A calculator, an apple pie, and a very precisely crafted takeout menu.

17th November 2025

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Hello! It's a relatively short newsletter this week, but don't worry, next week I'll probably end up several hundred words about some French game show. Until then, here's the good stuff I've found on the internet this week!

In the new episode of Lateral, the Answer in Progress trio are back! Melissa, Taha and Sabrina take on questions about secret squares, adapted accessories and celeb-spotting cetaceans.

This week's three links to videos on YouTube are all about making things, just in very different styles and with very different media:

An incredible analogue build from What Will Makes, who's built a mechanical calculator. Well, not just that: he's built a mechanical calculator out of wood, cutting it all by hand, without CNCs or laser cutters, and he's explained how the whole system works in a way I can understand.
Atomic Shrimp makes an apple pie out of 100% apple. No, really. 100% apple. No flour. No water. Just apple. (Thanks to Guy for the suggestion!)
And Freddie Wong, from legendary YouTube channel RocketJump, takes a fascinating deep-dive into the history of Chinese takeout menus. This ticks so many boxes for me: first-person archival research, good story-telling, meticulous attention to detail, modern design history, and human craftsmanship. This is absolutely worth your time.

And around the rest of the web, some good stuff I've found that doesn't involve video:

Narrative String Theory: collecting "all known appearances" of characters in fiction putting a load of photos on the wall and connecting them by string. (Occasional strong language and gory images.)
I didn't know that "time immemorial" has a specific meaning. Happy 750th birthday, time immemorial.
Why do we call broadcasting "broadcasting"?

And finally: thanks to Ethan for reminding me of a GoPro ride through an electron beam irradiator at full power. I'd love to see someone re-attempt this with a more recent camera.

All the best,

— Tom

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