ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
The Hedonic Treadmill
/One is weary of living in the country and moves to the city; one is weary of one’s native land and goes abroad; one is [weary of Europe] and goes to America etc.; one indulges in the fanatical hope of an endless journey from star to star. Or there is another direction, but still extensive. One is weary of eating on porcelain and eats on silver; wearying of that, one eats on gold; one burns down half of Rome in order to visualize the Trojan conflagration. This method cancels itself and is the spurious infinity.
Søren Kierkegaard, Either / Or
Riding the Wave of Boredom
/It turns out that bliss – a second-by-second joy + gratitude at the gift of being alive, conscious – lies on the other side of crushing, crushing boredom. Pay close attention to the most tedious thing you can find (tax returns, televised golf), and, in waves, a boredom like you’ve never known will wash over you and just about kill you. Ride these out, and it’s like stepping from black and white into color. Like water after days in the desert. Constant bliss in every atom.
David Foster Wallace
Was it an April Fools’ Joke?
/Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has released a rap song.
Mosquito bites can be avoided by listening to electronic music - specifically dubstep.
DJ Khaled is TikTok’s new Chief Motivational Officer.
Google has developed an audio assistant that attempts to talk with plants.
Tinder is introducing a Height Verification Badge.
McDonald's is adding Shake-Dipping Sauces.
Burger King has put out an Impossible Meats beefless Whopper.
Starbucks is opening new stores aimed at dogs.
The US Open to add puppies to the ballperson teams at the 2019 tournament.
New Alarm Clock App wakes you to the Sound of a Puking Dog.
Fish slime could help the development of new antibiotics, researchers say.
Shutterstock is opening a brick-and-mortar library for stock images.
Snoop Dogg once left a sack containing £400,000 cash in a nightclub, its owner said.
A globe company is selling a flat Earth globe.
The weed-flavored cottage cheese.
Auntie Annie’s is getting into the hot yoga business.
White Castle is auctioning off a carbon-frozen burger from 1921.
Scroll down to see which of the stories in this list are real.
These stories are real!
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has released a rap song.
Mosquito bites can be avoided by listening to electronic music - specifically dubstep.
Burger King has put out an Impossible Meats beefless Whopper.
Fish slime could help the development of new antibiotics, researchers say.
New Alarm Clock App wakes you to the Sound of a Puking Dog.
Snoop Dogg once left a sack containing £400,000 cash in a nightclub, its owner said.
A comedian with no political experience has won the most votes in the first round of Ukraine's presidential elections.
Articles of Interest - April 1
/***SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook CEO calls for global regulation of harmful content on the internet in Washington Post op-ed The Verge
The New York Times takes a look at Tic Tok New York Times
***MOBILE
On the Trail of the Robocall King Wired
5 Ways Your Phone Still Can't Beat Your Laptop Gizmodo
***TECHNOLOGY
Google Photos Will Now Automatically Detect Your Documents Forbes
10 technologies that will impact higher education the most this year Tech Republic
Oculus founder Luckey: Rift S lenses won’t fit 30% of users VentureBeat
***BIG DATA & AI
Mass satellite launches by SpaceX and OneWeb are a threat to the future of space MIT Technology Review
***PRIVACY & SECURITY
HTTPS Isn't Always As Secure As It Seems Wired
How Grindr became a national security issue The Verge
DEA never checked if its bulk surveillance data was legal Engaget
New Apple ecosystem marks step toward privatizing identity Axios
***PRODUCING MEDIA
I'm Jad Abumrad, Founder and Co-Host of Radiolab, and This Is How I Work Life Hacker
***INTERNET
How to Be a Better Web Searcher: Secrets from Google Scientists Scientific American
Longing for an Internet Cleanse New York Times
Gmail will now let you interact with messages just like web pages right in your inbox The Next Web
Gmail for iOS finally gets handy customizable swipe actions Digital Trends
***PERSONAL GROWTH
The Power of Small Wins Becoming (my blog)
'Love Your Enemies' ... And Maaaybe You'll Get Them To Agree With You NPR
Top takeaways from Yale's free online course on the psychology of happiness Business Insider
***GRAMMAR
Olivia Jade Is Reportedly at Risk of Losing Her Beauty Trademarks Because of Her Bad Punctuation Elle
The agony and ecstasy of grammar Teaching and learning it should be fascinating—and fun Economist
***WRITING & READING
Spoken-Word Poetry’s Dynamic Duo The New Yorker
Writing a Nonfiction Book? Here’s Advice from a Pulitzer Prize Bestselling Author Global Investigative Journalism Network
***PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism detectors are a crutch, and a problem Nature
Among 239 retractions by authors from India over a period of more than 20 years, the most common reason was plagiarism Scientometrics
The Problem with Press Release Plagiarism Today
***APRIL FOOLS’ DAY
It’s April Fools’ Day. Here’s 2019′s updated, depressing and comprehensive list of pranks and hoaxes Washington Post
April Fools': A Running List Of Good, Bad And Terrible Corporate Gags Digg
***GENDER
As a woman with a wooden leg, Virginia Hall was an unlikely spy. That’s what made her so good Medium
Judge Strikes Down North Carolina School Uniform Skirt Requirement BuzzFeed News
***RACE & ETHNICITY ISSUES
Study: Racial Bias in Police Traffic Stops and Searches (video) Cheddar
'Black Press Only!': Political meeting in Georgia turns away journalists based on race, reports say USA Today
