The non-obvious blog
Dedicated To Helping Readers
Be More Interesting Since 2004.
As Featured In:
Be More Interesting. Join over 25,000 readers and subscribe now!
07 2025 July
Is “Sludge” a Real Customer Service Tactic to Avoid Irate Customers?
There is a term in Cass R. Sunstein and Richard H. Thaler’s book Nudge, first published in 2008, that introduces the idea of sludge–“tortuous administrative demands,...
Read Now04 2025 July
The Talking Statues of Versailles
When my kids were younger (and probably today too!) one of our favorite family movies was Night at the Museum. The idea of museums coming...
Read Now03 2025 July
Digg, the Internet’s Favorite Defunct Brand Is Coming Back
If you were around for the early days of the Internet, you might remember Digg. It was a collection of interesting stories that was so...
Read Now02 2025 July
How Technology Is Changing the Way Perfume Gets Made
As AI enters perfumery, are we expanding access to beauty — or automating the soul out of it?” This is the provocative question asked in...
Read Now01 2025 July
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: The Problems in the Art World by Brainard Carey
Being an artist is hard. When you choose to do it professionally, you’ll likely face many problems. According to Brainard Carey, the renowned director of...
Read Now30 2025 June
How One Museum Is Reinventing the Way Collections Are Shown
Imagine spending a day at a museum without seeing the actual exhibits but instead visiting the warehouse where they keep everything that isn’t on display....
Read Now27 2025 June
Inside the Relentlessly Cheerful Campaign of Zohran Mamdani
Amidst all the coverage of what some news outlets described as a “political earthquake” with relative newcomer Zohran Mamdani defeating longtime NY politician Andrew Cuomo...
Read Now26 2025 June
The Perfect Astronaut of the Future Is Changing—Here’s Why It Matters
In the late 1950s, NASA recruited 11 men aged 25-48 for a unique experiment that has today been mostly forgotten. The participants, known to history...
Read Now25 2025 June
New Event Planner Survey Suggests Celebrity Keynote Speakers May Be a Waste of Money
I have “shared the stage” with Jay Leno. That’s industry lingo for saying that I was the second (much less expensive) keynote speaker at an...
Read Now24 2025 June
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: The Power of Onlyness by Nilofer Merchant
Starting with her own powerful story of standing up for herself, this book from author and thinker Nilofer Merchant is a play-by-play guide on how...
Read Now23 2025 June
Denmark’s Radical Archaeology Experiment Is Paying Off in Gold and Knowledge
It is a beach cliché to see random idiots with metal detectors and sifters trying to find everything from loose change to diamond earrings. Using...
Read Now20 2025 June
The Dangerous Fiction of the AI Reality Filter
It seems like the perfect hack. A series of prompts that anyone can input into a generative AI tool like ChatGPT in order to ensure...
Read Now19 2025 June
A Lesson In Marketing Strategy From the Cheetos Shape Hunt
Searching for Cheetos that are shaped like anything is a fairly idiotic way to spend your time. It’s also surprisingly popular despite its idiocy. The...
Read Now