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The USPS declared April to be National Card and Letter Writing Month… 23 years ago. American Library Association has some ideas on epistolary fun within games. The Chicago Public Library has suggestions for epistolary novels. The Universal Postal Union has a letter writing competition for writers aged 9 to 15 on the theme: "Write a letter to future generations about the world you hope they inherit." The Smithsonian National Postal Museum has an epistolary fiction project which includes an extensive if not exhaustive list of novels, starting with Xenophon of Ephesus. [more inside]
posted by spamandkimchi on Apr 10 at 5:02 PM - 8 comments

The Function of Colour in Schools & Hospitals, 1930. Just some wonderful illustrations of those things. via.
posted by swift on Apr 10 at 4:36 PM - 11 comments

Super Cute Please Like is a long, fascinating essay by Nicole Lipman in N+1 about fast fashion giant SHEIN, examining its clothes, business practices and history, but touching on fashion blogs, Sinophobia, the origins of fast fashion and gamification.
posted by Kattullus on Apr 10 at 2:30 PM - 34 comments

In this story, we'll follow hundreds of teenagers for the next 24 years, when they’ll be in their late-30s. They're among the thousands of kids who are part of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. This means researchers have followed them since their teenage years to the present day – and beyond. from this is a teenager [The Pudding] [more inside]
posted by chavenet on Apr 10 at 2:19 PM - 8 comments

The extraordinary stories of survivors of the Rwandan genocide who forgave their attackers (SL Guardian) How do people overcome such trauma, especially in poor nations with minimal mental healthcare? In 2005, Dutch sociotherapist Cora Dekker developed an affordable, effective method in collaboration with the diocese of Byumba of the Anglican church. This approach, originally used by qualified staff in western clinics to treat military personnel and asylum seekers, was transformed into volunteer work involving trained therapists from local African communities. In Rwanda it is known as Mvura Nkuvure: “I heal you, you heal me.” More than 64,000 Rwandans have completed the therapy.
posted by toastyk on Apr 10 at 8:15 AM - 8 comments

To self-censor, he says, would mean “I start second-guessing myself and don’t trust my own instincts.” (slTheWalrus) [more inside]
posted by Kitteh on Apr 10 at 7:11 AM - 115 comments

The Eurasian Wren, the Barn Swallow, the Northern Goshawk, the Little Owl, the Great Tit. Artist Roy Scholten has created prints of 50 different birds using LEGO bricks as the printing matter. The exhibit opens April 14 at the Grafisch Atelier Hilversum in Hilversum, Netherlands.
posted by AlSweigart on Apr 10 at 7:00 AM - 11 comments

Nick Brandt is a photographer working with themes of climate apocalypse. Sink / Rise is chapter 3 of his series The Day May Break.
posted by mygothlaundry on Apr 10 at 6:55 AM - 10 comments

Videos from The Dodo are usually a bit sappy but always heartwarming. However, Bulldog Obsessed With Bowls Gets A Special Delivery [3m20s] is full of exactly the kind of WTF that leads me to post it here.
posted by hippybear on Apr 10 at 6:27 AM - 36 comments

From Andrew Gregory in the Guardian: Swapping red meat for forage fish such as herring, sardines and anchovies could save 750,000 lives a year and help tackle the climate crisis, a study suggests. Mounting evidence links red meat consumption with a higher risk of disease in humans as well as significant harm to the environment. In contrast, forage fish are highly nutritious, environmentally friendly and the most abundant fish species in the world’s oceans. [more inside]
posted by Bella Donna on Apr 10 at 5:36 AM - 56 comments

a webcomic by max graves. tumblr softboy cancelled for involvement in "heavenly creatures" style murder. darkly hilarious exploration of internet fame, isolation, transness and trauma. goes deep into various kinds of internet damage. really can't recommend this enough. [more inside]
posted by _earwig_ on Apr 10 at 5:10 AM - 20 comments

