Pessimists Archive Newsletter

Pessimists Archive Newsletter

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About
The War on Artificial Ice
Before artificial meat was attacked as ‘unnatural’ by incumbents, artificial ice was also.
 • 
Louis Anslow
Thinking Different is Never Popular (at First)
“Think Different” is Apple’s iconic motto, capturing the essence of what made it one of the world’s most beloved brands—often overlooked is how much…
 • 
Louis Anslow
3
The War on Internet Phone Calls
When long distance telephone companies tried to thwart online telephony
 • 
Louis Anslow
2
When Hollywood Union Members Embraced Artificial Music
In 1929, the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) railed against the growing trend of recorded music in movie theaters instead of live musicians - a…
 • 
Louis Anslow
1
The 1800s Had 'Brainrot' Too!
The Oxford Dictionary just added "brainrot" as its newest official word—a tongue in cheek term for consuming too much short-form social media content.
 • 
Louis Anslow

Recent posts

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The 1774 Novel Blamed for Youth Suicide
The Sorrows of Young Werther was blamed for a supposed youth suicide epidemic
 • 
Louis Anslow
The 'War of the Worlds' Panic was Anti-Radio Propaganda
Radio was a new competing medium, so newspapers invented a panic to blame it for
 • 
Louis Anslow
8
Einstein Blamed Automation for the Great Depression
Not even Einstein was immune from the lump of labor fallacy...
 • 
Louis Anslow
The 1912 War on Fake Photos
Concern about deceptively edited photos feels like a very modern anxiety, yet a century ago similar worries were being litigated...
 • 
Louis Anslow
The Eiffel Tower was Called Techno-Dystopian
The Eiffel Tower is just as iconic of France as croissants and baguettes, and equally emblematic of Paris, standing alongside landmarks like Notre-Dame…
 • 
Louis Anslow
Skateboarding: from Nuisance to Olympic Sport
Skateboarding was considered a silly and childish phenomenon for much of its existence, its emergence in the late 1950s would see opposition almost…
 • 
Louis Anslow
2
When the Surgeon General Warned About Pac-Man
This week U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy published an op-ed in The New York Times calling for a ‘Warning Label on Social Media Platforms’, this…
 • 
Louis Anslow
2
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