Ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
Stephen Goforth
Success spares you from the shame you might experience if you feel yourself a failure, but career success alone does not provide positive peace or fulfillment. If you build your life around it, your ambitions will always race out in front of what you’ve achieved, leaving you anxious and dissatisfied.
David Brooks writing in The New York Times
Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos. -Mary Shelley
People envision outcomes so outstanding that their expectations become more intimidating than inspirational. "It's like you're practicing the high jump, and when you set the bar too high, you look at it, and you walk away," says John Perry, an emeritus professor of philosophy at Stanford. "Perfectionists aren't people who do something perfectly. Perfectionists are people who fantasize about doing something perfectly."
At its core, procrastination represents shoddy treatment of the one person who should matter most to you: the future you. Resolving not to do some odious task today makes procrastinators feel good. Then they predict they'll feel just as good tomorrow, which will make the task easier. Of course, the next day they feel worse, which makes the task harder and the stress greater. Homer Simpson summed it up neatly: "That's a problem for future Homer. Man, I don't envy that guy."
Leigh Buchanan writing in Inc.
Accent marks: Accent marks can now be used with people’s names when they ask for it, are known to use them or if quoting from a language that uses them.
Casualties: Avoid the word because it is vague and can refer to either injuries or deaths. Instead, be specific.
Cocktail: Don’t use in reference to a mixture of drugs. Instead, use "drug combination" or simply drugs or medications.
Data: Now takes a singular verb and pronoun except in academic and scientific papers. In data journalism contexts: The data is sound. However, in scientific and academic writing, plural verbs and pronouns are preferred.
Hyphens: No longer use hyphens for African American, Filipino American, and compounds as “third-grade teacher” and “chocolate-chip cookie.” When using compound adjectives formed with “well” (suspensive hyphenation) such as well known, well fed, well dressed, hyphenate before the noun but not after. Do not use a hyphen with double-“E” combinations such as “preelection,” “preeminent,” “preempt,” “reenter,” etc.
Latinx: The use of gender-neutral Latinx “should be confined to quotations, names of organizations or descriptions of individuals who request it and should be accompanied by a short explanation.
Marijuana: Pot or cannabis is OK on the second reference. Dispensary employees are budtenders.
Percentage: The percentage sign is OK to use with a numeral (no space between) instead of writing out “percent” or “percentage.” Example: “His mortgage rate is 4.75%.” For amounts less than 1%, precede the decimal with a zero: Example: “The cost of living rose 0.6%.”
In the early part of the 20th century, a common rendering was “per cent.,” two words with a period after the “cent,” possibly because it was abbreviating the Italian “per cento.” The first formal AP stylebook, in 1953, called for “per cent,” and that stuck at least through the 1970 stylebook. By 1977, though, it had come together as “percent.” That’s common in the United States, though British English leans towards “per cent.”
Merrill Perlman writing in the Columbia Journalism Review
Race: Whether a subject is black or white need not be reported unless it’s pertinent to the story. Avoid calling someone “a black” or “a white.” Limit the use of the terms “blacks” and “whites” as plurals. Black and white are acceptable as adjectives when relevant.
Racism: OK to use “racist” or “racism” instead of euphemisms like "racially charged."
(sic): Do not use (sic) to show that quoted material or person’s words include a misspelling, incorrect grammar or peculiar usage. If it has to be explained, explain it outside the quotation, or just paraphrase the quotation.
Split infinitives: OK to use. Avoid awkward constructions (to leave, to help, etc.) or compound forms (had left, are found out, etc.).
Suspect: Avoid when talking about a person of unknown identity who committed a crime. Correct: Police said the robber stole 14 diamond rings; the thief ran away. Incorrect: Police said the suspect stole 14 diamond rings; the suspect ran away. Correct: Police arrested the suspect the next day. Incorrect: Police arrested the robber the next day.
More info:
A full list of the changes here.
Previewing a new edition of the AP Stylebook
AP Stylebook update: It’s OK to call something racist when it’s racist Poynter
AP says the percentage sign now OK when used with a numeral (that’s shift+5) Poynter
***JOURNALISM
Remembering Nellie Bly, Rabblerouser and Pioneer of Investigative Journalism Mental Floss
40 Years After 'Star Wars' Error, Newspaper Apologizes To Wookiee Community NPR
How German journalists are using Snapchat to teach teens about the Holocaust Washington Post
***PRESS FREEDOM DAY
On the eve of World Press Freedom Day, yet another journalist is killed in Mexico Washington Post
World Press Freedom Day Interview with Laura Ling StoryHunter
***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM
“We’re drinking now”: The oldest newspaper in New Orleans just fired its entire staff Vice
Public Relations Jobs Boom as Buffett Sees Newspapers Dying Bloomberg
***FAKE NEWS
The existential crisis plaguing online extremism researchers Wired
Why we are addicted to conspiracy theories The Guardian
