2023.08.11 – media_log

Why Does This Racist Keep Getting Silicon Valley Money?
Required reading if you keep hearing the name “Richard Hanania” bandied around and want to learn about the next high-profile “totally not a racist anymore” bro is. I would hate watch the white nationalist and eugenics-loving billionaire fight for conch as they grunt their IQs at each other while the ashes of civilization dust their sweaty, Botoxed brows.

Zoom’s Changing Stances on AI and User Data has Faculty Alarmed
Why is only “faculty alarmed?” Oh because it’s a good business decision to outsource all of the intellectual work your scholars do. Zoom’s new TOS probably has a broad view of consent. Remember the CAN-SPAM Act that put that “Unsubscribe” in all those emails? Whatever happened to opt-in as the default? Fun fact: I had a meeting this morning and the “Accept the new TOS” note came up and I could either be late for my meeting and read it, or click “Accept” because that’s what we always do.

How should we remember Trinity Site, where the first nuclear bomb was tested?
An interesting look at the physical Trinity Site (not the conceptual idea we have collectively in our heads.) This led me to the FAQ on the Trinity Site Open House website, where the question on the dangers of residual radiation is second to last at number 25, right above whether or not marijuana was allowed on the site (it is not.) Incidentally, the question of whether or not you can bring your firearm is number 8 on the list. (No. “Leave them at home.”).

Seeing a new David Brooks column the same day I listened to the If Books Could Kill podcast on “On Bullshit” is … chef’s kiss!

Vivek Ramaswamy Has a Gimmick That Republicans Are Sure to Love
“Ramaswamy’s call to raise the voting age is a novelty policy for a novelty candidate. And yet it tells us something about the Republican electorate, and thus the Republican Party, that the eye-catching gimmick of an ambitious politician is a plan to disenfranchise millions of American voters.” Republican voters will never love you.

Biden’s risky Persian Gulf bet
“‘We’re talking about using the lives of US service-members as a deterrent,’ Emma Ashford, a researcher at the Stimson Center, told Vox.” Isn’t that what we always do?

There’s No Shame in Flaking
I had a friend that used to call me “Croissant” I flaked so much.

media_log is a collection of media that I’ve consumed throughout the day – not in bite-size, headline-only, hot-take form as per social media, but actually reading the article and having a thought. Since taking the social media apps off my phone, I’m being more intentional with how I spend my attention.

2023.08.10 – media_log

media_log is a collection of media that I’ve consumed throughout the day – not in bite-size, headline-only, hot-take form as per social media, but actually reading the article and having a thought. Since taking the social media apps off my phone, I’m being more intentional with how I spend my attention.


Hot take: One of the reasons I don’t care for YouTube shorts, besides the fact that I can’t filter them out of my subscription page, is that there is no easy way to see what channel it’s from.

Who Was Fernando Villavicencio?
I feel stupid for not knowing who this man was before he was assassinated.

Never Tweet
I like Charlie Warzel’s take on this subpoena and what prosecutors could be looking for, though the idea that it’s a technicality to cover all bases seems more likely. I don’t know how many more “smoking guns” need to be found to get this guy gone. Scroll fast past the main image if you don’t want to choke on your beverage.

Pottstown’s ‘Chicken Hill’ a central character in new James McBride novel
Shout-out to Pottstown and the Pottstown Regional Public Library for their help with James McBride’s new novel, The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store.

After decades, a tribe’s vision for a new marine sanctuary could be coming true
Co-managing sanctuaries and sacred spaces with the indigenous populations is long overdue and a step in the right direction. Scientific knowledge can only be enhanced with a historical record of the land and its living things, as well as a respect for the interconnectivity of our ecology. Learn more about the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary at chumashsanctuary.org.

The Local-News Crisis Is Weirdly Easy to Solve
A great overview of the power and necessity of local news. I am quietly skeptical if federal funding would ever jump-start local news again–so much depends upon the local population engaging with the local news–we need so much more than “Patch” websites and Facebook.