I love a good rabbithole but the Wikipedia articles for very basic concepts are so so interesting too. the page for “War” is of course incredibly developed and thought out, deeply exploring its history, types, effects, motivations, ethics, and mitigation with lotsss of interesting jumping off points for other philosophical, historical, material, and sociological topics. not reccing this in an edgelord way but in a sober and curious way
pictured here: “Stele of the Vultures” 2450 BC, first evidence of the use of a phalanx
Aug 25, 2024
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It's far too easy for me to burn a few hours digging through Wikipedia hyperlinks and trawling through yards of text. It's a very fun way to gain cursory knowledge about possibly obscure topics, and you can find some pretty bizarre stuff if you know where to look.
Nov 29, 2024
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I adore wikipedia and my favourite part of the articles is the references and external links list. a deeper dive into the subject/topic. they always include research papers as well! love it so much.
Sep 18, 2024
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in this world which feeds us manufactured stories designed to provoke, following threads of literally anything can foster our genuine sense of curiosity which is being commodified at every turn.
go to the main page of wikipedia and click click click and let your thoughts wander. for instance, today i landed on the page of flags sorted by design. did you know that libya's flag was just solid green from 1977-2011? that cyprus is one of the only national flags to have a map of itself on it? and that nepal's flag is the only non-rectangular national flag in the world? unless you want to make a non-rectangular flag for your hypothetical nation. the world is your oyster.
Jan 7, 2025
Top Recs from @bisonspider
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study the folklore and myth of your actual local region. live your daily life under the logic of fairytales. communicate as heavily as possible in proverbs and riddles. humans are a storytelling creature and there is a reason these archetypes and motifs appear to humans across times/cultures/places
Feb 13, 2024
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Substack that emails you the entirety of Bram Stoker’s Dracula in real time. since the novel is composed of diary entries, it sends you the diary entries day by day so you can read it on the same timeline in which it takes place. it started earlier this month but it’s not too late to catch up!! or you could wait until next may. classics can be intimidating but this gives you the opportunity to read it in daily segments in your email and follow along in an immersive way :)
May 20, 2024
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lots of great recs here, but if you want horror that is more based in storytelling and has a bit more on its mind than just slashers or gore you should check out folk horror or older horror films from the 60s/70s. as others have recommended, The Wicker Man (1973) is a must. Rosemary’s Baby (1968) is also a classic. The VVitch (2015) is also fantastic as an intro to more conceptual horror. you said you wanted deeper cuts, so check out Viy (1967) or Alucarda (1977), both of which i’ve posted more detailed recs for on my profile. also!!!! i don’t know how you feel about silent/b&w films but Nosferatu (1922) is an all-time genre mainstay that still holds up. Ari Aster’s work is great but it’s probably more gruesome than you’re looking for. have fun!!!
Apr 24, 2024