***STUDENT MEDIA
On Their Last Day, Student Newspaper Editors Cover a Shooting on Their Campus Charlotte Magazine
Profile of student porn worker allowed to run in Stockton high school newspaper LA Times
***TECHNOLOGY
The 25 Most Absurd Job Titles In Tech CBI Insights
Editing Genes To Change Human Traits Is A Tall Order NPR
How a Google Street View image of your house predicts your risk of a car accident MIT Tech Review
***BIG DATA & AI
Rocket Lab launches 3 experimental military satellites into space for the Defense Department Axios
A company scammed NASA for nearly two decades and cost them two satellites Bloomberg
Looking at how machine learning and artificial intelligence are affecting IT Tech Republic
A new realm of legal exposure for writing code Wired
The basic differences between artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science Code Mentor
***SOCIAL MEDIA
Inside The AOC Meme Machine: fans and enemies alike are inventing a new kind of politics BuzzFeed News
Twitter now lets you add GIFs to retweets Cnet
Hundreds Have Died In Selfie-Related Deaths Since 2011 NPR
Facebook debuts new look and features to help move past 'old issues' CNN
Facebook's AI problems Wired
***PRIVACY & SECURITY
Your phone isn’t really spying on your conversations—the truth might be even creepier Quartz
7 Simple Ways to Protect Your Digital Privacy New York Times
***INTERNET
Putin signs law to create an independent Russian internet CNN
How to stay productive when there's no internet Popular Science
The dark web is smaller, and may be less dangerous, than we think Tech Republic
***PERSONAL GROWTH
How to Grieve Becoming (my blog)
***GRAMMAR
Credit card fraud suspects nabbed over careless typo New York Post
Microsoft debuts Ideas in Word, a grammar and style suggestions tool powered by AI Venture Beat
5 sites for checking your grammar Komando
***WRITING & READING
“Are there cross-cultural differences in plagiarism SSRN
***LITERATURE
How SparkNotes' social media accounts mastered the art of meme-ing literature Mashable
Four books by Asian American authors republished as Penguin Classics NBC News
Classic Children’s Books Now Digitized and Put Online Smithsonian
Wikipedia edit-a-thon wants to fill in the gaps in Asian American literature NBC News
Young adult literature lacks diverse authors The Signal
***POETRY
Poetry Saved my Life: Indiana Poets are healing and connecting with their communities Indy Star
2019 Poetry Out Loud National Champion: Isabella Callery National Endowment for the Arts
Google's poetry algorithm automates teen angst Engadget
***GENDER
Some States Still Shield Spouses From Prosecution When They Rape Their Partners NPR
***RACE & ETHNICITY ISSUES
Sociologist who studies whiteness is again in trouble for his comments about race Inside Higher Ed
The gap between the number of blacks and whites in prison is shrinking Pew Research Center
She’s Asian and female: But she’s not me The Washington Post
Senseless hate': the far right's deep roots in southern California The Guardian
Expelled in 1956, Black Woman Gets Doctorate At U of Alabama Afro
Colorism in High Fashion Pudding
Doane U suspends library director over exhibit that included 1920s-era students in blackface Inside Higher Ed
OU graduate suing university over gender discrimination News-9
***RELIGION
Rachel Held Evans, popular Christian writer, dies at 37 CNN
Died: Warren Wiersbe, Preachers’ Favorite Bible Commentator Christianity Today
'Hail Satan?' review: Taking on the Christian nation, the devil's way Chicago Tribune
Landlord ordered to pay $675,000 for refusing to lease to Muslims KCBD
With high levels of prayer, U.S. is an outlier among wealthy nations Pew Research Center
Harvest Bible Chapel says no tithes or severance will go to former senior pastor who was fired Chicago Tribune
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
Pete Buttigieg went to Jimmy Carter's Sunday school class and the former president invited him to read from the Bible Business Insider
U.S. Jews are more likely than Christians to say Trump favors the Israelis too much Pew Research Center
***GOOD NEWS
Waving great-granny gets Valentine's Day surprise from Comox Valley teens CBC News
Chicagoan pulled over to help at an accident scene—ends up saving lives by getting donated organs to the hospital Chicago Tribune
***ART & DESIGN
Type in the digital era is a mess Fast Company
The best of National Geographic's 2019 Travel Photo Contest (so far) The Atlantic
What Is Performance Art?: We Explain It with Video Introductions and Classic Performances Open Culture
The Insane History of Natural Pigments Daily Infographic
***MUSIC
2019 Billboard Music Awards Winners: The Complete List Billboard
Elizabeth Cotten Wrote “Freight Train” at 11, Won a Grammy at 90, and Changed American Music In-Between Open Culture
***FILM
Spoilers have been infuriating people since Victorian Times Quartz
The Absolute Best Documentaries on Netflix Thrillist
***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA
Broadcasting giant Sinclair to buy 21 regional sports stations from Disney for $10B CNBC
***STUDENT LIFE
Tuition or Dinner? Nearly Half of College Students Surveyed in a New Report Are Going Hungry New York Times
Predatory Journals Can Wreak Havoc a Student’s Wallet and Tarnish their Professional Reputation The Runner
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT
In lopsided vote, U.S. science academy backs move to eject sexual harassers Science Mag
Sexual Assault Within Military Is On The Rise NPR
Want to know how to handle a Me Too-related incident and related public relations snafu? Don't ask the Society for American Archaeology Inside Higher Ed
