ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
fighting the good fight
/To be nobody but yourself in a world that's doing its best to make you somebody else, is to fight the hardest battle you are ever going to fight. Never stop fighting. – ee cummings
Articles of Interest - Dec. 3
/***JOURNALISM
Americans Still Prefer Watching to Reading the News – and Mostly Still Through Television Pew Research
The red couch experiments: Early lessons in pop-up fact-checking Nieman Journalism Lab
In Yemen, Lavish Meals for Few, Starvation for Many and a Dilemma for Reporters New York Times
Journalism and journalism students are experiencing a ‘Trump Bump’ (opinion) Tampa Bay Times
Canada’s Supreme Court Ruling likely to have a Chilling Effect on Journalism Vice
Pro tips from scholars for journalists (and vice versa) Journalists Resources
In defense of documentaries as journalism Columbia Journalism Review
Kentucky newspaper wins public records lawsuit, but what will actually be released is uncertain Muck Rock
More than two dozen journalists worldwide have been killed by members of organized crime since the start of 2017 New York Times
***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM
How recasting the “online producer” job helped the Miami Herald focus on audience and mission Better News
Freelancer Rate Database Contently
Where the death of local news hits hardest Axios
Why ‘news for millennials’ media plays never panned out Digiday
***FAKE NEWS
Misinformation bots, smarter than we thought Axios
The godfather of fake news BBC News
An Anti-Vaxxer’s New Crusade Propublica
Facebook Should Enlist Its Users to Clean Up Fake News (opinion) Bloomberg
***SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram 'Close Friends': What It Is and How to Use It Wired
Twitter has banned misgendering or "deadnaming" transgender people the Verge
“What Are Those?” Meme Creator Young Busco Has Died, According To Reports BuzzFeed News
The Infinite Lifespan of Memes Wired
Tumblr Moves To Ban All 'Adult Content' — Here's Why That Matters Digg
Critics Say YouTube Hasn't Done Enough To Crack Down On Extremist Content NPR
Inside TikTok, the premier app for firefighters who enjoy lip-syncing to ‘Baby Shark’ Washington Post
***PRODUCING MEDIA
A guide to recording spatial audio for 360-degree video NPR
***THE INTERNET
New report suggests Latin America will lag in internet growth Axios
***TECHNOLOGY
Rogue Scientist Says Another Crispr Pregnancy Is Underway Wired
Google to shut down Hangouts in 2020 Axios
***BIG DATA & AI
A Bayesian linear regression in R for time series forecasting Towards Data Science
***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA
Nexstar To Buy Tribune Media For $4.1 Billion, Creates Giant TV Station Group Media Post
Sunset magazine, a California icon, struggles amid declining ad sales and management missteps LA Times
***PERSONAL GROWTH
The rise of the professional “influencer” Becoming (my blog)
How vividly imagining your own death can help your next career move Fast Company
***WRITING & READING
Ben Yagoda Crunches the Contractions Chronicle of Higher Ed
***LANGUAGE
‘That Walk Was a Bear!’ Is ‘Bear’ Slang in That Sentence? Chronicle of Higher Education
The World’s Most Efficient Languages The Atlantic
***LITERATURE
The 10 Best Books of 2018 The editors of The Times Book Review choose the best fiction and nonfiction titles this year New York Times
NPR’s Guide to 2018 Great Books NPR
***GENDER
Smart dress shows how often women are groped at clubs Quartzy
Inside the All-Female Trek to the North Pole Wired
America’s sexist obsession with what women politicians wear, explained Vox
***RACE & ETHNICITY ISSUES
Teaching while black: white professor calls security on black adjunct The Commonwealth Times
Swastikas spray-painted on walls of Jewish professor at Columbia Washington Post
Analysis on the diversity of magazine covers from 2012-2018 Ceros
***LEGAL ISSUES
Everything You Wanted to Know About Emojis and the Law Technology & Marketing Law Blog
***CRIME
The police departments who destroy rape kits before testing them CNN
NJ.com's ground-breaking look at police force Poynter
***RELIGION
Killing Of American Missionary Ignites Debate Over How To Evangelize NPR
Do missionaries help or harm? BBC
This Pastor Is Melting Purity Rings Into A Golden Vagina Sculpture Huffington Post
Kenny Marks, CCM star of the '80s and '90s Dies Cross Rythms
Brawl forces Church to Briefly shutdown Christmas Display KJRH
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
Members of both parties find meaning in family but differ when it comes to faith Pew Research
***GOOD NEWS
Twitter users help reunite friends who met on vacation 12 years ago Teen Vogue
97-year-old New Jersey woman has served on every Election Day since 1939 NBC News
Vietnam War veteran meets stranger whose Christmas card lifted his spirits CBS News
San Diego man donates $1 million to California school devastated by fire NBC Los Angeles
Hundreds pack funeral for Vietnam veteran they did not know after viral obituary post MSNBC
He opened his motel to families hit by flooding: Now he's a full-service good Samaritan CBS
Anonymous 'Santa Claus' Surprises Customers by Paying Off All Layaway Items at Vermont Walmart People
Sinatra the blue-eyed Brooklyn husky's mysterious journey and miraculous reunion ABC News
