ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
Don’t count on it
/I didn't think I belonged in college. It was my first semester and I was failing my intro to algebra class. The professor was intimidating when he spoke and when he turned away he furiously wrote figures on the chalkboard. I figured if I couldn't do well in a low level class like his, I probably should quit. I dropped the class but stayed in college and discovered something: That professor wasn't doing it right. He disappeared from the schedule the next year. I heard rumors about something being wrong with him and it dawned on me that the reason I wasn’t doing well wasn't me but his poor teaching. Whew! What a relief.
But back when I was sitting in his classroom, I didn’t know what was ahead. I didn’t know I would eventually attend graduate school and one day teach students in their first semester—just like I was.
Some students will be sitting in college classrooms for the first time this week and by the end of the semester they will think that they don’t belong. They won’t know until another semester or two rolls by that the first semester was an adjustment to a new life. They won't know the context until later. They were just figuring out how to survive college and after that first set of classes they will slowly find their footing.
There are other students about to have the opposite experience. They will have an easy time during their first semester and assume the rest of college will be a breeze. But somewhere along the way they will hit their ceiling. They just haven't been challenged yet. When they begin to struggle, they’ll have to adjust as well.
Throughout our lives, we’ll be tempted to think that first experience is “the way it is.” Sometimes that’s true. Don’t count on it.
Stephen Goforth
Kindness glues couples together
/Research has shown that kindness (along with emotional stability) is the most important predictor of satisfaction and stability in a marriage. Kindness makes each partner feel cared for, understood, and validated—feel loved. “My bounty is as boundless as the sea,” says Shakespeare’s Juliet. “My love as deep; the more I give to thee, / The more I have, for both are infinite.” That’s how kindness works too: there’s a great deal of evidence showing the more someone receives or witnesses kindness, the more they will be kind themselves, which leads to upward spirals of love and generosity in a relationship.
There are two ways to think about kindness. You can think about it as a fixed trait: either you have it or you don’t. Or you could think of kindness as a muscle. In some people, that muscle is naturally stronger than in others, but it can grow stronger in everyone with exercise. Masters tend to think about kindness as a muscle. They know that they have to exercise it to keep it in shape. They know, in other words, that a good relationship requires sustained hard work.
Emily Esfahani Smith writing in The Atlantic
Tuesday Tools: Editing Text
/Looking for some tools (apps and online) that will help you with editing your writing (or the writing of others)? Here are some useful options. The tech tools site also has a list of links to writing helps for better organization, academic papers, and putting together scripts. If you have other suggestions, feel free to send them my way.
1Checker
Mac app that checks your grammar and spelling. Free.
After the Deadline*
Checks your story for grammar, spelling and style. Works as a plugin for WordPress blogs, an add-on for the Firefox browser, etc.
AutoCrit
Scans your writing and highlights flaws such as repetitive words, overuse of adverbs and use of passive voice. $30 a month.
Expresso*
An app that analyzes your writing, breaking down everything from which words you are using frequently to the number of times parts of speech come up in your writing. See what percentage of sentences are extra-long and which words are filler and which verbs are weak. Free.
Ginger
Writing tool that works as grammar checker, sentence rephraser, translator, dictionary and text reader. Free.
Grammarly
Automated proofreader and personal grammar coach.
Hemingway App*
The Hemingway app is designed to make you a better writer by highlighting problems in your writing. Goal is to make more direct and active--more Hemingway-ey, as the Washington Post proclaims. Just paste your text into the app and it will highlight hard to read sentences, adverbs, complex phrases, and passive voice. Color coordinated highlighting. Click on these words to see the suggested alternatives. Word count, readability grade, etc. $6.99.
Marked 2
Tools for writers including word counts, document stats, highlights repeated words. Mac only. $9.99.
oDesk
Hire an experienced proofreader based on an hourly rate (typically one hour for every 5000 words).
PaperRater
Grammar, plagiarism, and spell checker. Mostly free but $7.50 per month for all features.
Proofread Bot
Shows your mistakes and what areas of your writing that could be strengthened. The more words reviewed, the greater the cost starting at $5 for 20,000 words.
Readability Score
Cut and paste your text into a dialogue box to see the writing's grade level. Free, but for any contribution you get access to more advanced tools like readability alerts, PDF and Word doc processing and bulk uploads. TextEvaluator offers more feedback on the text.
Slickwrite
Writing app that checks grammar along with flow, structure, word frequency, and overused phrases.
TextEvaluator
Like Readability Score, it will tell you what grade level a piece of text is written on, the average length of sentences, etc. But TextEvaluator goes further, including grammatical complexity, insights on vocabulary, etc.
Word Counter*
Cut and paste your document (or just type) to see how many words, characters, and sentences you are using. It shows what words are overused, the average number of words in your sentences, and the reading level you are writing at. Free.
Word Frequency Counter
See how often you use (and overuse) words and phrases in your writing.
Writefull
Checks your text against a huge database of correct language. Use it to find language you might not have considered. A desktop app that works with emails, Word docs, etc. Free.