***SOCIAL ISSUES
Alabama Abortion Law Could Become Most Restrictive In The Country NPR
What Happened After My 13-Year-Old Son Joined the Alt-Right Washingtonian
***BUSINESS & FINANCE
A 'miracle' healing gel, a cult-like following, and a fiercely protected empire The Guardian
Where U.S. Housing Costs Hurt the Most CityLab
The big business of loneliness Vox
What the Science Says about Meeting Agendas Linkedin
Australian company bans working on Wednesdays BBC
***CHINA
Manspreading on the Beijing subway could give you bad social credit Abacus News
Chinese Noodle feast wins top prize for Food Photographer of the Year 2019 BBC
China Detains Hundreds Of Thousands Of Muslims In 'Training Centers' NPR
***ENVIRONMENT
Rural Students To Join In Classroom Walkout Over Climate Change NPR
An autistic teenager from Sweden is trying to shame adults into action on climate change The Week
Maine becomes the first state to ban Styrofoam CNN
Faceless Killer: The Invisible Threat of Air Pollution (book review) Undark
***HEALTH
Scientists Identify New Type of Brain Degeneration That Mimics Alzheimer's TIME
Stanford discovery validates chronic fatigue syndrome San Francisco Chronicle
Popular e-cigarette products contaminated with bacterial and fungal toxins, study finds NBC News
For Patients With Memory Loss, Working Towards Better Diagnosis Undark
***HEALTH: PREVENTATIVE
Unscreen chemicals soak all the way into your bloodstream Wired
Why some doctors are prescribing a day in the park or a walk on the beach for good health The Conversation
Is Conference Room Air Making You Dumber? New York Times
***VACCINES
Dengue Vaccine Controversy In The Philippines NPR
Amid Measles Outbreaks, States Consider Revoking Religious Vaccine Exemptions NPR
***TRAVEL
Romano Tours SNL
Thousands of Fireflies Will Create a Spectacular Light Show in the Great Smoky Mountains Afar
How to Avoid Getting Bumped From a Flight Life Hacker
***SPORTS & GAMES
'Uno' wants you to stop pulling this illegal, but diabolical move Mashable
***FOOD
Eating More Rice Could Help Fight Obesity, Study Suggests Bloomberg
The 31 best Mexican restaurants in America Thrillist
***ANIMALS
Teen cat whisperer recognized for clocking nearly 1,900 hours of dedication to feline friends WBAL-TV
Why Are There So Many Books About Dogs? New York Times
***SCIENCE
Side-By-Side ‘Genetic Portraits’ Of Family Members Show Just How Strong Family DNA Is Bored Panda
An immersive game in which teams solve science puzzles to unlock a mystery New York Times
***NEUROSCIENCE
How to Memorize an Entire Chapter from “Moby Dick”: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything Open Culture
What Neuroscience Can Teach Us About the Mascots We Love and Hate Adweek
***PRODUCTIVITY
How Exercise Affects Our Memory New York Times
The 6 best productivity podcasts for women The Ladders
***RESEARCH
The Great Science Publishing Scandal (podcast) BBC
It is ever appropriate to use immorally acquired medical and scientific Science Direct
Scientific journal snubs academic over Sleeping Beauty metaphor The Guardian
Facebook gives social scientists unprecedented access to its user data Nature
***HIGHER ED
Esteemed judge to investigate claims against ASU economics department KTAR
Five Staff Resign Without Discipline after Violating Title IX Policy The Triton
An Expensive Startup Journey comes to an end: Wiley to Acquire Knewton’s Assets Edsurge
Mike Pence stirs controversy over plans for commencement speech at Christian university in Indiana USA Today
TD Jakes launches nonaccredited divinity school Christian Post
***LEARNING OUTCOMES
Study of student learning outcomes Inside Higher Ed
Study Analyzes Student Learning Outcome Statements and Assessments Diverse Education
***ACADEMIC LIFE
13 Yale Professors Threatened to Resign From Ethnic Studies: The University Listened The Chronicle of Higher Education
Contrary to received wisdom graduates from prestigious institutions aren’t more productive Chemistry World
Former Dean Files $25 Million Defamation Lawsuit in Rankings Dispute Inside Higher Ed
There are recovery programs for people grieving the loss of a parent, sibling, or spouse. You can buy books on how to cope with the death of a beloved pet or work through the anguish of a miscarriage. We speak openly with one another about the bereavement that can accompany a layoff, a move, a diagnosis, or a dream deferred. But no one really teaches you how to grieve the loss of your faith. You’re on your own for that.
Rachel Held Evans, Searching for Sunday
In order to live totally, we must face death totally. -Eugene Peterson
“We all know the phrase ‘Yes, but’ really means ‘No, and here’s why you’re wrong’,” says Rob Kendall, author of Workstorming. A conversation expert, Kendall sits in on other people’s meetings as an observer. The phrase “Yes, but” is one of the classic warning signs that you’re in an unwinnable conversation, he says. “If you hear it three or more times in one discussion, it’s a sign that you’re going nowhere.” Kendall advises shifting the conversation by asking the other person “What’s needed here?” or, even better, “What do you need?” “It takes you from what I call ‘blamestorming’ to a solution-focused outcome.”
Rosie Ifould writing in The Guardian
Impending death gives permission to feel, to let go, to recognize what’s important.
There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to come by. A life of good days lived in the senses is not enough. The life of sensation is the life of greed; it requires more and more. The life of the spirit requires less and less; time is ample and its passage sweet. Who would call a day spent reading a good day? But a life spent reading — that is a good life.
