2018 Tedium Highlight by Andrew Egan: The panel show, an icon of early television, was a purely American invention, yet somehow it's become deeply associated with modern British TV. Here's why. 

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Andrew Egan’s 2018 Highlights

December 2018

Pato’s Game Theory Christmas

The tale of how a college engineering professor once used game theory to turn his holiday gift-giving into an experiment—complete with winners and losers.
November 2018

Totally Tubular

The surprising modern status of the vacuum tube, a vintage technology that continues to maintain its value and use case in a world full of transistors.
October 2018

The Lazarus Libraries

What happens when “lost” films and television shows become found once again—and what that does to the work’s cultural legacy.
September 2018

Keep Your Composure

What’s it like to be a film composer, anyway? An expert on the subject pads our knowledge of film composition, what might be cinema’s most subtle art form.
July 2018

The Sound and the Fury

How sound design—such as the iconic Indiana Jones whip noise—has come to define the film industry almost as much as all the on-screen effects.

The Fourth Of Why

Why is America’s Independence Day celebrated on July 4, despite strong evidence the independence took place on a different day?
June 2018

One Frame At A Time

A long time ago in an encoding standard not so far away, an early 'net user tried to remake “Star Wars” in ASCII art form. He got further than you’d guess.
May 2018

The Same Name Game

It’s not every day you watch a movie in which you share the same name as the lead character. I did, and it was a supremely dissonant experience.

How To Make A Wrestler Mad

Wrestling is a sport that you either know a lot about, or you know nothing. But even if you know nothing, you should still know about the Montreal Screwjob.
April 2018

The Case Of The Missing Channel

The cable channel Genesis StoryTime aired in numerous homes in the U.S. and Canada. Yet few records of it exist online. Here's our attempt to fix that.
March 2018

Straight Flush

The story of Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader, the greatest book series of all time that targets a uniquely captive audience. The series turns 30 this year.
February 2018

A Distinguished Panel

The panel show, an icon of early television, was a purely American invention, yet somehow it's become deeply associated with modern British TV. Here's why.
January 2018

Going Nuts for Beer Nuts

The story of Beer Nuts, the alcohol-accompanying brand of nuts that you’ve probably seen in a sitcom bar somewhere.

Biography, Unauthorized

An unauthorized look at the master of the unauthorized biography, whose name is not Michael Wolff, as it turns out. Meet Kitty Kelley.

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