The Weird Times
Inner Monologues and Desultory Reporting from Outer Spaces: Issue 209, May 5, 2024 (V5 #1)
From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own. It says: Disarm, Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice. Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence vindicate possession.—Julia Ward Howe (First) Mother’s Day Proclamation, 1870
Once a new technology rolls over you, if you're not part of the steamroller, you're part of the road.—Stewart Brand
Books, Music, Art, Culture
Miranda July Turns the Lights On: A few years ago, July began writing a novel, “All Fours,” about how middle age changes sex, marriage, and ambition. Then the novel changed her, Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 5/10/24: “This won’t ever be autofiction because, for me, nothing takes flight without the alchemy of invention.” Book: All Fours
The Literary Life of Connie Converse, Emma Davey, Full Stop, 5/9/24: “If you know anything about Connie Converse, it’s that she was a folk singer who one day packed up the car, drove away, and was never heard from again. That was in 1974, days after her fiftieth birthday.”
Unplug the Classroom. Or Reboot It. Just Don’t Do Nothing: Schools must drastically remake their approach to technology—or continue their ongoing collapse into irrelevance, Antón Barba-Kay, New Republic, 5/5/24: “We are fond of saying that tools and technology are neutral; a hammer may be used for good or ill. But, in the face of evidence about their addictive character, certain digital devices call to mind not so much hammers as hits of cocaine.”
‘A wild cocktail of emotion, politics and desire’: the history of breasts in art: From lactating Madonnas to disembodied orbs, a new exhibition surveys the depictions of breasts and asks – what about the women who own them? Eliza Goodpasture, The Guardian, 5/6/24
Alexis Landau on Beauty, Aging, and What Mothers Pass Down to Their Daughters: “How can I pretend that these prevailing norms, these stories we’ve constructed about beauty and desirability, are not powerful?” Alexis Landau, LitHub, 5/8/24: “…it’s painfully clear that my inherited ideas about how to be a woman are extreme and problematic, but at the same time, I knowingly subscribe to many of them.” Book: The Mother of All Things
In Praise of Pulitzer Prize-Winner Jayne Anne Phillips: Jonathan Corcoran on the Teacher Who Taught Him That Writing Begins Far From the Page, Jonathan Corcoran, LitHub, 5/8/24: “Phillips’ stories and novels require attention and engagement. There’s a push and pull between the drive and punch of her words and the deep meaning that underpins them.” Her latest book, the Pulitzer winner, is Night Watch.
Transatlantic Flights: The collected poems of Denise Levertov and Anne Stevenson suggest what a poet can gain by expatriation, in both directions between England and the United States, Ange Mlinko, NY Review of Books, 5/23/24 issue: “Two retrospectives offer a panoramic view of very different English-language poets, mostly against the backdrop of the second half of the twentieth century.”
Coldplay and Sting call for release of Toomaj Salehi, Iranian rapper sentenced to death: Leading cultural figures including Margaret Atwood sign statement in support of rapper who criticised Iranian regime, Aneesa Ahmed, The Guardian, 5/9/24
Not Lost in a Book: Why the “decline by 9” in kids pleasure reading is getting more pronounced, year after year, Dan Kois, Slate, 5/5/24: “It all adds up to an environment where kids are less passionate about reading and, even if they somehow do get excited, they’re less likely to discover the book that will keep them excited.”
The Abuses of Prehistory: Beware of theories about human nature based on the study of our earliest ancestors, Udi Greenberg, New Republic, 5/10/24: “ It is time for us to admit that we simply do not know the deep past and cannot comprehend the “ecstasies and feelings and terrors” that our predecessors experienced.”
AI deception: A survey of examples, risks, and potential solutions, Peter S. Park et al, Patterns, 5/10/24: “ Large language models and other AI systems have already learned, from their training, the ability to deceive via techniques such as manipulation, sycophancy, and cheating the safety test.”
Why We Love Time Travel Stories: Time is an instrument of power, an object of faith, and an influence on our history. But in our fictions, it’s more than just a cerebral quagmire—it gets at our unanswerable questions and our deepest longings, Jonathan Russell Clark, Esquire, 5/7/24: “Stories are organized around causality, and this makes us think that life is, too.”
There are two ways of writing on the earth: With an ending or without an end. If with an end try not to end with oceans. Without an ending is a poet’s delight.
You don’t carry a sink while walking in the street, do you? Fly past me on a lane that doesn’t exist! I saw John Dewey waffling through the night. He said that poetry was not “about.”