Annie Dillard, The Writing Life
(Born April 30, 1945)
***TECHNOLOGY
The Machine That Reads Your Mind (Kinda) and Talks (Sorta) Wired
Tiny robots powered by magnetic fields could help drug-delivery nanoparticles reach their Targets MIT
In 1983, This Bell Labs Computer Was the First Machine to Become a Chess Master IEEE Spectrum
Amazon is testing a Spanish Language Alexa Experience Tech Crunch
***BIG DATA & AI
Startups are racing to commercialize DeepFakes’s powerful, internet-breaking AI Fast Company
3 startups commercializing Deepfakes media manipulation tech Fast Company
How to prepare for a career in machine learning and artificial intelligence Tech Republic
Artificial Intelligence VS Machine Learning VS Data Science Code Mentor
How to hide from everyday surveillance cameras in the AI surveillance state MIT Tech Review
Walmart takes a deep dive into artificial intelligence in its physical store Associated Press
***SOCIAL MEDIA
CIA is officially on Instagram ABC News
TikTok's quirky videos can nab you your 15 seconds of fame Cnet
Kidfluencers’ are earning millions on social media, but who owns that money? The Guardian
How Americans use Twitter: Key takeaways from our new study Pew Research Center
LA’s plan to reboot its bus system—using cell phone data Wired
Facebook never delivered its "Clear History" feature BoingBoing
How Fox News dominates Facebook in the Trump era Vice
The rise and fall of Facebook’s memory economy Wired
***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA
Sinclair plots national expansion Axios
Vice Media Restructures, Folds 'Noisy,' 'Broadly,' 'Tonic' Into Flagship Site MediaPost
***JOURNALISM
27 incredibly useful things you didn’t know Google Sheets could do Fast Company
Study: Journalists need help covering misinformation Poynter
Counteracting Health Misinformation: A Role for Medical Journals? JAMA Network
Reporters Committee, NBC 7 San Diego sue U.S. immigration agencies for violating FOIA Reporters Committee For Freedom of the Press
A 101 on machine learning in the newsroom Columbia Journalism Review
Andrew Yang, the most meme-able 2020 candidate, also wants to save journalism Harvard’s Nieman Lab
***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM
A doorbell company owned by Amazon wants to start producing “crime news” Harvard’s Nieman Lab
Smart Speaker Use Is Growing. Will News Grow With It? Harvard’s Nieman Lab
***FAKE NEWS
Students Fall for Misinformation Online: Is Teaching Them to Read Like Fact Checkers the Solution? Chronicle of Higher Education
6 Conspiracy Theories Promoted By OANN, Trump’s New Favorite ‘News’ Outlet Hill Reporter
After Trump calls media "fakers," WHCA president slams "unpresidential" rhetoric Axios
Fake Video: World Leaders Sing Imagine YouTube
***PRIVACY & SECURITY
Millions using 123456 as password, security study finds BBC
How Big Tech’s cozy relationship with Ireland threatens data privacy around the world Politico
Google knows everywhere you go — here's how to stop it from tracking you and delete the logs CNBC
***PRODUCING MEDIA
A new startup helps podcasts get promoted on other podcasts The Verge
Overcast Podcast Player Gains Audio and Video Clip-Sharing Feature Mac Rumors
***INTERNET
How healthy is the internet? Mozilla
Google Inbox’s co-creator wants to fix Gmail with a new Chrome extension The Verge
This map showing the fastest and slowest internet speeds in the US could predict the path of a Silicon Valley startup exodus Business Insider
The 4 Questions to Ask before You Unplug Jstor
***PERSONAL GROWTH
When Are You Really an Adult? Becoming (my blog)
How to Actually, Truly Focus on What You’re Doing New York Times
***GRAMMAR
Merriam-Webster adds 640 new words to its English dictionary Merriam-Webster
***WRITING & READING
Routine Over Talent: The Interesting Habits Of 11 Famous Writers Minutes Magazine
The story of handwriting in 12 objects BBC
The Numbers on Romance novels Quartz
***LANGUAGE
Foreign languages ought to be an asset for politicians—not a liability Economist
Over 400 languages spoken today may have originated in northern China New Scientist
***LITERATURE
Hear J.R.R. Tolkien Read from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in Vintage Recordings from the Early 1950s Open Culture
White nationalists interrupt Antiracist Book Festival at Politics and Prose WTOP
Harper Lee, true crime writer CBS News
***GENDER
‘I Want What My Male Colleague Has, and That Will Cost a Few Million Dollars’ New York Times
Wife-tracking apps are one sign of Saudi Arabia’s vile regime The Guardian
***RACE & ETHNICITY ISSUES
The racial bias built into photography New York Times
Is there a trade-off between racial diversity and academic excellence in gifted classrooms? Hechinger Report
***LEGAL ISSUES
Chalking tires to enforce parking rules is unconstitutional, court finds NBC News
Quest for food stamp data lands newspaper at Supreme Court Associated Press
Roy Moore Is Still Fighting In Court With Sacha Baron Cohen As He Eyes Another Senate Run BuzzFeed News
***LEGAL ISSUES: COPYRIGHT
A US photographer could lose some or all of a $450,000 jury award Bloomberg Law
Court reverses misguided fair use ruling Photo District News
Photographer Sues for Failure to Provide Creative Commons-Required Attribution Technology & Marketing Law Blog
***CRIME
We found 85,000 cops who’ve been investigated for misconduct: Now you can read their records USA Today
Navy SEALs Were Warned Against Reporting Their Chief for War Crimes New York Times
***RELIGION
United Methodist Court Keeps Core of New LGBT Legislation Christianity Today
God, Guns, and Country: The Evangelical Fight Over Firearms New Yorker
Half of Americans Say Evangelicals Are Discriminated Against Christianity Today
BYU speaker comes out during commencement speech The Salt Lake Tribune
‘Hail Satan?’ examines the rise of the satanic temple World Religion News
India Proposes Controversial Bill Making Religion a Criteria for Refugee Citizenship NPR
***CHURCHES
Churchgoing: The US is on a path towards secularism Economist
Places Of Worship Are Increasingly Becoming Targets Of Extremist Violence NPR
Megachurch terminated from national accreditation group because of former senior pastor's 'discretionary account' Chicago Tribune
Evangelical churches can become 'seedbeds for rape culture,' seminary professor says Christian Post
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
2020 Election Revives Debate: Should Religious Faith Guide One's Voting? NPR
Franklin Graham rails against Buttigieg for calling himself 'gay Christian' The Hill
Franklin Graham Tells Buttigieg to ‘Repent’ Being Gay Washington Post
2020 Democrats Invited To Iowa Evangelical Forum 'To Dig Deeper' NPR
How Trump has changed white evangelicals’ views about morality Washington Post
