Hand-Picked Links — May 13, 2024

A few of our favorite links, long-reads, Kickstarters, and short videos from last week.

DoughBed by Sourhouse

If you’re serious about bread, you need to control temperature and humidity. Luckily our friends Erik and Jenny just launched a gorgeous glass-and-cork proofer to ensure the perfect mix of both on your sourdough’s journey from lump to loaf. Already almost 10x funded on Kickstarter with two weeks left. Go ahead and grab the Goldie sourdough starter home from their website so you’re ready when your DoughBed ships.

American Premier League

The Yankees are coming for English soccer.

This season, nine of the 20 Premier League clubs are owned by Americans. The sale of a 10th awaits approval. All of them, you could argue, are being run far more professionally than ever, as the billion-dollar businesses that many have become. Yet most of the Americans spotted in the owners’ box from time to time — or, worse, seldom spotted there at all — are disdained by their club’s fans.

And here’s the kicker:

If a proposed sale of Everton to a Miami-based firm is approved, as many as 13 of the 20 clubs could be owned by Americans next season. That’s one short of the two-thirds supermajority that would have the power to remake the Premier League along the contours of, say, the N.F.L. A cap on player wages could be imposed, which would greatly benefit the competitive prospects of midsize clubs like Aston Villa. Gate receipts and the income from merchandise like shirt sales could be shared. Even the promotion-and-relegation system that has formed the basis of English soccer’s organizational system for more than a century could be eliminated.

Will any of those doomsday scenarios come to pass? Probably not, but whatever the synthesis of English football and American business looks like, it won’t be the same as it used to be.

via Craig Calcaterra’s Cup of Coffee newsletter.

Sacred Modernity

Incredible photos of mid-century modern church architecture from Jamie McGregor Smith. I had the privilege of visiting La Sagrada Familia in 2015, and it was easily the most impressive man-made space I had ever seen. Now I kind of want to go visit all of these.

via Kai Brach’s Dense Discovery newsletter.

Pretty Good is (Coming) Back

The Jon Boisiverse is a weird and wonderful place, ranging from Jack Bauer to 17776. If you like it, you love it. Maybe it’s not for you though. If it is, you probably already know the Jon (and Alex) recently launched a Patreon to bring back Pretty Good and provide a home for whatever other content their addled brains conceive.

Strata

Beautiful contrast of water, natural rock, and… skateboards? If requests are being taken, can we see Moab next?