2020 Tedium Highlight by The Conversation US: A brief history of invisibility on screen, one of the most effective special effects ever created in film. 

Mastodon Bluesky No Man’s Land
The Conversation US’s 2020 Highlights

May 2020

Let It Be, Complicated

Inside the Beatles' messy breakup, 50 years ago. Did Paul put the dagger in, or was it John?
April 2020

A Hand-Washing Pioneer

The story of Ignaz Semmelweis, the doctor who discovered the disease-fighting power of hand-washing in 1847.

Long Con

Why do people believe con artists? Part of it might come down to the fact that we want to believe in something that’s too good to be true.

Mystery Machine

The strange connection between Bobby Kennedy's death and the rise of Scooby-Doo, who represented a new kind of cartoon hero in his day.
March 2020

The Human Xerox

Why being copycats, something we do in settings big and small, might be key to being human.

Hydrogenated Marketing

How Crisco, which avoided naming its primary ingredient in ads, toppled lard more than a century ago—and made Americans believers in industrial food.

Grab Your Rolls

There's plenty of toilet paper in the U.S. So why are people hoarding it? And what makes toilet paper the hoarding object of choice?

Lateral Move

Five ways life would be better if it were always daylight saving time, rather than the clock changing up on us twice a year.

Now You See It …

A brief history of invisibility on screen, one of the most effective special effects ever created in film.
February 2020

Thanks, Craig

Hitting its 25th anniversary this month, Craigslist remains a reminder that a more democratic version of the internet can still thrive.

Not All Heroes Wear Capes

America’s postwar fling with romance comics—and the massive collection of those comics that was recently donated to the University of South Carolina.

Cosmic Mistake

Why your zodiac sign—that thing that supposedly defines your personality—is probably wrong. Sorry, Gemini.
January 2020

Headbanger’s Ball

How do woodpeckers avoid brain injury? It all comes down to their bones.

Tedium logo
Tedium is a labor of love and appreciation.

Is it weird to say we love the internet? Because at Tedium, we love the internet—as a source of never-ending research, a vessel for new ideas, and a great historical deep dive. Since 2015, we’ve been throwing two newsletters a week into inboxes the world over, and count more than 12,000 regular readers. And we’d like to keep it going a while longer, so help by sponsoring an issue or supporting us on Patreon. But please: No backlink requests.

What is Tedium? | Support us on Patreon | Share your ideas! | Privacy Policy | Advertise With Us | RSS feed | Ernie on Mastodon

Disclosure: From time to time, we may use affiliate links in our content—but only when it makes sense. Promise.

P.S.: If you email me asking about doing a guest post or posting a backlink, you forfeit ownership of your site to me.

Proudly built on Craft CMS using the Bulma framework.

Copyright © 2015-2023 Tedium LLC. All rights reserved. Please, try the fish.