***REALLY?!
Couple Forced to Prove that New Mexico is a state while applying for a marriage license Las Cruces Sun News
Grandfather banned from US holiday after accidentally ticking 'terrorist' box on visa form The Independent
Accused maple syrup bandits fly through Canadian Town during police chase Calgary Sun
Women Sue After Breaking Into Theme Park And Hurting Themselves WBTW
The 40 Most Insane Things That Happened In Florida In 2018 BuzzFeed News
Grandma mistakenly booked into all-male jail, staff thought she was transgender WWLP
American Airlines passenger left in wheelchair overnight at airport after flight was canceled Fox-17
***ART & DESIGN
Google is Building Digital Art Gallaries you can Step Into Tech Crunch
***IMAGES
National Geographic's 100 best images of the year National Geographic
Reuters' best pictures from 2018 Reuters
***MUSIC
Neuroscience says listening to this song reduces anxiety by up to 65% Fast Company
Can you teach AI to dance? YR.media
***FILM
Watch 99 Movies Free Online Courtesy of YouTube & MGM: Rocky, The Terminator, Four Weddings and a Funeral & More Open Culture
This is the most influential film of all time MarketWatch
***STUDENT MEDIA
A High School Newspaper Was Suspended For Publishing An Investigation Into Football Players’ Transfers BuzzFeed News
Liberty University students create independent news outlet News Advance
***STUDENT LIFE
More millennials now live in suburbs than in cities CNBC
Graduate School Is Terrible for People's Mental Health The Atlantic
Millennials are killing countless industries — but the Fed says it's mostly just because they're poor San Francisco Gate
Teens Say Social Media Isn’t As Bad For Them As You Might Think BuzzFeed News
Pot is edging out alcohol and cigarettes as the teenage drug of choice Pacific Standard
Is a smartphone a necessity for college students today? Inside Higher Ed
***ACADEMIC LIFE
Student made social media threat to kill FAU professor, cops say Sun-Sentinel
Judge: UM deprived professor of due process in disciplinary case Michigan Live
***SOCIAL ISSUES
Why US life expectancy is falling, in three charts Quartz
40 years ago, this journalist survived the Jonestown massacre: He warns it could happen again Washington Post
My mom’s suicide changed everything: Here’s how I found hope again USA Today
The American abortion rate is at an all-time low Vox
More than one-in-ten U.S. parents are also caring for an adult Pew Research
***BORDER ISSUES
What we know about illegal immigration from Mexico Pew Research
Families Are Still Being Separated at the Border, Months After “Zero Tolerance” Was Reversed Propublica
BuzzFeed gave six kids traveling in the migrant caravan cameras to document what life looks like for them BuzzFeed News
***BUSINESS & FINANCE
Pension Plans For Millions Of Americans Are On The Brink Of Collapse NPR
Competition Is Dying, and Taking Capitalism With It (opinion) Bloomberg
Americans Value Equality at Work More Than Equality at Home New York Times
***ENVIRONMENT
The new arctic frontier: As the ice melts, U.S. prepares for possible threats from Russia and China Washington Post
Climate change strike: thousands of school students protest across Australia The Guardian
The World's Largest Ocean Cleanup Has Officially Begun Forbes
Only vehicles producing zero emissions will be allowed to drive freely in downtown Madrid The Guardian
In California’s Fertile Valley, Industry and Agriculture Hang Heavy in the Air Undark
***HEALTH
Interactive map shows how many years breathing dirty air takes off your life Air Quality Life Index
The science is clear: dirty farm water is making us sick Wired
What’s in 5-hour energy shots? 17 ingredients: 16 of them are basically useless Mel Magazine
FDA’s ‘flawed’ device pathway persists with industry backing Associated Press
Investigation: Lives Lost Amid ER Violations Web-MD
Intermittent fasting is no better than conventional dieting for weight loss, new study finds The Conversation
***HEALTH & SLEEP
Why We Sleep, and Why We Often Can’t New Yorker
Why screen time can disrupt sleep Salk
Why Hospitals Should Let You Sleep New York Times
***HEALTH & KIDS
Docs Say Kids With Concussions Don't Have To Stay In The Dark For Days NPR