Articles of Interest - Aug 20
/***JOURNALISM
Senate adopts resolution declaring "the press is not the enemy of the people" CBS News
Antifa protesters couldn’t find any fascists at Unite the Right — and harassed the press instead Washington Post
How to Discuss the Far Right Without Empowering It: A lesson from Germany The Atlantic
Twitter thread of great interviewing tips Twitter
Even ethical journalism can have collateral damage Columbia Journalism Review
Trump called the press “the enemy of the people” — Now more than 300 papers are pushing back Vox
Survey says Americans want transparency, not censorship, in their news Gallup
U-T builds site to tell readers about its journalism Union Tribune
***FAKE NEWS
A philosopher explains America’s “post-truth” problem Vox
Fake America great again:Inside the race to catch the worryingly real fakes that can be made using artificial intelligence MIT Technology Review
What we learned about media literacy by teaching high school students fact-checking Poynter
How I Became Fake News The Ringer
Trump and the Enemies of the People (opinion) The New Yorker
The SurfSafe Browser Extension Will Save You From Fake Photos Wired
***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA
Public radio networks PRI and PRX are merging in a bid to create a podcasting juggernaut Star Tribune
***TECHNOLOGY
Programming languages may finally be reaching a status quo Wired
35% Of Millennials and 42% Of Gen Z Share Their Streaming Service Passwords Tube Filter
***BIG DATA & AI
How China rules using data, AI, and internet surveillance MIT Technology Review
US government agencies at every level—local, state and federal—leans into machine learning GCN
A look at what Descartes Labs is doing with machine learning and space data Quartz
What Data Scientists Really Do (according to 35 Data Scientists) Harvard Biz Review explores
***MOBILE
Here’s how to use Gmail’s ‘confidential mode’ on your mobile device Daily Dot
Women are 79 percent more likely to spend money on mobile games The Verge
If you deposit checks through a mobile app, start adding this phrase USA Today
***PRIVACY & SECURITY
FBI warns of potential ATM bank heist that could steal millions globally The Verge
What Your Car Knows About You: Auto makers are figuring out how to monetize drivers’ data (sub. required) Wall Street Journal
***PRODUCING MEDIA
Ken Burns Teaches Documentary Filmmaking with His New Online Masterclass Open Culture
How to Take Better Photos on your iPhone Mashable
***INTERNET
Google releases political ad directory Axios
“I was devastated”: Tim Berners-Lee, the man who created the World Wide Web, has some regrets Vanity Fair
***GOOD NEWS
8-Year-Old Girl With 3D Printed Hand To Throw out First Pitch At Every MLB Stadium Carbonated.tv
Indonesian athlete couldn’t afford shoes, so he trained barefoot. He just won gold Global News
A teacher battling cancer ran out of sick days: School employees showered him with theirs CNN
UM college senior has own art exhibit at Fairchild Garden Miami Herald
Boy reveals he's going to be a big brother on the same day he's adopted ABC News
Boy shares foul ball with another young fan at Detroit Tigers game CBS News
***PERSONAL GROWTH
We’re hardwired to delude ourselves Becoming (my blog)
The Cognitive Biases Tricking Your Brain The Atlantic
***WRITING & READING
This Unconventional Way of Consuming Books Will Transform How You Read Inc.com
Yes, teens are texting and using social media instead of reading books, researchers say Washington Post
Why it matters that teens are reading less The Conversation
***LANGUAGE
This is how tiny changes in words you hear impacts your thinking Fast Company
Why Kentucky’s governor might have mocked the study of French as career preparation The Chronicle of Higher Ed
What Does It Mean to ‘Sound’ Black? The Atlantic
What If English Were Phonetically Consistent? (video) Aaron Alon
Learning Useless English Grammar in Japan The Chronicle of Higher Ed
Dropping the N Bomb Inside Higher Ed
What Is the Origin of ‘the Worm Has Turned’? The Chronicle of Higher Ed
***LITERATURE
Top 6 apps for literature enthusiasts iol
A Critic Who Worships Literature, and Defends His Faith Accordingly (book review) New York Times
Is it time to update literature’s classics? Financial Times
How Fiction Fueled Madeleine L’Engle’s Faith Christianity Today
***GENDER
Mind the gap: Uncovering pay disparity in the newsroom Asian American Journalists Association
The End of ‘Ladies First’ Restaurant Service Eater
Transgender students asked Betsy DeVos for help: Here's what happened Politico
***LEGAL ISSUES
Though trial judge ruled remastered versions enjoy independent copyrightability, appeals court casts doubts on there being enough originality Hollywood Reporter
Katy Perry, Dr. Luke Facing Copyright Trial Over "Dark Horse" - A Christian hip-hop artist survives the summary judgment round Hollywood Reporter
***RELIGION
A dive into the evangelical celebrities and pastors dominating Hollywood The Cut
Florida school receiving death threats after turning away 6-year-old with dreadlocks USA Today
LDS Church issues statement clarifying church's name, style Daily Herald
Nashville megachurch Criticized over use of exotic animals in sermon WSMV
Aretha Franklin told her pastor: 'I am going to be all right' Freep
Satanic temple brings Baphomet demonic goat statue to Arkansas capitol Newsweek
U.S. missionary thrust to the center of Turkey-U.S. crisis Reuters
***CHURCHES & SEXUAL ABUSE
Pa. Catholic Church sex abuse report names hundreds of priests, accuses leaders of cover-up: 'They hid it all' The Philadelphia Inquirer
Willow Creek Megachurch paid $3.25M to settle lawsuits over child sex abuse by church volunteer Chicago Tribune