2020 Democratic Candidates Are Reaching Out To Religious Voters NPR
***POLITICS
Meet the Woman Behind the Buttigieg Media Frenzy Politico
Jared Diamond explores how countries respond to crises Economist
How The New Movements, Not The Old Media, Are Driving Politics BuzzFeed News
In many countries, dissatisfaction with democracy is tied to views about economic conditions, personal rights Pew Research Center
***GOOD NEWS
Photo of 3 Alabama men who kept widow company at restaurant goes viral Fox News
Cop Saves An Elderly, Hearing-Impaired Man From An Oncoming Train Digg
Police officer drives Illinois man to job interview after pulling him over KSDK-TV
Teen learned CPR at high school: Two weeks later, he used it to save his dad The Wichita Eagle
***ART & DESIGN
London Extinction Rebellion mural is a Banksy, says expert The Guardian
Frida Kahlo: The unapologetic artist CBS News
***MUSIC
The Luck Reunion is the anti-Coachella Fast Company
Why Do Sad People Like to Listen to Sad Music? Psychologists Answer the Question in Two Studies Open Culture
***FILM
55 details you may have missed in 'Avengers: Endgame' This is Insider
'Gosh!' An oral history of 'Napoleon Dynamite' Desert News
***STUDENT MEDIA
‘Free speech isn’t free, is it?’: A story on a teen porn worker could cost a high school journalism teacher her job Washington Post
Student journalists are breaking big stories Axios
The Student Journalists of Stoneman Douglas High Earned a Rare Honor at This Year’s Pulitzers Mother Jones
***STUDENT LIFE
Charges dropped for University of Arizona students who protested Border Patrol AZ Central
The story of a man running a cult out of his daughter’s dorm room The Cut
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT
More than 12,000 Boy Scout members were victims of sexual abuse ABC News
The shocking rape trial that galvanised Spain’s feminists – and the far right The Guardian
Man who pleaded guilty to raping 14-year-old girl gets no jail time WKYT
***SOCIAL ISSUES
Half Of Americans Think The Smell Of Weed In Public Is A Real Problem BuzzFeed News
Americans' Stress, Worry and Anger Intensified in 2018 Gallup
By 2045, the U.S. as a whole is projected to become majority minority Axios
***IMMIGRATION
Judge gives US 6 months to identify children split at border Assoiciated Press
Asylum in America The Week
***BUSINESS & FINANCE
Can Your Employer Fire You After You Quit? Life Hacker
FBI director addresses efforts by China to steal academic research and technology Inside Higher Ed
***ENVIRONMENT
The soothing, hypnotic colors of tulip season, seen from above Quartz
Climate change being fuelled by soil damage BBC
***HEALTH
35 Years Of American Death FiveThirtyEight
The Unseen Crisis of Drug Shortages Bloomberg
Measles outbreak over 700: Continues Unabated New York Times
A pill that tells doctors whether you’ve taken it Washington Post
How to give voice to the speechless: Listen to, and translate, their brainwaves Economist
Why Your Doctor’s White Coat Can Be a Threat to Your Health New York Times
Screening for lung cancer is a controversial idea But the evidence now suggests it can work Economist
***VACCINES
What anti-vaxxers are actually afraid of (it's not all about autism) BigThink
'Brady Bunch' Episode Fuels Campaigns Against Vaccines And Marcia's Miffed NPR
***TRAVEL
Sri Lanka was Lonely Planet's No. 1 travel destination for 2019. The attacks are ‘a big blow’ LA Times
***SPORTS & GAMES
‘Jeopardy!’ Quiz: The Questions James Holzhauer Got Wrong Vulture
How hard a golf hole is does not depend solely on how hard it is Economist
***FOOD
The Raisin Industry New York Times
How Technology is Changing the Food Industry Forbes
***FAMILY
Getting married in your 30s is the new normal Quartz
U.N. recommends no screen time for babies; only 1 hour for kids under 5 NBC News
Participation in the arts raises kids' self-esteem Pacific Standard
What’s the point of marriage? (opinion) the Week
***ANIMALS
Rescue dog helps owner pick up trash across Arizona NBC News
Loyal dog stays by body of his master for two day until it is found Daily Mail Online
How to Pay for Your Pet's Healthcare Life Hacker
***SCIENCE
The universe is expanding faster than previously thought Johns Hopkins
Dark Matter Gets a Reprieve in New Analysis Quantam Magazine
***PSYCHOLOGY
Rich guys are most likely to have no idea what they’re talking about Washington Post
Minnesota moves toward banning 'conversion therapy' but it's still legal in many states CNN
***NEUROSCIENCE
Many defendants turn to brain science NBC News
Brains of blind people adapt to sharpen sense of hearing, study shows University of Washington
***PHILOSOPHY
A Harvard Professor Explains What the Avengers Can Teach Us About Philosophy Wired
***RESEARCH
21 Dos and Don’ts for Journal Writers and Reviewers Chronicle of Higher Education
It's 2019: Academic Papers Should Be Free Undark
Rein in the four horsemen of irreproducibility Nature
Should we introduce a dislike button for academic articles? Journal of the Assocn for Information Science and Tech
USDA orders scientists to say published research is ‘preliminary’ The Washington Post
***HIGHER ED
Student slated to attend Western Michigan University beheaded in Saudi Arabia for ties to democracy Detroit Free Press
Michigan adopts new policy after controversy over students turned down for letters of recommendation Inside Higher Ed
Palomar College board considers live-stream meetings The Coast News
Using AI to Make Knowledge Workers More Effective Harvard Business Review
Stanford Moves to Stop Supporting Its University Press Inside Higher Ed
They Complained About Their Office: Then Kean U. Took Their Jobs Away Chronicle of Higher Education
***ONLINE SCHOOLS
An online school, wants to teach nursing Economist
National American University is latest for-profit chain to face financial turmoil Inside Higher Ed
***TEACHING
How One Professor Mines Student Comments to Improve Her Teaching Chronicle of Higher Education
What adulthood means in a society is an ocean fed by too many rivers to count. It can be legislated, but not completely. Science can advance understanding of maturity, but it can’t get us all the way there. Social norms change, people opt out of traditional roles, or are forced to take them on way too soon. You can track the trends, but trends have little bearing on what one person wants and values. Society can only define a life stage so far; individuals still have to do a lot of the defining themselves. Adulthood altogether is an Impressionist painting—if you stand far enough away, you can see a blurry picture, but if you press your nose to it, it’s millions of tiny strokes. Imperfect, irregular, but indubitably part of a greater whole.
