This week on The Deep Dive: How to make a Zyn garden that lives longer than you, why we (still) love Flappy Bird so much, a lesson in representation from Daria, I know we want to “just enjoy things” but unfortunately we do have to think sometimes, and the chaotic season of the Bachelor that was only fitting for an even more chaotic year to come.

This week on The Rabbit Hole, I have thoughts (and concerns) about The Try Guys’s latest Michelin-starred venture.

ART

Long Art by Solar Sands (17:00)

One of the most fascinating things to bear witness to is how things change over time, whether it’s culture, our understanding of history, the values of each passing generation, or even the daily wear and tear of a Nalgene bottle over the course of 20 years. In this video, Solar Sands explores what we find so intriguing about long-term art, whether or not it was meant to be art in the first place. And if human beings were to suddenly disappear from the face of the earth sometime in the near or distant future, how many works of long art would remain unfinished? How many would still be functioning? And for how long?

TECHNOLOGY

How A Viral Game Vanished Overnight | Flappy Bird by NationSquid (17:03)

Any human being with a smartphone who wasn’t living under a rock in 2014 remembers Flappy Bird. It was a mobile game sensation that suddenly disappeared in the aftermath of the type of internet virality that’s familiar to us now, but was still relatively new in the early 2010s. In this video, NationSquid takes us back in time to the rise of Flappy Bird and the reason we think of it so fondly today, despite the sheer chaos it caused at its peak. What made Flappy Bird so memorable? What do we know now about the psychological stress of going viral that we didn’t understand a decade ago? And why will Flappy Bird never be the same, even if it makes a long-awaited comeback?

This issue of The Deep Dive is sponsored by Strong Towns

Two more weeks until the Strong Towns National Gathering…

And I want to see you there! Strong Towns is a YouTube channel dedicated to a better future for America's towns and neighborhoods. This year, Strong Towns is holding its National Gathering on May 14-15 in Cincinnati. The event will feature sessions about building safer streets, how to talk to your community about the need for public investment, and more.

Register for the event here and use code HAYAK2024 to get 10% off General Admission tickets. If you do buy tickets, hit reply and let me know so I can connect you with other rabbits who will be attending!