Barcelona Design Week 2018: Highlights

Exploring the pragmatic and esoteric by reconsidering various approaches to design

Design form Catalonia has an identity rooted both in regional tradition and contemporary icons. Javier Mariscals objects and characters (like Cobi, the 1992 Summer Olympics mascot), Jorge Pensi’s Toledo Stacking Chair, and Rafael Marquina’s Marquina Oil Cruet (apparently one of the most copied design objects in the history of Spanish design) are all of note. These familiar names, along with the future of Catalan design …

Microbiome Company Seed Launches Combined Probiotic + Prebiotic

Known as the Daily Synbiotic, two gender-specific digestive aids

As microbiome wellness organization Seed has been quick to point out: there are some 38,000,000,000 microorganisms living inside and on top of each of us. In recent years, much attention has been paid to caring for these organisms—which are predominantly bacterial—because they directly impact our own health. With an industry-leading scientific advisory board (including Chief Scientist Dr Gregor Reid, who chaired the United Nations / …

TED 2018: Emily Levine’s “How I Made Friends With Reality”

The charming philosopher/writer/comedian discusses serious truths with lighthearted humor

Somehow, beginning her TED Talk “How I Made Friends With Reality” by announcing she has stage four cancer, yet making the entire crowd laugh, the inimitable and charming Emily Levine immediately hooks her audience. The writer/philosopher/comedian discusses how she avoided reality for a long time, only to find out—through her diagnosis and coping mechanisms—that she and reality were always on great terms. By figuring that …