The Weird Times
Inner Monologues and Desultory Reporting from Outer Spaces: Issue 202, March 24, 2024 (V4 #46)
All that we don't know is astonishing. Even more astonishing is what passes for knowing.—Philip Roth
How ramshackle, how brilliant, how haphazardly and strangely rendered we are. Gloriously, fantastically mixed and monstered. We exist as phantom, monster, miracle, each a theme park all one's own.—Aracelis Girmay
If there be only hours, at least learn what there is time to learn.—Vernor Vinge
Books, Music, Art, Culture
Laurent de Brunhoff, author of Babar children’s books, dies at 98: Painter and storyteller, who revived father’s picture-book series about elephant king, said he didn’t consciously write for young people, AP, The Guardian, 3/23/24: “Babar was my friend and I invented stories with him, but not with kids in a corner of my mind. I write it for myself.”
How Quinta Brunson Hacked the Sitcom: With “Abbott Elementary,” the comedian and writer found fresh humor and mass appeal in a world she knew well, Molly Fischer, New Yorker, 3/18/24: “Six different characters on ‘Abbott’ are six different ways of showing people who I am.”
The Multiplication of Monsters: from Gutenberg to QAnon, Stefan Andriopoulos, Public Books, 3/20/24: “…across different historical periods, the introduction of new technologies and of new and accessible media forms has increased and accelerated the circulation of rumors and disinformation. And their wide circulation and repetition engenders belief.”
When do girls give up their dreams? Happy Women's History Month, I guess, Lyz Lenz, Men Yell at Me, 3/20/24: “Here we were celebrating Women’s History Month in a state that is limiting the rights of girls and women through trans-exclusionary policies and pushing to outlaw abortion.”
Publishers condemn 'silent' censorship of books trashed at Staten Island school, Jessica Gould, Gothamist, 3/19/24: “A book should never be thrown out in the first place.”
Diane Seuss on Punk, Plath, and the Poetry of Rage, Juliette Jeffers, Interview, 3/19/24: “If we were living absolutely, honestly, we would probably be destroyed by rage.”
Telling Everything All at Once: A Conversation with Michael Ondaatje: Howard Norman Talks to Poet-Cum-Novelist About His First Collection in 25 Years, Howard Norman, LitHub, 3/20/24: “The writing of poetry, generally speaking, feels more like whispers than opera.” Book: A Year of Last Things
Killerheimer: American Betrayal in Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan, Jimmy So, LA Review of Books, 3/20/24: “In the end, Killerheimer is a reminder that the promise of American exceptionalism doesn’t amount to much if the nation fails to protect the most vulnerable. It’s a dark warning that American democracy is so fragilely balanced, and so easily corrupted, that we require the collective efforts of custodians to guard against the misuse of what has become the most powerful empire the world has ever seen.”
The Moral Plea Behind Kate Middleton’s Cancer Disclosure: After weeks of conspiracy theories and online calls for her private medical information, the Princess of Wales offered an appeal for basic public decency, Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 3/22/24
Wendell Berry: What New York Times Columnist Paul Krugman Gets Wrong About Rural America: ‘Those of us who speak for the country (“rural America”) must never give up,’ Wendell Berry, Barn Raiser, 3/21/24: “Would he not try to speak with actual rural Americans, people who live in and care for and know about their rural homelands? Well, I for one am ready to receive him as a guest, to show him around and to talk at length.”
Go read some Vernor Vinge: R.I.P. to my favorite science fiction author, Noah Smith, Noahpinion, 3/21/24: “Vinge is probably best known as the creator of the concept of the technological singularity — which we now simply call The Singularity.”
Purim’s original queen: How studying the Book of Esther as fan fiction can teach us about the roots of an unruly Jewish festival, Esther Brownsmith, The Conversation, 3/21/24: “I believe it makes sense to think of Esther, too, as the ancient equivalent of today’s fan fiction: a tale of familiar characters, re-imagined and repurposed to reflect the identities of their creators.”
