What We’re Reading: A lesson in simplicity. Plus: The Medium Pub Crawl
Hi everyone,
Some stories this week on Medium that dive deep: Tim Berners-Lee writes an open letter to humanity on the occasion of the 35th birthday of his creation, the World Wide Web; a legal studies lecturer explains how to find and read U.S. Supreme Court decisions for yourself; a look at the backstory of how American popcorn giant Orville Redenbacher got its brand name.
In Redenbacher’s case, he paid a public relations agency $13,000 to suggest the best name for his salty snack and ended up with a simple answer.
“Skeptical of the simplicity, Redenbacher initially resisted, expressing his concern about his funny-sounding surname,” writes Andrew Martin. “He was also not a huge fan of the $13,000 bill he received for the work when he felt all he was getting was a suggestion to put the company in his own name.”
Redenbacher popcorn is now a huge U.S. brand, plus it’s sold in more than 30 movie theater chains. That simplistic tip worked out well, didn’t it?
If you come across — or write — a Medium story that centers simplicity, I’d love to read it. Feel free to post your thoughts to your Medium profile.
Thanks for reading.
Adrienne Gibbs, Director of Content at Medium
Special Edition: What We’re Reading
All publications below are joining the Medium Pub Crawl
Oscar Winners 2024
Published by Simon Dillon in Fanfare
Throughout Oppenheimer, and particularly in the latter third — when the eponymous scientist is haunted by deathly visions and claustrophobic, crushing guilt — I had a profound emotional response to the story. As I watched, I felt as though the walls were closing in on me, culminating in a terrible, necessarily bleak reckoning with the implications of the nuclear age. After that final scene with Einstein (which I won’t spoil for anyone who hasn’t seen it), I needed a lie down in a darkened room to recover.
Hey, We Know You’re Poor, But Can You Maybe… Be a Little Less Obvious About It?
By The AuDHD Philosopher in Coping with Capitalism
I do my best. The panic cycle in my head had begun. Our washer is a stackable unit affair, typical of apartment living and the cheapest model on the market. It will be here after we’re gone, serving future tenants, until it finally rattles to a clumsy halt and is replaced with another just like it. I run cycles to clean it on a monthly basis. I do the best I can.
Autistic Monologues and the Modern Art of Conversation
Published by McDopper in The Unexpected Autistic Life
We live in an information age. One of the bigger hallmarks of being autistic is collecting, and one of the most wonderful things to collect is information, specifically information on YOUR FAVORITE TOPICS, but most any information will do in a pinch.
Sharing a GSH — Genuine, Sustained Hug
Published by Karen Hoffman in Age of Empathy
The epidemic of loneliness — humans’ need for connection and togetherness — has been written about often since the pandemic. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy wrote his eye-opening book Together, even before the pandemic. As we saw those many isolated months unfurl, people longing for the human connection so many were starved of, those first hugs of 2022 and 2023 were so welcome.
Today’s Final Word goes to a sportswriter detailing that time when he, as a freshman, bested an older athlete in a varsity football competition.
“I caught a pass on a seven-yard slant, faked to my left and then pivoted back to my right and made a defender whiff flying in for a big hit.
There were a lot of ‘ooohs’ and ‘aaaahs.’
A freshman had shown up a sophomore.
As I ran back to the huddle, I heard a defensive player yell to the defense, ‘Kill Little Culver!’”
What happened next? Read the story in Beyond the Scoreboard to find out.
Find a home for your writing: Join Medium’s Pub Crawl, March 19
What are you reading? Share it in the responses.
