The Best Things I’ve Read This Week:
4.15.15
A Field Guide to the American Sandwich - “A celebration of the sandwich, and an attempt to create a taxonomy for its many diverse forms.”
America Loves Pickup Trucks: An Analysis of Vehicular Spending Across the U.S. - “Cars are the ultimate symbol of freedom, independence and individualism. They offer the freedom to “go anywhere,” whenever it suits and with whom one chooses.”
The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph - “We are stuck, stymied, frustrated. But it needn’t be this way. There is a formula for success that’s been followed by the icons of history—from John D. Rockefeller to Amelia Earhart to Ulysses S. Grant to Steve Jobs—a formula that let them turn obstacles into opportunities. Faced with impossible situations, they found the astounding triumphs we all seek.”
How Music Hijacks Our Perception of Time - “A composer details how music works its magic on our brains.”
The Weird Science of Naming New Products - “Like most namers, though, Shore doesn’t believe that computers can replace human creativity. For Shore, sound symbolism was only the beginning. He didn’t just want words that sounded right. Shore liked “natural words,” words that carried semantic and even historic meaning.”