Julie Beck writing in The Atlantic
If you marry the spirit of your generation, you will be a widow in the next. -William Inge
The typical form of time pressure in organizations today is what we call “being on a treadmill” – running all day to keep up with many different (often unrelated) demands, but getting nowhere on your most important work. That’s an absolute killer for creativity. Generally, low-to-moderate time pressure is optimal for creativity. But we did find some instances in which people were terrifically creative under high time pressure. Almost invariably, it was quite different from being on a treadmill. Rather, people felt like they were “on a mission”— working hard to meet a truly urgent deadline on an important project, and protected from all other demands.
Teresa Amabile talking about her book The Progress Principle
If you kept going the way you are now, WHO would you be in five years? Instead of focusing on WHAT you’ll become, in terms of work and social success, think about what you are learning and what kind of person you are turning into.
College mental health facilities are swamped, suicide rates are spiking, the president’s repulsive behavior is tolerated or even celebrated by tens of millions of Americans. At the root of it all is the following problem: We’ve created a culture based on lies.
(Among them:) Rich and successful people are worth more than poorer and less successful people. We pretend we don’t tell this lie, but our whole meritocracy points to it. The message of the meritocracy is that you are what you accomplish. The false promise of the meritocracy is that you can earn dignity by attaching yourself to prestigious brands. The emotion of the meritocracy is conditional love — that if you perform well, people will love you.
No wonder it’s so hard to be a young adult today. No wonder our society is fragmenting. We’ve taken the lies of hyper-individualism and we’ve made them the unspoken assumptions that govern how we live.
David Brooks writing in The New York Times
If you evade suffering you also evade the chance of joy. Pleasure you may get, or pleasures, but you will not be fulfilled. –Ursula Le Guin
***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA
Inside the weird, and booming, industry of online influence Wired
Money magazine going out of print following failed sales auction CNN
'ESPN The Magazine,' 'National Geographic' Record Top Social Media Engagement Media Post
***JOURNALISM
2019 Pulitzer Prizes Are Announced By Columbia University NPR
Mistakes, we’ve drawn a few Learning from our errors in data visualisation Medium
Is it Okday for Journalist to Block a Critic (not a troll, just a critic) on Twitter Harvard’s Nieman Lab
US slides down global press freedom rankings amid warning of 'climate of fear' for journalists CNN
Quest for food stamp data lands newspaper at Supreme Court Associated Press
Sarah Huckabee Sanders Accuses Media of Anti-Liar Bias The New Yorker
Student journalists were barred from a Betsy DeVos event. So they took her to task in an editorial Washington Post
***FAKE NEWS
Viral lies spread before Indian and Indonesian elections Axios
YouTube's algorithm mistook the fire at Notre Dame cathedral for the 9/11 attacks in New York City The Verge
Facebook teams with rightwing Daily Caller in factchecking program The Guardian
How 11 People Try to Stop Fake News in the World’s Largest Election Bloomberg ***PERSONAL GROWTH
The Great Mystery Becoming (my blog)
When Doctors Thought ‘Wanderlust’ Was a Psychological Condition Atlas Obscura
Just do it? Or Stop and Think about it? Aeon
***SOCIAL MEDIA
TikTok sensation Lil Nas X rewrites the rules of country music Axios
Social media in the Middle East Journalism.co
WhatsApp Has Become A Hotbed For Spreading Nazi Propaganda In Germany BuzzFeed News
LinkedIn editor-at-large Jessi Hempel interview on Peter Kafka podcast Recode
Stop Facebook’s targeted advertising by changing your account settings Fox News
Snap's Board Facing Blowback for Not Disclosing Whistle-Blower Lawsuit in IPO Hollywood Reporter
