Brain Pickings – An inventory of the meaningful life.

Brain Pickings is the product of Maria Popova’s beautiful mind.  The Blog deals with culture, books, literature and a quest for human meaning.  I happened on it while researching a Rackham illustrated Alice in Wonderland book we have for sale.

See Popova’s: How Arthur Rackham’s 1907 Drawings for Alice in Wonderland Revolutionized the Carroll Classic, the Technology of Book Art, and the Economics of Illustration

To me, Popova’s writings echoed many of intellectual voices of the post-war 20^th century.  What makes Brain Pickings so fun is the berth of Popova’s interests and the artful long-form presentation of deviously fun tangents.  One of the most devastating questions to ask someone is, “Tell me something you find interesting.”  Popova’s intellectual life seems to be spent pursuing this question.  Brain Picking’s core experience is in the joy of finding things out; in learning things that you didn’t know you wanted to find; and in the idea that by exploration our world becomes larger and more valuable. 

Tom Ashbrook did an interview with Maria last year that lets you hear her voice and understand the thought behind her writing.

In our current age news feeds, information, and time flow so quickly that it is often hard to stop and consider things deeply. 

The Best Science Books of 2016: A recent Science Friday Book Club discussion on the best science books published in 2016 by Maria, Ira and Lee Billings. 

Go to Popova’s blog and support her if you are able. 

A good introduction to Brain Pickings:

10 Learnings from 10 Years of Brain Pickings

https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/10/23/10-years-of-brain-pickings/