It’s Really Hard to Be a Catholic’: The Pain of Reading the Sex Abuse Report New York Times
Evangelicals confront sex abuse problems in #MeToo era Associated Press
Clergy Sex Abuse Raises Questions About Financial And Reputational Costs To Churches NPR
‘‘Wasted our lives’: Catholic sex abuse scandals again prompt a crisis of faith Washington Post
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
White Evangelicals’ Continued Support of Trump Feels Surprising: It Shouldn’t Slate
Trump Admits Only 23 Christian Refugees From Mideast In 2018 (opinion) Forbes
Controversial law requires Florida public schools to display ‘In God We Trust’ Big Think
***ART & DESIGN
How air conditioning created the modern city The Guardian
Reflections on Text and Language Perception, and the Ramifications for Publishing Workflows Scholarly Kitchen
***MUSIC
MIT's music AI can identify instruments and isolate their sounds Engadet
A Songwriting Mystery Solved: Math Proves John Lennon Wrote 'In My Life' Open Culture
When a Music Legend Dies, How Does Today’s Mostly Automated Radio React? Variety
***FILM
Hollywood Doesn’t Make Movies Like The Fugitive Anymore The Atlantic
How Jean-Luc Godard Liberated Cinema (video) The Discarded Image
***STUDENT MEDIA
Falwell Jr. killed student newspaper articles critical of Trump: report The Hill
Student Journalism in the Age of Media Distrust The Atlantic
What I learned from student journalism changed everything Saint Louis Post-Dispatch
Students around the country join effort to defend free press with editorials Student Press Law Center
***JOBS & INTERNSHIPS
Beautiful and functional resume templates you can download GirlBoss
What it’s Like to Intern at The New York Times New York Times
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT
Researchers, Posing as Students, Quizzed Campus Officials About Sexual Assault. How Did They Do? Chronicle of Higher Ed
Central Washington University fires State Rep over alleged inappropriate conduct Seattle Times
Student sues professor he says sexually harassed him Associated Press
Students Walked Out After A Comedian Allegedly Sexually Harassed A Student During A Show At Purdue University
***SOCIAL ISSUES
How America Convinced the World to Demonize Drugs Vice
How the incentives to create content are biased against low-income readers: Known but not discussed Harvard’s Nieman Lab
***BUSINESS & FINANCE
This chart shows how far behind America is in paid time off compared to the rest of the world CNBC
A Closer Look at How the Opioid Epidemic Affects Employment Harvard Business Review
***ENVIRONMENT
Here's How America Uses Its Land (graphic) Bloomberg
***HEALTH
US News & World Report ranks the best hospitals in the country US News & World Report
Your Chicken’s Salmonella Problem Is Worse Than You Think Mother Jones
We’re in a new age of obesity. How did it happen? You’d be surprised (opinion) The Guardian
Your Neckties May Be Reducing Blood Flow To Your Brain Medical Daily
Why a patient paid a $285 copay for a $40 drug PBS
KCRW’s new podcast series meant to demystify women’s health KCRW
Bleak New Estimates in Drug Epidemic: A Record 72,000 Overdose Deaths in 2017 New York Times
***NUTRITION
Low-carb diets could shorten life, study suggests BBC
Why is so much nutrition research kept confidential before publication? Tufts
Vitamin D, the Sunshine Supplement, Has Shadowy Money Behind It New York Times
***MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY
DeepMind’s AI can detect over 50 eye diseases as accurately as a doctor The Verge
***FOOD
A Deep Dive into the Burrito Quartz
America’s Best New Restaurants 2018 Bon Appetit
***TRAVEL
Southwest Airlines announces new rules for emotional support animals ABC Radio
***FAMILY
How to raise a happy kid in the digital age Washington Post
Opinion: Please Take Away My Kids' Cellphones At School NPR
Parents need best friends at work the most Quartz
***SCIENCE
8 movies that really got science wrong Stat News
A century on, China still lacks the drive for scientific truth, says outspoken editor South China Morning Post
What do we do with the science of abusive men? Slate
Wheat’s complex genome finally deciphered, offering hope for better harvests and nonallergenic varieties Science Mag
***PSYCHOLOGY
How Do Personality Traits Change from Sixteen to Sixty-Six? Psychology Today
What Can You Do With a Psychology Degree? US News & World Report
Psychology Researchers Explore How Vaccine Beliefs Are Formed Voice of America
***NEUROSCIENCE
Can You Rewire Your Brain? Maybe (It’s Tricky. Be Careful) Undark
These beautiful works of art illustrate the brain’s complexity Quartz
***HISTORY
The Rise and Fall of the Great Library of Alexandria: An Animated Introduction Open Culture
The story of a ship that changed the world The Endeavour was built to carry coal but became the flagship of the Enlightenment The Economist
***ETHICS
Americans are divided over the use of animals in scientific research Pew Research
What Does "Ethical" AI Mean for Open Source? Linux Journal
***RESEARCH
Why Does Publishing Higher-Ed Research Take So Long? The Chronicle of Higher Ed
Why We Need Whistleblowing for Research Integrity Part 2: A Q&A with Brandon Stell of Pubpeer Wiley
The Editor and the Author at Fault: A Lesson From Recent Retractions Archives of Iranian Medicine AIM Journal
Statistically Funny: Clinical Trials - More Blinding, Less Worry! Statistically Funny
“Predatory” vs trustworthy journals: What do they mean for the integrity of science? Elsevier
B.C. economist locked in grim battle against deceptive scholarship Vancouver Sun
***HIGHER ED
What’s in Store for Ed Tech? An Annual Report for Leaders Lays It Out The Chronicle of Higher Ed