MacArthur Genius Recipient Jennifer Eberhardt Discusses Her New Book 'Biased' NPR
Science knowledge varies by race and ethnicity in U.S. Pew Research Center
***FREE SPEECH
Beloit calls off talk by conservative speaker after students bang drums and pile chairs on stage to prevent him from starting Inside Higher Ed
***LEGAL ISSUES
European parliament votes for controversial copyright reform (yes, again) Tech Crunch
Alabama Court: Publicity Rights over First Amendment In S-Town Lawsuit TechDirt
Japanese court rules against journalist in HPV vaccine defamation case Science Mag
Buzzfeed Beats a Libel Suit Hollywood Reporter
Nevada Judge Says Online News Publications Aren't Protected By The State's Journalist Shield Law TechDirt
Meet the Lawyer Defending the Media Hollywood Reporter
***CRIME
Ecuador legalized gangs. Murder rates plummeted Vox
Police Misconduct Records Show California Police Officer Busting Sober Drivers For DUI TechDirt
***RELIGION
A Visual Map of the World's Major Religions (and Non-Religions) Open Culture
A church in turmoil: Inside Harvest Bible Chapel's questionable financial moves and erratic leadership Chicago Tribune
'Jesus: His Life' review: History brings hybrid format to greatest story ever told CNN
The Secret Jehovah’s Witness Database of Child Molesters The Atlantic
Atlanta pastors await possible United Methodist Church split over LGBTQ rights Reporter Newspaper
The countries with the 10 largest Christian populations and the 10 largest Muslim populations Pew Research Center
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
Pope Francis: 'Those who build walls will become prisoners of the walls they put up' CNN
The Trump era has exposed divisions among Catholics and evangelicals Economist
***GOOD NEWS
***ART & DESIGN
How to Improve iOS for Grandma Medium
Who should get the credit for AI art? CNN
***MUSIC
DJs of the future don't spin records—they write code Wired
Band of wounded warriors healing through music CBS News
An algorithm just signed a major music deal High Snobiety
‘Blurred Lines’ on Their Minds, Songwriters Create Nervously New York Times
***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA
What If Google And Facebook Admitted That All This Ad Targeting Really Doesn't Work That Well? Tech Dirt
***JOURNALISM
AP Stylebook update: It’s OK to call something racist when it’s racist Poynter
Why slow journalism and finishable news is (quickly) growing a following Harvard’s Nieman Lab
Do technology companies care about journalism? Columbia Journalism Review
For Local News, Americans Embrace Digital but Still Want Strong Community Connection Pew Research Center
Alabama reaches new milestone in barriers to access MuckRock
Most Americans – especially Republicans – say local journalists shouldn’t express views on local issues Pew Research Center
TV News Anchors Try Teen Slang; Leave Viewers Cringing Washington Post
***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM
Americans Don't Know Local Newspapers Are Dying The Atlantic
After the death of alt-weeklies, alt-alt-weeklies Columbia Journalism Review
Knight Foundation Makes $6 Million Investment In 3 Organizations Media Post
***FAKE NEWS
How Alex Jones and Infowars Helped a Florida Man Stalk Sandy Hook Families New York Times
All those annoying April Fool’s pranks you’ll see Monday might help researchers better detect fake news Harvard’s Nieman Lab
***JOBS
This is the easiest way to make your LinkedIn profile stand out Fast Company
ProPublica Is Again Expanding Its Local Reporting Network: Apply for a Spot ProPublica
Apple is hiring writing and editorial teams to make Siri more "fun" and "witty" Thinkum
***FREELANCE WRITING
Freelancers to write about the latest sneaker trends and releases Elite Daily
Sobriety story pitches The Temper
Freelance writing pitches Novelty Media
Pitches on "climate change, extinction, food choices, and whether cats are really hell-demons" The Nib
Freelance pitches for upcoming issues Edible Queens
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT
Federal grant will bolster sexual assault prevention at five local college campuses The San Diego Union-Tribune
***SOCIAL ISSUES
The US Is Holding Hundreds Of Shivering Immigrants In A Pen Underneath A Texas Bridge BuzzFeed News
Facebook announces a long-overdue transparency tool for News Feed The Next Web
***BUSINESS & FINANCE
Why Startups Fall Apart at 50 Employees Medium
Where in The U.S. Are You Most Likely to Be Audited by the IRS? Propublica
How Brands Can Build Successful Relationships with Influencers Harvard Business Review
***ENVIRONMENT
Who keeps buying California's scarce water? Saudi Arabia The Guardian
The Hidden Air Pollution in Our Homes The New Yorker
The recycling crisis The Week
***HEALTH
At 71 she's never felt pain or anxiety - now scientists know why New York Times
Viral Photo Shows How Much Bacteria Is on 8-Year-Old’s Hand Fatherly
News stories about the flu shot spawn debates about vaccines in general Journalists Resource
Hospital using drones to fly blood samples between buildings Associated Press
***HEALTHY LIVING
NASA research found the perfect length for a power nap Business Insider
What Makes a Healthy Community? US News
***FAMILY
Toddlers engage more with print books than tablets: Study ABC News
Gwyneth Paltrow’s Daughter Calls Out Mom for Posting Selfie Without Consent Fatherly
Why Don't You Want Kids? Wired
How to help a kid write a college admissions essay without cheating Chicago SunTimes
Online preschool programs A ‘shockingly bad’ idea (opinion) Washington Post
***RELATIONSHIPS
Seattle rated the worst city for singles Seattle Times
How one woman improved her relationship by paying attention to her partner's 'bids' to connect NBC News
Women With a Twin Brother Are More Likely to Face Penalties at School and Work New York Times
