Maybe one of the reasons David Brooks still has a job is that he
can continue to come up with a column even when he has no ideas. If
there are no relevant or interesting or novel things to communicate, but
you need to fill a column? David Brooks: As consistent as a spokesman
for Movantik.
(Ask your doctor if Movantik is right for your ennui-induced writer’s block. May cause pants-shitting.)
Anyway, I got nothing, and I’m not willing to fake it unless there’s actual money on the line, so on to the links, right?
Death throes of journalism
The Times this week has continued in its quest to prove that celebrity
right-wingers like Bari Weiss, Ben Shapiro, and Joe Rogan are “censored”
and “unheard,” by giving them an even larger platform.
See also: MSNBC pundit Hugh Hewitt traded favorable coverage with EPA chief Scott Pruitt for action on a project he cared about… and network bosses network are issuing rather pointless wrist-slaps.
Why? Well, ask Matt Yglesias. He says it’s basically the same reason David Brooks still has a job: The bosses need a tame conservative. Someone who can promote the mainstream Republican belief in the death penalty for abortion, but without actually going full incel and screaming “SLUDS AND HOARS.”
Wait a minute. Maybe I did have a column in there. Eh, whatever.
The grind
With respect to last week’s newsletter: 19th century workers spent a lot of
time on the job, so a 40-hour week seems pretty luxurious by comparison. But life wasn’t always constant toil. Academic studies support it: capitalism and industrialization have not saved us much labor at all. (Of course, this counts only the number of hours of compensated labor and not the enormous amounts of work required to have water and fuel and food in a pre-industrial setting. Or the sheer amount of work it would take to collect and read all the newspapers you can skim in five minutes with Feedly… ).
Campus political correctness is out of control
Some campus cafe workers lost their jobs because a VP heard profanity in their Spotify playlist. (This is a totally different Duke University VP from the one who, in 2014, was accused of hitting a parking attendant with his car while calling her a racial slur beginning with the letter N.)
Causes for optimism
Noah Smith has assembled a list of positive news and folks doing good stuff, including the plummeting cost of solar power.
A moment of popular culture that is absolutely worthwhile
There are 57 people on this mailing list right now, which means that in all probability at least one of you has not seen “This Is America,” the latest video from Childish Gambino. Even if you are not a regular consumer of popular music, please take four minutes to watch the video. Or at the very least read a quick take from CNN on why this is an officially Important Cultural Phenomenon
can continue to come up with a column even when he has no ideas. If
there are no relevant or interesting or novel things to communicate, but
you need to fill a column? David Brooks: As consistent as a spokesman
for Movantik.
(Ask your doctor if Movantik is right for your ennui-induced writer’s block. May cause pants-shitting.)
Anyway, I got nothing, and I’m not willing to fake it unless there’s actual money on the line, so on to the links, right?
Death throes of journalism
The Times this week has continued in its quest to prove that celebrity
right-wingers like Bari Weiss, Ben Shapiro, and Joe Rogan are “censored”
and “unheard,” by giving them an even larger platform.
A bracing look at these bold, daring, iconoclastic thinkers with unconventional ideas like “multiculturalism is bad,” “feminism has gone too far,” “white men are the truly oppressed,” “Islam is also bad,” and “maybe minorities shouldn’t complain so much.” https://t.co/0vymcYv9ZM
— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) May 8, 2018
See also: MSNBC pundit Hugh Hewitt traded favorable coverage with EPA chief Scott Pruitt for action on a project he cared about… and network bosses network are issuing rather pointless wrist-slaps.
Why? Well, ask Matt Yglesias. He says it’s basically the same reason David Brooks still has a job: The bosses need a tame conservative. Someone who can promote the mainstream Republican belief in the death penalty for abortion, but without actually going full incel and screaming “SLUDS AND HOARS.”
Wait a minute. Maybe I did have a column in there. Eh, whatever.
The grind
With respect to last week’s newsletter: 19th century workers spent a lot of
time on the job, so a 40-hour week seems pretty luxurious by comparison. But life wasn’t always constant toil. Academic studies support it: capitalism and industrialization have not saved us much labor at all. (Of course, this counts only the number of hours of compensated labor and not the enormous amounts of work required to have water and fuel and food in a pre-industrial setting. Or the sheer amount of work it would take to collect and read all the newspapers you can skim in five minutes with Feedly… ).
Campus political correctness is out of control
Some campus cafe workers lost their jobs because a VP heard profanity in their Spotify playlist. (This is a totally different Duke University VP from the one who, in 2014, was accused of hitting a parking attendant with his car while calling her a racial slur beginning with the letter N.)
Causes for optimism
Noah Smith has assembled a list of positive news and folks doing good stuff, including the plummeting cost of solar power.
A moment of popular culture that is absolutely worthwhile
There are 57 people on this mailing list right now, which means that in all probability at least one of you has not seen “This Is America,” the latest video from Childish Gambino. Even if you are not a regular consumer of popular music, please take four minutes to watch the video. Or at the very least read a quick take from CNN on why this is an officially Important Cultural Phenomenon
Curiosities of translation
The NBA has become increasingly popular in China. Fans there have
developed an elaborate set of nicknames for their favorite players. Re-translating them back into English is hilarious.
James Harden – 景德镇镇长 “The Mayor of Jingdezhen”
Jingdezhen is a town famous for making fragile porcelain, so “Son of
Jingdezhen” (景德镇之子) is a term for an NBA flop artist. Harden is
perceived to be the best at this “art,” so he gets to be the “mayor” of
Floptown.
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) May 7, 2018
And Steph Curry is known, through a complex series of linguistic coincidences, as “Fucks the Sky.” Which is kind of awesome.
Cultivating joy
These very chubby animals
This very floofy dog
Secretly Ironic 