—from “Two Ways,” David Shapiro (who died 5/5/24)
Politics, Technology, Economics
The Radical Case for Free Speech: We need to build a broad moral consensus around the universal right to dissent, rooted in widely held beliefs about American liberty, Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 5/10/24: “Does anyone think that we currently have the moral or rhetorical language to address what is happening not only in this country but on campuses and in city squares around the world? The First Amendment is not enough.”
New Poll Finds Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Could Help Trump Narrowly Win the Presidential Election: But a majority of voters agree Donald Trump is a bigger threat to democracy than Joe Biden, Team Zeteo, Mehdi Hasan, Zeteo, 5/12/24
Kerry Kennedy on the family political split: ‘There’s so much at stake:’ Kerry Kennedy discusses the collective decision to back Joe Biden over brother Robert F Kennedy Jr and how his impact on the election will be ‘dangerous,’ David Smith, The Guardian, 5/11/24: “…what’s at stake here is our democracy, our freedom. our fight for the middle class and all that means that Joe Biden must be re-elected.”
If the GOP Can't Keep Voters from Putting Abortion on the Ballot, They Will Try To Trick Voters. They Will Cheat: The "Decline to Sign" movement is gaining traction in GOP-dominated states, Jess Piper, The View from Rural Missouri, 5/6/24: “The vast majority of the country believes abortion should be legal. The GOP represents a vocal minority who will lie and cheat to keep over 1/2 of the population without fundamental rights.”
A group of Republicans has united to defend the legitimacy of US elections and those who run them, Christina A. Cassidy, AP News, 5/4/24: “It’s an obligation on Republicans’ part to stand up for the defense of our system because our party -- there’s some blame for where we stand right now,” said Kentucky’s secretary of state, Michael Adams.
Judge Cannon's secret right-wing getaway: Why didn't we know about this? Federal judge in Trump's documents trial didn't tell us about those right-wing conferences at a Montana resort, Lucian K. Truscott IV, Salon, 5/7/24: “Could it have been that she didn’t want it known that she had taken money from an organization that was in large part funded by billionaires friendly to the man whose case she was presiding over?”
Information Warfare and the Supreme Court Presidential Immunity Case: Giving extreme ideas a judicious hearing is a victory for far-right information warfare, regardless of the legal outcome, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Lucid, 5/7/24: “Thanks to the Supreme Court, ideas that are at the very heart of autocracy —such as a head of state’s right to kill someone or stage a military coup and not be held accountable— are being given serious treatment…”
The New Propaganda War: Autocrats in China, Russia, and elsewhere are now making common cause with MAGA Republicans to discredit liberalism and freedom around the world, Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 5/6/24
Campus protest crackdowns claim to be about antisemitism – but they’re part of a rightwing plan: Accusations of antisemitism are the tip of the spear in a frightening illiberal project serving an autocratic agenda, Arielle Angel, The Guardian, 5/11/24: “Though these attacks on academic freedom and free speech on campus have been spearheaded by the right wing, under the guise of “fighting antisemitism”, Democrats are playing along.”
Power Lies: The America That Made Donald Trump Possible: The erased 2020 interview I did about the erasure of history, Sarah Kendzior, Newsletter, 5/7/24: “Our country is in a much more perilous situation than [these leaders] let on, and Trump uses that to his advantage.”
Mockery, low tactics, sexist tropes: gloriously, Stormy Daniels is repaying Donald Trump in kind: At some deep level, the former adult film star clearly has his number and knows how to hit him where it hurts, Emma Brockes, Guardian, 5/9/24
Gutting Our Public Post Offices: Oh What Joy! Jim Hightower, Lowdown, 5/7/24: “This is a time when your voice can matter, for a bipartisan outcry is demanding that Congress and/or the postal board of governors step in pronto to terminate DeJoy’s political meddling. For information and ACTION go to: TakeOnWallSt.com.”
Top New York Times Editor Offers Stunning Defense of Coverage of Trump: Why asking our media to get it right on Trump’s threat to democracy is not remotely the same as being in the tank for Biden, Greg Sargent, New Republic, 5/7/24: “At bottom, the dilemma is this: When one of the candidates is running on an express vow to wreck the political and legal systems themselves, do typical conventions of political reporting—ones geared around presenting both sides as equivalently conventional political actors fighting on an even civic playing field—really get the job done in communicating what that means?”
