The Weird Times
Inner Monologues and Desultory Reporting from Outer Spaces: Issue 165, July 9, 2023 (V4 #9)
It will always remain incomprehensible that Donald Trump was actually elected president of the United States. The reality was that it was so much worse than the greatest pessimists predicted that the gap is the size of the Grand Canyon.—Steve Schmidt
…that means the Court, by deciding this case, exercises authority it does not have. It violates the Constitution.—Justica Elana Kagan, dissent from Student Loan case
AI-driven, techno-solutionist, eugenic capitalists assert the probable. If we want to keep things alive, we must instead assert the possible.—Douglas Rushkoff
Books, Music & Culture
The Love Song of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera: San Francisco Opera hosts a haunting new work, Gabriela Lena Frank, New Yorker, 7/3/23: “…Frank establishes a dreamlike, liminal mood from the start, with coruscating dissonances that call to mind the late Kaija Saariaho.”
Guy Davenport on Ronald Johnson’s Transcendentalist Poetry: “The poet is at the edge of our consciousness of the world,” Guy Davenport, LitHub, 7/7/23: “True imagination makes up nothing; it is a way of seeing the world.” Book: Valley of the Many-Colored Grasses by Ronald Johnson, introduction by Guy Davenport.
T S Eliot's typewriter and desk: Analog thinking for the way we live now, Karen Christensen, Newsletter, 7/7/23: “Behold the Revenge of Analog.”
How Milwaukee Is Celebrating the Typewriter’s Long, Local History: In June 2023, Milwaukeeans celebrated 150 years of typewriter history, Jennifer Byrne, Atlas Obscura, 7/5/23
Remembering H.D.: Hilda Doolittle, aka H.D., had her champions among modern scholars, but she’s still often left off modern poetry course syllabi, Emily Zarevich, JStor Daily, 7/5/23: “H.D. is a visionary poet.” —Alicia Ostriker
How Samuel R. Delany Reimagined Sci-Fi, Sex, and the City: A visionary novelist and a revolutionary chronicler of gay life, he’s taken American letters to uncharted realms, Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 7/3/23: “There are so many Delanys that it’s difficult to take the full measure of his influence.”
An exploration of utopia in The Hobbit: The Shire is J.R.R. Tolkien's tranquil paradise, Elle Griffin, Luke Ferris, The Elysian, 7/3/23 “From Tolkien’s prologue, the reader learns the Shire’s structure of simplicity, longevity, and communal living in step with the land (I’m guessing it’s closest to a Marxist state run by a proletariat society).”
‘Singular, eccentric visions’: Lee Friedlander’s photography seen through the eyes of Joel Coen: The celebrated film-maker, one half of the duo behind Fargo and No Country for Old Men, saw something of himself in the work of the American photographer. Sean O’Hagan, The Guardian, 7/8/23 Book: Lee Friedlander Framed
Ukraine and the meaning of home: Before she was killed by a Russian missile strike, the acclaimed novelist and war crimes researcher wrote about growing up in Moscow’s shadow, and how she came to understand what being Ukrainian really meant, Victoria Amelina, The Guardian, 7/6/23: “No one is obliged to take in a stranger or show them love, yet it happens. This love becomes a true story that changes all future stories, including those of refugees.”
Parts of a Munich synagogue demolished by Nazis are found in a river 85 years later, Rachel Treisman, NPR, 7/6/23: “The synagogue was one of the first in Germany to be torn down during Hitler's rule.”
The rich history of baseball’s Negro Leagues arrives in theaters, Scott Allen, Washington Post, 7/6/23: “The League” trailer. Directed by Sam Pollard.
Bison Return to Native American Lands, Revitalizing Sacred Rituals: More than a century after a mass bison slaughter, the animals are restoring Great Plains ecosystems and reinvigorating Indigenous customs like the sun dance, Mike Ives, NY Times, 7/4/23
A great new book, just published by Coffee House Press in Minneapolis: The Collected Poems of Anselm Hollo
Out there are creating a terrible beauty
Some of them ready to kill for their “god”
In a persistent drunken trance
Wishing to live forever
—from “See What You Got Tomorrow,” Anselm Hollo
Politicks
What I Learned Retracing the Footsteps of the Capitol Rioters: How should we memorialize January 6? Consider the walking tour, Tyler McBrien, The Atlantic, 7/4/23 “January 6 hasn’t settled into the national consciousness as a significant event.”
The New 1970s: The U.S. is a confused, unsettled nation. But green shoots are quietly sprouting, Noah Smith, Noahpinion, 7/4/23: “The 2020s don’t feel like a great time for most Americans. But I think we can use this interregnum to prepare for better times to come.”
Super Drug, Scott Galloway, No Mercy/No Malice, 7/7/23: “The discussion around affirmative action and the emotion it evokes distract from the real issue and culprits. The question facing American higher education is not “Who?” It’s “How Many?” The answer should be … “More.” Specifically, lower cost, increased volume.”
