July 31
The Mission Impossible movies are all heist films. From Lessons from the Screenplay, here's how the filmmakers construct such compelling heists.
Five reasons why US restaurants are so loud. "5. Americans are loud."
What Do 90-Somethings Regret Most? "'Do you wish you accomplished more?' He responded, 'No, I wished I loved more.'"
July 30
Over the next six months, Ben Lecomte is swimming across the Pacific Ocean, from Japan to San Francisco. Follow his progress here.
Design-related baby names for creative parents (incl. Ascii, Lorem, Baskerville, and Zapf)
July 26
The SSL cert on didn't get renewed. It should be fixed soon. For now, you can all go outside and play.
An interview with old school internet art collective JODI. "You can still make websites nowadays."
July 25
Natural selection in action: a pair of hurricanes changed the lizard population on Turks and Caicos. The post-hurricane lizards have bigger toes and legs for better grip in the wind.
Whoa, a fourth season of Deadwood on HBO is officially on...possibly airing as early as Spring 2019.
July 24
The Russian Prison Tapping Code. "Through the grim stone wall we could sense the joy of the man on the other side. At last we had understood!"
Secret Life of an Autistic Stripper. "I've always had trouble reading social cues, but in the strip club, where rules and roles are crystal clear, I finally learned to connect."
July 23
A map of the most lewd-sounding town names in each state. Who's up for a roadtrip from Short Pump, VA to Dickshooter, ID?
Ta-Nehisi Coates Is Leaving The Atlantic. "I want to be a writer, I'm not a symbol of what The Atlantic wants to do or whatever."
A thagomizer is an arrangement of spikes on the tail of a Stegosaurus. The term was coined by Gary Larson in a Far Side cartoon and is now used by actual paleontologists. And why not, it's a perfectly cromulent word!
July 21
July 20
Trump's Tax Cut Hasn't Done Anything for Workers. "Wages were supposed to rise. Instead, they've fallen."
July 19
Chance the Rapper bought the Chicagoist website and announced it in a new song. "I bought the Chicagoist just to run you racist bitches outta bidness."
July 18
Why do people go crazy for sports? Sports fans whose teams win experience almost the same surge of feel-good brain chemicals as the athletes do.
A lost 1956 screenplay by Stanley Kubrick was recently uncovered. It's adapted from a Stefan Zweig novella and is finished enough to "be completed by film-makers today".
July 17
The 10 Horniest Men in Literature. "1. Nino Sarratore – The Neapolitan novels by Elena Ferrante"
July 16
Wes Anderson & Juman Malouf are curating an exhibition at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna called "The Spitzmaus Mummy in a Coffin and Other Treasures". Opens in November.
July 13
Michael Ian Black on why cruises are cool. "For the cost of a good hotel room, you get a mostly-all-inclusive break from our whirling hyper-culture."
I really liked season 2 of The Handmaid's Tale, but this criticism has merit. "This isn't a feminist rallying cry or a cathartic airing of grievances, it's just a fandom."
"I Know What Incarceration Does to Families. It Happened to Mine." Michiko Kakutani on her family's imprisonment in a WWII Japanese internment camp.
Kylie Jenner started a cosmetics company two years ago that's worth nearly $800 million now (based on revenues). She's 20 years old & owns 100% of the company.
July 12
The US national anthem is terrible (unless it's sung by Whitney Houston). "No one with a normal esophagus can sing it without screaming."
At any given time in their lives, people have two dozen regular haunts. It's like a Dunbar number for places rather than people.
Headline of the year? "How Noisy Males Control the Gnu's Cycle"
Some great commentary about the meaning of the movie Casablanca. "Casablanca came out in 1942 ... Real refugees from the Nazis, afraid for their lives, watched this movie and took heart."
July 11
July 10
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July 6
Why Don't We Dream About Our Smartphones? (Answer: No one knows, and yes, sometimes we do)
July 5
July 3
July 2
The Toast archives are back! Enjoy "If Levar Burton and Yo-Yo Ma Were Your Dads"