***ANIMALS
Video of father and son killing bear, cubs released in Alaska USA Today
50 Fascinating Facts About Cats Mental Floss
***SCIENCE
How to read the news like a scientist TED
Is it the end of ‘statistical significance’? The battle to make science more uncertain The Conversation
***PSYCHOLOGY
Deep Brain Stimulation where implant delivers some pulses of electricity to the brain NPR
Behold an Anatomically Correct Replica of the Human Brain, Knitted by a Psychiatrist Open Culture
The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs The New Yorker
High-strength cannabis increases risk of mental health problems The Guardian
***NEUROSCIENCE
Old brains make neurons, possibly protecting against Alzheimer's STAT
The Brain-Computer Interface Is Coming Psychology Today
How the Brain Links Gestures, Perception and Meaning Quanta Magazine
***POLITICS
Does Democracy Demand the Tolerance of the Intolerant? Karl Popper’s Paradox Open Culture
***ETHICS
Do Ethicists Behave Better Than the Rest of Us?: New Research Answers the Question Open Culture
Many professions have codes of ethics - so why not politics? The Conversation
***RESEARCH
Publishing research in high-impact factor journals 'poisons hiring and funding decisions' says eLife boss Cambridge Independent
Trends in the Use of Common Words and Patient-Centric Language in the Titles of Medical Journals, 1976-2015 JAMA Network Open
Nature editor: researchers should be forced to make data public Times Higher Education
***RESEARCH ERRORS & FRAUD
Academic publishing is in ‘crisis’ and must be put on a more sustainable and open footing ResearchResearch
Plagiarism and Data Falsification are the Most Common Reasons for Retracted Publications in Obstetrics and Gynecology
Figure errors, sloppy science, and fraud: keeping eyes on your data Journal of Clinical Investigation
Meet the data detective who checks the images in all submitted manuscripts EMBO
***RESEARCH & PEER REVIEW
NIH may bar peer reviewers accused of sexual harassment Science Mag
Technological Support for Peer Review Innovations Scholarly Kitchen
***LIBERAL ARTS
To survive, small colleges are rethinking the liberal arts Education Dive
UVM cites decline in humanities enrollment for faculty cuts WCAX-TV
Making a case for liberal arts Virginia Business
Debunking common misconceptions about liberal arts degrees Study International
***HIGHER ED
Liberty University scrutinized over fuel contract with Pentagon The Hill
Small Methodist institution in Tennessee announces it would shut down Inside Higher Ed
Oklahoma Christian University asks for forgiveness from former students, arrested and expelled on racially tinged charges Christian Chronicle
***TEACHING
4 Lessons From Moving a Face-to-Face Course Online Chronicle of Higher Ed
***STUDENT MEDIA
A letter from a Notre Dame mother, urging women to not wear the gym attire in lieu of pants, prompts backlash and debate Inside Higher Ed
***STUDENT LIFE
Tufts University recently expelled a student for allegedly hacking grades, but did the university make the right call? Inside Higher Ed
12 Industries Experts Say Millennials Are Killing — And Why They’re Wrong CBI Insights
The 10 Best Cities for Millennials in 2019 (Plus the 10 Worst) Mental Floss
***ACADEMIC LIFE
This Is How You Kill a Profession (opinion) Chronicle of Higher Ed
South Korean professor forced students to write her daughter’s thesis paper AFP
Former U. of Oklahoma Dean Sues President, Provost, and University for Bias and Free-Speech Violation Chronicle of Higher Ed
Racist writing instructor's Listserv post prompts debate about the future of the field and how scholars communicate with one another Inside Higher Ed
The Power of Small Wins
/Try to remember the last time you – or anyone you know – had a truly enormous breakthrough in solving a problem or achieving one of those audacious goals. It’s pretty hard, because breakthroughs are very rare events. On the other hand, small wins can happen all the time. Those are the incremental steps toward meaningful (even big) goals. Our research showed that, of all the events that have the power to excite people and engage them in their work, the single most important is making progress – even if that progress is a small win. That’s the progress principle. And, because people are more creatively productive when they are excited and engaged, small wins are a very big deal for organizations.
Religiously protect at least 20 minutes – and, ideally, much more – every day, to tackle something in the work that matters most to you. Hide in an empty conference room, if you have to, or sneak out in disguise to a nearby coffee shop. Then make note of any progress you made (even if it was a small win), and decide where to pick up again the next day. The progress, and the mini-celebration of simply noting it, can lift your inner work life.
Teresa Amabile talking about her book The Progress Principle
Embracing Life as it Is
/For millennia, philosophers have understood that we don’t see life as it is; we see a version distorted by our hopes, fears, and other attachments. The Buddha said, “Our life is the creation of our mind.” Marcus Aurelius said, “Life itself is but what you deem it.” The quest for wisdom in many traditions begins with this insight. Early Buddhists and the Stoics, for example, developed practices for reducing attachments, thinking more clearly, and finding release from the emotional torments of normal mental life.
The goal is to minimize distorted thinking and see the world more accurately. When people improve their mental hygiene in this way—when they free themselves from the repetitive irrational thoughts that had previously filled so much of their consciousness—they become less depressed, anxious, and angry.
