What We’re Reading: Why does the Titanic fascinate us?
A deep dive into the world’s most famous shipwreck, the economics of Reddit, and more weekend reads
Hi everyone,
I’ve not yet met a person who doesn’t have a strong opinion or interest in the story of the Titanic. The narrative arc of the “unsinkable ship” that sunk has turned into folklore, and discussion swirling around it has morphed into a kind of modern day Aesop’s Fable.
Along those lines, the story of the $250,000-per-passenger vanity submarine Titan, designed to visit the Titanic, is utterly fascinating and undeniably sad. We are so taken with shipwrecks that one in particular makes headlines annually.
Why is this? CurrentTV founder Michael Rosenblum breaks down why the Titanic continues to fascinate us.
“The sinking of the Titanic was the very first time a major news event was transmitted and experienced in real time,” Rosenblum writes. “The sinking of the Titanic went LIVE to the nation and the world, as the disaster was unfolding… It is for that reason that the Titanic sinking still resonates with us more than 100 years after the fact. It was our first live, as it happens, news event.”
Shipwreck writings also go beyond the Titanic on Medium.
Adebayo Adeniran asks us to consider the thousands drowned in the majority of the world. “Not a week goes by that we don’t see footage of young African, Kurdish, and Asian men, whose boats have capsized thereby resulting in their drowning.”
And for those with an itch for the fine details, wine expert 'Wine' Roland Mucciarelli penned “The Shipwreck’s Champagne,” a piece about famous bottles trapped — or rescued — from leagues below.
Do you have a news or cultural obsession? If so, leave a reply. I’d love to read what you have to say about it. Now, please excuse me while I listen to Sting’s Ghost Ship for the 5000th time.
Adrienne Gibbs
Director, Creator Growth @ Medium
Your weekend reads
“An Inheritance of Pride” by Fergus Tuohy, writer, realtor, and multimedia producer
One evening last June, my husband Michael and I were strolling down to 32nd Street to meet members of our church lining up to walk in the Central Alabama Pride Parade. “I don’t mean to be a downer,” he said. “But if something bad happens and we get separated, let’s meet back right here.”
“Reddit Moderators Do Over $3.4 Million in Free Labor Every Year” by Clive Thompson, author of ‘Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World’
Being a good moderator requires a ton of work. Among other things, you have to respond to members’ complaints, adjudicate whether a post ought to be banned (or a member banned), and generally keep on top of what’s happening. If you’re really an expert, at it, you’re a “tummler” (to use the old Yiddish coinage explored wonderfully by Heather Gold, Kevin Marks and Deb Schultz) — someone who not only tamps down on bad behavior but encourages good behavior.
“No One Really Tells You the Hardest Part of Getting Older” by Linda Caroll, writer and editor, in Middle-Pause
Know what the top regret of the dying is? They wish they’d had the courage to live a life true to themselves instead of doing what other people expected them to.
“On Juneteenth (and the Very American Idea of Freedom)” by Zaron Burnett III, MEL Magazine writer, essayist, and podcaster
We tend to start the story of America with Jamestown, but that’s not exactly the best place to begin. Why? Because, one hundred years before the first enslaved Africans were brought to Jamestown, Virginia, there were free Black men exploring the New World.
“Stark Contrasts: Desperate Search for Missing Submarine versus Tragedy in the Mediterranean” by Jahanzeb Ali Rizvi, web developer and rights activist
The disparity between the pursuit of a select few privileged individuals and the neglect of the disadvantaged cannot go unnoticed. Let us unite in compassion and solidarity, working assiduously to prevent such atrocities from occurring again and ensuring that all lives are accorded the respect and urgency they merit.
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