Omarosa’s tell-all book offers views on education secretary and black colleges Inside Higher Ed
Sassy or Snide: When University Twitter Banter Gets Mean Inside Higher Ed
A Program at Kean U. Is Losing Its Accreditation: Many Faculty and Students Have No Idea Chronicle of Higher Ed
***HIGHER ED: CUTBACKS
The University of Akron will phase out 80 degree programs The Chronicle of Higher Ed
Goucher College says it's eliminating programs such as math, physics and religion Inside Higher Ed
Maryland’s Goucher College is eliminating several majors, including math Washington Post
Christian University Drops Ban on Same-Sex Student Relationships Inside Higher Ed
Under Trump and DeVos, Trans Students Face ‘Spiritual Violence’ at Religious Schools The Daily Beast
Liberty University's Online Cybersecurity Degree Gets Endorsement from NSA & Homeland Security Augusta Free Press
***TEACHING
Many Professors Have to Report Sexual Misconduct. How Should They Tell Their Students That? The Chronicle of Higher Ed
Study: Student Spending On Course Materials Slips Forbes
Why is macroeconomics so hard to teach? Lessons from a master of the craft Economist
Low Pay Has Teachers Flocking to the Sharing Economy The Atlantic
***STUDENT LIFE
Have fun at college, freshmen, but read this first Washington Post
Best Backpacks for College Wired
A mathematician’s tip for college students: How Ross of ‘Friends’ could have moved his couch upstairs in the famous ‘pivot’ scene Washington Post
Because every college student wants a mandatory listening device in their dorm room Engadget
Anti-student agenda at Education Department under DeVos is Trump's most radical move (opinion) USA Today
Welcome to college: Don’t forget to vote Washington Post
I’m a Doctor and Even I Can’t Afford My Student Loans New York Times
11 things people told you about college that aren't true Business Insider
***ACADEMIC LIFE
Professors Are Overworked and Poorly Paid by a Troubled System of Higher Education, Top Hat Survey Finds Elearning News
When Academics Defend Colleagues Accused of Harassment The Atlantic
We’re hardwired to delude ourselves
/When people hear the word bias, many if not most will think of either racial prejudice or news organizations that slant their coverage to favor one political position over another. Present bias, by contrast, is an example of cognitive bias—the collection of faulty ways of thinking that is apparently hardwired into the human brain.
If I had to single out a particular bias as the most pervasive and damaging, it would probably be confirmation bias. That’s the effect that leads us to look for evidence confirming what we already think or suspect, to view facts and ideas we encounter as further confirmation, and to discount or ignore any piece of evidence that seems to support an alternate view. Confirmation bias shows up most blatantly in our current political divide, where each side seems unable to allow.
Ben Yagoda writing in The Atlantic
Tiny tweaks in word choice make a difference
/In 1973, America watched as then President Richard Nixon vehemently declared on national television, “I am not a crook” in regards to the Watergate scandal.
Not many people believed him.
In fact, as soon as he uttered the word “crook,” most people immediately envisioned a crook.
The major mistake Nixon made was in his framing. By saying the word “crook,” he evoked an image, experience, or knowledge associated with crook in the minds of everyone watching.
George Lakoff, a professor in cognitive science and linguistics at University of California, Berkeley, makes the point in his book Don’t Think of an Elephant! that when trying to get your point across, refrain from using the other side’s language. Doing so will activate and strengthen their frames and undermine your own views. Instead, successfully arguing a point requires you to establish your own frames and use language that evokes images and ideas that fit the worldview you want.
Think about it this way: Something that has a “95% effective rate” will sell better than something with a “5% failure rate.” It’s all in how you frame it.
Vivian Giange, writing in Fast Company
Articles of Interest - Week of August 13
/***SOCIAL MEDIA
Four-Year-Old Girl Throws Dad's Phone into the Sea because he spent too much time on it Metro
6 studies on digital news and social media you should know about Journalists Resources
Hacker swipes Snapchat's source code, publishes it on GitHub The Next Web
How people in countries around the world say LOL Digg
Emoji are replacing flags as the most important regional symbol of the digital era Quartz
Facebook news chief to media: ‘Work with Facebook or die’ BongBong
***SOCIAL MEDIA: INSTAGRAM
5 Instagram updates you should know about as a communications professional Muckrack
Instagram users are reporting the same bizarre hack Mashable
***TECHNOLOGY
When Bots Teach Themselves to Cheat: The roots of algorithmic impishness Wired
This is Where Augmented Reality Is Headed Daily Infographic
***JOURNALISM
ProPublica to Expand Local Reporting Network to Focus on State Governments ProPublica
Facebook puts $4.5 million more into news support with a membership accelerator and News Match cash Harvard’s Nieman Lab
Journalism isn’t dying: But it is changing in ominous ways Washington Post
Why We Need More Journalism Courses Taught in Prison Harvard’s Nieman Reports
***JOURNALISM & POLITICS
Poll: Nearly half of Republicans think Trump should have authority to shutter media outlets The Hill
In Germany, a news site is pairing up liberals and conservatives and actually getting them to (gasp) have a civil conversation Harvard’s Nieman Lab
More than 100 newspapers will publish editorials decrying Trump's anti-press rhetoric Boston Globe