Greg Lukianoff & Jonathan Haidt writing in The Atlantic
Patriotism & nationalism
/Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism when hate of people other than your own comes first. -Charles de Gaulle
Mental illness: Out of the shadows
/Mental illnesses account for more suffering and premature death in rich countries than heart disease and strokes, or than cancer. One study estimates that depression is 50% more disabling than angina, asthma or arthritis. Men with mental-health problems die 20 years earlier than those without, according to the British Medical Association, mostly from causes other than suicide. That is partly because mental illnesses make physical ones tougher to treat, and because sufferers often live less healthily. Research has linked even moderate levels of stress to lower life-expectancy.
Half of adults with long-term mental conditions suffered their first symptoms before turning 14. Left untreated, even moderate conditions such as anxiety hurt school results and the prospects for employment. For serious conditions such as psychosis, prompt treatment greatly improves outcomes.
From The stigma of mental illness is fading in The Economist
Articles of Interest - March 25
/***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA
How “Baby Shark” was manufactured in a Korean toddler entertainment factory Vice
Nexstar to Sell 19 TV Stations for $1.32 Billion Hollywood Reporter
***JOURNALISM
Google News Initiative launches new fact checking tools, supporting more subscription models 9to5Google
18 journalists on how—or whether—they use tape recorders Columbia Journalism Review***FAKE NEWS
Conspiracy Theories Can’t Be Stopped FiveThirtyEight
WhatsApp wants to label viral forwards to rein in fake news – but it’ll have to do more The Next Web
How OpenAI's Fake News Warnings Triggered Actual Fake News PC Mag
***SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram Is Full of Conspiracy Theories and Extremism The Atlantic
China’s new social media craze: Paying random people to shower you with over-the-top compliments CNBC
Facebook is hiring 22 people for its secretive blockchain division The Next Web
***PRIVACY & SECURITY
Education and Science Giant Elsevier Left Users’ Passwords Exposed Online Mother Board
Watchdog: FEMA wrongly released personal data of victims Associated Press
Help may be on the way for those suffering from “password hell” Wall Street Journal (sub. req.’d)
Facebook left millions of passwords readable by employees Associated Press ***TECHNOLOGY
Better Living Through Crispr: Growing Human Organs in Pigs Wired
Everything Apple announced at its ‘show time’ event TechCrunch
***BIG DATA & AI
Big data got us here, but small data will get us the rest of the way Axios
Stanford University launches the Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Stanford
How Walmart uses graphics processing units for better demand forecasting Datanami
***PERSONAL GROWTH
No one was paying attention Becoming (my blog)
24 Common Cognitive Biases: A Visual List of the Psychological Systems Errors That Keep Us From Thinking Rationally Open Culture
***GRAMMAR
Author of grammar guide traces language love to cookie sign (video) MSNBC
***WRITING & READING
The rise of robot authors: is the writing on the wall for human novelists? The Guardian
Why Do Wite-Out and Liquid Paper Still Exist? The Atlantic
***LANGUAGE
16-Year-Old Swedish Environmental Activist, Has Been Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize Mental Floss
The man bringing dead languages back to life BBC
***LITERATURE
How 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' Became a Classic The Atlantic
Meet 10 Emerging Writers Who Just Won the 2019 Whiting Award The Cut
***GENDER
U.S. Mathematician Becomes First Woman To Win Abel Prize, 'Math's Nobel' NPR
Sports-Bra Outrage And a Fight Over Everyday Sexism Chronicle of Higher Ed
Journal Issues Revised Version of Controversial Paper That Questioned Why Some Teens Identify as Transgender Chronicle of Higher Ed
A Transgender Student Said He's Being Barred From Running For Prom King Buzzfeed News
The narrowing, but persistent, gender gap in pay Pew Research Center
***RACE & ETHNICITY ISSUES
Supreme Court Justices Seem Incredulous At Repeated Racial Bias In Jury Selection NPR
A study of nearly 100 million traffic stops: black drivers are 20% more likely to get pulled over CNN
50 Years Ago Students Shut Down This College To Demand Ethnic Studies Courses NPR
A third of the convictions overturned because of DNA involved witnesses who identified the wrong person who was of another race New York Times
Laila Lalami: ‘White supremacists target Muslims but the threat isn't taken as seriously as other forms of terror’ The Guardian
***FREE SPEECH
UC Berkeley in spotlight as Trump expected to issue campus free-speech order San Francisco Chronicle
Trump’s Free-Speech Order Could Have Been Harsher: Higher-Ed Leaders Still Don’t Approve Chronicle of Higher Ed
***LEGAL ISSUES
An academic who helped a company gather data on millions of Facebook users is suing for defamation New York Times
A coalition of 41 media organizations is urging a court to uphold a decision dismissing a professor’s defamation lawsuit Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Jeanine Pirro Beats Defamation Lawsuit From Black Lives Matter Activist Hollywood Reporter
***CRIME
Here are the stories about police misconduct uncovered so far by a new media partnership LA Times
Pregnant Behind Bars: What We Do And Don't Know About Pregnancy And Incarceration NPR
***STATISTICS
The Guardian view on statistics in sciences: gaming the (un)known (opinion) The Guardian
***RELIGION
Templeton Prize winner believes science, spirituality are complementary The Boston Pilot
Evidence of improper voting raises questions about Methodist gay clergy vote Religion News
Did John MacArthur visit the Motel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated just hours after it happened? Throckmorton Blog