California needs real math education, not gimmicks, Armand Domalewski, Noahpinion, 7/8/23: “One of the strangest things about California is that it is simultaneously one of the technology capitals of the world and has some of the worst math scores for children in the entire United States.”
The Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling puts climate progress and leadership in peril: This radical reversal of social equity scaffolding poses a monumental challenge for environmental and climate justice, Ans Irfan, Daily Climate News, 7/7/23
The Unforgiven: The Supreme Court’s decision to block student loan forgiveness is a reminder that the crimes of the rich are more readily absolved than the debts of the poor, Trevor Jackson, NY Review of Books, 7/8/23: “Don’t become a student, become a millionaire quarterback’s wellness company, because then the government will forgive your loans.”
How Trump, Putin, & the GOP Plan To Rig the 2024 Election? With the help of a Trump-appointed federal judge, who was the perfect patsy, because he’d previously drunk the Kool-Aid on Covid, masks, and vaccines...Thom Hartmann, Hartmann Report, 7/6/23
Rudy, Rudy, Rudy, Do You Love Me? Joyce Vance, Civil Discourse, 7/8/23: “We cannot give up on that process of helping people see the truth about Trump for themselves, and although it can be a slow and frustrating process, civil discourse continues to be worth the effort.”
Self-government is worth defending from an illegitimate Supreme Court, Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post, 7/3/23: “Something must change if we want to preserve rule by the people’s elected leaders responsible to voters.”
Consent of the Governed? Let America Be America Again, Michael Podhorzer, Weekend Reading, 7/4/23: “We would not be here today, outraged about the Court’s backwards rulings on LGBTQ rights and affirmative action, were it not for a revanchist coalition of capitalists and white supremacists that is bent on repealing the New Deal economic order and the civil and human rights gained in the Twentieth Century.”
Heller: Reinterpreting the Second Amendment: The Hidden History of Guns and the 2nd Amendment, Thom Hartmann, Hartmann Report, 7/9/23: “The story is, at its core, all about an industry willing to spend millions to protect its profits and a political party willing to frighten American gun owners for purely political purposes.”
Attrition before breakthrough: Assessing Ukrainian strategy, Lawrence Freedman, Comment is Freed, 7/8/23: “During this attritional phase we can see the potential for progress but it has yet to be realised. Only when and if the strike phase is reached will we be able to measure Ukrainian progress on the map.”
The planet heats, the world economy cools – the real global recession is ecological: Governments focus on the climate when they have few other economic worries. That can no longer be the case, Larry Elliott, The Guardian, 7/9/23
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again!
—from “Let America Be America Again,” Langston Hughes
Science & Environment
Listen to These Photographs of Sparkling Galaxies: How do you make space images more accessible? Turn celestial data into sonic compositions that don’t have to be seen to be enjoyed, Ramin Skibba, Wired, 7/7/23
I’m a physicist. Last week’s gravitational waves announcement sent me reeling, Katie Mack, Washington Post, 7/6/23: “There’s so much to discover. We’ve been bobbing around blindly on this cosmic sea, occasionally hit by an errant wave. Now we have our first glimpse of the entire ocean.”
‘Not so alien’: biologist busts myths and explores enigma of the octopus: David Scheel’s study of mysterious creatures separates misconceptions from the often more extraordinary facts, Nicola Davis, The Guardian, 7/3/23: “I think one of the messages I wanted to get across in the book is that all of life, all of animal life in particular, shares a set of universal goals.” Book: Many Things Under a Rock
'Terrifying': Tuesday Was Hottest Day Ever, Breaking Record Set Just 24 Hours Earlier: "Not a milestone we should be celebrating," said one climate scientist. "It's a death sentence for people and ecosystems." Data from the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction shows that the average global temperature reached 17.01°C, or 62.62°F, on Monday—making it the hottest day ever recorded, Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, 7/5/23
How Bad is CO2? Tomas Pueyo, Uncharted Territories, 7/5/23: “People believe that only about 65-70% of scientists think that global warming is caused by humans, but in fact between 96% and 100% of scientists agree, a percentage that has been growing over time.”
As the Country Burns, Where Are America’s Climate Patriots? The climate crisis demands a left-right consensus that transcends politics, Danny Feingold, Capital and Main, 7/4/23: “The ravages of climate change are coming for all of us.”
No Human Has Ever Seen it Hotter: But the sun that's cooking us could cool us too, Bill McKibben, The Crucial Years, 7/5/23
‘Revolutionary’ solar power cell innovations break key energy threshold: Next generation cells surpass limits of today’s cells and will accelerate rollout of cheaper, more efficient solar power, Damian Carrington, The Guardian, 7/6/23
Toyota claims battery breakthrough in potential boost for electric cars: Japanese firm believes it could make a solid-state battery with a range of 745 miles that charges in 10 minutes, Rob Davies, The Guardian, 7/4/23
A remote Alaska village depended on the snow crab harvest for survival. Then billions of crabs died: The Indigenous people of St. Paul Island face a decision — stay or go? Julia O’Malley, FERN, 7/5/23: “I’m convinced the questions Alaskans are grappling with — whether to stay in a place and what to hold onto if they can’t — will eventually face everyone.”
