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The Slow Lantern

No. 14 · Winter

The people

Contributors

Contributors

  1. 01 Editor and Thinking Tools writer

    Marguerite Oakes

    Marguerite writes about mental models and likes to test each one on a real household decision before she trusts it. She credits a former neighbour, a retired bus driver, with teaching her to ask 'what would change my mind?'. She is still learning and keeps a list of her wrong guesses.

  2. 02 Historian of Ideas

    Izaiah Barionnette

    Izaiah writes the history of ideas: where a way of thinking first appeared, who wrote it down, how it changed hands, and what it is still good for on an ordinary day. He reads the old essays in plain public-domain editions and likes tracing a familiar habit of mind back to its first careful user. He counts his muddled first drafts as part of the work and is still learning.

  3. 03 Comparisons and Curiosity writer

    Ngaire Fitzgerald

    Ngaire lays two approaches side by side and tries both before writing a word, usually with a cup of tea and a cheap notebook. She likes to show where each one helps and where results vary. A friend from her walking group taught her to say 'it depends, and here's on what'.

  4. 04 Craft of Attention writer

    Lachlan Doyle

    Lachlan writes short, quiet pieces about noticing: the sound of a kettle, the way light moves across a wall. He tried a few attention routines that didn't stick and shares those too. He's happiest when a reader says they spotted something small today.

  5. 05 Classic Ideas writer

    Harriet Lowell

    Priya reads old essays on the tram and retells them in plain words, always paraphrasing and never overselling. She enjoys finding where a four-hundred-year-old thought still fits a Tuesday afternoon. She says her library's returns desk taught her more about patience than any book did.

  6. 06 Learning Hard Things writer

    Tobias Wren

    Tobias has restarted the cello, Italian and basic bookbinding more times than he'll admit, and writes about what helped each time. He thinks mistakes are simply the lesson showing up early. He is grateful to the community choir that let him sit at the back and listen.