‘Nones’ now as big as evangelicals, Catholics in the US Religious News Service
***RELIGION OUTSIDE THE U.S.
4 facts about religion in New Zealand Pew Research Center
China Tells Christianity To Be More Chinese Christianity Today
***ISLAM
The baffling argument that ‘Islam is not a religion’ Washington Post
Evangelicals and Muslims see similarities in faiths and favor closer ties, survey says Religious News Service
***RELIGION & FINANCES
LifeWay to Close All 170 Christian Stores Christianity Today
Christian financial planner praised by Robert Jeffress facing Ponzi scheme charges Religious News Service
***THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
395 Catholic priests, church staff accused of sex misconduct in new Chicago Sun Times
Pope Francis wants psychological testing to prevent problem priests. But can it really do that? Washington Post
West Virginia sues Catholic diocese, alleging it knowingly employed pedophiles The Hill
***RELIGION AND LGBT
Christian group drops lawsuit over Austin's LGBT protections Chronicle of Higher Ed
Google resists pressure to pull LGBT "conversion therapy" app Axios
Michigan will no longer fund adoption agencies that deny LGBT parents Washington Post
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
Secrecy surrounding briefing for ‘faith-based media’ raises eyebrows MSNBC
***GOOD NEWS
Man with Down Syndrome honored for working at same McDonald's for 27 years 11 Alive
104-year-old woman arrested BBC
Blind runner, guide dog trio makes history in NYC Half Marathon CNN
Twelve-year-old Former intensive care patient returns to play guitar for newborns Health Maters
Former wounded warrior is spending his retirement volunteering at Walter Reed The Week
Man gifts car to stranger during trade-in at El Cajon dealership 10 News
Woman Who Was Smallest Baby Born in Texas Now Works at Same Hospital People
Dad's Adopted Daughter Turns Out to Be Perfect Kidney Donor Match Inside Edition
***ART & DESIGN
The very mathematical history of a perfect color combination Wired
Sean Adams's The Designer's Dictionary of Type explains famous fonts Fast Company
9 Photo Stories That Will Challenge Your View Of The World BuzzFeed News
Web Design Trends of 2019 [Infographic] SocialMediaToday
***MUSIC
The Oral History of the Les Paul Guitar
Why music affects your productivity Quartz
What Will Happen When Machines Write Songs Just as Well as Your Favorite Musician? Mother Jones
The Case for Why Captain Beefheart's Awful Sounding Album, Trout Mask Replica, Is a True Masterpiece Open Culture
***FILM
How ‘God’s Not Dead’ Perpetuated the Modern Evangelical Victim Narrative (opinion) Relevant Magazine
***STUDENT MEDIA
USC's Student Newspaper Published A Brutal Editorial About The Cheating Scandal LAist
***STUDENT LIFE
Poll: 74% of parents admit to making appointments for their adult children KTVU
New data shows more than half of young people in America don't have a romantic partner Washington Post
***VIDEO GAMES
How Designers Engineer Luck Into Video Games Nautil
Google Unveils Plan for Video Games Streaming Service Hollywood Reporter
***FREELANCE WRITING
Writers for love & sex short fiction platform of Slide Stories
Freelance reporters with an interest in state/local policy based in West Coast or Midwest Stateline.org
Freelance pitches on Asian American / Pacific Islander issues Hyphen Magazine
Emergent science and technology story pitches Futurism
Freelance pitches The North Star
Four paid fellowships Mother Jones
Freelance writer (night+weekend Gizmodo (remote)
***SOCIAL ISSUES
US government uses several black-site shelters to detain immigrant children Reveal
California Wildfire Survivors Say They’re Living In Dire Conditions And There’s Little Help Buzzfeed News
Canada’s becoming a tech hub thanks to Donald Trump immigration policies Reddit
Border Patrol Detained a 9-Year-Old U.S. Citizen for Over a Day on Her Way to School NBC-7
Wellbeing Inequality May Tell Us More About Life Than Income Gallup
***BUSINESS & FINANCE
The lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are aiming at Realtors and their 6% fee MarketWatch
Google, Facebook Scammed For More Than $100 Million In Fake Invoices Media Post
Boeing is doing crisis management all wrong – here’s what a company needs to do to restore the public’s trust The Conversation
***ENVIRONMENT
16-Year-Old Swedish Environmental Activist, Has Been Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize Mental Floss
Shocking autopsy photos show toll of plastic waste on dead whale The Guardian
Adidas Sold 1 Million Eco-Friendly Shoes Made from Ocean Plastic, Plans 11 Million More The Epoch Times
Finland is offering free trips to people in need of happiness lessons Tree Hugger
West Virginia industry group successfully argues the state doesn’t need new clean-water standards because the obese population can tolerate higher levels of cancer-causing chemicals Sustainability Times
The insect apocalypse is not here but there are reasons for concern Economist
***HEALTH
Daily Aspirin to Prevent Heart Attacks No Longer Recommended NBC4 Washington
