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In Scotland, despite increased opportunities, fathers remain reluctant to take full advantage of work-provided parental leave and support, despite professing to want to be equal partners with mothers in child care, to the possible detriment of their workplaces (Harvard Business Review). Mandatory parental leave for fathers is good for business, as it would level the playing field for women at work and home (Forbes). And after men in Spain got paternity leave, they wanted fewer kids, while women started showing preferences for slightly larger families (Quartz).
posted by filthy light thief at 8:44 PM PST - 34 comments

Did Joseph Heller Base Catch-22's John Yossarian on Julius Fish? A grieving family finds a WWII journal that leads them to discover so much about Julius Fish, how he served his country, and inspired Joseph Heller. Heller was stationed with Lt. Fish on Corsica. [more inside]
posted by narancia at 2:36 PM PST - 9 comments

RIP Bob Hawke - the longest-serving Labor prime minister of Australia has died at the age of 89. [more inside]
posted by decent rooms and a bath at 1:15 PM PST - 38 comments

Rory Sutherland for Entrepreneur Magazine discusses psychological magic tricks in advertising
posted by bq at 1:02 PM PST - 70 comments

Super Mario Maker 2 [YouTube][Announcement Trailer] [Nintendo Direct] “Super Mario Maker 2 is looking like a substantial upgrade over the original build-your-Mario-game. Today during a Nintendo Direct video, Nintendo detailed a huge number of features coming to the Switch game, chief among them co-op play, so that you can build and design levels with another player on the same console. You’ll also be able to play through created levels online with up to four other people.” [via: The Verge] [more inside]
posted by Fizz at 11:55 AM PST - 21 comments

The word lox was one of the clues that eventually led linguists to discover who the Proto-Indo-Europeans were, and where they lived. 1250 words from Sevindj Nurkiyazova for Nautilus.
posted by cgc373 at 11:50 AM PST - 35 comments

Montreal borough mayor Sue Montgomery has been knitting a colour-coded scarf during city council meetings to show how often and for how long men speak compared to women. While men are speaking, she knits with red yarn; while women are speaking, she knits with green. Currently, the scarf is 75-80% red. There is relative parity on city council--31 women and 34 men--so it is not a case of lack of representation; instead, Montgomery attributes it to "an imbalance in the mental and emotional space those 34 men take up...I’ve said, ‘Just make your point and sit down.’ And they say, ‘Well, that’s democracy and we have to debate.’ What they don’t understand is that they don’t have to put on a show." [more inside]
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:57 AM PST - 43 comments

We asked ambassadors where they eat when they’re homesick. We did not expect Taco Bell and Ikea. Secret Mongolian menus, Candy Saturdays, and a mother's love: the Washington Post is on the case.
posted by duffell at 10:41 AM PST - 28 comments

The high cost of housing – especially of rental homes – is an urgent public policy crisis and a golden political opportunity for progressive candidates and policymakers willing to show leadership. The Data for Progress Homes for All report lays the groundwork for a truly progressive housing policy capable of ending the crisis, as a guide to policymakers and voters alike. (PDF)
posted by The Whelk at 10:33 AM PST - 11 comments

In a longform piece, Deadspin and GQ writer (and Chopped champion) Drew Magary discusses the brain bleed that almost killed him, his road to recovery, the impact of his injury on his family, friends, and coworkers, and his dealing with the effects of it all several months later. (SLDeadspin)
posted by NoxAeternum at 9:41 AM PST - 22 comments

Who wins from public debate? Liars, bullies and trolls. So the art of debating is one that rewards liars and bullies, is about beating the opponent rather than finding the truth, and is structurally biased in favour of conservative bromides rather than surprising new ideas. If that’s what debate is like, perhaps we shouldn’t aspire to be good at it.
posted by Panjandrum at 9:29 AM PST - 84 comments

The zero-waste movement is about cutting down on packaging, but is it creating more pressure on women? Look at #zerowaste and #zerowasteliving on Instagram and you’ll see mason jars filled with chocolate smoothies and rows of rose-gold straws. You’ll see perfectly organized refrigerators with piles of fresh produce and brown glass spray bottles with homemade lavender-steeped cleaning products. You’ll see perfect kitchens with white subway tiles and bamboo countertops, lined with rows of more mason jars filled with legumes...Zero waste helps us reexamine our relationship with stuff in a way that can seem progressive and anti-consumerist. But the way this movement is promoted and practiced seems to drag us right back into traditional gender roles. [more inside]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 8:23 AM PST - 92 comments

Rust Creator Graydon Hoare Recounts the History of Compilers - "It starts with the 1940s-era ENIAC, where 'programming'[0,1] actually involved re-wiring until a team lead by Jean Bartik[2] began storing instructions in memory. 1949 saw the arrival of high-level pseudo codes with software interpreters, and soon Grace Hopper[3,4,5] was converting pseudo-code directly into machine language for the UNIVAC with her A-0 System, which was the first compiler." (slides/carousel ;) [more inside]
posted by kliuless at 1:01 AM PST - 7 comments