Number Of U.S. Kids Who Don't Have Health Insurance Is On The Rise NPR
***TRAVEL
Want to Escape Modern Life? Try a Weekend in a Prison Cell The Atlantic
Mic’s best places to travel interactive Mic
The Best Things to Do in 25 of America’s Most Fun Cities Thrillist
***FOOD & DRINK
The Hidden Struggle to Save the Coffee Industry From Disaster Medium
The Best Craft Brewery in Every State Thrillist
Sainsbury's to stock edible insects on shelves in a UK first The Guardian
52 of the World’s Most Out-There Myths About Food Atlas Obscura
***CHILDREN
These Are the Most Popular Baby Names of 2018 Fatherly
ADHD Diagnosis Is More Common For Youngest Students In Class NPR
The "homework gap": 12 million schoolchildren lack internet Axios
New Harvard Study Shows the Dangers of Early School Enrollment Foundation for Economic Education Fee.org
The best new perks for working parents Quartz
***CHILDREN & SCREEN TIME
New inequality trend: how parents approach screen time Axios
Should You Make Your Kids Wait Until High School for a Cell Phone? Life Hacker
***ANIMALS
The Insect Apocalypse Is Here New York Times
***SCIENCE
New Quantum Paradox Clarifies Where Our Views of Reality Go Wrong Quanta Magazine
Archaeologists Are Looking for Dead Sea Scrolls Inside 2 Newfound Qumran Caves Live Science
***PSYCHOLOGY
Lack of sleep intensifies anger, impairs adaptation to frustrating circumstances Iowa State University
Using imagination to unlearn fear The Naked Scientist
***NEUROSCIENCE
This Is Your Brain on Hate Researchers are studying how white supremacism may rewire people Vice
The Pathology of Prejudice What neuroscience tells us about the persistence of hatred New Republic
Experimental Brain Stimulation Relieved Depression Symptoms In Study NPR
***PHILOSOPHY
An exhaustive, interactive mapping of the history of philosophy Deniz C Önduygu blog
6 essential books on existentialist philosophy Big Think
***ETHICS
My Mother Taught Me to Kill Narratively
Harvard Medical School Dean Weighs In On Ethics Of Gene Editing NPR
The Ethical Pitfalls of the Viral “Best Burger in America” Essay The New Yorker
***RESEARCH
Controversial visiting researcher — heavily criticized as having racist work — sparks pushback Daily Northwestern
New COPE guidelines on publication process manipulation: why they matter Research Integrity and Peer Review
Canadian scholar says he's been 'persecuted' for his research on colleagues who published in predatory journals Inside Higher Ed
The double standard of retractions The Varsity
A look at retractions from Science from 1983 until 2017 Springer
Where are the ethics in academic publishing? Times Higher Education
***HIGHER ED
What the Rise of the Mega-University Might Mean for the Rest of Us Chronicle of Higher Ed
This "coding bootcamp" is now accredited as a bachelor's program Axios
Why Your HR Officer Is Leaving Chronicle of Higher Ed
UW-Stevens Point Faculty Want Regents To Oust Administrators Wisconsin Public Radio
Why One University Is Handing Out Hockey Pucks to Prepare for an Active Shooter Chronicle of Higher Ed
***HUMANITIES
Why Are Students Ditching the History Major? Chronicle of Higher Ed
In a High-Tech World, Humanities and Other Liberal Arts Are More Essential Than Ever The Daily Beast
***TEACHING
Students Evaluating Teachers Doesn’t Just Hurt Teachers. It Hurts Students Chronicle of Higher Ed
What Is the Purpose of Final Exams, Anyway? Chronicle of Higher Ed
Seniors Think What They’ve Learned Will Help Them Do Their Jobs. Do Employers Agree? Chronicle of Higher Ed
“Transformative” teaching is exhausting. Here are some suggestions on how to lighten the load Chronicle of Higher Ed
The Influencers
/The internet now means influence can come from anyone, anywhere; it can be visible or invisible, paid for by any power, approaching you any of myriad ways. Influence used to be understood as a top-down phenomenon, with governments, advertisers, donors or other powerful figures holding sway over the masses. These days we understand that the most powerful influences aren’t the distant ones but the most immediate and social — so the powerful tend to exert their influence by pretending to be ordinary people.