My Friend’s Cancer Taught Me About a Hole in Our Health System New York Times
***HEALTH: VACCINES
Her son died. And then anti-vaxers attacked her CNN
Why the Washington measles outbreak is mostly affecting one specific group Box
Measles Rages in Brooklyn as Some Yeshivas Defy Vaccine Rule The Daily Beast
One Doctor Is Responsible for a Third of All Medical Vaccine Exemptions in San Diego Voice of San Diego
Kentucky Gov. says he intentionally exposed kids to chicken pox instead of giving them vaccine ABC News
5 facts about vaccines in the U.S. Pew Research Center
Why anti-vaxxer mobs go after pro-vaccine doctors online — and what to do about it Mashable
***FOOD
Celery was once as sexy as kale Quartz
***PARENTING
Forget helicopter parents, snowplow parents are killing kids' life skills USA Today
How parents feel about – and manage – their teens’ online behavior and screen time Pew Research Center
***ANIMALS
The 10 Most Popular Puppy Names of 2019 Mental Floss
Man jumps shirtless into frozen Irvington, New York, lake to rescue stranded dogs abc7ny.com
***SCIENCE
Philosophy of Biology: Philosophical bias is the one bias that science cannot avoid eLife
Public confidence in scientists has remained stable for decades Pew Research Center
***PSYCHOLOGY
Here’s A Breakdown Of The 6 Core Emotions We Feel Daily Infographic
How the Brain Links Gestures, Perception and Meaning Quantam
***NEUROSCIENCE
People don't become 'adults' until their 30s, says neuroscientist BBC
Neuroscience proves Nietzsche right: some people are wired to be more spontaneous than others The Conversation
***PHILOSOPHY
Oxford's Free Course Critical Reasoning For Beginners Teaches You to Think Like a Philosopher Open Culture
Philosophers and neuroscientists join forces to see whether science can solve the mystery of free will Science Mag
***ETHICS
Microsoft will be adding AI ethics to its standard checklist for product release Geekwire
***RESEARCH
Peer reviewed studies soon to be replaced by CAPS LOCK The Science Post
University of Illinois at Chicago Missed Warning Signs of Research Going Awry, Letters Show ProPublica
Error vs. Fraud in Research Medium
We need to relearn how to play nice in peer review University Affairs
Five Article-Writing Mistakes and How to Fix Them The Professor is in
Are Papers with Open Data More Credible? International Conference on Information Springer
Duke University to Pay $112.5 Million to Settle Claims of Research Misconduct New York Times
***HIGHER ED
The Deeper Education Issue Under the College Bribery Scandal Wired
The Growing Crisis of Guns on Campus The New Republic
***HUMANITIES
The Humanities and the Future Scientific American Blog Network
What majoring in the humanities can teach us The Independent Florida Alligator
***TEACHING
Hitler was a ‘good leader,’ guest speaker tells N.J. students. School says it won’t happen again NJ.com
Many Professors Want to Change Their Teaching but Don’t. One University Found Out Why Chronicle of Higher Ed
Trigger Warnings May Not Do Much, Early Studies Suggest New York Times
***ACADEMIC LIFE
Professor in Prostitution Sting Says He Was Doing 'Research' KAAL-TV
Did Utah professor confess to viewing child porn to class? Desert News
No one was paying attention
/Hazel Motes walked along down town close to the store fronts but not looking in them. The black sky was underpinned with long silver streaks that looked like scaffolding and depth on depth behind it were thousands of stars that all seemed to be moving very slowly as if they were about some vast construction work that involved the whole universe and would take all time to complete. No one was paying attention to the sky. The stores…stayed open on Thursday nights so that people could have an extra opportunity to see what was for sale.
Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood
(Born March 25, 1925)
the tragic fate of most individuals
/The whole life of the individual is nothing but the process of giving birth to himself; indeed, we should be fully born, when we die, although it is the tragic fate of most individuals to die before they are born. -Erich Fromm (born March 23, 1900)
Plenty of reason for doubt, anger and sadness
/All of us — whatever our natural serotonin level — look around us and see plenty of reason for doubt, anger and sadness. A child dies, a woman is abused, a schoolyard becomes a killing field, a typhoon sweeps away the innocent. If we knew or felt the whole of human suffering, we would drown in despair. By all objective evidence, we are arrogant animals, headed for the extinction that is the way of all things. We imagine that we are like gods, and still drop dead like flies on the windowsill.
The answer to the temptation of nihilism is not an argument — though philosophy can clear away a lot of intellectual foolishness. It is the experience of transcendence we cannot explain, or explain away. It is the fragments of love and meaning that arrive out of the blue — in beauty that leaves a lump in your throat, in the peace and ordered complexity of nature, in the shadow and shimmer of a cathedral, in the unexplained wonder of existence itself.
