Bay Area writer Brad Balukjian traveled the country to track down the players inside one random 1986 pack of baseball cards to ponder the sport’s soul. The cards (and players) that make up “The Wax Pack.” (Photo by Scott Greene, courtesy of Brad Balukjian) The idea itself is a slam dunk…well, er…a home run: open a sealed pack of Topps baseball cards from 1986 and track down each player inside to see what ...
Read MoreAuthor (and soccer mom) Ayelet Waldman documents the progress and positivity of her “really good days” while microdosing on acid By Emily Olson Illustration by Kaz Palladino Ayelet Waldman is a self-identified Jewish mama. She carpools, sips tea and binges Netflix. She wears yoga pants regularly. She attends Pilates classes begrudgingly. A writer, she stays home most days with her labradoodle, which she admits is both a blessing and a curse. She is wife to author Michael ...
Read MoreFrom artificial intelligence to biomedical technology, the Mary Shelley classic exhibits a remarkable relevance (Illustration by Andrew Strawder) Somewhere amid the news of Facebook’s very dystopian sci-fi-sounding artificial intelligence incident this past July, it was easy enough to think of the simple but critical line delivered by Jeff Goldblum’s character in the original Jurassic Park film — “your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if ...
Read MoreStanford grads disrupt the children’s book formula with Goodnight News By Eva Glasrud When it comes to parenting, it can be the simple things that are most challenging, such as the basic “How was your day?” question being answered with an abrupt-sounding one-word answer. In ways that are both predictable and cliche, many parents regard a short response as a sign of growing distance or a candid indication that their child simply doesn’t ...
Read MoreStanford Design Professor Bill Burnett recounts his time at Kenner (and how Star Wars ruined the toy industry) By Charles Russo Partial disintegration: a couple bounty hunters short of a collection. (Photo by Charles Russo) I still have my childhood Star Wars lunchbox. It’s the same one I took to my first day of pre-school…a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away (which is to say — about 40 years ago in northern New Jersey). My lunchbox ...
Read MoreThe dark horse literary star discusses his new book ahead of his upcoming Mountain View event. By Mark Noack Astronauts activities during Extravehicular Activity (EV)-1. Here Astronaut Robert Stewart during Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) Exercise untethered above the Earth; February 11, 1984. (Image via NASA on FLICKR Commons) For Andy Weir, these are indeed stellar times. Just a few years ago, the Mountain View native was penning a story, between shifts as a software engineer, about an astronaut ...
Read MoreThe ever-ascending athlete talks motherhood, mountaineering and “The Peak of Evil” ahead of her Redwood City Nat Geo talk. By Emily Olson Day at the office: mountaineer Hilaree O’Neill will showcase stories and imagery from her climbs at the Fox Theater in Redwood City as part of the speaker series Nat Geo Live. (Photo by Cory Richards) For most people, a life of ups-and-downs is merely a metaphor. For Hilaree O’Neill, it comes with the job. The ...
Read MoreTalking art and innovation with author Tim Lapetino on the anniversary of a Silicon Valley classic By Charles Russo Cover art for the Atari 2600 game “Surround,” by Cliff Spohn. (Courtesy of Dynamite Entertainment) This year marks the 40th Anniversary of the Atari home gaming console. Yes, the 2600, with its sleek design and many iconic games, is now four decades old. The cover of Tim Lapetino’s book, published by Dynamite Entertainment. In the years since the Atari ...
Read MoreThe Chez Panisse alum speaks on the evolution of blogs, his most important kitchen tool and his favorite food haunts What’s cookin’?: David Lebovitz has been a food blogger since 1999. (Photo courtesy of Ten Speed Press) David Lebovitz was a food blogger before the term even existed. He launched his popular website in 1999, long before the advent of Facebook, Yelp or Wordpress. The longtime cook steadily made a name for himself over the ...
Read MoreThe Atlantic’s staff writer talks big tech (and whether or not we should just throw our smart phones into the sea). By Charles Russo (Illustration by Kaz Palladino) It still doesn’t seem all that long ago that the likes of Google and Facebook were still just enterprising young companies, with slogans like “Don’t Be Evil,” pointing us towards a dynamic futurism. In the last decade, the sweeping influence and staggering power of those same corporations ...
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