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 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!
TGSotI Reviewed
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.
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.
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.
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?
The Water Lilies* | Katrina Vandenberg, Orion Magazine
Reflections on time, aging, and Monet's cataracts
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.
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
*
Only Boring People Get Bored from *
Garden of Grief from
‘Give my love to Bangalore’ from
Welcome to Bama Confidential* from
(this is just the first installment, but I highly recommend every post in the series)
The Poetry of Everyone* from
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
.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!
Hey Jahnavi, Thank you for featuring my essay in your newsletter.
This one is my personal favourite too!
Writing an essay had never felt so good!