Some unsolicited advice for Joe Kahn of The New York Times and other editors: As November's hugely consequential election looms, I propose a mindset adjustment, Margaret Sullivan, American Crisis, 5/10/24: “the 2024 election is not a contest between two politicians, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, but a de facto constitutional referendum.”
The Workingman and the Company Store: Can a progressive campaign break the coal industry’s hold on West Virginia politics? Dan Kaufman, New Yorker, 5/9/24: “You have to get enough people on the ground and basically go door to door to start changing minds.”
Taxpayers Are About to Subsidize a Lot More Sports Stadiums: You would think that three decades’ worth of evidence would put an end to giving taxpayer money to wealthy sports owners. Unfortunately, you would be wrong, Dan Moore, Atlantic, 5/8/24
$61 billion is not enough. Why the Biden administration needs a ceasefire strategy in Ukraine, Adam Tooze, Chartbook, 5/10/24: “Roughly 70% of Americans want the Biden administration to push Ukraine toward a negotiated peace with Russia as soon as possible, according to a new survey.”
Polarization may phase out of American politics as younger generations shift into power, Sally Friedman, David Schultz, The Conversation, 5/9/24: “… highly partisan members of the Silent, boomer and Gen X generations will exit and no longer be part of American political life. They will be replaced by millennials and Gen Zers, who are less likely to define themselves as strong Republicans or Democrats.”
We are walking in the dark
If I had your hand in mine
I could shine
I could shine like the morning sun
Like the sun
—from “One by One,” Connie Converse
Science, Environment
World’s top climate scientists expect global heating to blast past 1.5C target: Exclusive: Planet is headed for at least 2.5C of heating with disastrous results for humanity, poll of hundreds of scientists finds, Damian Carrington, Guardian, 5/8/24: “‘Hopeless and broken’: why the world’s top climate scientists are in despair…. “I think we are headed for major societal disruption within the next five years.”
I understand climate scientists’ despair – but stubborn optimism may be our only hope: Fighting spirit helped us achieve the Paris accords in 2015 – and we need it now the world is on course to overshoot 1.5C, Christiana Figueres, The Guardian, 5/9/24
All About the Gas: Will the planet turn to the sun in time? Bill McKibben, The Crucial Years, 5/8/24: “It’s cheap, it’s clean, people like it—but it is deeply dangerous for the fossil fuel industry and their friends in utilities worldwide, who are desperately trying to get gas locked in for another few decades.”
How ‘15-minute cities’ could save time, reduce emissions, and build community: Carlos Moreno, the scientist behind the concept, wrote a new book to introduce the 15-minute city to a wider audience, Claire Elise Thompson, Grist, 5/8/24: “Picture living in a bustling neighborhood where all your friends, basic needs, and even your job are reachable by a quick walk or bike or bus ride.”
The Earth Is About to Feast on Dead Cicadas: Two cicada broods, XIX and XIII, are emerging in sync for the first time in 221 years. They’re bringing the banquet of a lifetime for birds, trees, and humans alike, Celia Ford, Wired, 5/10/24
Biodiversity loss is biggest driver of infectious disease outbreaks, says study: Researchers say reducing emissions and biodiversity loss and preventing invasive species could control disease, Phoebe Weston, Guardian, 5/9/24: “Researchers say that reducing emissions, reducing biodiversity loss and preventing invasive species could all help to reduce the burden of disease.”
Arizona wants to mine uranium near the Grand Canyon. Tribal nations are fighting back: “The tribes fought very hard for the establishment of the monument and are here to defend it,” Taylor Dawn Stagner, Grist, 5/6/24
The world’s largest carbon-capture plant just switched on: Experts say we’ll need carbon capture to offset stubborn emissions that can’t easily be cut with existing green technology, Nicolás Rivero, Washington Post, 5/9/24
Why switching to an EV is good for the climate: Over its lifetime, an electric vehicle produces much less climate-warming pollution than a similar gas-powered car, YCC Team, Yale Climate Connections, 5/8/24: “On average, driving an EV creates so much less carbon pollution than a comparable gas-powered car that within 20,000 miles, it will have more than offset the extra carbon pollution created when it was built.”
There's No Undoing Tech's Great Rewiring of Childhood: Psychologist Jonathan Haidt warns that social media harms children but definitive evidence is hard to find. Whatever your views on kids and technology, digital connectivity is now part of childhood, Stephen Levy, Wired, 5/10/24
The Indigenous Growers Reviving Hemp’s Deep Roots: “Cannabis and hemp offer solutions to many challenges in an industrial society,” Winona LaDuke, Barn Raiser, 5/6/24: “Cannabis can transform our materials economy and textiles industry, return carbon to the soil, provide sustainable housing material, nurture health and well-being and set us on a path to restorative justice.”