Marketers, for instance, work harder and harder to obscure the distinction between ads and real life. The last decade featured the rise of the professional “influencer” — someone paid to use their personal magnetism to promote specific agendas online. Instead of the top-down influence of a commercial or a billboard, these ads are embedded, shared by someone who seems, on some aspirational level, like a peer. The companies paying teenagers to hawk diet tea on Instagram are using the same tactics the Chinese government did when it recruited commenters to post hundreds of millions of pro-Communist Party messages online.
We like to think of our characters as fixed: We have our beliefs and our morals, religions and parties, states and countries, friends and enemies. We are inevitably ourselves — inescapably ourselves. We should be able to resist this kind of manipulation. But a steady stream of social-science studies suggests otherwise, demonstrating again and again how easily social pressures can affect the things we say, believe, do, think, eat. Our anxiety over influence goes back to the same fear Thomas Aquinas had, the same doubt families of alcoholics or cult members have. In the face of powerful influences, how can you locate and hold onto that original, irrefutable spark of self, your free will, your character, even your soul? That’s the fear that the idea of influence lays bare: that you can’t. Or that it might never have existed in the first place.
Annalisa Quinn writing in the New York Times
Self-Control can be Contagious
/Not only do you tend to hang out with people like yourself, your friends will influence you toward or away from self-control. Even the people you are forced by circumstances to hang out with (like co-workers) have an influence on your behavior.
That's the finding of researchers who asked participants to watch people either select carrot sticks or cookies to eat before taking tests related to self-control (not involving cookies and carrots). Participants who watched someone eat cookies before the tests did not do as well as those who had watched someone decide to eat carrots.
In another test, participants were told to think of a friend with good self-control. This group performed better on a handgrip test (used to measure self-control) than did the participants assigned to think about a friend with weak self-control. Other tests showed similar results.
The conclusion: If you surround yourself with people who make wise choices, you are more likely to do the same. You can boost your self-control simply by networking with other people who reinforce positive behavior (or vise versa). And when you show a lack of self-control, you are probably influencing someone else to do the same.
Details of the study were published by the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Stephen Goforth
you can't go back
/You can't go back and change the beginning but you can start where you are and change the ending. –CS Lewis, born November 29, 1898
The First CRISPR baby
/Eventually, a CRISPR baby will be born.* The (new gene-editing) technology is too easy. There is no world government to stop its use; many argue no one should do so anyway. At the point that baby emerges, perhaps modified to evade a particular disease or perhaps even to look a particular way, theoretical debates will become real.
Jennifer Doudna knows the influence she and her fellow scientists have is diminishing every day. “I would hope this would be used to create cures, to help people,” she says. Even if the technology is not quite there yet, CRISPR could eventually do plenty else besides. Every week a new paper is published finding more genes that influence looks, intelligence, stamina, even sexuality.
“The dystopic view would be IVF clinics that offer parents a menu of options for kids,” she says. “Nobody has kids by sex anymore. You go to a clinic, pick from a menu, say, ‘I want my kid to be this tall, have this colour of eye, this level of IQ,’ and all those sorts of things. I think that would be terrible.”
Tom Whipple writing in 1843 magazine
*Chinese scientists are creating CRISPR babies MIT Technology Review
Articles of Interest - Nov 26
/***TECHNOLOGY
The promise and peril of gene drives Economist
A dystopian human scoring system in China is blocking people from booking flights BGR
These Precision Parts 3D-Printed From Fake Moon Dust Bring Us One Step Closer to Living on Mars Gizmodo
***MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY
How to edit a human 1843 magazine
Chinese scientists are creating CRISPR babies MIT Technology Review
***BIG DATA & AI
Using AI to screen proteins in a patient’s body to detect disease—before there are outward symptoms New York Times
How AI is being used to vet babysitters, screen applicants and watch employees Axios
The features to look for when picking big-data visualization tools Search Business Analytics
***SOCIAL MEDIA
The rise and rise of photo-editing 1843
Instagram’s new profile designs emphasize users instead of their follower count The Verge
Facebook and The Innovator’s Dilemma Columbia Journalism Review
Social Media, Online Accountability, and the Meaning of an Apology The Walrus
Russia's elite hackers may have new phishing tricks Wired