Retraction of a retraction over report that Fla. candidate is not the college graduate she says she is Washington Post
NABJ passes resolution condemning attacks by President Donald Trump and his administration on press freedom The National Association of Black Journalists
***FAKE NEWS
Alex Jones, the First Amendment, and the Digital Public Square New Yorker
There will always be another Alex Jones Harvard’s Nieman Lab
Surgeon falsely accused of wrongdoing tries to recover his name CNN
Analysis of fake YouTube views Flowing Data
Alex Jones And Online Content Regulation (opinion) National Coalition Against Censorship
Is PolitiFact biased? This content analysis says no Poynter ***PRIVACY & SECURITY
Hackers account for 90% of login attempts at online retailers Quartz
Hacking a brand new mac remotely, right out of the box Wired
Smartphone voting is happening, but no one knows if it's safe Wired
The Internet of Things Needs Food Safety-Style Ratings for Privacy and Security Motherboard
Police bodycams can be hacked to doctor footage Wired
Google tracks your movements, like it or not Associated Press
Banks and Retailers Are Tracking How You Type, Swipe and Tap New York Times
Millions of Android devices are vulnerable right out of the box Wired
Fortnite on Android at risk of malware The Stack
Judge: App User Accused In Planning Charlottesville Rally Can't Keep Identity Hidden NPR
***BIG DATA & AI
Even anonymous coders leave fingerprints that machine learning can pick up: writing samples, even in artificial languages, contain a unique fingerprint that’s hard to hide Wired
***PERSONAL GROWTH
Self-Control can be Contagious Becoming (my blog)
Why We Are Never Truly Satisfied Medium
Why some people choose to do evil Aeon
On the benefits of a blue period Aeon
***WRITING & READING
Avoiding ‘False Titles’: How Some News Publications Try Not to Sound Like Other News Publications Chronicle of Higher Ed
Slack Copywriting: What They Say to 9.6 Million Pageviews Every Month Medium
***LANGUAGE
“Untranslatable” words tell us more about English speakers than other cultures Quzrtz
We Use Sports Terms All the Time. But Where Do They Come From? New York Times
***LITERATURE
When Harriet Beecher Stowe and George Eliot Were Penpals Daily Jstor
V.S. Naipaul, Trinidad-born British author and Nobel Literature laureate, dies at 85 Penn Live
***GENDER
Make Your Daughter Practice Math: She’ll Thank You Later New York Times
100 Women Who Changed the World History Extra
How feminism has made me a better scientist Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science
Gender studies programs to be banned in Hungary Hungarian Free Press
Are boys better than Girls at Math Scientific American
***RACE & ETHNICITY ISSUES
White threat in a browning America (Ezra Klein) Vox
The White Nationalists Are Winning The Atlantic
The Ugly Truth of Being a Black Professor in America Chronicle of Higher Ed
***FREE SPEECH
Is there a free speech “crisis” on campus? The FIRE
Do free speech issues on campus only stifle conservatives? Education Dive
***LEGAL ISSUES
Disney Finds It's Not So Easy to Sue Over Knockoff Characters at Birthday Parties Hollywood Reporter
ABA Clarifies Rules on Lawyer Advertising (Sort Of) Law.com
***RELIGION
California Police chief helps apprehend his own son in attack on Sikh man ABC News
Why America’s ‘nones’ don’t identify with a religion Pew Research
Losing Faith: Why South Carolina is abandoning its churches The State
John Piper Changed ‘Great Is Thy Faithfulness.’ Experts Weigh In Christianity Today
Southern Baptists posted a video opposing animal cruelty — and then profusely apologized for it Washington Post
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
Church charges against Attorney General Sessions are dropped CNN
***GOOD NEWS
How You Can Use Your Frequent Flyer Miles to Help Reunite Separated Families Mental Floss
Groom (and Coast Guard officer) interrupts his own wedding to save a drowning man People
LeBron James Family Foundation's I Promise School opens in Akron Cleveland.com
How Silicon Valley Has Disrupted Philanthropy The Atlantic
Border Collie helps homeless, aimless man become rich: “Before I had Sylar, my life was a mess” ABC News
Man uses his own body to cushion dog's fall from building The Week
These Twenty-Somethings Got Heart Transplants on the Very Same Day And Then They Fell in Love Washingtonian
***ART & DESIGN
2018 Winning Photographs iPhone Photography Awards
LA's Awesome History Of Weird, Food-Shaped Restaurants LAist
Your Friendly Guide to Colors in Data Visualisation Data Wrapper
Art exhibit slammed for 'promoting communism' CNN
***MUSIC
See Ancient Greek Music Accurately Reconstructed for the First Time Open Culture
***FILM
'BlacKkKlansman' Sounds Like It's Made Up But It's A True Story NPR
No Shark Film has ever not made money Atlas
How Westerns captured the American psyche and eventually bit the dust (video) Aeon
Best science fiction movies of all time, according to critics Business Insider
***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA
The tangled mess of marketing networks is crumbling The Next Web
The Local TV Consolidation War is here Axios
***STUDENT MEDIA
For young people, socialism is now more popular than capitalism Fast Company
***STUDENT LIFE
The newly coined Chinese buzzword that refers to awkward millennials Quzrtz
Millennials Are Making a Costly Investment Mistake Bloomberg
How Three New York Times Summer Interns Trusted Their Gut and Made the Front Page New York Times
The Parkland generation has huge plans for this fall Axios
***JOBS & INTERNSHIPS
An editor’s guide to creating an online portfolio Poynter
The Washington Post 2019 Summer Internship Program
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT
