Podbit · Modern Wisdom
Three Body Problem's real title is Remembrance of Earth's Past — readers ignored it. The first 500 pages of 1,400 are slow. None of that matters: Tim Urban says the remaining 900 pages is the greatest thing he has ever read, a game-theory epic with concepts as mind-bending as Interstellar but deployed in service of an unstoppable plot.
Where this was said
At 2:25:00 · chapter starts 2:18:27
Tim Ferriss, who collected comic books as his first childhood business and paid his college bills as an illustrator, has returned to graphic novels as a way to occupy the visual movie that runs constantly in his hypervisual mind. He showcases Something Is Killing the Children (monsters are real, only children can see them, Netflix series incoming), Lazarus (cartel-like families in a post-apocalyptic US), Day Tripper (a Brazilian meditation on mortality and a father's shadow, no sci-fi), and Ama (deeply philosophical and psychedelic, from France). He recommends the Kindle/Comixology panel-by-panel zoom function for digital reading. Chris Williamson evangelises for Dungeon Crawler Carl — a LitRPG series with 82,000 Amazon reviews at 4.7 stars since 2020 — and for Red Rising. Tim Urban pleads the case for the Three Body Problem trilogy: the first book is a B+, the second book's first third is slow, but once you're 200 pages in, the remaining 900 pages is 'the greatest thing I've ever read.' He wishes readers could be told this in advance so they don't bail at the slow part. The actual series title — Remembrance of Earth's Past — was effectively vetoed by readers in favour of the first book's title, a parallel to Game of Thrones overriding A Song of Ice and Fire.
Tim Urban argues that despite the Three Body Problem trilogy's slow opening 500 pages — one-third of the total — the remaining 900 pages is the greatest fiction he has ever read.
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman has accumulated 82,000 Amazon reviews at 4.7 stars since its 2020 release, making it one of the most reviewed self-published fiction series in recent memory.
Robby Hoffman isn't fearless — she's terrified all the time. The difference is she does it anyway, because not doing it feels worse than the fear itself.
John Mulaney texted Robby Hoffman out of nowhere saying he'd been a fan for a while and wanted to make a Netflix special with her. Robby called it 'shocking, horrifying, anxiety-inducing, surreal and thrilling' — and said yes.
Mulaney is buttoned-up, suit-wearing, classy. Robby is gritty, raw, and undefined. Together they made the collab nobody expected. Batman and Robin. Eminem and Dido.
Music had Pope Gregory forcing notation. Comedy has had 'magical thinking' — he's just got funny bones. But jokes work through discoverable, teachable mechanics. Writing down the rules doesn't kill the magic; it gives more people access to it.
Howard Ashman had one insight nobody else had: animated Disney films should be Broadway musicals. The third song of every great musical is the character sitting alone explaining what they want. That's 'Part of Your World.' That structure — combined with Alan Menken's compositions — generated Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, and turned Disney Animation into the most profitable creative engine in entertainment history.
The Lion King musical has been running for 30 years across Broadway, London's West End, and global touring companies. It has grossed over $11 billion in total revenue — more than Avatar, more than Avengers: Endgame, more than any album, more than any video game. It generates an average of $350 million in revenue every single year. Disney owns it outright.
The anonymous French artist Invader has hidden 1,500 pixelated mosaic artworks across Paris alone, with thousands more scattered across 80+ cities — affixed to the Eiffel Tower, the Hollywood sign, and even sent to the International Space Station. He might be even busier than Banksy.
The Flash Invaders app turns city streets into a treasure hunt, letting players scan Invader's hidden mosaics for points. Players have collectively logged over 47 million flashes. Unlike most mobile games that glue you to a screen, this one forces you to look up and engage with your surroundings.
New York draws thousands of young, talented performers every year chasing Broadway stardom — but the hard truth is that most of them never make it. Zelig Williams was one of the rare exceptions.
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