Amazon says technical error disclosed customer information Axios
Face Scans are Speeding up Airport Security Wired
***JOURNALISM
J-School Leaders Say It's Time to Speak Out Inside Higher Ed
When journalism meets Hollywood Global Editors Network Medium
How to do “man-on-the-street” interviews in a foreign country The Ground Truth Project
Why Trump wants to control follow-up questions Washington Post
The greatest threat to American journalism: the loss of neutral reporting The Hill
People Singing "Amazing Grace" Were Arrested For Blocking An ICE Van From Driving Away With An Undocumented Immigrant BuzzFeed News
How Implicit Bias Works in Journalism Harvard’s Nieman Reports
***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM
Digging Deep Into Local News, A Small Newspaper In Rural Oregon Is Thriving NPR
Canada introduces a $595 million package in support of journalism Harvard’s Nieman Lab
***FAKE NEWS
The Seven Commandments of Fake News The New York Times
‘Misinformation’ picked as word of the year by Dictionary.com The Hill
Just Six percent of Twitter Bots Account for 31 percent of Misinformation Ars Technica
Protecting the Value of Medical Science in the Age of Social Media and “Fake News” JAMA
One of the first two Muslim women in US Congress is already battling a fake news campaign Quartz
Study shows 60% of Britons believe in conspiracy theories The Guardian
Why QAnon believers think ‘the Storm’ has tripled in size Daily Dot
The BBC Is Fighting Against Russian Disinformation With A News Service In Serbia BuzzFeed News
***PERSONAL GROWTH
The Power of Mind-Wandering Becoming (my blog)
Everyone Wants to ‘Influence’ You New York Times
More Americans find meaning in money than in religion or friends Quartz
A Stanford psychologist on the art of avoiding assholes Vox
***WRITING & READING
Seattle high-school teacher shares ‘the wonder of books’ with students on a different kind of field trip Seattle Times
Using “very” Chronicle of Higher Ed
100 Notable Books of 2018 New York Times
***LANGUAGE
It’s hard to have an unusual name in China 1843 magazine
Brain responses to language in toddlers with Autism linked to altered gene expression Science Daily
***LITERATURE
A new exhibition at the British Library explores how cats have inspired—and frightened—writers across the centuries Smithsonian Mag
Tales of the unexpected: 10 literary classics you may not have read The Guardian
***RACE & ETHNICITY ISSUES
Pro-Publica, PBS Frontline Project: 'Documenting Hate: New American Nazis' NPR
Why are we only talking about Mom Books by white women? The Cut
No charges for FedEx driver who fatally punched man calling him racial slurs Oregon Live
Neo-Nazis Are Organizing Secretive Paramilitary Training Across America Vice
***POLITICS
How populist are you? The Guardian
***LEGAL ISSUES
Political Scientist Weighs In On Trump's Criticism Of 9th Circuit Court Of Appeals NPR
Free speech violation or a simple arrest? Supreme Court faces a familiar problem Washington Post
***RELIGION
What Should America Do With Its Empty Church Buildings? The Atlantic
Clerical sexual-abuse scandals strengthen the pope’s conservative critics Economist
When atheists lack the courage of their convictions: A review of Seven Types of Atheism Economist
Most Americans say religion will live on Axios
What Einstein meant by ‘God does not play dice’ Aeon
The U.S. class divide extends to searching for a religious congregation Pew Research
Where Americans Find Meaning in Life Pew Research
***RELIGION OUTSIDE THE U.S.
All Nations, ORU Grieve Reported Death of Missionary Charisma News
Charismatic Christianity in Ethiopia Economist
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
Franklin Graham: Trump "defends the faith" Axios
***GOOD NEWS
Baby saved from choking to death at NC restaurant on Thanksgiving Fox Carolina
Woman's 3850 mile rollerblade journey relying on the kindness of strangers AOL News
***ART & DESIGN
Download 569 Free Art Books from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Open Culture
The Mystery Font That Took Over New York New York Times
Winners of the 2018 ESPON Awards for panoramic photography My Modern Met
***MUSIC
Malcolm Gladwell and Rick Rubin Launch a New Music Podcast
The woman with a musical dress 1843 magazine
***FILM
How does the process of colourisation affect our understanding of history? History Today
The evolution of pace in popular movies Statistical Modeling, Causal Interence, and Social Science
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT
Proposed Title IX changes would make campus hearings into "mini courtrooms," higher education lawyers say Inside Higher Ed
***BUSINESS & FINANCE
The Wired Guide to Online Shopping Wired
Selfish people earn less money than generous people Quartz
***HEALTH
Critically Ill Children Who Received Wishes Cut Their Health Care Costs NPR
What an unprecedented study found about 3D printing’s dangers Fast Company
Standing Desks are Overrated New York Times
100 million Americans have chronic pain. Very few use one of the best tools to treat it Vox
Bed Rest Is Still Often Prescribed During Pregnancy, Despite Proven Risks NPR
***TRAVEL
Leaning Tower of Pisa continues long path towards vertical Associated Press
***FOOD
Not Oatmeal Constellate Magazine
