Start your week with nine curated reads, served fresh each Monday

Kickoff For December 5, 2022

Welcome to this week's edition of the Monday Kickoff, a collection of what I've found interesting, informative, and insightful on the web over the last seven days.

Let's get this Monday started with these links:

Osaka: A City of Experience and Exploration, wherein Ben Cooke takes us on a tour of one of my favourite Japanese cities and shows us a few different sides of the country's old commercial centre.

Remembering the World War II Frogmen Who Trained in Secret off the California Coast, wherein we learn a bit about the OSS's naval commandos from World War 2, who acquired and practiced their deadly skills on Catalina Island.

Anna Quindlen on the Power of Writing by Hand, wherein we explore why some writers, even ones with technology at their fingertips, draft their work the analog way, learn a bit about why that works for them.

The Burglaries Were Never the Story, wherein Andrew Elrod argues that Watergate was nothing less than the visible manifestation of a hypogeal realignment, and explains why.

Panic at the Library, wherein we learn a bit about the programs to fumigate American libraries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, to try to control both vermin and disease.

The Obsessive Pleasures of Mechanical-Keyboard Tinkerers, wherein we're taken into the world of hardcore computer keyboard enthusiasts, people who shell out a lot of money to try to find the perfect typing peripheral and the perfect keys to go along with it.

In Praise of Bewilderment, wherein Alan Levinovitz explains how he uses uncertainty and ambiguity when teaching, and why we should try to embrace both when we try to understand the modern world.

Running and the Science of Mental Toughness, wherein we're introduced to the deeper psychological aspects of long-distance running (and sports in general), a side to the sport that might have more importance than anyone previously considered.

How to shut down the internet – and how to fight back, wherein we get a glimpse at how government can (and do) block online access to the rest of the world, and about a few ways around that.

And that's it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.

Scott Nesbitt