Dear Jack
A father writes his son a note on election night. It gets passed around their family and friends—and soon the entire world. What viral impact looks like, post-Trump.
Archive
A collection of 14227 issues
November 21, 2016
“Do you see how there’s a difference between ‘cognitive bias that makes you unreasonably afraid’ versus ‘white supremacy?’” Tough read makes a go at untangling some of conceptual difficulties in talking about Trump, “who is going to be exactly as racist as every other American president. Maybe a bit
Poetry in the age of Trump
“We have seen a black president, and we have seen what kind of president comes after a black president.” Poet Terrance Hayes on race and poetry at the 2016 National Book Awards. ↩︎ posted Nov. 21, 2016 Poetry isn’t politics. But as my students helped remind me, it can be
November 19, 2016
If you’ve shut down an intersection—a tactic often employed by Black Lives Matter protesters—this Washington state bill would punish you as an economic terrorist. / kiro7.com
Kubrick's daughter made a film about making The Shining
A short film by Vivian Kubrick, Stanley Kubrick's daughter, Making the Shining. Though really it's about Jack Nicholson's onscreen wattage. Starts at about 02:38.
America just voted to lead the global age of authoritarianism
Why Russians love Putin: He represents steady strength in the wake of extreme instability Putin’s pursuit of neo-Soviet ideals, like projecting Russian strength in foreign policy, paired with his near-total control of the media, has resulted in “a generation whose dreams are the embodiment of everything Putin
November 18, 2016
The president-elect is planning a victory tour of the states he won. / Politico “In the seventies, eighties, and nineties... there was a baseline of facts that we could all work off of. And now we just don’t have that.” Obama talks constantly about the destabilizing effect of social
The memes are trying to tell us something
Memes have been good to Biden. Not so for Pence thus far. For many, the recent election’s shocks have been somewhat tempered by a deluge of memes celebrating outgoing Vice President Joe Biden as a merry prankster bent on messing with the incoming administration. Reflections of Biden and Obama’
November 17, 2016
The 20 top hoax news stories on Facebook garnered 1.4 million more engagements than the top 20 pieces of journalism. / BuzzFeed In the 1800s, people believed newspaper stories about trips to the moon and monkeys picking cotton. Mark Twain and H.L. Mencken printed stories made from whole cloth.
Let’s talk about Bob Dylan winning the Nobel Prize
You can love Dylan or hate Dylan, just as you can love Elvis or hate Elvis. But even if you love Elvis, it’s hard to argue that he was the King because he was somehow an exponentially more talented performer than Ike Turner, or LaVern Baker. Rather, he was