June 30
How Disney mismanaged the Star Wars universe and how The Mandalorian can restore the true power of George Lucas's galaxy. "When Star Wars is bad, its galaxy feels like a thing on a screen – not a place you can go."
The WHO says that China has eliminated malaria. "The eradication of malaria in the world's most populous nation offers lessons in how innovative treatments and aggressive tracking can keep the disease in check."
David Marchese interviews LeVar Burton. "That which is mine, no one can take away. That which is not meant for me, no amount of wishing or stamping my feet will make it so."
June 29
"Kids are cute but they're not really eco-friendly. One less baby helps the planet more than giving up meat, car." Was surprised to learn this was actually published in a real newspaper and not The Onion or something.
June 28
Women Are Having Fewer Babies Because They Have More Choices. "Thanks to feminist cultural shifts, and better access to contraceptives, more women now approach childbearing...as a choice weighed against other desires, assessed in context."
YouTube's complete disregard for the rights of people to use music that's either allowed by fair use or in the public domain really sucks. Eventually, laws will either be changed to follow YT's practice or (hopefully) prevent this garbage behavior.
According to LA's public health department, since Dec 2020, 99.6% of the city's Covid cases, 98.7% of Covid hospitalizations, and 99.8% of Covid deaths were among people who were unvaccinated. These safe vaccines work. Period.
June 25
Just sent out the latest @kottke newsletter. It includes a story I shared on Instagram earlier this week (but not on the site).
June 24
Wow, this story! "On the morning after Juliane Diller fell to earth, she awoke in the deep jungle of the Peruvian rainforest dazed with incomprehension."
"In the last four years, Costa Rica has generated 98.53% of its electricity from renewable sources."
June 23
Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is having an off-the-charts year. "Earth is 93M miles from the sun, and Jacob deGrom's ERA in late June is 0.50: These are facts, we know them to be true, yet there is a very real difficulty in how to conceptualize them."
Black people are more likely to die in traffic accidents. Covid made it worse. "Drivers are less likely to slow down or stop for Black pedestrians than they are for white ones."
June 22
June 21
Is America finally rethinking its disastrous, racist, ineffectual, and deadly War on Drugs? "Drugs should be handled by doctors and therapists, not cops and prison guards."
Charles Kellogg could put out fires using just the sound of his voice. Another cracking story from @tedgioia.
I think this is the first political ad I've ever seen that features time travel? Great commercial for @JonesForAR, who's running for governor of Arkansas.
June 17
A career waiter explains why restaurants are having trouble hiring staff. "Workers are staying away because the industry has never treated them with respect..."
A new study indicates the high death rate of Black Americans during the pandemic was due primarily to the poor quality of the hospitals they were admitted to. "Hospitals mattered more than [...] age, income, or other medical conditions."
There will almost certainly be another wave of Covid-19 cases in the US because of the delta variant (B.1.617.2) – the UK is already seeing one. How bad it gets depends on how many more ppl are vaccinated.
The secret weapon of many top European football teams is their grounds-management team. The pitch affects how fast teams can play. "When Pep Guardiola arrived at Manchester City in 2016, he asked for the grass to be cut to just 19mm."
Supporting your country's football team is complicated these days. "England is by many objective measures a terrible country ruled by terrible people with a terrible past and a terrifying future, and I support England."
June 16
Gerrymander Jewelry, pendant necklaces in the shape of oddly shaped Congressional districts. They take custom orders but "some districts are too breakable" to sell because they're so gerrymandered.
Just started listening to Nixon at War, a podcast about Richard Nixon & Vietnam hosted by @kbandersen. A sequel to the excellent LBJ's War and LBJ and the Great Society podcasts.
California's Last Fire Season Was a Historic Disaster. This One Might Be Worse.
June 15
Cycling myth: wide tires are slower than thin tires. "The increased vibrations of the narrower tires caused energy losses that canceled out the gains from the reduced flex."
"Researchers have found that Earth's energy imbalance approximately doubled during the 14-year period from 2005 to 2019." The Earth is increasingly absorbing more of the Sun's energy than it is emitting thermal radiation.
A big story from the NY Times on how Amazon thrived during the pandemic, often with little regard for their employees. "Amid the pandemic, Amazon's system burned through workers..."
June 14
It's Great to Hang Out After Self-Isolating for a Year - I'm Not Acting Weird, Am I? "Say, can we talk about how when we walked in here a minute ago, I straight up screamed? I was just stunned to be inside of a business."
The 25 greatest achievements in dumb internet video, e.g. Strong Bad, Downfall parodies, keyboard cat, etc.
June 12
June 11
In a recent trial, the use of virus-blocking bacteria in mosquito populations reduced the incidence of dengue fever by 77%. Between stuff like this, mRNA vaccines, and CRISPR, we're set to make major progress against deadly disease in the next 10 years.
Ed Yong of The Atlantic won a well-deserved Pulitzer Prize for his outstanding coverage of the pandemic. Cheers, @edyong209!
I love a good errand hang. "The errand hang dances in the sweet vulnerability that comes from the everyday."
The Shortcut. Once begun, it's difficult not to watch this all the way through.
June 10
A portable planetarium owner shares about how they talk to people who believe the Earth is flat. "These people fold pretty quickly if you can answer 3 questions in a row. They are looking for something to believe, they want to feel smart."
The Keystone XL Pipeline Is Officially Dead. "We were not willing to sacrifice our water or safety for the financial benefit of a trans-national corporation."
June 9
The 30 Greatest Action Movies of All Time. Great to see personal favorite Drunken Master II on here.
June 8
Adam Gopnik on the return of spending time together in public & private spaces after the worst of the pandemic. "What we call culture is basically the act of sharing air with strangers."
England fans are booing players taking the knee in solidarity against racism in soccer. This was the most disheartening part about fans returning to stadiums in the Premier League – hearing boos as players knelt.
June 7
There's going to be an annular solar eclipse on June 10 that will be partially visible in the US, particularly on the East Coast. "From New York City, the eclipse magnitude will reach a whopping 0.80 (80%)."
N.K. Jemisin's The Broken Earth trilogy will be adapted into something (movie series? TV series?) by TriStar & Jemisin herself.
Great profile of Mare of Easttown's Kate Winslet. "But she is not Daniel Day-Winslet; she is said to be fun once the shooting wraps for the day."
YES! A prequel to Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is in the works. Rewatched M&C during the pandemic and it's a masterpiece.
The National Farmers Union: Farmers Deserve the Right to Repair Their Tractors. "95% of large farm tractors are made by just three companies...which engage in the kind of resource restriction that prevents on-farm repairs."
Jeff Bezos is going to space. I mean, what's the sense in being the billionaire owner of a spaceship company if you're not going to launch yourself into space?
June 3
June 2
Pediatrician Perri Klass: vaccinate your children. "Children now account for more than 22 percent of all new COVID-19 cases, and even those children who aren't very sick may have to deal with possible long-term complications."
The Bob Ross Virtual Art Gallery. All 403 paintings done by Ross on the Art of Painting, including an analysis and visualization of the colors he used for each one.
A Brief History of Netflix Personalization. "In twenty years, Netflix has gone from members choosing 2% of the movies the merchandising system suggests to 80% today."
June 1
Why Are So Many of My Fellow Health Workers Unvaccinated? Even though eligible since December, "as of early March 2021, surveys showed that nearly half of frontline health care workers remained unvaccinated".
