I’m Giving My Kids a ’90s Summer — the 1890s. “Just like...

I’m Giving My Kids a ’90s Summer — the 1890s. “Just like the 1890s and the 2020s, they’ll play with the unvaccinated kids down the street and drink raw milk until dark.” Dangerous factory jobs too!

Macbook Air M4s Are on Sale

I bought a 15” Apple Macbook Air M4 a few months ago and I love it. Of course, I loved my previous computer (an M1 Macbook Air) too, but bumping up the screen size and quality has been a game-changer for me. More speed and memory is great too for running virtual machines and…

Video Mashup Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne

Last week, I linked to a video mashup by Bill McClintock of several metal songs, saying “although the video was posted a day or two before Ozzy Osbourne died, it feels like a fitting tribute to one of metal’s true pioneers”. This morning, YouTube helpfully informed me that…

Auto? Polo! Auto? Polo! Auto? Polo! Photographs of Auto Polo (ca. 1912)....

Auto? Polo! Auto? Polo! Auto? Polo! Photographs of Auto Polo (ca. 1912). 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

XKCD: Kite Incident. “I don’t know. Lemme look up a map of...

XKCD: Kite Incident. “I don’t know. Lemme look up a map of where the jet stream goes.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

Leica SL3 And More May See US Price Hike Due to New Tariff

Tariffs have been causing a lot of trouble for manufacturers outside of the United States. According to reports, Japanese goods will be charged 15% tariffs, which will affect many photographers. However, it now appears that Europe, too, will face new tariffs. This means companie…

Oooh, George Saunders’ next novel comes out in January. “Vigil transports us,...

Oooh, George Saunders’ next novel comes out in January. “Vigil transports us, careening, through the wild final evening of an epic, complicated life.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

Science Is Winning the Tour de France. Data, nutrition, equipment, and training...

Science Is Winning the Tour de France. Data, nutrition, equipment, and training are propelling riders to performances that best the dopers of yesteryear. “In other words, Armstrong on dope then would be an also-ran next to Pogačar today.” 💬 Join the discus…

The Set Design of Sesame Street (Feat. Jane Jacobs)

An article about The Quintessential Urban Design of ‘Sesame Street’ with a bunch of photos? This is extremely up my alley. One of the show’s big influences when it began was Jane Jacobs’ landmark book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, which informed the set…

An analysis of every word that’s visible on NYC’s streets (from 18...

An analysis of every word that’s visible on NYC’s streets (from 18 years of Google Street View Data). “The data is astonishing; it feels like sifting through the city’s source code. For example, here’s all 111,290 matches for ‘pizza’, on a map.” ��…

Canon R5 Mk II is The Most Successful Camera of 2025: Fiscal Report

Canon performed exceptionally well in quarter one of 2025, with the company showcasing a positive fiscal year. It now appears that the second quarter has not been too different either, with the overall fiscal report depicting a a strong result. This is despite the falling yen, s…

nikitonsky is being grumpy

nikitonsky: I didn’t think this pattern still exist anywhere: you have to manually “Save” settings before navigating away, otherwise you’ll get this annoying popup. But the question I have is: do you really expect “Discard” to be the most useful action here? Like, p…

X100VI to GFX100 II — A Look at All the Fujifilm Cameras Getting Price Bump in August

Tariffs have shaken up the industry. With President Donald Trump announcing a 15% hike on goods imported from Japan, many camera manufacturers are considering revising their price points. While some are still in talks, it appears Fujifilm will be the first to push the prices of…

This Panasonic Camera Is Becoming the Industry’s New Cult Classic

Panasonic has launched some interesting cameras over the years. The company introduced a full-frame beauty like the S9 and the S1R II, and also has MFT models like the Lumix G100D or GH7. While Panasonic may not be as popular as Canon, it continues to be loved by hybrid shooters…

5 Macro Lenses You’re Bound to Love

Macro lenses have really changed in the past few years. Talk to any experienced photographer, and they'll tell you that those lenses are often a single focal length and kind of bland. But since becoming part of the L-Mount alliance, LUMIX has made several macro lenses. And quite…

Season 4 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is going to feature...

Season 4 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is going to feature an episode where all the characters are Muppetized (with puppets created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop). I love this show. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

A list of the top 100 “most innovative, influential, and informative” podcasts...

