What break? The best in digital media from the last month



Photo courtesy of Takk/Wikipedia Commons
From the Executive Board

There's snow on the ground, near-zero temperatures in the air and the Columbia streets are suddenly much more crowded than they were a week ago. After four weeks off, spring semester is officially underway. In case you've tuned out a bit, here are a few of our favorite pieces of digital media that came out during break. Also, don't forget to come to our first general meeting of the semester on Thursday, January 28 at 6 pm. You can find more details and RSVP here.

Here's what we were listening to/watching/reading/clicking on this winter break:

"The Cathedral" - Reply All

Reply All was one of the original podcasts from the podcast studs at Gimlet, and it's one of the best shows on the digital airwaves. This episode weaves themes of video games, faith, disease, loss, family and more into one of the most beautiful and moving podcasts I've listened to.

"How Many People Have Been Shot in Your Neighborhood This Year?" - Slate.com

This interactive map from Slate that shows you how many shootings have occurred in and around your neighborhood is chilling. It's also an incredible piece of data visualization.

Lipstick Index - Glamour.com

To be honest, I've never seen anything like this social media-based beauty site from Glamour.com. Lipstick Index uses social media measurement tools to identify top trending beauty topics from across the web. Then it's all plotted on this bright, colorful, stats-packed site.

"Unfollow" - The New Yorker

This piece actually came out over Thanksgiving break, but it is a must read for anyone with an hour or so to spare. The article looks at how Megan Phelps-Roper, a former member of the Westboro Baptist Church, came to reject her family's beliefs as a result of her interactions on social media. The piece is a beautiful exploration of how empathy and discussion can change hateful views. Plus, there are great video and photos included.

"Broccoli" - Surprisingly Awesome

Believe me - I was dreading listening to a podcast on broccoli. I only recently started liking (tolerating) broccoli as a food. There's no way I was going to enjoy hearing about it for 40 minutes. I was completely wrong. As the name suggests, this show somehow took a despised vegetable and made it...surprisingly awesome. It touches on genetics (both human and plant), parenting and some hilarious taste tests.

"The Fullness of a Moment" - Longreads

The writer of this piece lingers in the Hall of New York State Environments at the American Museum of Natural History, one of the less impressive parts of the museum. With beautiful description of the hall, this piece looks at the vision of Albert E. Parr, director of the museum in the 1940s and 1950s and how the museum learned to tell a story.

What were some of your favorite pieces from over the break? Share them us on Twitter @ONAMizzou.

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