“It’s This Line / Here” : Happy Belated Birthday to James Schuyler, Ben Lerner, Paris Review, 3/18/24
the surprise is that
the surprise, once
past, is always there:
which to enjoy is
not to consume. The un-
recapturable returns …
—from “A Stone Knife,” James Schuyler
Politics, Economics
‘The final act’: fears US journalism crisis could destabilize 2024 election: Job losses, declining circulations and local newspaper closures could mean spread of misinformation in pivotal election year, Edward Helmore, The Guardian, 3/24/24: “…the very industry that should be girding up for this is in a total state of crisis.”
Living In the Everything Sucks Era—At Least for Now, Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo, 3/20/24: “Joe Biden has been President for three years. And all three have been in the things-kind-of-suck era…this isn’t a counsel of pessimism. My sense is that there is the beginning of a shift. But I think a lot of things come into focus if we fully absorb this reality about the aftershocks and half-life of one of the greatest social and economic convulsions of the last century.”
The Bloodbath Candidate: In Context, Trump is Worse, Timothy Snyder, Thinking About, 3/19/24: “We should see Trump for what he is: an aspiring fascist who likes, wants, and needs violence. But we need not fear him or his plans….The work to be done is to make sure that Trump doesn't come close. And part of that work is to explain to voters what Trump says and who Trump is. He's the bloodbath candidate.”
We’re Falling Into Trump’s Trap… Again: The media messed up with the “bloodbath” remark. He's too dangerous for us to repeat the mistakes of 2016, Sam Kahn, Persuasion, 3/18/24: “ He plays the martyr card effectively. He makes a certain amount of sense—until you stop to think about what he’s actually saying, that is…. the mainstream will have to maintain its realism and its dignity, and the adults in the room will need to avoid being sucked into loose play with the facts. What Trump actually is, and what he stands for, is bad enough.”
Trump's 'bloodbath' threat — and campaign coverage that doesn't work, Margaret Sullivan, American Crisis, 3/19/24: “The legitimate media needs to figure out how to get across clearly to the voting public — the ones that matter in the handful of swing states that will decide the election — the consequences of electing Trump again.”
Donald Trump’s Autocratic Ambitions: The 2024 election boils down to two contrasting visions for America: democratic vs. authoritarian. Is the media missing the story? Molly Jong-Fast, Vanity Fair, 3/18/24: “The only way to hold Trump accountable is to be clear-eyed about his authoritarian second-term plans and how he’s aligned himself with autocrats. And it’s essential to hear from the people who have seen his dysfunction firsthand, like those from his former administration who are sounding the alarm about his potential return to the White House. We in the media have to get this right, as the future of democracy—and the free press that goes with it—is on the line.”
The NBC/MSNBC Ronna Romney McDaniel disgrace, Steve Schmidt, The Warning, 3/23/24: “How could something like this happen at any news organization that values their reputation and integrity?”
Supreme Court opens new frontier for insurrection claims that could target state and local officials, Morgan Lee, Nicholas Riccardi, AP News, 3/19/24: “Taken together, the actions herald a new legal landscape as the liberal groups that pushed the issue of Trump’s disqualification to the Supreme Court reboot efforts to target state and local officials linked to Jan. 6.”
What Americans and the Media are Missing About the TikTok Crisis: It’s time for “truth in labeling” laws like the processed food industry complies with to apply to social media. The life — and democracy — that gets saved could be your own…Thom Hartmann, Hartmann Report, 3/18/24: “As a society, we generally try to regulate things that provoke this kind of destructive, brain-seizing response.”
Musk is a MAGA megaphone and a federal contractor. That’s a problem, Max Boot, Washington Post, 3/18/24: “It’s imperative that the government encourage competitors to SpaceX, even if it costs more in the short run, so that U.S. national security does not remain hostage to Musk’s whims.”
Justice Breyer, Off the Bench, Sounds an Alarm Over the Supreme Court’s Direction: In an interview in his chambers and in a new book, the justice, who retired in 2022, discussed Dobbs, originalism and the decline of trust in the court, Adam Liptak, NY Times, 3/18/24
The Supreme Court Case Designed To Legalize Bribery: Snyder v. United States could make it legal for public officials to accept rewards for their corrupt actions, Katya Schwenk, The Lever, 3/18/24: “Without quid pro quo, campaign donations can easily be transformed into ‘rewards’ or illegal ‘gratuities.’”