A list of the top 100 “most innovative, influential, and informative” podcasts of all time. The list includes 99% Invisible, The Big Dig, Code Switch, Heavyweight, In Our Time, Radiolab, Slow Burn, and You’re Wrong About. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.o…

Kite Incident

Is This the Best Downhill Mountain Biker in the World?

Meet Jackson Goldstone. He’s 6 years old, lives in British Columbia, and is already ripping it up on his bike. Here’s a video of him taking the long way around on his way to kindergarten: Wow, if he keeps riding and improving, I wonder how good this kid could be? Ok, I’…

Is starvation in Gaza really Israel’s fault? The facts are clear. “Israeli...

Is starvation in Gaza really Israel’s fault? The facts are clear. “Israeli officials have, for months — indeed, since the start of the war — not only admitted to working to restrict the aid that makes its way to Gaza, but bragged about doing so.”

Another piece from Hitler scholar Timothy Ryback that is uncomfortably resonant today:...

Another piece from Hitler scholar Timothy Ryback that is uncomfortably resonant today: What Happened When Hitler Took On Germany’s Central Banker.

Sony RX1R Mk III Review: Read This Before You Buy It

Like many of you, I was waiting so very patiently for the Sony RX1R Mk III. At the last Sony Kando trip I attended, I even spoke with them about what the camera needed. So for a few years, I knew that Sony hadn't given up on this camera and that I knew that it was coming. But I…

José Andrés: The World Cannot Stand By With Gaza on the Brink...

José Andrés: The World Cannot Stand By With Gaza on the Brink of Famine. “There is no excuse for the world to stand by and watch two million human beings suffer on the brink of full-blown famine.”

TIL the etymology of boycott. “When Boycott set about evicting 11 tenants,...

TIL the etymology of boycott. “When Boycott set about evicting 11 tenants, the locals had had enough. The Mayo branch of the Irish Land League urged Boycott’s employees to withdraw their labor and began a campaign of isolation against Boycott.” 💬 Join the…

All the Dogs, Explained

From MinuteEarth, a quick tour of all the different kinds of dogs in the world, wild & domesticated, and how they are related to each other. Great Danes are the tallest dogs in the world. Standing on his hind legs, the Great Dane Zeus was taller than Shaq. He could drink dire…

In Celebration of the Canon 5D

Today, the Canon 5D turns 20 years old. It's crazy to think that in 2005 the camera was born. I was graduating high school and going into college when wedding photographers everywhere were picking up the first of an iconic camera that would make them commit to Canon DSLRs for ye…

Watch this: Chinese EV maker BYD built a driverless car that can...

Watch this: Chinese EV maker BYD built a driverless car that can *jump over potholes*, has a top speed of 243mph, and can charge from 30% to 80% battery in 10 minutes. It’s a Mario Kart World kart IRL — hold ZR to Charge Jump! 💬 Join the discussion on kottk…

New York Times’ Style Guide Substitutions for “The President Violated the Constitution”....

New York Times’ Style Guide Substitutions for “The President Violated the Constitution”. “The president, tiptoeing precipitously down the sidelines of legality, inadvertently ran the constitutional football out of bounds.”

Is Cosina Developing New Fast Aperture Prime Lenses?

Japanese lens manufacturer Cosina has some wonderful lenses in its portfolio. The company has been creating Voigtlander lenses since 1999, when it acquired the licence to manufacture them under the Voigtlander brand name. It now appears Cosina is developing a few new prime lense…

“Two leading human rights organisations based in Israel, B’Tselem and Physicians for...

“Two leading human rights organisations based in Israel, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, say Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the country’s western allies have a legal and moral duty to stop it.”

Is this the beginning of the end of HIV/AIDS? Lenacapavir “offers 100%...

Is this the beginning of the end of HIV/AIDS? Lenacapavir “offers 100% protection” against contracting HIV and there are already 6 generic manufacturers lined up to produce the drug under royalty-free licensing agreements.

Is Canon Working on a New, Lighter 85mm Lens?

Canon lenses are known for their excellent optics, finesse, and absolutely striking colors. The company has many different series of lenses, and one of the recently popular ones is the VCM 'hybrid' prime lenses. The company has launched 20mm, 24mm, 30mm, and 50mm VCM lenses so f…