Links #164

Misha Glouberman on how worried we should be about climate change, based on what the studies actually say. This was hopeful. While we still ought to do everything we reasonably can to avoid making things worse, it’s good to know that current indicators don’t lead inexorably to a post-apocalyptic hellscape.

Typographica Library’s specimen books of metal and wood type. Lovely. I occasionally dream of using some of these specimens as inspiration for new rough, wobbly fonts in the same vein as the IM Fell fonts, but I don’t know if it’ll happen — I’m beginning to suspect that maybe, just maybe, I might not have the right temperament for doing type design.

Marissa Lingen’s book reviews (twice a month). Enjoying these. So much so, in fact, that I’ve gone back and have been reading through the entirety of her blog archive.

Robert Birming on stories hiding in plain sight, and how perspective determines what’s interesting. This is in context of blogging and perhaps creative nonfiction as well.

Samuel Arbesman’s Microcosm Industries, a register of simulation games like SimCity, Factorio, and Dwarf Fortress. Fun. My brain doesn’t like playing computer games anymore, but when I was younger I would have loved these.

Worse on Purpose. “Corporate autopsies on the brands you trust. Who bought them, who gutted them, and what’s still worth buying.” I think the world would be better off with more rigorous regulations for mergers and acquisitions, and also for private equity.

Andrea Wulf’s recommendations for biographies of 18th-century figures, including Richard Holmes’s The Age of Wonder, which I’ve been looking forward to. And this reminds me that I’ve been itching to read Wulf’s other books, since I really loved The Invention of Nature by her.