how they are related to each other. Some interesting facts I learned: The saber-toothed tiger was the largest cat to ever live and researchers now believe it h…

They’re making a live-action Legend of Zelda movie?...

They’re making a live-action Legend of Zelda movie? 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

Why This Pentax Camera Could be Exactly What You Need

I reviewed the Pentax 17 a while back, and even updated the review after a really long time. For most of us, this camera is probably something that you won't even bother paying attention to. I mean, it's a film camera: and you have to be a fan of doing that. Plus it limits you i…

The Best Wide Lenses From a Decade Ago For Young Photographers

Young photographers have a wide range of options to choose from. They not only get the opportunity to buy vintage cameras and lenses from decades ago, but also newer tech that allows them to bring their vision to life. However, the latter can be a pinch on your pocket, with thir…

The Sagrada Família has become the tallest church in the world, after...

The Sagrada Família has become the tallest church in the world, after workers placed the first part of a cross at the top of its central tower. The Barcelona church will top 564 feet when the rest of the cross is placed in the next few months. 💬 Join the discu…

A digital atlas of the Roman Empire’s entire road network (180,000+ miles)....

A digital atlas of the Roman Empire’s entire road network (180,000+ miles). “The data creation is a collaborative ongoing project edited by a scholarly community.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

Skydiving the Sun

Skydiver & musician Gabriel Brown and astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy teamed up to capture these incredible photos of Brown transiting the Sun while skydiving. You can see a video of the jump and some behind the scenes calculations on Instagram. We had to find the right l…

This Accessory Broke a Camera. We’d Never Recommend It

Every now and again, I highlight great work that we've done for the photography industry via our reviews. And recently, I was reminded of a product that we warned against using for a very long time. But as Google Searches and paid ads go, sometimes the real journalism get silenc…

The Best Fujifilm Cameras and Lenses in the Past Three Years

Fujifilm has been on a roll in recent years. One of the reasons is that the company introduced devices in 2024, which gave them a chance to start 2025 with a bang. Today, we take the opportunity to look back at the recent launches from the company, which have performed well in t…

An Ode to Onion Bokeh

There's a group of photographers out there who would look at the lead image of this article and complain about the bokeh not being smooth instead of how beautiful the overall image is. They wouldn't be able to appreciate that this photograph has texture to it and that it looks g…