Michael Gerson, published in the Washington Post
Look for the helpers
/When I was a boy and would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." To this day, especially in times of "disaster" I remember my mother's words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers-so many caring people. – Fred Rogers (Mister Rogers, born March 20, 1928)
Articles of Interest - March 18
/***JOURNALISM
Why Trump, in the era of fake news, is fueling journalism majors Roll Call
Fox News’ Shep Smith: 'History will poorly reflect' on journalists 'who intentionally misinform' The Hill
How the Seattle Times used a breaking news approach on enterprise reporting Better News
NYTimes Reporter Gets Bogus Defamation Lawsuit Dismissed As Judge Philosophizes About SLAPP Suits Tech Dirt
***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM
The New York Times Is Planning to Experiment With Blockchain Publishing Coindesk
Decline in readers, ads leads hundreds of newspapers to fold Associated Press
Facebook enters the news desert battle, trying to find enough local news for its Today In feature Nieman Lab
***TECHNOLOGY
Google is reportedly shutting down its in-house VR film studio Tech Crunch
Denver will allow smartphone voting for thousands of people Denver Post
You will soon be able to pay your subway fare with your face in China South China Morning Post
***BIG DATA & AI
No, scientists didn’t just “reverse time” with a quantum computer MIT Tech Review
The NSA makes open source its cybersecurity tool Ghidra Wired
Some scientists are arguing that the latest techniques in machine learning and AI represent a fundamentally new way of doing science Quanta Magazine
How Artificial Intelligence Could Transform Medicine New York Times
***SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter reveals big changes to conversations and new camera features NBC News
Can Too Much Time Online Make You Depressed? NPR
'Distracted boyfriend' couple star in Hungary pro-family ads BBC
The Hottest Chat App for Teens Is Google Docs The Atlantic
Facebook Can Make VR Avatars Look—and Move—Exactly Like You Wired
Facebook's sloppy data-sharing deals might be criminal Wired
***PRIVACY & SECURITY
Facial recognition's 'dirty little secret': Millions of online photos scraped without consent NBC News
Scientific American: The Internet Knows You Better Than Your Spouse Does Scientific American
Privacy-focused DuckDuckGo Now on Chrome as a Default Search Option Digital Trends
Facebook faces fresh questions over when it knew of data harvesting The Guardian
***PRIVACY & GOOGLE
What Google Knows About You Axios
Google Quietly Adds Search Engine Privacy Option To Chrome - Here's How To Enable It Forbes
***PRODUCING MEDIA
Calendars might be the next great online publishing tool Poynter
***INTERNET
At age 30, World Wide Web is 'not the web we wanted' ABC News
50 Years of the Internet: What we Learned & Where we are going next Tech Crunch
***PERSONAL GROWTH
The Value of Community Becoming (my blog)
Sorry to bother you, but do you say “sorry” too much? What to say instead Ted Ideas
***WRITING & READING
Publisher withdraws Derek Thomas’ Acts commentary due to plagiarism by the Presbyterian Pastor World Magazine
Public demand apology from artist at center of plagiarism scandal Global Times
***LANGUAGE
Mistakes are the engine of language’s evolution Economist
How ‘F’ Sounds Might Break a Fundamental Rule of Linguistics The Atlantic
***LITERATURE
Why should you read Sylvia Plath? (video) TED-Ed
***GENDER
If "Guys" Is Problematic, "Ya'll" Is Problematic Too The Stranger
The share of women in legislatures around the world is growing, but they are still underrepresented Pew Research Center
***RACE & ETHNICITY ISSUES
Black editor steps down from Alabama newspaper that called for KKK to ‘ride again’ AL.com
Mastermind Behind College Admission Scam Reportedly Faked Ethnicity of Students On Applications BET
***FREE SPEECH
Court: Flipping the bird to cop is free speech Washington Post
How Businesses Are Testing the Limits of Free Speech Wharton
***LEGAL ISSUES
Timbs v. Indiana: Supreme Court on Policing for Profit The Atlantic
Who Owns a Meme? A legal battle over Fortnite raises many questions without clear answers One Zero
'Star Trek'/Dr. Seuss Mashup Deemed Copyright Fair Use by Judge Hollywood Reporter
Two Examples of How Courts Interpret Emojis Technology & Marketing Law Blog
***LEGAL ISSUES: DEFAMATION
Tweet Containing Question Mark Isn’t Defamatory Technology & Marketing Law Blog
Tennessee high court rules for reporter in defamation suit ABC News
Nicholas Sandmann’s legal case against CNN is basically “MAGA” Slate
***CRIME
Public regularly denied access to police officer videos Associated Press
AI is being used to predict crime and send people to jail, but it could be just as biased as humans CNBC
***RELIGION
The Gospel Coalition, pastor CJ Mahoney and Sexual Abuse (opinion) Medium
Teen suspended after posting Bible verses around school, district says there's more to the story WLWT
Survey: Faith groups maintain widespread support for LGBT protection laws National Catholic Reporter
Inside Denver's International Church of Cannabis Cosmopolitan
Giant underwater Jesus draws hundreds to frozen Lake Michigan Fox News
Belief in aliens could be America’s next religion The Outline
***RELIGION OUTSIDE THE U.S.
China official says West using Christianity to undermine country Reuters
Meet Romania's very internet-savvy witch community Wired
***RELIGION AND MONEY
Bible signed by Trump fetches $325 on eBay Fox News
Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability suspends Chicago-area megachurch Religious News Service
ECFA appears to lack meaningful oversight of members’ financies (opinion) The Throckmorton Blog
***THE MOSQUE ATTACK IN NZ
People Leaving Flowers at Mosques After Christchurch Attack TIME
Sikhs In New Zealand Are Helping Victims Of Shooting With Free Langars StoryPick
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
Evangelical approval of Trump remains high, but other religious groups are less supportive Pew Research Center
***GOOD NEWS
Egg Boy' to donate money raised for him towards victims of Christchurch attack New Zealand Herald
New Jersey teen overcomes homelessness, gets accepted to 17 colleges CNN
The "Trashtag Challenge" Is A Wonderful Viral Trend That Has People Picking Up Trash Everywhere BuzzFeed News
You got this!’: Mom who beat stage 4 pancreatic cancer writes open letter to Alex Trebek FOX-8
