Hullo,

Quite a range from low to high brow this week. I hope you enjoy it!

“Born To Make You Happy” is probably my least favourite Britney Spears song and I liked this perspective on it:

But what’s not so often talked about – and what’s most relevant right here – is the idea that a pop song itself is a model. Not in the sense of something to be emulated, but something to be learned from – a way to process ideas and feelings. This song is desperate, awkward, overdramatic, and stylised, and it’s far more a soap opera breakdown than a come-on. Just like “…Baby One More Time” all this grand guignol emotion is squarely put there for teen or tween fans to relate to. In this case, it’s a soundtrack to some of their basest, most self-destructive instincts, Britney’s equivalent of “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out”

http://freakytrigger.co.uk/popular/2015/02/britney-spears-born-to-make-you-happy-2/

Do you remember that The Toast article about the history of science that I sent round in episode 13? I’m reading the book now and it’s excellent. Apparently in the mid eighteenth century there was a trend for women writing science books aimed at women and children, as science (1) became a cool thing to be into and (2) remained, to a great extent, the preserve of rich men. Of course we all know about Michael Faraday and his Faraday cage, this is a little article about Jane Marcet, the woman whose book inspired him.

Marcet’s […] most famous reader was the chemist and physicist Michael Faraday, who read the pages of her book while working as a bookbinder’s apprentice. (In those days most books were sold as paperbacks and bindings were added at the purchaser’s discretion). Faraday was inspired by Marcet’s work to go into science instead.

http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-history/themes/chemical-education-and-public-policy/chemical-education/marcet.aspx

Happy Friday, team.

Alex.