Trump's 2020 plan: Target seniors on Facebook Axios
***MOBILE
Popular Apps In Google's Play Store Are Abusing Permissions And Committing Ad Fraud BuzzFeed News
***GRAMMAR
The Mueller report has two spaces after every sentence Quartz
Can you spot the spelling and grammar mistakes in these tattoos? Inked
***WRITING & READING
Graffiti punished by reading - 'It worked!' says prosecutor BBC
Billy Collins Teaches Poetry in a New Online Course Open Culture
***PLAGIARISM
Tracking Father Rosica's (very) long history of plagiarism National Post
***LITERATURE
Victor Hugo's 'Hunchback Of Notre Dame' Immortalized French Cathedral NPR
Should Walt Whitman Be #Cancelled? Black America talks back to “The Good Gray Poet” at 200 (opinion) Daily Jstor
"To Kill a Mockingbird": A story for our time CBS News
***GENDER
Agriculture census data shows the US has more female farmers than ever Pacific Standard
Why Female Surfers Are Finally Getting Paid Like Their Male Peers The Atlantic
Why did the suffragettes write one of their fiercest fighters out of their history? Pacific Standard
Women’s faces may hide infidelity better than men’s Newsweek
Council Bluffs students hold walkout over transgender student seeking to use women's bathroom Omaha World Herald
***RACE & ETHNICITY ISSUES
TSA Agents Say They’re Not Discriminating Against Black Women, But Their Body Scanners Might Be ProPublica
Inside a White-Nationalist Cookout Rolling Stone
Major U.S. cancer center ousts ‘Asian’ researchers after NIH flags their foreign ties Science Mag
Teens Behind Racist Graffiti Received An Unusual Sentencing. But Did It Work? NPR
Microsoft staff are openly questioning the value of diversity Quartz
Companies Continue To Stumble Over Racially Offensive Advertising Campaigns NPR
A 'hero among heroes,' it's time this WWI soldier be recognized for his valor Washington Post
Ancestry.com Apologizes for Ad Showing Slavery-Era Interracial Couple New York Times
Chapman University Film School Removes 'Birth of a Nation' Posters After Student Protests Hollywood Reporter
***KATE SMITH
Yankees Suspend Use of Kate Smith's 'God Bless America' amid Racism Allegation Bleacher Report
Flyers remove Kate Smith statue outside stadium ESPN
***LEGAL ISSUES
Advocacy Groups Train Lawyers Of All Kinds To Help With Immigration Cases NPR
Meteorologist sues NBC-affiliate, says firing was defamatory iMedia Ethics
Without Using Profanity, Supreme Court Justices Discuss Case Centered On Bad Language NPR
Creative Commons and the Fight for a More Robust Public Domain The Fashion Blog
***TECHNOLOGY
The world's largest airplane is set to launch satellites The Verge
How recommendation algorithms run the world Wired
***PRIVACY & SECURITY
How to build a facial recognition system w/publicly available data for $100 New York Times
The FBI wanted a backdoor to the iphone: Tim Cook said no Wired
Millions of Instagram users had their passwords exposed Quartz
***PRODUCING MEDIA
Podcast Consumer 2019 Edison Research
***INTERNET
How to use Gmail's best new feature for 2019 Cnet
10% of Americans don’t use the internet. Who are they? Pew Research Center
***RELIGION
Bestselling Christian author Rachel Held Evans put in medically Induced Coma Al.com
Gospel for Asia Settles Lawsuit with $37 Million Refund to Donors Christianity Today
Ohio church apologizes after pastor encourages students to spit on him, cut him with knife NBC News
U.S. Church Membership Down Sharply in Past Two Decades Gallup
Chinese Immigrants Are Converting to Catholicism: Local Churches Have Adapted New York Times
'Church' to offer 'miracle cure' despite FDA warnings against drinking bleach The Guardian
A resurrection in faith-based films CBS News
Hitler hated Judaism. But he loathed Christianity, too Washington Post
A woman holding a baby and a gun interrupts San Diego church services with bomb threat CNN
***GOOD NEWS
A Mentor Challenged Bright Math Students And Changed Their Lives NPR
Canadian who had heart attack while jogging in Florida saved by stranger — from his hometown CBC News
