December '24

The Twenty-Second Side

Hi! Welcome to the twenty-second issue of The Good Side of the Internet! Super glad to have you here. For a brief run-down on what all the hullabaloo is about, please visit the About page for this publication.

This newsletter has been split into two sections. The first is external links that I truly adored, sometimes with my own little endorsements. The second is similar, but within Substack. There once was a third, compiling all the recommended readings on

thodi

over the last month. I’ve since discontinued the mini-TGSotI, so all links can be found in one place, right here.

The ones with the little asterisk next to them come Highly Recommended (by me). Please do heed the trigger warnings if they’re present. For access to paywalled essays, feel free to reach out. I’m always open to discuss/debate/listen to your opinions about any of these links and would probably ascend to a higher plane of joy.

Happy reading, and happy new year!

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TGSotI Reviewed

1. Every Page of This Book Is a Slice of Cheese | Abigail Cain, Gastro Obscura

   What would a book look like if it were a work of art? The artists’ books collection at the University of Michigan offers almost a thousand answers: It could be a brown paper chrysalis than unfolds to reveal a small, circular book within, or eight wedge-shaped booklets printed to look like cherry pie and stored together in a clear plastic takeout container.

   It could even be made of American cheese.

2. Gold Treasure Worth a Fortune Was Hidden in a Forest. Let the Hunt Begin* | Joseph Bien-Kahn, WIRED

   For years, Jason Rohrer put out bizarre, beloved video games. Now, with Project Skydrop, he launches the real-world treasure hunt of his dreams.

3. Maira Kalman: Thinking and Feeling | THNKR, YouTube

In this episode of Epiphany, Maira Kalman finds inspiration while walking the city streets and veering off the prescribed path.

4. Gen Z’s fav heritage fashion brands don't pander, they play hard to get | Livvy Moore, The Drum

   Are heritage brands turning off a younger audience in a quest to win them over?

5. The Water Lilies* | Katrina Vandenberg, Orion Magazine

   Reflections on time, aging, and Monet's cataracts

6. The Human Cost Of Our AI-Driven Future*** | Adio Dinika, Noema Magazine

   Behind AI’s rapid advance and our sanitized feeds, an invisible global workforce endures unimaginable trauma.

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In-house Links

This section contains links to pieces from different Substack publications. Again, the ones with the asterisk are personal favourites.

1. absinthe makes the heart grow fonder from

Dirtbags Through the Ages

*

absinthe makes the heart grow fonder

2. Only Boring People Get Bored from

   Earl Earl by Laurel Pantin
   *

   Only Boring People Get Bored

3. Garden of Grief from

   The Chaddi Things

   Garden of Grief

4. ‘Give my love to Bangalore’ from

   Reading This World by Karthik

   'Give my love to Bangalore'

5. Welcome to Bama Confidential* from

   Culture Study
   (this is just the first installment, but I highly recommend every post in the series)

   Welcome to Bama Confidential

6. The Poetry of Everyone* from

   Devotions

   The Poetry of Everyone

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That’s a wrap for December ‘24! Feel free to make me the happiest person alive by reaching out to discuss any of it. For weekly poetry and song recommendations, plus a sometimes-nonsensical-sometimes-profound-sometimes-toopersonal micro-essay, we’d be happy to have you over at

thodi

.

If you’d like, please share this with your friends. Or your mother. Or on your Instagram story that you share a Spotify link on once in six months. Or anybody who you think would enjoy it. I am deeply passionate about telling people what to read.

Thanks for reading, and see you next month!

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