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          10 stories we've enjoyed this week      

Futuristic illustration of black gilr with a purple face and platted hair
Hi All,
A couple of things from us before the stories. 

Come work with us - we're looking for a Brighton-based Operations Coordinator. It's a 6 month part time contract to begin with, working on everything from project admin, HR, finance to social. We offer training where needed and flexible working. We're really nice and work on great projects. If that sounds like your kinda gig, apply now. If not, please share within your networks. 

We're working with a music and language lessons provider to understand teacher and student experiences of learning languages and music online. If you know anyone who might fit those bills, please ask them to fill these (very short) forms in by Monday: here's a survey for English language teachers, here's a survey for students learning English, here's a survey for music students, and one for music teachers.

Finally, in the latest episode of A Brief History of Stuff, the podcast we make with Science Museum, Nihal Arthanayake speaks to curator Rebecca Raven about the fascinating stories behind the menstruation products many of us use, while Dr Suba Thiyagalingam discusses period poverty, taboos and why we should talk more about periods. It's a great listen. Subscribe wherever you get your pods.

That's it from me. Enjoy today's stories and have a great weekend everyone,
Hugh
The Short Story
Austin Kleon Brilliantly Distills Three Talks About His Work in This One Image
(1 min read)

The Wheelie Suitcase: How Gender Stereotypes Hold Back Innovation
(7 min read)

50 Reasons to Love Joni Mitchell's 'Blue'
(Interactive)


The TV Hit Isn't Just Dying - It May Already Be Dead
(8 min read)

The Story of How Beethoven Helped Make It So That CDs Could Play 74 Minutes of Music
(4 min read)


Here's Why Every Late Night Talk Show Looks The Same
(7 min watch)


The Secret to Better Storytelling For Social Change
(7 min read) 

Photos Capture the Golden Age of Disco Design
(1 min read)


Small Museums Are Stealing the Show on TikTok
(4 min read)

Dave Trott: We Can't Own Knowledge
(2 min read)
A menstrual cup

How can we help you?

Storythings is a strategy and content company based in Brighton and London. We'd love to help you with some creative and bold ideas.

Here's 3 reasons to get in touch

1. You want to talk to us about content production: podcasts, videos, animations, illustrations, editorial. 

2. You want to talk to us about content strategy or format development.

3. You want to create a brand or an identity that makes it easier to communicate your message.


We do other things too. We're very friendly and always enjoy meeting people, so get in touch

 
The Full Story
Austin Kleon Brilliantly Distills Three Talks About His Work in This One Image
The artist, author, and poet is great at narrowing his practice down to simple ideas. Here he narrows his three books into a single image. 
(1 min read)

The Wheelie Suitcase: How Gender Stereotypes Hold Back Innovation
In 1972 an American luggage executive unscrewed four castors from a wardrobe and fixed them to a suitcase. Then he put a strap on his contraption and trotted it gleefully around his house. Why did it take so long for this mind-blowingly obvious innovation to happen? This fascinating piece looks at the role gender stereotypes play in holding back innovation.

(7 min read)

50 Reasons to Love Joni Mitchell's 'Blue'
Just 50? The New York Times speaks to 25 musicians, including those who inspired some of the songs, about the classic album, which celebrates its 50th birthday this week. It's a nice piece of scrollytelling. The Guardian also spoke to a bunch of musicians who chose their favourite track from the album.
(Interactive)

The TV Hit Isn't Just Dying - It May Already Be Dead
Two years ago, HBO’s “Game of Thrones” gathered 20 million viewers to watch its finale. Nothing on the current pay-TV landscape would stand a chance of coming close. The TV hit is dying but executives from streaming services aren't too worried. A new culture of niche TV has given a platform to more voices for narrower audiences and is helping to retain subscribers: “If you’re Netflix, it makes a lot more sense to have five small shows that are liked by five different family members than one show that all five family members can watch together,” said a Hollywood agent who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the news media. “You’re much less likely to unsubscribe from the service in the first option. There’s always going to be something someone wants.”
(8 min read)

The Story of How Beethoven Helped Make It So That CDs Could Play 74 Minutes of Music
Whether this is a true story about the nature of innovation or simply a brilliant urban legend about innovation that people like myself will keep on telling, it doesn't matter. What it tells us is prior to the internet and digital streaming, media was designed to fit the container the media came in (such as film reels, vinyl, CD). Our attention was strongly defined by those limited patterns. Digital helped break that relationship and now our attention is spread across a spectrum, meaning we can design media for the many contexts in which people might consume it. 
(4 min read)

Here's Why Every Late Night Talk Show Looks The Same
We're all familiar with the set up - the host of the show sits behind a big wooden desk on the right and the guest sits on a couch to the left. Have you ever wondered why they don't shake it up and try something a little different? Well, because when Jay Leno removed the desk his show ended up getting cancelled. This excellent video, which could almost be a Formats Unpacked, explores the origins of late-night television and the link to the inception of stage performances themselves.
(7 min watch)

The Secret to Better Storytelling For Social Change
No single organisation or individual can pull off an effective storytelling campaign alone. This piece from the Stanford Innovation Review looks at how storytelling for social change demands that we build better partnerships between three important players.
(7 min read) 

Photos Capture the Golden Age of Disco Design
My first DJing gig was in a disco in Wigan in 1984. The DJ box was a giant frog. I'm disappointed not to see it here. But still, interesting to think about how disco design focussed so much on fantasy pre-ecstasy, acid house and warehouse minimalism.
(1 min read)


Small Museums Are Stealing the Show on TikTok
Why TikTok is working for smaller museums: "Museums can sometimes have a reputation for being distant and static — scattered with 'Do Not Touch' signs and often incomprehensible plaques. On TikTok, however, innovative institutions have seen great success through bringing their collections and knowledge base to life by leaning into all opportunities to bring lighthearted humor to serious history and culture. While major institutions, with certain notable exceptions, have often attempted to maintain an online presence as carefully curated as their gallery walls, success on TikTok favors casual production and — above all — those who aren’t afraid to make fun of themselves, or of their museum’s precious collections."
(4 min read)

Dave Trott: We Can't Own Knowledge
Advertising man Dave Trott on why Nigella Lawson was right to use cream in her carbonara.
(2 min read)
We hope you've enjoyed this week's newsletter. I'm sure some of your friends would love to read it. Sharing it would be really appreciated. If you've received this from a friend you can subscribe here and get it direct to your inbox every Friday.

Thanks for reading and see you all next week,

Hugh, Matt, Anjali and the team at Storythings
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