March 31, 2023
Trans people were always here
"It’s Who I Was, And Where I Was, And It Happened To Me.”
More than 50 years ago, the name “Judy Blume” became an enduring pop culture staple for the bravery it took to write books about puberty and sex in a way that no one else was doing. from Judy Blume Doesn’t Miss Writing. She’s Not Afraid of Dying, Either [Variety] [more inside]
Free Bird
In response to criticisms, Twitter has released the source code for their recommendation algorithm. [more inside]
he had a good run
Cooperation and Compassion
"Yet here I am, at my 75th birthday, still believing with all my heart, soul and mind that the moral arc of the Universe bends towards justice, towards reconciliation with nature, towards kindness with our fellow humans, and yes, towards wisdom." --> [more inside]
Cedar the Goat
9-year-old California girl wanted to save her goat from slaughter. Then came the search warrant [The Sacramento Bee]
The Town Without Television
The Town Without Television is an illustrated series (Part 1: Notel, Part 2: Unitel) about the research studying how television affected the culture of a Canadian town that had gone without it. These stories will soon be collected in to a book.
🏳️⚧️ Happy Trans Day of Visibility! 🏳️⚧️
strange to be in the care of someone you anticipate will hurt you
Dismantling medical fatphobia. An essay by public health scholar Marquisele Mercedes for Pipe Wrench's 2022 special issue on fatphobia. Content warning for medical trauma. An essay on how fatphobia affects patients looking for doctors: "How much can I figure out in advance about this person’s fatphobia? Can I get any clues that they’ll treat my symptoms and problem, or will this be another conversation about my body size that ignores the actual issue? Will they actually touch my body or treat me with disgust?" [more inside]
Yeah, no problem man!
My guy on the tooth picks:
"I was skiing a zone with a partner when I passed by a snowboarder upsidedown and buried in a tree well. I only caught a glimpse of his board but it was enough to get my attention." [more inside]
Minor League Baseball players get living wages
The first-ever collective bargaining agreement in minor league baseball history is near, a landmark moment in the sport’s history, and for the players in particular. The deal — which would have sounded outlandish just a year ago, when minor leaguers didn’t have a union — provides substantial raises to players and a slew of other improvements. Evan Drellich at The Athletic has the story. (Archive link.) More than 99% of minor leaguers voted in favor of the agreement. (Twitter). [more inside]
“the ‘aliens’ destroying this world are us”
“Heat Death” might not at first reading strike the reader as science fiction at all. It contains no bug-eyed monsters, interplanetary flights, postapocalyptic worlds, or technological marvels. It focuses not on outer space as much as it does inner space—notably that of a woman—and the geography of the mundane—that of the home and the supermarket—rather than the fantastic or extraordinary.– A Space of Her Own by Mary E. Papke, is an essay about Pamela Zoline and her 1967 science fiction story The Heat Death of the Universe.
"And I am not an old man having an existential crisis."
boygenius (previously), the group composed of singer-songwriters Phoebe Bridgers (previously), Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker (previously), released their debut album the record today (review, review, interview, interview), accompanied by the film, directed by Kristen Stewart.
The gaming industry has changed, and it doesn’t need E3 anymore.
E3 isn’t coming back. [The Verge] “The pandemic proved that gaming could survive without E3. The last year E3 took place in person was in 2019; the event was cancelled in 2020, held as a digital show in 2021, and bounced from in person to online-only and finally to fully cancelled last year in 2022. Yet even without E3 as an anchor, developers and publishers have found ways to make a splash that don’t include the investment required for a big booth on the expo show floor. And when the pandemic arrived, the industry already had a playbook to follow — a playbook written by Nintendo. Since 2011, the company has seen enormous success with its Nintendo Direct video presentations, letting anyone in the world watch big game reveals without attending a physical show. Since then, nearly every major gaming company has adopted the format to create newsworthy moments of their own, and they’re pre-recorded ones that can’t break down on stage or might embarrass in front of a live audience. ” [more inside]
How much does the median American ride public transportation each year?
How to save America's public transit systems from a doom spiral - "The only realistic way for transit officials to garner public support for the funding they desperately need is to demonstrate an ability to replace car trips, not just serve economically disadvantaged people who lack other means to get around their city. Otherwise, they forfeit the pro-transit arguments that resonate most with the public: curtailing congestion, reducing auto emissions, and boosting economic growth. And to replace cars, transit agencies must offer fast, frequent, and reliable trips. This should be the core mission of any functional public transportation system..." [more inside]
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