The Frog or the Appetiser
Productivity culture offers two opposite rituals: swallow the most unpleasant task first, or warm up on the easiest one. Both pieces of advice sound universal, although they work in different…
Stainless steel: what chromium actually does
It is convenient to talk about stainless steel as if it were one substance with one property. In fact it is a collective name, and the property is conditional. Technically,…
Walk away before the fight
The culture of manhood still offers to prove your worth by a readiness to accept a physical challenge. The best outcome of a fight, however, is not finding out who…
Long Reading
Books train the ability to hold a long thought. Not because paper is morally superior to a screen. A book simply creates a space where an argument, a story or…
Character Under Load
An unusual or difficult setting shows sides of a person that are rarely visible across an ordinary table. Travel, working together, illness, lack of sleep and a delayed flight all…
Carbon Steel: Why People Still Choose It
By definition, carbon steel is steel with a carbon content between 0.05% and 2.1%. In practice, makers rename anything that is not stainless steel as carbon steel for convenience. That…