Fungal Networks Are Often Hidden and Overlooked. But They Can Help Save Us: Merlin Sheldrake, a biologist and author, is doing his best to show the world all the amazing things fungi can do to benefit life on a damaged planet, Tatiana Schlossberg, NY Times, 6/24/23
Saving the Patagonias: Biden Fast-Tracked a Green Energy Mine in One of Earth’s Rarest Ecosystems. Arizona Locals Took It to Court, Ryan Devereaux, The Intercept, 6/30/23
Returning giant tortoises are helping recreate the Galapagos islands Darwin saw: Scientists are just beginning to discover the transformative power these herbivorous behemoths wield, Warren Cornwall, Anthropocene, 7/5/23
Microbes Gained Photosynthesis Superpowers From a ‘Proton Pump:’ New research reveals how marine microbes use an extra membrane that once had digestive functions to boost their yield from photosynthesis, Saugat Bolokhe, Quanta, 7/5/23
The Forgotten Sovereigns of the Colorado River: As the West’s major river dries up, tribes have asserted rights to its water long ignored by state and federal authorities, Rowan Moore Gerety, Politico, 7/7/23: “We don’t have a formal place in the policymaking process. … And until that happens, that means our sovereignty is not being fully recognized.”
In Arizona Water Ruling, the Hopi Tribe Sees Limits on Its Future: Arizona's unique method for awarding water to tribes was supposed to open up economic possibilities beyond farming for the Hopi Tribe. Instead, the tribe says it has dashed their dreams of building a thriving homeland, Umar Farooq, ProPublica, 7/7/23
The Colorado River Flooded Chemehuevi Land. Decades Later, the Tribe Still Struggles to Take Its Share of Water, Mark Olalde, Umar Farooq, Anna V. Smith, ProPublica, 7/5/23
Burned and with both feet on the ground
I've learned that it's painful comin' down
No use runnin' away, and there's no time left to stay
—from “Burned,” Buffalo Springfield, written by Neil Young
Health & Wellness
The Paradox of Listening to Our Bodies: Interoception—the inner sense linking our bodies and minds—can confuse as much as it can reveal, Jessica Wapner, New Yorker, 7/6/23: “Interoception can help us see ourselves more clearly. The paradox is that it may be at its most accurate when it is, in itself, invisible.”
Probiotics, prebiotics and postbiotics: The microbe garden in your gut, Anahad O’Connor, Washington Post, 7/4/23: “Diet is not the only thing, but it’s a big thing — and the problem for a lot of people is that they’re not eating the right foods.”
A Rare Domestic Resurgence of Malaria Is Circulating in the US: The mosquito-borne disease was eliminated here long ago. Now “revenge travel,” global migration, poor public funding—and maybe climate change—could help it come back, Maryn McKenna, Wired, 7/3/23
AI Tool Decodes Brain Cancer’s Genome During Surgery: Real-time tumor profiling can guide surgical, treatment decisions, Ekaterina Pesheva, Harvard Medical School, 7/7/23
We are a body
possessed by identity voodoo,
waking
from submission.
—from “Identity Voodoo,” Abiola Haroun
Birds
Migratory birds love New York Harbor islands, but humans are forcing them out, Rosemary Misdary, Gothamist, 7/7/23: “…these counts are nearly half of what was in the harbor in the mid 1990s…”
Climate change is driving earlier springtimes. For some birds, that could equal extinction: Birds are trying to adapt, but can't quite keep up with the earlier arrival of spring, Nicole Karlis, Salon, 7/6/23
Threatened Seabirds Get a Life Raft in Maryland: Scientists don bike helmets and dodge bird poop to babysit endangered terns out at sea, Ashley Stimpson, Hakai, 7/4/23
How climate change could hurt bald eagles: They’ve returned from the brink of extinction but face new threats, YCC Team, , YCC Team, Yale Climate Connections, 7/4/23:”… the Audubon Society predicts that three-quarters of the bald eagles’ current summer range will become unsuitable for the birds in about 60 years.”
Last Poem
shambles this way
antipodean being
come full circle
sparks in darkness
lightning’s eternal return
flipped the ecliptic
—Ron Johnson
There are two main threads to the reading I do: one is the ongoing move toward a fascist takeover of the United States and the other is the climate crisis. Both are life-threatening calamities that are so profound, they make us want to turn away, or even to deny their immediacy.
It’s going to be on all of us to continue to raise the alarm in a meaningful and effective way, to not give up speaking up, reminding our friends and families that despite our deep-rooted desire to just live our lives, right now we can’t.
I hope that by circulating this newsletter every week to help make more of us aware of what is happening, and all that we can do to prevent catastrophe. Even when it feels like we can’t succeed, we have to try. Around and among all the terrible news, there are just so many signs of hopefulness and even joy.
We humans do have an innate ability to overcome adversity. So let’s remember to always be human.
Much love to all, and thanks for being there. —David
Great letter this week, David. Loved the stuff you collected, and the one on the giant tortoises!