Video shows firefighters push man home in wheelchair The Kansas City Star
***REALLY?!
What the Easter bunny does the rest of the year (video)
10-Year-Old Maryland Girl Born Without Hands Wins Handwriting Contest (‘I Just Try My Hardest’) Baltimore
A Woman Got 30 Days In Jail For Running Over Her 9-Year-Old Son After He Refused To Go To School BuzzFeed News
***FONTS
Helvetica, the world's most popular font, gets a face-lift Wired
Why the US Government Just Made Its Own Font, Open Sans MotherBoard
***MUSIC
World Heavy Metal Knitting Championship to launch in Finland Louder Sound
How the Vietnam War Shaped Classic Rock--And How Classic Rock Shaped the War Open Culture
Can Music be Medicine? The Naked Scientists
***SOCIAL ISSUES
Selfie Deaths Are an Epidemic Outside online
The biggest change in US cities isn't gentrification, but poverty concentration CityLab
What an Olympic medalist, homeless in Seattle, wants you to know Seattle Times
15 Months of Fresh Hell Inside Facebook Wired
***THE BORDER
Rights group condemns U.S. 'vigilante' treatment of migrants on border Reuters
Telling parents to 'just relax' on college admissions perpetuates a broken system LA Times
Inside The San Diego Church Where ICE And Border Patrol Bring Pregnant Women BuzzFeed News
***BUSINESS & FINANCE
Half of England is owned by less than 1% of the population The Guardian
Here’s How TurboTax Just Tricked You Into Paying to File Your Taxes ProPublica
Do You Earn Enough to Afford a House in the Largest U.S. Metros? How Much
***ENVIRONMENT
The One Thing Millennials Haven’t Killed Is Houseplants Bloomberg
How people worldwide view climate change Pew Research Center
How Scientists Discovered What Dirty Air Does to Kids’ Health CityLab
How Americans see climate change Pew Research Center
***HEALTH
Wake up, people: You're fooling yourself about sleep, study says CNN
The Truth About Dentistry The Atlantic
Vitamin supplements don't help people live longer, study finds NBC News
Bad diets killing more people globally than tobacco, study finds The Guardian
UCSD eye doctor broke human research rules, putting patients at risk iNewsource
***HEALTH COSTS
High-Deductible Insurance Linked To Delays In Cancer Diagnosis And Treatment NPR
Physicians' salaries have once again hit an all-time high Axios
High-Deductible Insurance Linked To Delays In Cancer Diagnosis And Treatment NPR
***HEALTH RESEARCH
Scientists Plan To Start Human Trials Testing CRISPR Soon NPR
Israeli Researchers Print 3D Heart Using Patient's Own Cells Bloomberg
***VACCINES
Washington state Senate passes vaccine bill in rebuke to anti-vaxxers Washington Post
Funding halted for Professor Chris Exley, who links vaccines to autism The Times
***TRAVEL
Woman Wears 9 Lbs. of Clothing on Plane to Avoid $85 Overweight Baggage Fee People
***SPORTS & GAMES
High school junior does what no MLB player has done before: Hit for home run cycle USA Today
Jeopardy’s Prize Budget vs. James Holzhauer The Atlantic
'Baseball Brit' Hopes To Attend 162 MLB Games This Season NPR
***FOOD
The way we taste food changes as we age Quartz
Why I Take All My First Dates to Olive Garden Bonappetit
Excessive noise is the chief complaint diners have: Here’s an App to Help Vox
***FAMILY
Here's How Wedding Photographers Know If The Couple Will End Up Divorced Buzzfeed News
Family ties are unraveling globally Axios
How Parents Who Travel for Work Can Ease the Burden on Their Families New York Times
***CHILDREN
Mapping Where Traffic Pollution Hurts Children Most CityLab
2019’s Best & Worst States for Children’s Health Care Wallet Hub
How much screen time is too much? Here are the limits 10 tech executives set for their kids NBC News
***ANIMALS
The 20 Most Pet-Friendly Cities in America Mental Floss
The mystery of Julian Assange’s cat: Where will it go? What does it know? Washington Post
Dog Saved By Workers On Oil Rig, 135 Miles Off Thai Coast NPR
***SCIENCE
Synthetic biology could bring a pox on us all Wired
***PSYCHOLOGY
Research Confirms: When Receiving Bad News, We Shoot the Messenger Harvard Business Review
Music therapy for mental health The Naked Scientists
***HISTORY
Stonehenge: DNA reveals origin of builders BBC News
50 Things Turning 50 in 2019 Mental Floss
***RESEARCH
Gun Research Is Suddenly Hot New York Times
Censorship in a China Studies Journal Inside Higher Ed
Stanford clears a professor of any wrongdoing in his interactions with a Chinese researcher who created the first gene-edited babies New York Times
***HIGHER ED
A Yale Law School policy was meant to protect LGBTQ students: Other saw anti-Christian bias Washington Post
UW-Stevens Point Scraps Plans To Drop 6 Majors Wisconsin Public Radio
Telling parents to 'just relax' on college admissions perpetuates a broken system (opinion) LA Times
Some colleges receiving the most GI benefits spend the least on educating veterans, report says Washington Post
The Students Called the TA a ‘Nazi.’ He Said He’s Not a White Supremacist: The University Ruled He Could Return to the Classroom Chronicle of Higher Education
SDSU warns of possible meningitis exposure FOX-5
***ACADEMIC LIFE
The Students Called the TA a ‘Nazi.’ He Said He’s Not a White Supremacist. The University Ruled He Could Return to the Classroom Chronicle of Higher Education
Why this South Carolina teacher quit mid-year: 'The unrealistic demands and all-consuming nature of the profession are not sustainable’ Washington Post
What the Mueller Report Reveals About the Globe-Trotting Professor Who Spoke of ‘Dirt’ on Clinton Chronicle of Higher Education
Professor Says Arizona State Forced Him to Fail Students: The University Says That’s ‘Unequivocally Wrong’ Chronicle of Higher Education
***STUDENT LIFE
This bot will do your homework for $9.95 a month. Does it actually work? Vox
New Uber program aims to boost rider safety on college campuses Cnet
21 Life-Changing Things That Don't Happen To You Until You're 25 BuzzFeed News
Sitins and Walkouts in Schools over Software New York Times
The first-ever “photo” of a black hole. It’s an achievement once thought impossible, given that black holes exert such monstrous gravity that they swallow light itself.
Over the last century, science has shown that our universe is a far stranger place than our everyday experience would suggest. Space itself is curved and warped by mass. Time slows down on an object the faster it travels. Electrons act both as particles and waves. “Entangled’’ particles seem to instantly know and react to what happens to their partner across vast distances. At the quantum level, there is no empty space: Particles constantly pop in and out of existence, creating an ephemeral quantum “foam.” At the other end of the scale, there are least 2 trillion galaxies in the universe, each containing billions of stars and probably more than a few planets where intelligent life has evolved and is puzzling over the same questions as we are. The more we discover, the more it becomes clear that our certainties, whatever they may be, are built on illusions. We live in a great mystery.
William Falk writing in The Week Magazine
The Gateway to Christianity is not through an intricate labyrinth of dogma, but by a simple belief in the person of Christ. – William Lyon Phelps
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