Welcome to this week’s edition of our Friday Quality Linkage column. Please enjoy this week’s collection of interesting and entertaining links. Brew a fresh cup of coffee, find a comfortable place, and relax.
Photo: Christopher Anderson, Vulture / New York Magazine
A Post-Retirement Interview with David Letterman »
NSFW for language.
David Marchese of Vulture/New York Magazine scored a fantastic interview with the (now epically bearded) legend himself:
It’s no secret you were slightly insanely self-critical and competitive about your work. Now that the show is no longer part of your life, are those qualities still around?
Yes, but not in a crippling, paralyzing way. A friend of mine, my doctor, said, “You know, you don’t need to kill yourself. It’s just TV.” Then he convinced me to try one of these selective-serotonin-reuptake inhibitors. I resisted it. I thought, No, just put me in a state hospital. But I did try it, and suddenly that wiring had less power than it used to. I still have vestiges of it — I think that’s about where you want to be. You don’t want to be putting your fist through a wall, but I can’t imagine going through life not questioning my own worthiness. So, yes, I still have those qualities, but in a lower gear.
I miss this guy.
Photos: J. Kenji López-Alt
The Reverse Sear Is the Best Way to Cook a Steak, Period »
J. Kenji López-Alt of the Serious Eats Food Lab wrote a step-by-step guide to reverse-searing steaks that’s been a decade in the making:
[Reverse searing is] a really remarkable method, and if you’re looking for a steak that’s perfectly medium-rare from edge to edge, with a crisp crust, there’s no better technique that I know of.
[…]
Once you let go of reverse-seared notions about cooking steak, I guarantee that you won’t want to use anything but the traditional method to cook your meat in the future.
Wait—strike that. Reverse it.
Definitely going to try this.
Photo: J. Kenji López-Alt, Serious Eats
Breakfast Around the World: A Global Look at Our First Meal of the Day »
Speaking of J. Kenji: A couple months ago, Lynne Rossetto Kasper of the Splendid Table podcast interviewed him about his favorite breakfasts around the world.
Thanks to their conversation, I discovered jianbing, a Chinese savory crepe (pictured above) that I’ve simply got to try someday. Wow. Until I can, I’ll be going down a jianbing YouTube rabbit hole, thank you very much.
The Random Show — Drinking Urine, Exploring Japan, and Figuring Out Life »
NSFW for language.
Don’t let the urine thing in the podcast episode title dissuade you from this otherwise excellent conversation between Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose. These guys always have interesting things to say when they get together to chat, and this episode struck me as particularly good, especially when they get into the topic of death.
Candy Craftsmanship: Korea’s First Family of a Classic Confection »
Last week I linked to a video of a guy making croissants. This week, let’s learn about the making of yeot:
In Chungju, South Korea, Bong-Seok Kang and his family carry on a generations-long tradition of a sweeter sort than most: they make yeot, a taffy-like candy that dates back more than 1,000 years. Originally a treat for the privileged classes, the stretchy confection is more popular than ever among everyone, and Kang’s authentic version is based on a 140-year-old family recipe. Hand-pulling the candy to get the perfect texture and making sure that his yeot is never too sweet is a legacy of craftsmanship that Kang values highly, and all it takes is one bite to see why.
I love watching old-world craftsmanship, even if it’s for making candy.
The Bricks We Lay »
For Ethan Marcotte — famous for coining the term “responsive web design” — there is no such thing as “neutral design”:
This is the great lie we designers tell ourselves: that “design,” as a concept, sits apart from the world. As though “design” is somehow separate from, indifferent to, more pure than the society it sits in. […] Even in my tiny design practice, every decision I make is shaped by my biases; every decision I make is capable of harm.
Pay attention, designers. Your work has a real impact and the world, and you have to be aware of that every single time you take a job.
DO WHAT YOU CAN’T »
NSFW for language.
We’ll finish out this week with some inspiration from Casey Neistat. If you’ve got people in your life who have ever discouraged you from following your dreams — “you can’t do that”, “you’ll never make it”, etc — then watch this video. Internalize it. Chase the dragon. No regrets.
Got any suggestions for articles, videos, stories, photographs, and any other links you think we should be posting in our weekly Quality Linkage? Please do let us know on Twitter.