Shelby County Opened the Door to Modern-Day Poll Taxes: How MAGA voter suppression really works, Michael Podhorzer, Weekend Reading, 3/21/24: “…the racial turnout gap “is increasing nationwide, especially in counties that had been subject to federal oversight until the Supreme Court invalidated preclearance in 2013.”
Schumer Spoke for Diaspora Jews: His break with Bibi made explicit, and official, the inherent rifts between diaspora and Israeli Jews, Harold Meyerson, American Prospect, 3/19/24
The Gaza famine is human-made. And the US is complicit in this catastrophe: Experts first warned of rising hunger in December – yet when Israel blocked a vital US food shipment, Biden did nothing, Mohamad Bazzi, The Guardian, 3/21/24: “Netanyahu and his hardline ministers continue to openly defy the US, Israel’s most important ally, without paying any price.”
What is the real Hamas? How Israeli, Palestinian and US political actors understand Hamas is not merely a theoretical question – it will determine what kind of agreement can be reached to end the current war, and what the future of Gaza will look like, Joshua Leifer, The Guardian, 3/21/24: “Their inclusion is a prerequisite for creating a Palestinian leadership that is representative of its people, regardless of what we think about their tactics or their ideology.”
Our death has not been written yet. Even with monsters
At the edges, it is a map where we can live, this city they
Keep building as it falls, the water’s current carries everything
Away but what we feel, who we loved, where we went that
Night for crabs and beer. It will never be more real than here.
—from “Annunciation,” David Beaudouin, in Best American Poetry, 3/17/24
Science, Environment, Technology
Canvas of Grass: The native prairies of Texas—both remnant and restored—shift an artist’s perspective and inspire, James Prosek, Garden & Gun, April/May issue: “I had stared at a single, six-foot-tall big bluestem, contemplating how to paint what I beheld—leaves twisted and cascading off the stalk like script, a range of violet, magenta, pale yellow, and greens, covered with a glaucous bloom. The grasses were elegant, calligraphic, elemental. Held up against the sun, they made beautiful silhouettes.”
The World’s E-Waste Has Reached a Crisis Point: A new UN report finds that humanity is generating 137 billion pounds of TVs, smartphones, and other e-waste a year—and recycling less than a quarter of it, Matt Simon, Wired, 3/20/24
'Worrying' Remote Ocean Plastics Study Troubles Scientists, Jess Thomson, Newsweek, 3/20/24: “There are large numbers of plastic waste and microplastics gathered across the Pacific, including in a remote marine protected area northwest of Hawaii known as Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, indicating that plastic might be more distributed in the oceans than we first thought.”
As feds stand down, states choose between wetlands protections or rollbacks: A U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year cleared the way for state-based regulations, Alex Brown, Stateline, 3/20/24: “It creates a checkered landscape in terms of water quality…”
Brace Yourself For the Comeback of Citizen Scientists: From water-testing polluted rivers to measuring radiation levels, ordinary people are taking environmental research into their own hands, Andrew Kersley, Wired, 3/23/24
The next big climate deadline is for meat and dairy: It’s a lot sooner than you think, Kenny Torrella, Vox, 3/20/24: “Asked how rapidly global livestock emissions should fall after they peak, the experts’ most common response was a 50 percent or more decrease within five years after peaking. And the most effective way to do that, most survey respondents agreed, is by reducing the amount of meat and dairy humanity produces and consumes.”
Sustainable Agriculture Gets a Push From Big Corporations: Farming accounts for a significant chunk of CO2 emissions. Some big businesses are offering farmers incentives to take up regenerative ag to lessen their carbon footprint and enhance biodiversity—and profits, Rochelle Toplensky, Wall Street Journal, 3/22/24 (Gift article)
Managing ‘Brown Gold’: the Challenges—and Opportunities—of Spent Substrate: As demand for mushrooms flush, can a circular economy take shape for their valuable, and copious growing medium? Doug Bierend, Civil Eats, 3/19/24: “I think it’s early in the world of adoption, but all signs are very strong that it’s a great area of focus for the mushroom industry overall.”
Fertilizer management could reduce ammonia pollution from 3 staple crops: Study, Claire Asher, Monga Bay, 3/18/24: “…under current fertilizer management practices, climate change will increase ammonia emissions from rice, wheat and corn by up to 15.8% by 2100. But this increase could be entirely offset by optimizing fertilizer management and adapting it to local conditions.”
