A short list today, posted from a plane about to depart for London from Newark…

Culture

• Eminönü Waterfront, Istanbul: Invented Traditions, Pickles in Cups, Grilled Mackerel Sandwiches, and the Pitfalls of Nostgia. By Stephen Lewis in Bubkes. About the realization that most “national” traditions — be they architectural, musical, dance, culinary, sartorial, folkloric, etc. — are either blatantly invented or appropriated from  traditions shared in common with neighboring peoples in an attempt to establish the legitimacy and hegemony of one’s own group at the expense the identity and power of others.  Invariably, such traditions are posited as being products of an imagined national “golden age.” Fascinating and deep.
• City with a death wish in its eye. By James McAuley in The New York Times. This year Dallas has a chance to grapple with the painful legacy of 1963 in public and out loud. Unfortunately, that’s unlikely to happen…
• Visting the Island of the Dead: A Rare Visit to New York’s Potters Field on Hart Island. By Cory Kilgallen in The New York Times. I’ve written about this twice in recent months: here and here.

Freedom vs. Surveillance

• MozFest Keynote – Freedom in our Information Society. By Camille François, a Berkman Fellow.
• Targeting creeping out customers? Not so, says new report. by Tyler Loechner in RTM (real time media and marketing) Daily.

Technology

• Identity and the API Economy, by Craig Burton.