Now, the Boys are in Greece. It’s antiquity, but the emotions are American high school: The golden Boy is Achilles, essentially a Harvard-bound football senior, good at everything. He has curly hair and nice feet. He’s popular, in mythic proportions. He is a god training to be a killing machine in an epic war. The other Boy, Patroclus, averts his gaze when Achilles comes around. Patroclus is the narrator, and he is just a human, a curly-haired, olive-skinned boy (Achilles is, of course, blonde; the two genders of gay romance). He sees himself as weak and mortal. An exile with no family and no name. This is you, Patroclus, you worthless piece of shit. from Boy Meets Boy Meets Boys’ Love by Simon Wu [Spike]
posted by chavenet on Apr 10 at 12:28 AM - 27 comments

"The invention of the dunk tank clown shows just how far the line of what is considered appropriate for a society has moved over the decades." 'The Last of the Dunk Tank Clowns.'. (archiveorg) "This attraction is now virtually obsolete. Outdoor Amusement Business Association president Greg Chiecko was quoted as claiming he polled his members about dunk tank clowns and that “most say they don’t know of any that still exist today.” (medium) 'Chicago’s Riverview Park and the Racist Dunk Tank'. {CW: Racism. Clowns.}
posted by clavdivs on Apr 9 at 11:34 PM - 11 comments

"Davis doesn’t doubt that the housewife’s lifestyle is desirable; she merely regrets that it has been made inaccessible." Moira Donegan reviews Housewife by Lisa Selin Davis in Bookforum
posted by Lycaste on Apr 9 at 9:47 PM - 31 comments

"The thesis of HAVE YOU EATEN, at the start, was "here's how community actually works," & in the process of making this thing happen, I've felt it in my bones. We show up for each other & frustrate each other & make things together & let each other down & mend each other's hearts. We feed each other." Author Sarah Gailey wrote a 4-part novella at Reactor (fka tordotcom) about queer community in a too-possible future USA. [more inside]
posted by curious nu on Apr 9 at 7:57 PM - 5 comments

A post-pandemic fight about racism, the respectful treatment of trans kids, and the role of teachers’ unions has divided Amherst, Massachusetts. [The New Yorker]
posted by riruro on Apr 9 at 7:14 PM - 28 comments

"Besides his outstanding contributions to particle physics, Peter was a very special person, a man of rare modesty, a great teacher and someone who explained physics in a very simple and profound way." [...] "His prediction of the existence of the particle that bears his name was a deep insight, and its discovery at Cern in 2012 was a crowning moment that confirmed his understanding of the way the Universe works." "Even though he didn’t much enjoy it, he felt a responsibility to use the public profile his achievements brought him for the good of science, and he did so many times. The particle that carries his name is perhaps the single most stunning example of how seemingly abstract mathematical ideas can make predictions which turn out to have huge physical consequences."

Peter Higgs, physicist who proposed Higgs boson, dies aged 94 [more inside]
posted by Rhaomi on Apr 9 at 6:53 PM - 25 comments

Female Hummingbirds Masquerade as Males to Avoid Harassment. One-fifth of female white-necked jacobins sport flashy male-like plumage, which may help them access more food.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries on Apr 9 at 6:45 PM - 5 comments

A detailed, yet accessible, take on the history of book distribution (mainly but not wholly by small presses), written by Julie Schaper in 2022.
posted by cupcakeninja on Apr 9 at 2:46 PM - 2 comments

As part of a defamation lawsuit against the owner of Twitter for his tweets, Mark Bankston - whom you may recall was the lawyer for the Sandy Hook families in the Texas lawsuit against Alex Jones, where he told the conspiracy theorist that he had recieved a full copy of his phone's contents from his lawyer while cross examining him - has deposed Elon Musk under oath, in a deposition that is a sight to behold. [more inside]
posted by NoxAeternum on Apr 9 at 11:19 AM - 99 comments