Hey all,

If you are interested in stories like the Post Office scandal you’ll love our new podcast Phoenixed. It tells the story of the Canadian Payroll scandal that left tens of thousands of government workers underpaid, overpaid or not paid at all. It’s been going on for years with devastating consequences for many. Episode 3 is out this week.

Enjoy the stories and have a great weekend.

Chloe

The invisible seafaring industry that keeps the internet afloat (40-minute read)

How Rest of World is tracking AI incidents around global elections (3-minute read)

BBC Radio 4 - Short Cuts, Series 37, Minis (30-minute listen)

Proto-typography: how type is dictated by the surface it’s written on (9-minute read)

The latest artist to join Spotify? Mother Nature (4-minute read)

The Burden (14-minute watch)

The 25 best Taskmaster tasks (20-minute read)

Paradise Redux (30-minute read)

The hunt for the world’s daftest hedges (6-minute read)

A zine 12 years in the making (3-minute read)

How we can help you

Storythings is the content marketing agency of choice for some of the world’s most forward-thinking B2B brands and organisations. Here are 2 reasons to get in touch. 

1. “I don’t know what to do” – You’ve been creating content but it’s not having the impact you need. Talk to us about our Content Audit Workshop. 2. “I need something making” – You know what you want to make but need an agency to make it. We can help make your podcast, video, publication, animation and newsletter.We do other things too. Get in touch for a FREE 30 minute consultation. 

The invisible seafaring industry that keeps the internet afloat (40-minute read)The world’s emails, TikToks, and classified memos all travel on ocean cables that are about as thin as a garden hose. On average, cable breaks happen 200 times a year. “The reason websites continue to load, bank transfers go through, and civilisation persists is because of the thousand or so people living aboard 20-some ships stationed around the world, who race to fix each cable as soon as it breaks.” This interactive piece tells the story of the people whose job it is to keep the internet running. Using photography, on-board ship footage, interviews, and infographic scrollytelling, it’s a great piece of storytelling.

How Rest of World is tracking AI incidents around global elections (3-minute read)Around 2 billion people across the world are set to cast votes in 2024. With the rise in the accessibility of generative AI tools, online misinformation is more concerning than ever. As a result, Rest of World have put together a 2024 AI Elections Tracker, with the goal to create a database of examples that can be used to understand the many ways in which AI is being deployed around elections.

BBC Radio 4 - Short Cuts, Series 37, Minis (30-minute listen)Cutting ums from audio recordings can be standard audio practice. What’s In An Um? aired earlier this year on an episode of the BBC Radio 4 short documentary podcast Short Cuts and takes the opposite approach: it zooms in on and highlights this overlooked filler word. Maker Talia Augustidis has since been on an episode of the Sound School podcast to take a deep dive into Ums – how telling they can be of a speaker’s emotional state, how they can help with rhythm and pacing, and how they can help people change registers from one pitch to another. It’s a great original episode and What’s In An Um? proves how something mundane can actually reveal a lot about how we communicate.

Proto-typography: how type is dictated by the surface it’s written on (9-minute read)If you’re interested in typography and the history of design, this one’s for you. This consideration on the future of typography looks back at historical writing systems and the mediums they were written on – be it stone or leaves – in order to look ahead at what’s to come. “The medium for me always plays a vital role in laying out its specific needs and that is where the creative journey starts.”

The latest artist to join Spotify? Mother Nature (4-minute read)A new initiative is recognising Nature as an official artist on major streaming services. Artists who use natural sounds in their recordings can choose to list "Nature" as a featured artist – and a share of their profits will be distributed to environmental causes. It raises an interesting conversation about how we can value nature via capitalism. Listen to the Spotify playlist featuring Nature here.

The Burden (14-minute watch)Winner of Best International Short Film at the Toronto International Film Festival 2017, this animated dark comedy involves fish in bathrobes and dancing mice who work low-wage jobs try to escape their boredom and existential anxiety by performing cheerful musical turns. The impending apocalypse permeates every scene.

The 25 best Taskmaster tasks (20-minute read)The success of Taskmaster knows no bounds. Here are the best tasks, ranked.

Paradise Redux (30-minute read)Camp Fire was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California’s history. This piece visits the town of Paradise fives years after the disaster to explore its legacy through photographs, interviews and lessons learned.

The hunt for the world’s daftest hedges (6-minute read)A new photography exhibition has opened today in Deptford that had an open call for photographs that take the humble hedge as their theme. Thinking about the world via these planted boundaries is an interesting way to consider the intersection of suburban tastes, environmental issues, disputes over property lines, and divisions in our rural landscapes. Bathos abounds.

A zine 12 years in the making (3-minute read)The zine Can’t Understand New Technology was born on the back of a napkin in an Islington pub in 2001. This piece explores what it took to get it made.

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Thanks for reading. We’ll see you all next week.

Hugh, Matt, Anjali and the whole team at Storythings.