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ramblur
January 25th, 2017, 09:04 AM
Seeing as the world's postal systems are key to the success of InCoWriMo, I thought this might be a good subforum for this post. However, I'm completely new here, so if I'm mistaken, please do let me know.

I just listened to an excellent episode (http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-revolutionary-post/) of a podcast, 99% Invisible, that goes into the history of the USPS and how interwoven in to the idea of America it is. A fascinating 20 minutes with so much that I didn't know about the history of the USPS.

I wonder if there's a similar history with postal systems in my own country (Canada), or in other countries? I'm inspired to find more information, but would gladly welcome any references from other members.

Happy hump-day everyone!
-R

Morgaine
January 27th, 2017, 11:39 AM
There's a BBC radio programme The People's Post: A Narrative History of the Post Office (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0184yvg) in 15 parts telling the story of the post office in the UK. However, as I write this, only 14 episodes are available on demand.

BrynRedbeard
January 28th, 2017, 01:44 PM
ramblur thank you for your post. I write letters to discipline myself toward thoughtful communication. I try to keep that same discipline in my electronic communication. So much of what I encounter online is some one's emotional vomitus.

Cheers

ramblur
January 28th, 2017, 05:14 PM
Morgaine: Thank you for the link! I do much of my listening to podcasts and the likes while doing work that occupies my hands but not necessarily my mind. I've got a fair bit of that coming up, so those episodes of The People's Post will be perfect.

BrynRedbeard: Yes, I fully agree. Being trenchant requires discipline, the ability/willingness and time to self-edit. The result however is work that is so much more readable and, I'd argue, relatable because it's free of the 'emotional vomitus'. I'm often reminded of the quote attributed to Mark Twain: "I'm sorry this letter is so long, but I didn't have time to make it shorter."