Anything to Avoid a Scandal": How Colleges Sideline Sexual Abuse TruthOut
Congressman Accused Of Domestic Abuse By Former Girlfriend NPR
Former Ohio State Students Report Decades Of Sexual Misconduct By University Physician NPR
Journalism professor resigns months after accusations of sexual harassment and inappropriate workplace behavior Daily Northwestern
***SOCIAL ISSUES
How to delete all your tweets (or just the worst ones) Poynter
Record number of forcibly displaced people lived in sub-Saharan Africa in 2017 Pew Research
***ETHICS
Rich People More Likely to Lie, Cheat, & Steal Washington Post
Children are being euthanized in Belgium (opinion) Washington Post
***BUSINESS & FINANCE
Astroturfing: the practice of companies and interest groups disguising themselves as grassroots movements (video) John Oliver
Fortnite Mania Fuels Epic Growth to $8.5 Billion Bloomberg
Why Small Teams Win And Bigger Ones Fail UX planet
WeWork’s Meat Ban Tells Us Who They Are Bloomberg
Some tips on how to retire your debt before you quit working Detroit Free Press
How Dollar General took over rural America The Guardian
For most U.S. workers, real wages have barely budged in decades Pew Research
Employer expectations on off-hours email: new study shows adverse health effects on workers and families Virginia Tech
***HEALTH
Women More Likely to Survive Heart Attacks If Treated by Female Doctors The Atlantic
Cancer Patients who use alternative medicine have a greater risk of dying prematurely Science Daily
Experimental Alzheimer's drug stirs hope after early trials CNN
It’s easy to become obese in America: These 7 charts explain why Vox
Why Blue Light Is So Bad: The Science — And Some Solutions Health
Brain Scans Suggest Women Sustain More Damage heading soccer balls than men Boston Globe
***HEALTH TECHNOLOGY
A New Pacemaker Hack Puts Malware Directly On The Device Wired
The $250 Biohack That’s Revolutionizing Life With Diabetes Nexts Draft
***FAMILY
Aurora parents fighting to stop legally adopted 4-year-old daughter from being deported FOX31 Denver
Parents warn it's 'time to put down the Fortnite' in back-to-school parody Today
***SCIENCE
Why scientists are infiltrating music festivals The Week
A Conversation with the Only Scientist in Congress Scientific American
***PSYCHOLOGY
How Accessible is Psychology Data? Discover Magazine
Studying Unpopular Ideas in Psychology Psychology Today
***TRAVEL
The 2018 Friendliest Cities in the World CNN
The U.S. Pizza Museum Gives Chicago a Pizza Party Sans Divisiveness Chicago Eater
***RESEARCH
Why We Need Whistleblowing for Research Integrity Wiley
Can automated tools reliably rate research reproducibility? Nature Index
How to work with your institution’s press office to maximize the reach of your work Nature
An Excel error sinks a paper Hormones and Behavior Science Direct
Bruno and Bob going to a predatory conference The Ice Cream Blog
***HIGHER ED
The 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America CNN
British economists: Sports destroy happiness Washington Post
Misspelling On Thousands Of Diplomas Goes Unnoticed For 6 Years CBS Denver
How a university punished a whistle blower The Research Whisperer
These Are the 727 Best Colleges in America (Mount Vernon 432, Azusa 460), MidAmerica 484, PLNU 501, Cal Baptist 639) TIME
Court filing: Top Baylor officials ‘concealed reports of serial sexual assault’ KWTX
Unexplained Turnover at Benedictine U Inside Higher Ed
***TEACHING
Online Learning Is Misunderstood: Here's How Chronicle of Higher Ed
Why I'm Easy: On Giving Lots of A's Chronicle of Higher Ed
3 things to know about the students arriving on campus this month Education Dive
Getting Ready for Teaching This Fall Chronicle of Higher Ed
A professor shares some promising results from sending a personalized message to students who failed her first exam Chronicle of Higher Ed
Report Shows Drop in Students in Teacher Ed Inside Higher Ed
How to Escape Grading Jail Chronicle of Higher Ed
***ACADEMIC LIFE
She’s the world’s top empathy researcher. But colleagues say she bullied and intimidated them Science Mag
Texas backtracks after allowing a professor banned from advising graduate students to teach undergraduates this fall Inside Higher Ed
Professor accused of bullying students will stop teaching immediately The Gazette
What I would change about myself
/I always pray that I won't get angry. Because most of the time when I get angry or emotional, I don't make good decisions. People don't remember what you say; they remember how you made them feel. I think I've gotten a little better at that, but there is definitely room for improvement.
Alabama football coach Nick Sabin to ESPN
anger in relationships
/No one in a relationship problem is ever totally innocent or totally guilty. With this belief, people can always keep the door open to their own faults without engaging in excessive, guilt-provoking self-incrimination. Holding back anger for even a short time and engaging in self-analysis in private has the effect of tempering the expression of anger. Confession altars our goals from changing others to changing the relationship.
Gary Collins, Counseling and Anger
Tuesday Tools: Bot Detectors
/Want to know if a Twitter account is run by a human or a bot? The Botometer hunts Twitter bots. A high @Botometer score suggests the account is probably automated. Accounts rated above 48% are flagged as potential bots—anything over 60% rates as a “likely” bot. It's a free product from Indiana University.
An alternative comes from the University of New Mexico. Like the Botometer, DeBot is a bot detection system for Twitter accounts. The information is archived so it can be searched.
Find more tools here.