Iceland's president admits he went 'too far' with threat to ban pineapple pizza CBC
Romaine lettuce from California linked to E. coli outbreak The Verge
Americans are divided over whether eating organic foods makes for better health Pew Research
***ANIMALS
Nature film crew breaks "no interference" rule to rescue penguins CBS News
***SCIENCE
The ‘myth’ of scientific facts infected decades of criminal cases where bitemark dentists were presented as scientific experts” Science Direct
Can Science Create Superhumans? The Naked Scientists
***PSYCHOLOGY
What Amazon Reviews Reveal About Humanity BuzzFeed News
Why suicide is falling around the world, and how to bring it down more Economist
***NEUROSCIENCE
Study: To predict the future, the brain has two clocks Berkeley
What Happens to the Brain in Zero Gravity? Singularity Hub
***PHILOSOPHY
First women of philosophy Aeon
Obligation to Obey the Law Wireless Philosophy
***PRODUCTIVITY
Information overload is nothing new 1843 Magazine
Why you’re not prioritizing sleep even when it’s hurting your productivity Fast Company
***HISTORY
Hear the Sounds of World War I: A Gas Attack Recorded on the Front Line, and the Moment the Armistice Ended the War Open Culture
The worst year to be a human has been revealed by researchers CNN
The History Of Signatures And Their Present Relevance NPR
'Married man' Justin Bieber says wants to be more like Jesus Reuters
***RESEARCH
The Experiments Are Fascinating. But Nobody Can Repeat Them New York Times
To catch misconduct, journals are hiring research integrity czars STAT
Duke University to settle case alleging researchers used fraudulent data to win millions in grants Science Magazine
The Ethical Quandary of Human Infection Studies Undark
Journal retracts 29 articles but doesn’t explain which ones Inside Higher Ed
Legal threats, opacity, and deceptive research practices: A look at more than 100 retractions in business and management Retraction Watch
***HIGHER ED
A Film About Higher Ed That Should Bother You a Little Chronicle of Higher Ed
Enough With All the Innovation (opinion) Chronicle of Higher Ed
***TEACHING
Why Grades Still Matter Chronicle of Higher Ed
The Solar System Quilt Open Culture
“Best” Student excuses Dynamics of Writing
***STUDENT LIFE
Sleep Pod Companies Want to Disrupt Naps on Campus Ed Surge
UMKC professor used students as servants for decades The Kansas City Star
Students fear dorm mold problem led to adenovirus death New York Post
Millennials are no longer living with their parents Axios
College athlete disowned by her parents almost loses her eligibility Business Insider
***STUDENT MEDIA
For the First Time, a Black Woman Will Lead The Harvard Crimson New York Times
Hundreds of issues of the Maroon-News stolen, members of swim team found responsible Student Press Law Center
College Media Association censures Univ of N. Ala after newspaper adviser targeted AL.com
The Power of Mind-Wandering
/The seemingly trivial activity of mind-wandering is now believed to play a central role in the brain’s “deep learning,” the mind’s sifting through past experiences, imagining future prospects and assessing them with emotional judgments: that flash of shame or pride or anxiety that each scenario elicits.
A growing number of scholars, drawn from a wide swath of disciplines — neuroscience, philosophy, computer science — now argue that this aptitude for cognitive time travel, revealed by the discovery of the default network, may be the defining property of human intelligence. “What best distinguishes our species,” Martin Seligman wrote in a Times Op-Ed with John Tierney, “is an ability that scientists are just beginning to appreciate: We contemplate the future.” He went on: “A more apt name for our species would be Homo prospectus, because we thrive by considering our prospects. The power of prospection is what makes us wise.”
Today, it seems, mind-wandering is under attack from all sides. It’s a common complaint that our compulsive use of smartphones is destroying our ability to focus. But seen through the lens of Homo prospectus, ubiquitous computing poses a different kind of threat: Having a network-connected supercomputer in your pocket at all times gives you too much to focus on. It cuts into your mind-wandering time. The downtime between cognitively active tasks that once led to REST states can now be filled with Instagram, or Nasdaq updates, or podcasts. We have Twitter timelines instead of time travel.
At the same time, a society-wide vogue for “mindfulness” encourages us to be in the moment, to think of nothing at all instead of letting our thoughts wander. Search YouTube, and there are hundreds of meditation videos teaching you how to stop your mind from doing what it does naturally. The Homo prospectus theory suggests that, if anything, we need to carve out time in our schedule — and perhaps even in our schools — to let minds drift.
Steven Johnson writing in the New York Times
Suicide's lack of Closure
/There’s an inherent lack of closure to suicide. Even when people write notes, they can reveal so little. Suicides often leave loved ones, acquaintances and co-workers to question themselves for the rest of their lives. And in their own grief, they, too, can entertain dangerous thoughts.
