All posts
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On free-market capitalism, political spending, and Jane Mayer’s ‘Dark Money.’
Everybody knew that politicians could be bought… well, academics can be, too.
campaign finance, climate change, Dark Money, David Koch, economic policy, environmental regulations, Evicted, fiscal policy, free markets, global warming, government intervention, Jane Mayer, Koch brothers, libertarianism, Matthew Desmond, negative externalities, political spending, progressive taxation, Robert Reich, Saving Capitalism, subsidies for the rich, tax, tragedy of the commons
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On grace and the proper way to listen to music.
A brief portrait of the guy rocking out at the Dave Brubeck show.
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On unilateral reproduction.
We’ve identified some of the genes that allow Cape bees to reproduce without males … if human men don’t help more with the chores, will they be ditched too?
a world without men, birds and the bees, Cape bee, Frankenstein, game theory, golems, investment in children, Jane Ellen Harrison, just because something is natural doesn’t mean it’s good, Mary Shelley, mythology, parenting, parthenogenesis, reproduction, Wendy Doniger, Women Androgynes and Other Mythical Beasts
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On PTSD and David Means’s ‘Hystopia.’
Saying “thank you” isn’t enough to cure trauma.
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On self-immolation.
I try to be upfront with people — especially young students I volunteer with — about my own depression.
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On Lisa Randall’s ‘Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs.’
I love cool stories as much as anyone, but not under the auspices of science for a general audience.
astronomy, conspiracy theorists, conspiracy theory, dark matter, Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs, electromagnetism, Evicted, Gabriel Zucman, gold foil experiment, gravity, Lisa Randall, Matthew Desmond, Occam’s Razor, popular science, Rutherford, The Hidden Wealth of Nations, weakly interacting massive particles
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On Edin & Shaefer’s ‘$2.00 a Day.’
You can’t learn what it takes to survive poverty when you think about people as numbers.
$2.00 a Day, budget, ethnography, Evicted, extreme poverty, food deserts, food insecurity, food stamps, H. Luke Shaefer, Hand to Mouth, high cost of rent in the United States, Kathyrn Edin, Linda Tirado, Living on Almost Nothing in America, Matthew Desmond, Paul Theroux, people want jobs, poverty, PTSD, sexual assault, SNAP, The Hypocrisy of Helping the Poor
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On bistability.
When small changes lead to bigger change, it’s tricky to predict what will happen… that’s why climate change is scary.
alcoholism, animal emissions, bistability, Bloomington, carbon emisions, climate change, climate simulation, contribution of animal agriculture to global climate change, eat more vegetables!, expansion of empty space, feedback loops, global warming, how much warming can our planet safely tolerate?, it takes money to make money, lightswitch rave, positive feedback, switch-like behavior, the rich get richer, underwater currents, United Nations conference on climate change, weather
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On Peggy Orenstein’s Girls and Sex.
Turns out it’s still a good idea to talk to your kids.
Amy Schalet, Charis Denison, Cinderella Ate My Daughter, dinosaur princess, Dutch vs. American parents, Girls & Sex, good lovers are good listeners, Haruki Murakami, Meatloaf, Paradise by the Dashboard Lights, Peggy Orenstein, performative sexuality, pop porn, pornification, pornography, problems with pop porn, sex ed, sexual education, Sputnik Sweetheart, Zara Whites -
On wasteful medical spending.
Something feels icky about *participating* in the sort of waste that might doom our country…
Frank Brown Cloud 