The news about the forest fires in Maui is heartbreaking. A poem in the Rattle newsletter sent me looking for W. S. Merwin’s palm garden on Maui. Luckily it was not touched by the fire. This short video helped lift my spirits and create hope. We each can make a difference.
I read this some weeks ago and am just getting around to posting. This essay with comments from readers of the original publication many years ago is worth the hour or so it takes to get through. Reading this essay from 1988 feels timeless. I value his perspective and while I write this on a
Today’s Google Doodle honors Altina Schinasi. I highly encourage you to explore this amazing woman – artist, renegade, inventor, designer – who pushed boundaries and trusted her process. I had never heard of her and she was a force to be reckoned with. Trying to hunt down the documentary made about her by her sons.
This is an absolutely riveting conversation between Helena de Groot and Sophus Helle. If you love language, listen. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/podcasts/160688/chaos-reigns
Myth America: Historians Take on the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past was like a mini history course aimed at 20 myths that many accept at face value. Each essay traces the history of the beliefs around topics like ‘Vanishing Indians,’ American Exceptionalism,’ The Border,’ and ‘Voter Fraud.’ If you are curious about why
Desmond is a sociology professor at Princeton and an award winning author. He has a very thought provoking take on poverty. He argues that poverty exists in the U.S., the richest country in the world, because those who are not poor benefit from it. He convincingly argues that semantics confuse our understanding of how government
I listened to an interview with Allende on Democracy Now. Her latest book is The Wind Knows My Name. I’m looking forward to reading the novel, but I won’t be able to check it out from my library for awhile; I’m number 11 on the waiting list. Meanwhile, the interview was quite wonderful. I highly
I was first introduced to a concept of ‘colored people time’ from a Black perspective by Amber Rose Johnson, now Dr. Johnson, a ModPo facilitator. It came up during one of the zoom discussions during last fall’s ModPo course. Amber Rose was part of an art exhibit on the topic, and she co-edited the exhibit
James Bridle’s book is an amazing read. Bridle is truly a Renaissance man who takes a deep dive into exploring the complexity of intelligence. They (Bridle’s preferred pronoun) write about a rich world of intelligences in which human intelligence and AI are situated. Bridle studied computer science and cognitive science at University College London and holds
This was such a cool book. I loved this book. Interspecies communication!!! How could I not? This beautiful, speculative story about a possible near future is at turns bleak and hopeful, discouraging and extraordinary in the possibilities it explores. Weaving together the stories of an obsessed marine biologist, a conscious android, a scarred and deadly
Seasonal Reading 