“With suicide you have that added trauma to it,” said Julie Cerel, the president of the American Association of Suicidology. “The ‘why’ question of trying to search for meaning when there’s no meaning available—If I only had a note. If I only talked to the last person that they talked to. The ‘onlys’ can be torturous.’” Last year, Cerel published a study examining the consequences of suicide and found that each one could affect as many as 135 other people.
The fundamental mystery of suicide has long made it an object of fear and contempt within the medical establishment. Since the 1950s, public health officials have tried hotlines, individual therapy, group therapy, shock therapy and forced hospitalizations. Doctors have taken away people’s shoelaces and belts and checked in on attempt survivors every 15 minutes to make sure they are still safe. They have coerced patients into signing contracts swearing that they would not kill themselves. They have piled on psychiatric medications with ever-more invasive side effects, only to watch the number of suicides continue to climb.
Jason Cherkis writing in the Huffington Post
Articles of Interest - Nov 19
/***TECHNOLOGY
Scientists Create Fabric Alternative to Batteries for Wearable Devices University of Massachusetts
20 Americans Die Each Day Waiting for Organs. Can Pigs Save Them? New York Times
The Fax Is Not Yet Obsolete: Law and medicine still rely on the device, Maybe they shouldn’t The Atlantic
Thin, Flexible new Solar Cells Could Soon Line Your Shirt Wired
A scientist’s work linking minds and machines helps a paralyzed woman escape her body The New Yorker
What is a Bot? Wired
***BIG DATA & AI
The Data Scientist Tracking America’s White Supremacists MotherBoard
The definition of artificial intelligence is constantly evolving, and the term often gets mangled MIT technology Review
How Facebook uses machine learning to fight ISIS and Al-Qaeda propaganda MIT Technology Review
The rare form of machine learning that can spot hackers who have already broken in MIT Technology Review
What’s the best way to learn the programming language R? (Preferably, for free) Quartz
Public Attitudes Toward Computer Algorithms Pew Research Center
***SOCIAL MEDIA
YouTube uses algorithms that are tailored to advance already popular content and drive viral videos The Atlantic
How Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Is Bringing Her Instagram Followers into Congress New York Times
Instagram Influencers Selling Custom Photo Presets The Atlantic
Inside the Pricey War to Influence your Instagram Feed Wired
Instagram Cracks down on apps that give fake follows and likes Mashable
Following the discovery of targeted disinformation campaigns Facebook tried to discredit protesters New York Times
6 Takesaways from the Times Investigation New York Times
Facebook Messenger rolling out new ‘Unsend’ feature, here’s how to use it 9 to 5 Mac
Report: Even Facebook Employees Are Bummed About Facebook Gizmodo
***MOBILE
The Ubiquity of Smartphones, as Captured by Photographers The Atlantic
People are Freaking out over the iPhone Curser Trick Mashable
***PRIVACY & SECURITY
How Hackers Are Stealing High-Profile Instagram Accounts The Atlantic
Your Drone Can Give Cops a Surprising Amount of your Data Wired
How to Tell if Your Account Has Been Hacked Motherboard
Surveillance Kills Freedom by Killing Experimentation Wired
***PRODUCING MEDIA
How Podcasts became a seductive and sometimes slippery mode of storytelling The New Yorker
Pandora wants to map the “podcast genome” so it can recommend your next favorite show Harvard’s Nieman Lab
***INTERNET
Google goes down after major BGP mishap routes traffic through China ArsTechnica
***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA
How much have younger viewers bailed on traditional TV? New stats are alarming USA Today
Justice Department Demands Major TV Broadcasters Stop Sharing Advertising Data Hollywood Reporter
***JOURNALISM
Consumers love smart speakers: They don’t love news on smart speakers (At least not yet) Harvard’s Nieman Lab
'Under The Wire' Tells The Story Of War Correspondent Marie Colvin's Last Moments NPR
Newsrooms transform to cover the 21st century Axios
New York Times Publisher Touts Future of Digital Journalism Caixin
NPR host Terry Gross: 8 tips on How to Talk to People New York Times
***LOCAL JOURNALISM
Better Local Journalism, by Local Reporters, Is the Goal of a New Database New York Times
Facebook is Launching it’s first Journalism program to fund local journalism in the UK Mashable
