Hola, beautiful people! This Gemini edition is all about… duality. From seal babies to superheroes, let’s get started with this month’s cabinet of curiosities.
🦭 STRANGE BEDFELLOWS
On the left: Every Zodiac sign has its own demon. Here’s Gemini’s, per a Persian astrological text from the early 20th century. N.B. re: taming your inner demons - one study suggests that culture may determine what kinds of voices you hear when hallucinating.
Middle and right: supercurious friend and celebrity photographer Erik Kabik has temporarily swapped taking portraits of rock royalty with beautifully documenting Kaiwi the Hawaiian monk seal bonding with Loli’i, her newborn pup, every day.
Darwin alert: Remember the whole kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, species thing from biology? The name of a species name is either masculine or feminine - e.g. homo sapiens. Until last month, when an ant named Strumigenys ayersthey became the first gender non-binary name for a species, in honor of drag artist/activist Charles “Jeremy” Ayers, pictured here with Andy Warhol.
Can an interspecies currency solve biodiversity? While we can’t assess this proposal’s worth (see what we did there?), here’s one real-life scenario where giving currency to non-human stakeholders might alter the approach of Big Pharma.
Yes, people have really started hosting raves in Chernobyl. But youth don’t have all the dangerous fun. Meet 82-year old Arlene Advocat, who does parkour every week. D’OH! Homer Simpson, who turned 65 last week, should take notes.
🧨 DOs AND DON’Ts
On the left: Culture curious? Templar Knights’ strict rules include no pointy shoes, always using napkins except for 3 meals a year, and staying within “bell range”.
On the right: Art curious? @VolkerHermes delightful “embellishments” to old portraits almost makes us miss masks.
Politically curious? Masks aren’t the only national debate. Should workers rely on tips or higher minimum wages? The history of tipping, a practice that until recently many conservatives considered deeply Un-American.
Business-curious? From Bill Gates to Elon Musk, powerful people who are imperfect are nothing new. Still, Pivot’s odd-couple co-hosts irreverently and insightfully explore the Golden Rule of strong leadership: CEOs do not act alone. They are what those around them tolerate.
History-curious? A note from JFK to his mom, asking her to maybe not contact Nikita Krushchev right now, considering how the whole nuclear-war-Bay-of-Pigs-thing happened a just few days ago. Rose waited a full week to respond with unflappable poise, regarding next steps on Fidel Castro.
🎭 ALTERING EGOS
On the left: JFK’s not the only one. A complex relationship with Mom might just be a prerequisite for being human. We learned from supercurious friend Evan Schwartz, for instance, that the likely inspiration for The Wicked Witch of the West was the author’s mother-in-law. Wisely, L. Frank Baum also decided to showcase her positive attributes by inventing the very first “Good Witch” character: Glinda. Image by @roboticewe.
On the right: It turns out that the whole superhero genre owes a hat tip to Latinx heritage. Captain America may be the First Avenger, but the first comic superhero was most likely...Zorro. The masked vigilante first appeared in a pulp fiction magazine in 1919, 15-20 years before Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.
Deep cut: Read Zorro’s Shadow, by Stephen Andes, as he tracks Zorro’s dueling origin stories through both the Mexican Inquisition and the “rescue” of the 100 year old head of a bandit in a jar from a defunct antique shop in San Francisco.
Even if superheroes aren’t your thing, Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Solider is worth an eyebrow raise. We applaud its embrace of more complex and modern hero archetypes. The series has flaws, but it’s encouraging to see a major studio push past destroying CGI cities to save Earth.
Even Miss Universe 2021 is unmasking its true feelings this year, by grappling with today’s complex social order in the national costume category. “What is this platform for if I can’t use it to send a strong message of resistance against prejudice and violence!” said Miss Singapore. We’re no longer sure, tbh. But times seem to be a-changin’
We can’t think of a human with more alter egos than the Star Man himself, David Bowie, who was honored with his own constellation in 2016. Nostalgia alert: Bowie’s legendary producer, Tony Visconti, mixing Bowie’s iconic song Heroes.
🕸 “I’M NOT BATMAN”
Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man takes on a whole new meaning with these DIY vigilantes. We bring you this month’s thesupercurious original, SPIDER-MEN:
Your curators,
Lisa and Jordan
🧐 CURIOUSER AND SUPERCURIOUSER
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