Articles of Interest - Aug 6
/***SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook Has Identified Ongoing Political Influence Campaign MSNBC
France passes a new law banning smartphones in schools The Next Web
What Counts as a Video View on Social Media? Ad Week
***PRIVACY & SECURITY
The State Of Election Security Ahead Of Midterms NPR
Inside Russia's invasion of the U.S. electric grid Axios
***PRODUCING MEDIA
A zine about how to start a podcast Alex Laughin Blog
Annemarie Dooling on what she learned while transforming Vox’s newsletter strategy Really Good Emails
10 ways to craft compelling Snapchat and Instagram Stories PR Daily
***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA
Yahoo Finance launching live video streaming network this year Axios
After Reportedly Losing $120 Million Last Year, Condé Nast Will Sell 3 of Its Titles Ad Week
***JOURNALISM
Trust in mainstream American newspapers has grown, even among conservatives Economist
What Journalists Can Learn from Organizers: A Guide Free Press
Should you major in journalism? Here are stories from eight working journalists who didn’t Harvard’s Nieman Lab
When Public Records Aren’t Public ProPublica
Google, working with news orgs like ProPublica, will return more datasets in search results Harvard’s Nieman Lab
***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM
Newsroom employment dropped nearly a quarter in less than 10 years Pew Research Center
The investigations and reporting of BuzzFeed News — *not* BuzzFeed — are now at their own BuzzFeedNews.com Harvard’s Nieman Lab
***FAKE NEWS: QANON
It's Looking Extremely Likely That QAnon Is A Leftist Prank On Trump Supporters BuzzFeed News
What is QAnon? Explaining the bizarre rightwing conspiracy theory The Guardian
QAnon: The Conspiracy Theorist Group That Appears At Trump Rallies NPR
***FAKE NEWS
Alex Jones faces existential courtroom battle over limits of fake news My Stateman
Why We’re Sharing 3 Million Russian Troll Tweets FiveThirtyEight
Snopes fired its managing editor — and she doesn't know why Poynter
Here's how the U.K. plans to tackle fake news Poynter
The ACLU On Facebook's Fake Page Removals NPR
Why Do We Share Fake News? Illusion of More
Fighting fake news is a losing battle, but there are other ways to win the war Monday Note
What Does This Professor Know About Conspiracy Theorists That We Don’t? Chronicle of Higher Ed
***PERSONAL GROWTH
Denialism & Science Becoming (my blog)
Do you see a duck or a rabbit: just what is aspect perception? Aeon
***GRAMMAR
The commas that cost companies millions BBC
Those vexatious commas Baltimore Sun
***WRITING & READING
Listening isn't reading, but audiobooks still resonate Wired
The art of buying books and never reading them BBC
How technology shapes the way we read Wired
How my smartphone revived the purity of reading Wired
***LANGUAGE
Most European students are learning a foreign language in school while Americans lag Pew Research Center
Can Language Slow Down Time BBC
***LITERATURE
A Hemingway War Story Sees Print for the First Time The New York Times
Emotions found in classic literature help us understand the universality of the human condition State Press
***GENDER
How women’s magazines are getting political Bloomberg
Is Bannon right that white, college-educated women have given up on Republicans? Washington Post
“The Matilda Effect”: How Pioneering Women Scientists Have Been Denied Recognition and Written Out of Science History Open Culture
Using artificial intelligence to fix Wikipedia's gender problem Wired
Nationwide, male doctors get paid $100,000 more than female doctors Vox
***RACE & ETHNICITY ISSUES
Even black robots are impacted by racism Fast Company
Was It Racist for a Judge to Dismiss a Copyright Lawsuit Targeting Fox's 'Empire'? Hollywood Reporter
***FREE SPEECH
Fired FAU professor declares it’s his right to call Sandy Hook a hoax My Palm Beach Post
***LEGAL ISSUES
Legal Issues in Podcasting (particularly for broadcasters) David Oxeford Broadcast Law Blog
***TECHNOLOGY
Michigan researchers develop new computer chip using circuits that remember how much charge has gone through them - that cuts power consumption by 100x University of Michigan
Eight states sue to reverse administration settlement that would allow people to download blueprints to 3D-print AR-15 rifles at home Associated Press
***BIG DATA & AI
Methods 101: What are nonprobability surveys? (video) Pew Research Center
Major quantum computing advance made obsolete by teen who proves that ordinary computers can solve an important computing problem Quanta Magazine
***RELIGION
Donors Pay for Gay Valedictorian to attend College after he was Rejected by his Christian parents Washington Post
United Methodists debate, lobby and worry in advance of LGBT decision Religious News Service
Prosperity Gospel Taught to 4 in 10 Evangelical Churchgoers Christianity Today
What the early church thought about God’s gender The Conversation
Why Americans Go (and Don’t Go) to Religious Services Pew Research Center
Jared Kushner Used To Personally Order The Deletion Of Stories At His Newspaper BuzzFeed News
San Diego Rock Church buys former strip club in Midway District 10News
***RELIGION & SEXUAL ABUSE
He’s a Superstar Pastor: She Worked for Him and Says He Groped Her Repeatedly New York Times
Pa. supreme court OKs release of interim report naming 300 'predator priests' PennLive
Prominent NYC megachurch, Redeemer Church, quietly fired pastor David Kim for sexual abuse WatchKeep
Pastor and “Creation Festival” Founder Gets 18 Years for Sexually Abusing Kids Star Tribune
Teaching pastor resigns over Willow Creek’s handling of allegations against Bill Hybels Chicago Tribune
***GOOD NEWS
40 Employees At This California Hospital Lost Their Homes In The Carr Fire: They Showed Up To Work Anyway Buzzfeed News
This man ran the entire route of the Tour de France to raise money for mental health SB Nation
Cops save toddler from choking on chicken nugget Sun Sentinel
***ART & DESIGN
25+ Geometric Tattoos Teeming With Sacred Symbols and Meanings My Modern Met
Creative Interactive Article: See America’s New Ellis Island: A South Texas Bus Terminal New York Times
Van Gogh’s Art Now Adorns Vans Shoes Open Culture
What I learned from 200 design interviews Medium
***MUSIC
A style of music played on the guitar that pretty much no one listens to except guitar players Populla
What Makes a Hit 60 Years of #1 Songs Columbia Business School
***FILM
Study finds almost no increase in diversity in popular films over the last decade Mashable
Justice Dept. to review 70-year-old movie industry antitrust rules LA Business Journal
***JOBS
These Free Online Courses From Google to Boost Your Career Inc.