The Feds Are Trying to Get Plants to Mine Metal Through Their Roots: Some species can absorb extreme amounts of nickel from soils. Such “phytomining” could help provide batteries essential for the renewable revolution, Matt Simon, Wired, 3/21/24
The massive copper mine that could test the limits of religious freedom: To fight climate change, the world needs copper. The third largest deposit on the planet is in Arizona, a site the San Carlos Apache say is “like Mount Sinai to us,” Taylor Dawn Stagner, Grist, 3/19/24
Stone Age Humans Chose Their Rocks with Care: Ancient humans possessed sophisticated knowledge of the properties of the stones they used to make tools, Nathaniel Scharping, Eos, 3/19/24: “Even from something as simple as rock choice you’re seeing dimensions in human thought that we just weren’t getting at before.”
“She’s Bouncing the Ball!” On the Uncanny Way Octopuses Play: on the Intelligent and Curious Nature of Our Favorite Cephalopods, David Toomey, LitHub, 3/18/24 Book: Kingdom of Play: What Ball-Bouncing Octopuses, Belly-Flopping Monkeys, and Mud-Sliding Elephants Reveal about Life Itself
Flying Is Weird Right Now: Is flying less safe? Or are we just paying closer attention? Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 3/20/24: “…globally, the odds of a passenger dying on a flight from 2018 to 2022 were 38 times lower than they were 50 years earlier…although air safety is getting markedly better over time, the experience of flying is arguably worse than ever.”
8 Google Employees Invented Modern AI. Here’s the Inside Story: They met by chance, got hooked on an idea, and wrote the “Transformers” paper—the most consequential tech breakthrough in recent history, Steven Levy, Wired, 3/20/24
The Model Isn’t the Territory, Either: Digital complexity doesn’t mean it’s reality, Douglas Rushkoff, Newsletter, 3/21/24: “We can’t fight over these created models and histories anymore. They cannot be resolved. They are not real. They are models. Games. Rhetoric. Approximations. They are figures, and never ground.”
Large Language Models’ Emergent Abilities Are a Mirage: A new study suggests that sudden jumps in LLMs’ abilities are neither surprising nor unpredictable, but are actually the consequence of how we measure ability in AI, Stephen Ornes, Wired, 3/24/24
I am so hungry
for the song that grows tall like a weed
grows, and grows.
—from “Backyard Song,” Diane Seuss
Health, Wellness
Parkinson’s Disease Can Now Be Detected Through the Skin: New test identifies Parkinson’s by a protein rather than waiting for symptoms that can take years to appear, Betsy McKay, Wall Street Journal, 3/20/24
Untangling the causes of obesity: Researchers are taking different paths in understanding obesity, but there’s a common thread: harmful chemicals are spurring weight gain, Jerrold J. Heindel, Environmental Health News, 3/19/24
Google AI could soon use a person’s cough to diagnose disease: Machine-learning system trained on millions of human audio clips shows promise for detecting COVID-19 and tuberculosis, Mariana Lenharo, Nature, 3/21/24
Birds, Birds, Birds
Painted buntings are in decline. Citizen scientists with backyard feeders are helping track them, Kerry Sheridan, WUSF, 3/19/24
The hidden secrets of a simple birdsong, explained, Maggie Penman, Washington Post, 3/20/24: “The more complexity or difficulty in a song, the more appealing it is to female birds.” Listen: Zebra Finch Courtship Song
The Eider Keepers: An age-old tradition in Norway illuminates the bonds between wild ducks, wild places, and the people who care for both, Devon Fredericksen, Hakai, 3/21/24: “During the nesting season from May to July, the 50 or so people in Vega who still practice the “bird keeper” tradition voyage to the archipelago’s remote outer islands—many of which have been handed down through families for generations—to take up temporary residence. The bird keepers build houses and nests for the eiders and watch over them for months.”
Today, again, always, I am thinking about hope and love, family, friends and how we must stand together, lean on each other—despite all, I know that we will prevail.
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. Send messages and news.
Above all, stay well; share love; work for good. We need each other, now more than ever.
Love from here—David