Sperm whales are saying far more than we thought. But, what exactly are they talking about? Like seasoned musicians, the whales appear to be spinning 21 basic phrases into hundreds of different variations, a new study found. The research is part of an initiative to communicate with other species, Warren Cornwall, Anthropocene, 5/8/24: “Perhaps part of the challenge is that humans inevitably rely on human language to describe what another species does to communicate. If sperm whales could characterize the tiny, squeaking sounds that come from us humans, what would they make of them? And is there a way to put it in a coda?” Exactly right: we humans always view others through the lens of our own experience. How could we not?
La Niña is coming, raising the chances of a dangerous Atlantic hurricane season – an atmospheric scientist explains this climate phenomenon, Pedro DiNezio, The Conversation, 5/9/24: “Forecasters are already warning that this year’s Atlantic storm season could rival 2021, due in large part to La Niña.”
You who do not remember
passage from the other world
I tell you I could speak again: whatever
returns from oblivion returns
to find a voice:
from the center of my life came
a great fountain, deep blue
shadows on azure sea water.
—from “The Wild Iris,” Louise Gluck
Health, Wellness
Olive oil use associated with lower risk of dying from dementia: An observational study has found that regular olive oil consumption may have cognitive health benefits, Teddy Amenabar, Washington Post, 5/7/24
Google DeepMind’s Groundbreaking AI for Protein Structure Can Now Model DNA: Demis Hassabis, Google’s artificial intelligence chief, says the AlphaFold software that revolutionized the study of proteins has received a significant upgrade that will advance drug development, Will Knight, Wired, 5/8/24
Gas stoves spread harmful pollution beyond the kitchen, study finds: A study finds that the nitrogen dioxide emitted from stoves impacts the entire home, in some cases hours after the stove was turned off, Amudalat Ajasa, Washington Post, 5/3/24
Birds
First Oregon-born condor in a century turns 20, Lizzy Acker, Seattle Times, 5/9/24: “Above all else, lead from hunter’s bullets contaminating the carrion condors eat and poisoning the birds remains an existential threat.”
High levels of forever chemicals in Maine birds add to concern about food chain: Researchers in Maine are trying to understand how perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are affecting fish, birds and mammals, Penelope Overton, CentralMaine.com, 5/6/24
Reminiscences of Paul Auster: Tom’s Restaurant
The waitress brought some hamburgers to our booth. Paul said, “What if the food suddenly started eating us? That would be amazing.” A few years later I wrote a story based on Paul’s speculation. It was called “A Day I’ll Never Forget,” Paul showed it to Maxine Groffsky, the fiction editor of The Paris Review, and she published it in that esteemed periodical. George Plimpton was furious.
—Mitch Siskind
E-Note
Throughout the years of my life I’ve found how we use language to be fluid and not static. Words appear and disappear like people of color during the early days of gentrification. I keep looking for the word civil disobedience to be used when talking about our current campus protests. Are protesters preparing themselves spiritually before confronting the police?
I’m amazed how certain words we can finally say in public. At one time we had problems saying certain p- words. We seemed always reluctant to talk about poverty. Because of Trump we can now say pussy and don’t even see the need to apologize. And then there is the third p-word that now is on everyone’s tongue. We no longer hide behind the term Middle East crisis, we can finally say Palestine and Palestinian. It changes our dialogue and removes the invisibility of a people. The challenge now is to avoid reducing Palestinians to a flag or a keffiyeh. We must learn how to use this P-word in a sentence that is not interpreted as being a metaphor for antisemitism. We struggle to speak a common language, we struggle with finding the strength to love. I never heard a slogan I wanted to go steady with.
—E. Ethelbert Miller
Every week as I compile these stories and links, I think about hope and love, family, friends — all of you — and how we must stand together, lean on each other—despite all that challenges us, all our struggles; I know that we will prevail.
These are crisis times, for sure. But what we do everyday matters and will make a difference. We have the power to make change, just as we have the power to transform experience into art, to make magic with our hearts and inner beings.
So I will say again, as I do every week here, wherever you are, whoever you are with, whatever you are doing — thanks for who you are and what you do. Please continue to keep in touch. We can get through this. Send messages and news. Hearing from you makes this all worthwhile.
Above all, stay well; share love; work for good. We need each other, now more than ever.
Love from here—David