On Snapchat and the power of temporary photography:
“The temporary photo will wrongly be called frivolous or trivial — after all, only unimportant images could be so easily parted with. But as we have seen, there is meaning in witnessing ephemerality itself, an appreciation of impermanence for its own sake. By carving a space away from the growing necessity to record and collect life into database museums, temporary photography encourages an appreciation of the importance of experiencing the present for its own sake.”
The story of the longest-reigning English dynasty, which met its end under a parking lot:
“John was an appallingly bad king, yet no less an authority on the English-speaking peoples as Winston Churchill believed that ‘We owe far more to the vices of John than to the labours of virtuous sovereigns.’ “
The enforced happiness of Pret a Manger:
“Pret doesn’t merely want its employees to lend their minds and bodies; it wants their souls, too. It will not employ anyone who is ‘here just for the money.’ Noting that one Pret worker in London got fired soon after he tried to start a union—the company maintained it was for making homophobic comments—Myerscough suggested the worker’s true offense was being unhappy enough to want to start a union, since ‘Pret workers aren’t supposed to be unhappy.’ The sin commenceth with the thought, not the deed.”
Aaron Swartz wanted to save the world. Why couldn’t he save himself?
“Aaron Swartz is a difficult puzzle. He was a programmer who resisted the description, a dot-com millionaire who lived in a rented one-room studio. He could be a troublesome collaborator but an effective troubleshooter. He had a talent for making powerful friends, and for driving them away. He had scores of interests, and he indulged them all.”
A mass shooter’s tragic past:
“By 2010, mass shootings in America had nearly lost their capacity to shock. Although it was only February, there had already been fifteen other shootings that year involving three or more victims. But Amy Bishop’s case was notable in that she did not fit the profile of a mass shooter: women very rarely commit such killings. Bishop had been a high achiever since childhood. An accomplished violinist in her youth, she had received a Ph.D. from Harvard, and had completed postdoctoral work at the Harvard School of Public Health. Her marriage appeared to be stable. She had no criminal record and no history of substance abuse.”