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT
Her Mormon college upheld her sex-assault complaint — but kicked her out anyway Salt Lake Tribune
Diocese names 71 accused of child sex abuse, blames bishops Associated Press
***ACADEMIC LIFE
Chinese professor forced off live TV by police CNN
***SOCIAL ISSUES
One chart that shows how much worse income inequality is in America than Europe Vox
Americans are now spending 11 hours each day consuming media Quartz
How companies make millions charging prisoners to send an email Wired
Police kill about 3 men per day in the US, according to new study The Conversation
The Outsize Hold of the Word ‘Welfare’ on the Public Imagination New York Times
***BUSINESS & FINANCE
How to lead like Abraham Lincoln Quartz
I Read the 1936 Book That Launched Warren Buffett's Career and It's Truly Inspiring Inc
***ENVIRONMENT
U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Halt Teenagers’ Climate Lawsuit Bloomberg
That’s Not Algae Swirling on the Beach. Those Are Green Worms (and no one knows why) New York Times
***HEALTH
Could a blood test lead to new treatments for depression Health News Review
An Appalachian odyssey: Hunting for ALS genes along a sprawling family tree Stat News
***FAMILY
The Age That Women Have Babies: How a Gap Divides America New York Times
***TRAVEL
The most relaxing vacation you can take is going nowhere at all Quartz
***SCIENCE
What Would Happen If the Earth Turned Into Blueberries? Thanks to a New Paper, Now We Know Chronicle of Higher Ed
The Value of Criticism in science Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science Andrew Gelman Blog
Beyond #FakeScience: how to overcome shallow certainty in scholarly communication London School of Economics and Political Science
Anti-Vaccine Activists Have Taken Vaccine Science Hostage New York Times
Can Science Save Politics? Or Will Politics Ruin Science? FiveThirtyEight
***PSYCHOLOGY
There Is More to Behavioral Economics Than Biases and Fallacies Behavioral Scientist
Psychology's New Normal? Data Badges Center for Open Science
Cognitive Biases and the Human Brain The Atlantic
Mental health: depression and anxiety in young mothers is up by 50% in a generation The Conversation
***NEUROSCIENCE
How the brain transforms vision into action Stat News
***PRODUCTIVITY
10 Things That Steal Our Motivation—and How to Get It Back Shine
Knowing when to quit a project Journalists.org
For maximum recharge, take a Wednesday off Quartz
The 25 Best Productivity Apps in 2018 Zapier
***RESEARCH
These Professors Don’t Work for a Predatory Publisher. It Keeps Claiming They Do Chronicle of Higher Ed
Should I be proud of my h index? Eco-Evo Evo-Eco
Little White Lies in Healthcare Publishing Scholarly Kitchen
Retraction Watch leaderboard: it now takes 38 retractions to get into the top 10 Retraction Watch
What is the value of the peer‐reviewing system? (opinion) Wiley Online Library
***HIGHER ED
Over 11 million US adults live in an education desert Flowing Data
What do top colleges have against transfer students? (opinion) Washington Post
Malcolm Gladwell: Rich Americans contribute too much money on 'meaningless education' CNBC
Ethical questions from the use of big data for student success Chronicle of Higher Ed
Baylor reform group calls on regents to resign KWTX
Christian student group sues U of Iowa, incites debate on religious freedom Inside Higher Ed
Catholic College sued for defrauding Sodexo of $1.35 million JC Online
***TEACHING
How New Classrooms Can Help Professors Think More Deeply About Teaching Chronicle of Higher Ed
New Trigger Warnings Study Confirms Potential Harm to Students National Coalition Against Censorship
How New Classrooms Can Help Professors Think More Deeply About Teaching Chronicle of Higher Ed
***STUDENT MEDIA
Poynter, Koch Foundation expand impact in year two of program for college journalists Poynter
Five tips for reporting on hiring searches for administrators Student Press Law Center
***STUDENT LIFE
'Google-it' mentality leaves school leavers unprepared for university, survey finds Telegraph
Poll: young Americans are looking for young leaders - and are pessimistic about the current state of politics Associated Press
The Gaping Divide Over Student Debt (opinion) New Republic
Denialism and Science
/Denialism, and related phenomena, are often portrayed as a “war on science”. This is an understandable but profound misunderstanding. Certainly, denialism and other forms of pseudo-scholarship do not follow mainstream scientific methodologies. Denialism does indeed represent a perversion of the scholarly method, and the science it produces rests on profoundly erroneous assumptions, but denialism does all this in the name of science and scholarship. Denialism aims to replace one kind of science with another – it does not aim to replace science itself. In fact, denialism constitutes a tribute to the prestige of science and scholarship in the modern world. Denialists are desperate for the public validation that science affords.
While denialism has sometimes been seen as part of a post-modern assault on truth, the denialist is just as invested in notions of scientific objectivity as the most unreconstructed positivist. Even those who are genuinely committed to alternatives to western rationality and science can wield denialist rhetoric that apes precisely the kind of scientism they despise. Anti-vaxxers, for example, sometimes seem to want to have their cake and eat it: to have their critique of western medicine validated by western medicine.
The rhetoric of denialism and its critics can resemble each other in a kind of war to the death over who gets to wear the mantle of science. The term “junk science” has been applied to climate change denialism, as well as in defence of it. Mainstream science can also be dogmatic and blind to its own limitations. If the accusation that global warming is an example of politicised ideology masked as science is met with indignant assertions of the absolute objectivity of “real” science, there is a risk of blinding oneself to uncomfortable questions regarding the subtle and not-so-subtle ways in which the idea of pure truth, untrammelled by human interests, is elusive. Human interests can rarely if ever be separated from the ways we observe the world.
I do not believe that, if only one could find the key to “make them understand”, denialists would think just like me. If denialists were to stop denying, we cannot assume that we would then have a shared moral foundation on which we could make progress as a species.
Keith Kahn-Harris, Denial: The Unspeakable Truth