May Highlights From Medium’s Newest Writers
Welcome, new friends. We’re glad you’re here.
Browsing Medium means discovering new perspectives you can’t find elsewhere — stories that make you laugh, learn, think, or just feel less alone. Every month, we’re highlighting a handful of perspectives from writers who’ve hit “Publish” for the very first time.
This month: Prince’s former assistant (yes, that Prince) recounts how she fell in love with the Foo Fighters; a startup veteran offers advice for making brave career moves; a researcher explains what’s under the hood of Apple’s Siri; and a speech therapist teaches her dog to “talk” (ish). Read, highlight, and clap for their words — and give them a follow so you won’t miss their next story.
— Harris Sockel and the Creator Support Team @ Medium
“It was in the middle of Prince’s Musicology Tour circa 2004 when I discovered the Foo Fighters” by Ruth Violette
“That drumming and the melodies, they get in my veins! And they play your song, ‘Darling Nikki’ like they own it!” I screamed. I instantly realized my fat mouth was going to do me in. Prince reappeared with two shot glasses of Patron Platinum tequila. As he got closer, his big eyes had become slits. He stared hard at me as he handed me my shot glass and said, “What did you say? Also, sip this don’t gulp it. I don’t need you running around the place laughing like a hyena.” This was in reference to a hideous laugh that on occasion emerges from the hollows of my black soul and which once brought Prince to real tears as he slid down a staircase laughing at my screeching yowls.
“Lessons I learned from my dog, my favorite speech therapy client” by Christina Bui
No, my dog doesn’t actually “talk” — not in the true sense of the word, at least. He presses small buttons to communicate, which is similar to how a nonverbal child may use alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) to express himself.
Ollie hit the exciting two-word phrases milestone last week, so I became a little introspective on our journey together thus far.
“Homer Simpson’s Cosmological Hypothesis” by Abbi
In its 30 year history, The Simpsons has hidden scientific easter eggs in the background for enthusiasts to find and appreciate. One of my personal favorite easter eggs is found in the episode, “The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace”.
In this particular episode, Homer tries his hand at inventing. At one point we catch a glimpse of Homer’s work on his blackboard. These four lines of work represent four of the most famous math and physics problems to date.
“Turning Red: A Relatable Portrayal of Female Friendship” by Ellamco
A few weeks ago, my friend invited me over to their dorm to watch the new Pixar movie that had just come out. My three friends and I all piled onto a single twin-sized dorm bed with a large bowl of buttered popcorn on our laps. Our legs crisscrossed and weaved under each other as the faint glow coming from the laptop illuminated our faces. I reached forward over the jumble of limbs and hit the spacebar on the keyboard. The computer screen flashed crimson red as the opening scene of Pixar’s Turning Red began to play. For the next hour and forty minutes, we were absorbed into Meilin Lee’s coming-of-age story and watched as she navigated the chaos of her adolescent years.
“Why Siri Sounds a Little Off…” by Samuel Danquah
Siri takes the waveforms that enter your phone’s microphone and feeds them to a neural network (imagine a computer brain, but made of math) which assesses the probability that the sounds being heard are “Hey Siri.” There are several layers of processing that occur, during which the data is essentially stretched and contorted in every which way to ensure that a mistake is not being made. Afterward, there is a secondary checker which is even more powerful than the first probability checker to further ensure the likelihood of a “Hey Siri.”
“Eat the Damn Fig” by Elliot Schad
Fast-growing startups are wonderful. There are a lot of important problems to solve and not nearly enough talented people to solve them. So, relatively unqualified people get handed very big, important problems and the opportunity to show what they can do. High-growth startups create amazing learning moments and career advancement opportunities for all involved.
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