Chess Champion 8 year old Homeless Refugee New York Times
***REALLY?!
Loose cow ends up at Chick-fil-a following police chase Tribune Media Wire
Sons prank dad with giant billboard for birthday, prompting calls from around the world FOX 4 Kansas City
50 years after graduation, University of Michigan alum receives congratulatory telegram Michigan Live
Vermont town elects goat named Lincoln as its honorary mayor Associated Press
Slovenian woman's hand sawn off 'in insurance fraud' BBC News
***ART & DESIGN
If Your Favorite Typefaces Were Celebrities Medium
Healing the Healers: Art among physicians Forbes
***MUSIC
Tom Odell: “I couldn’t make the music I make today without having learned music theory” Music Radar
The BBC cutting Late Junction is a blow for experimental music The Guardian
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT
Senate easily approves bill giving sex abuse victims more time to sue Politico
Gallup Survey: ewer men say sexual harassment in the workplace is major problem The Hill
Women in Economics Report Rampant Sexual Assault and Bias New York Times
***SOCIAL ISSUES
The College Scam Is Exposing All the Legal Ways Rich People Game Society VICE
11 death penalty states haven’t used it in a decade or more Pew Research Center
What the college admissions scandal reveals about the psychology of wealth in America Vox
***BUSINESS & FINANCE
***ENVIRONMENT
A relatively painless guide to cutting plastic out of your life Fast Company
Where Will Your Plastic Trash Go Now That China Doesn't Want It? NPR
***HEALTH
Being a couch potato 'bad for the memory of over-50s' BBC
How to Negotiate Down Your Hospital Bills The Atlantic
Brain wave stimulation may improve Alzheimer’s symptoms MIT News
Electronic Health Records' Side Effects: Fraud, Burnout And Headaches NPR
***TRAVEL
See Photos of This Year's California Super Bloom Travel + Leisure
25 Healthy Travel Airplane Snacks to Keep In Your Carry-On Women’s Day
***FOOD
Good enough to eat? The toxic truth about modern food The Guardian
The Most Popular Pie in Every State ChowHound
***PARENTING
How Parents Are Robbing Their Children of Adulthood New York Times
Parents Are Only Happy with Kids When They Can Afford Them Fatherly
***RELATIONSHIPS
How People Meet Their Partners FlowingData
Why millennials are writing contracts for their relationships Washington Post
***ANIMALS
A Couple Created Good Boy, A Line Of Beer Your Dog Can Drink Delish
Barking drones used on farms instead of sheep dogs Radio NZ
Snoop The Dog Is Loving Life In New Home After Being Abandoned LADbible
Georgetown’s Kitten Lounge makes the cat cafe around the corner seem like old mews The Washington Post
Viral cat videos and the man who watches thousands of them BBC
***SCIENCE
Science tends to be presented as a firmly established epistemological method: but it isn't Medium
Brain wave stimulation may improve Alzheimer’s symptoms MIT News
***PSYCHOLOGY
Why Do People Believe in Pseudoscience? Gizmodo
Study: One in Six U.S. Children Has a Mental Illness American Assoc of Family Physicians
***NEUROSCIENCE
Forgetting Uses More Brain Power Than Remembering UT News
Can a Neuroscience Video Game Treat ADHD? Ed Surge
***ETHICS
Moratorium On Gene-Edited Babies Urged By Leading Geneticists NPR
The seven moral rules that supposedly unite humanity Quartz
The Larger Lie Beyond the College Admissions Bribery Case TIME
***RESEARCH
University College Dublin issues apology after computer science students were sent email asking to help develop sex consent app The Journal.ie
Continued Citation of Retracted Radiation Oncology Literature—Do We Have a Problem? Int Journal of Radiation Oncology
Even the head of $6M liver study doesn’t know what’s going on at San Diego VA Inewsource
How to write a good scientific paper Brunel University London The Journal
Improving the peer review process: a proposed market system Scientometrics
Should journals become more like content curators? ResearchResearch
Ten myths around open scholarly publishing PeerJ
The systemic problem behind the rise of retractions Perspectives on Behavior Science
***HIGHER ED
Celebrities among 50 charged in college admissions scam for unworthy kids, prosecutors say Vice
College Access And Inequality NPR
The U. of Southern California Is on the Rise. Why Is It a Hotbed of Scandal? Chronicle of Higher Ed
***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
Azusa Pacific University lifts LGBTQ relationship ban (again) San Gabriel Valley Tribune
PCUSA’s only seminary in Western US to become part of nonsectarian Calif University Christian Post
***TEACHING
Research scholars to air problems with using 'grit' at school The Hechinger Report
***STUDENT MEDIA
Students At UCLA Weigh In On College Admissions Scandal With 'Daily Bruin' Editorial NPR
***STUDENT LIFE
No One Asks the Top CEOs Where They Went to College Bloomberg
Orange County, Calif., School District Responds To Students' Offensive Social Media NPR
Millennials really are special, data show Washington Post
***ACADEMIC LIFE
Popular alternative-academic career platform owned by foundation behind the admissions scheme Inside Higher Ed
FBI: Former assistant planned to kill professor with ax Associated Press
Adjunct faculty at Elon University vote to unionize Greensboro
The Value of Community
/I used to think that community was as simple as having friends who bring a lasagna when things fall apart and champagne when things go well. Who pick up your kids from school when you can’t. But I think community is also an insurance policy against life’s cruelty; a kind of immunity against loss and disappointment and rage. My community will be here for my family if I cannot be. And if I die, my kids will be surrounded people who know and love them, quirks and warts and oddities and all.
Jenny Anderson writing in Quartz