Journalism matters. Educated citizens who understand and appreciate the role of the free press in a democracy are a threat to authoritarian figures who benefit by sowing mistrust. It’s perfectly reasonable to point out errors and bias in specific news stories. (News organizations love reporting about when their competitors get a story wrong, and journalists…
This is how the President of the United States spends a day when flags are flying at half mast to honor journalists murdered by a white male citizen with a legally purchased shotgun. Similar:After you finish your brass-polishing shift, join me at the Gear and Heart to swap stories…AestheticsA brief respite from grading. A brief…
Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Nick Anderson reflects on the recent firing of former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette staff cartoonist Rob Rogers. Getting a string of cartoons killed is generally not a good harbinger of things to come, and going public with it is a risky gambit. But, there is absolutely no reason to be an editorial cartoonist if…
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For my summer project, teaching myself the Unity Game Engine, I’m updating the texture atlas I created for control consoles for the flagship of the steampunk bedtime stories I used to tell my kids. My designs are now a lot less blocky and more visually interesting. When I showed the girl, she was impressed. Then…
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Democrats wildly over-estimate the percentage of Republicans who make over 250k a year (estimated: 44%; actual: 2%). Republicans are almost as bad when it comes to predicting the percentage of Democrats who are LBG (estimated: 38%; actual: 6%) and atheist/agnostic (estimated: 36%; actual: 9%). Both groups were a little closer to the mark when asked…
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Like all successful demagogues, Trump has a talent for identifying scapegoats. It is not hyperbole to say that he speaks of Latino immigrants in much the same way that European monsters once spoke of Jews. It is equally foolish, however, to look past a sign that all is not well in Trumpland and that the…
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The more you identify with a particular point of view, the harder it is to recognize the difference between facts and opinions, and the easier it becomes to accept as “fact” an opinion that aligns with and affirms your world view. This is not something that only the “Liberal Elite Media” or the “Deplorable Right”…
We learned that though a degree made a big difference in the success of an entrepreneur, the field it was in and the school that it was from were not significant factors. YouTube chief executive Susan Wojcicki, for instance, majored in history and literature; Slack founder Stewart Butterfield in English; Airbnb founder Brian Chesky in the…
The original was a stunning image, which has been used to criticize ICE’s policy of separating children from parents attempting to immigrate at the border — a policy which Trump says he dislikes. The animated version of the Time cover makes it clear that this is a composite picture, though of course the emotional power…
No fake news here. This is why journalism matters. It wasn’t the moral consequences of his own immigration crackdown that caused Trump to act — it was “the sight of” those consequences. What happens to those families after they have been detained for over 20 days remains to be seen. Very glad to hear that…
One bedtime about 11 years ago, my 5yo daughter did not want to go to bed, so she asked me to tell her a story. Not to read one from a book — but to make one up for her. She and her brother would often spend time on long car rides telling stories together.…