This is the end of the coronavirus pandemic. And this is how it could happen in the United States: By November 2021, most Americans have received two doses of a vaccine that, while not gloriously effective, fights the disease in more cases than not. Meanwhile, Americans continue to wear masks and avoid large gatherings, and…
I had to teach my Introduction to Psychology class today to 300+ students from my cell phone while I was trapped in my apartment building elevator with my two young kids. This has to go down as my most surreal and stressful teaching experience. — Jay Van Bavel (@jayvanbavel) September 24, 2020 Similar:After Hours…
To defend Fox personality Tucker Carlson against a defamation lawsuit, Fox’s lawyers successfully argued that no reasonable viewer takes Carlson seriously. CBS | MSN This is a legal win for Fox, who convinced a judge that Carlson is “not stating actual facts” on his show. As Defendant notes, Mr. Carlson himself aims to “challenge[] political…
One of the weirder ways this debate has played out since Barrett was first discussed as a potential Supreme Court nominee is the fight over whether or not People of Praise, the group of which she is a member, is also one of the inspirations for The Handmaid’s Tale. In Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel (and its recent TV adaptation), fertile women are forced to live as childbearing slaves called handmaids. The book isn’t an established inspiration — but the story has developed legs anyway.
Similar:Safety is a good thing.PersonalSherlock Holmes and The Woman (daughter and I rehearsing for a live recording Friday after…CultureSomewhere out there, somebody is working really hard to come up with a meme to blame this …Front page of the Miami Herald newspaper…BusinessNext up for the girl: Cherry in "The Outsiders" (March 6-15)BooksFeeling Like an Impostor…
The State Department revoked a prestigious award from a Finnish journalist because of social media posts critical of President Donald Trump, according to a report from the State Department Office of Inspector General. Although the watchdog found that the State Department had acted within its “broad discretion” to rescind the award from Jessikka Aro, it also…
If you encounter the same story on different news sites, that does not mean you caught sneaky America-hating fake news “journalists” in the act. A meme I recently encountered shows three slightly different coronavirus headlines, all of which use the phrase “debate begins.” Text shared along with the meme suggests the repetition means the story…
When given the chance to crop four different arrangements of photos of two different men, each time the Twitter algorithm chose to center on the white man and crop the black man out of the picture. Source: https://twitter.com/sina_rawayama/status/1307506452786016257 Update, 22 Sep: See also https://twitter.com/TLopesVictorM/status/1307846503885672449 Similar:If in question, have more GOOD than BAD? University…
Friday the CDC released updated guidelines that reflected recent scientific observations that the coronavirus is airborne and can transmit over a distance of more than six feet, as CNN reported. This morning the CDC reversed itself, removing the updated information. Â From the Washington Post: The agency had posted new guidelines suggesting the virus can…
CNN fact-checks a misleading Biden ad, which edited a Trump speech to make it look like he called coronavirus a Democratic hoax. To be clear, Trump’s informal and freewheeling style of speaking at rallies often leaves his exact meaning hard to pin down. But I agree with CNN that this ad misrepresents Trump’s intentions. Here’s…
Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. The Enterprise tracks a distress call to the lawless colony where the late Lt. Tasha Yar was born. One of the two main factions holds Federation hostages, prompting Picard to editorialize that he “certainly won’t trade weapons for crewmen” — an apparent reference to the Iran-Contra affair. The teaser…
Similar:New home office setup. I was delighted to find those little storage boxes that fit in a ni…PersonalThey figured it out.PersonalFinding downtime during orientation week is not a walk in the park. Except when the downti…PersonalJust reminding myself that these moments do and will exist. I’ve evaluated every student s…AcademiaDean Jones Dead: Disney Actor Was…
Am I doing the tribal rage thing right? Laura Helmuth of Scientific American says the decision to break tradition was both unanimous and quick: “We took this decision very seriously. You don’t give up 175 years of tradition for nothing.” —‘Scientific American’ Breaks 175 Years Of Tradition, Endorses A Presidential Nominee –NPR Similar:5 of the…
I don’t know what this prisoner did, but she sure looks like she existed as a human being, despite laws that defined her as less than human, an animal, and illegal. How dare she! It’s pretty simple when you think about it, isn’t it? If she didn’t want to be arrested, beaten, and executed by…
Similar:Now I can relax a bit. (But just a bit.)PersonalDebunking the newspapers are dying ideaDon’t count on viral social media posts …CultureUneasy Lies the Head — Tyrant: Shakespeare on PowerJohn Stubbs reviews Stephen Grenblatt’s …AcademiaUsing "Strive" as a NounObviously I know what my students mean w…CultureMore than a million people die on roads every year.…
We stand together against racism. #ItTakesAllOfUs pic.twitter.com/xfeUACPu8Z — Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 14, 2020 Similar:How We ReadI feel a little nerdier than usual when …AestheticsNon-Euclidean Doom, where the value of pi is not 3.14159Weirdly beautiful. Wonderful bit of game…CybercultureThe Physics Behind Traffic JamsIn between today’s various events, I das…CultureFascinating, and very sad, story behind…
We rehearsed and recorded a Zoom recording of RUR during the lockdown. I really enjoyed being able to do theater while so much of the rest of society was shut down. Here’s a “human interest” promo (which also includes actors who played Robots). Stay tuned for news about seeing the full production. Artistic Prosperity -RUR…
Similar:Alice in Quantumland: A Charming Illustrated Allegory of Quantum Mechanics by a CERN Physi…Alice in Quantumland: An Allegory of Qua…AestheticsLove outdoor theater. Love #Chekhov ! Love #cherryorchard Support the arts in your city. @…PersonalMostly German, sometimes refreshing my high school Latin.PersonalAcademic Writing BluesTwo days ago my problem was that I had n…AcademiaFall colors are past…
I’m sure that whoever wrote this headline had no idea how it would look on my web browser, but if this were a print headline, I’d say the design was awful. Similar:You can be a Trek fan without loving TOS. But if we think tolerance and empathy are good t…I was born in 1968 and…
Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. When people start disappearing from the Enterprise without a trace, only Dr. Crusher remembers them. Some cringeworthy lines (e.g. “If there’s nothing wrong with me, maybe there’s something wrong with the universe”) still earn a facepalm, but I really enjoyed Gates McFadden as she Shatners her way through increasingly…