***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM
Media salaries lean higher for writing than video, photo (trend #8) Axios
***JOURNALISM & DIVERSITY
The Racial Makeup of NPR’s newsroom NPR
Racial and ethnic minorities make up less than 17 percent of newsroom staff Columbia Journalism Review
Missing the Story : Diversity in Media Columbia Journalism Review
***FAKE NEWS
How Will We Outsmart A.I. Liars? For better and worse, humans are only improving their ability to deceive themselves with technology New York Times
Are Birds Actually Government-Issued Drones? So Says a New Conspiracy Theory Making Waves Audubon
How The Wall Street Journal is preparing its journalists to detect deepfakes Harvard’s Nieman Lab
California's Wildfires Have Spawned a Truly Weird New Conspiracy Theory Gizmodo
If You Hate the Media, You’re More Likely to be Fooled by a Fake Headline Harvard’s Nieman Lab
How the public, news sources, and journalists think about news in three communities News Co. Lab
***FAKE NEWS & WHAT’S APP
Burned to death because of a rumour on WhatsApp BBC
Notifications every 2 minutes: This in-depth look at how people really use WhatsApp shows why fighting fake news there is so hard Harvard’s Nieman Lab
***PERSONAL GROWTH
The Importance of Leisure Becoming (my blog)
Vacation is a poor substitute for leisure Quartz
The 6 Email Newsletters That Will Help You Build Leadership Skills Forbes
How to Talk to People You Don’t Agree With, With Social Psychologist Jonathan Haidt LifeHacker
10 paradoxes that will stretch your mind Big Think
***WRITING & READING
This bookstore just sold a book that had been on a shelf for nearly 28 years Mashable
How to make $6,000 a day writing Instagram quotes — sort of Vox
Paul Schrader Says Creating, Writing Is "A Form of Therapy" Hollywood Reporter
***LANGUAGE
Oxford Dictionaries' word of the year CNBC
The Hidden Life of Modal Verbs Jstor
Personification is Your Friend: the Language of Inanimate Objects Jstor
27 Beautiful Words Writers Rarely Use But Totally Should BuzzFeed
***LITERATURE
What Book Changed Your Mind? Chronicle of Higher Ed
The Hottest Trend in American Literature Isn’t From the U.S. The Atlantic
The Bizarro World of Literary Studies Chronicle of Higher Ed
***GENDER
First woman passes special forces assessment on path to becoming Green Beret CNN
***RACE & ETHNICITY ISSUES
Hate crimes rose 17 percent last year, according to new FBI data MSNBC
Drunk man shouts 'Heil Hitler, Heil Trump,' does Nazi salute during Baltimore performance of 'Fiddler on the Roof” Baltimore Sun
Fallout continues for white male students at Wisconsin high school accused of giving Nazi salute USA Today
Dunkin' Donuts owner calls police on woman using free Wi-Fi Yahoo
Sam's employee asked to retake photo with 'Black Panther' shirt after member complains WJLA
Duke mural honoring synagogue shooting victims defaced with Swastika NBC News
***FREE SPEECH
Should the First Amendment apply to Facebook? It’s complicated Recode
Free Speech Or Hate Speech: When Does Online Hate Speech Become A Real Threat? NPR
***LEGAL ISSUES
Reminder: Cutting-and-Pasting Photos from the Internet Is Hazardous to Your Legal Health Technology & Marketing Law Blog
Conan O'Brien's Joke Copyright Defense Hits Snag Hollywood Reporter
***RELIGION
Why Tenth Avenue North Isn't Afraid to Tackle Taboo Subjects In Christian Music Billboard
State Baptist group boots Kentucky churches for supporting LGBTQ hires Courier-Journal
Christian composer Kurt Kaiser, writer of 'Pass It On,' dies at 83 Waco Tribune
80 Years Since The Catholic University Of America Vocalized Opposition To The Nazis NPR
Stephen Colbert reveals why he returned to Catholicism after losing his faith Fox News
***CONVERSiON THERAPY
Conversion therapy: A debunked practice aimed at "converting" homosexuals CBS
Keeping Focus on the Family Honest on Reparative Therapy The Throckmorton Blog
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
Rubio cites Bible verse amid recount criticisms: ‘You cannot count what is not there’ The Hill
Trump ‘make the bible great again’ billboards World Religious News
***GOOD NEWS
Mother's hunch helped save a hiker's life on the Pacific Crest Trail CBS News
'Batkid' Miles Scott is cancer free 5 years after saving San Francisco NBC News
9-year-old starts family knitting club to make hats and scarves for those in need The Week
Blind runner finds love with woman who volunteered to train him for marathon MSNBC
Mercy nurses give Mega Millions winnings to 2 of their own going through heartbreak KMOV
93-Year-Old Woman Is Saved from California Wildfires by Her Friend, the Garbage Collector People
***ART & DESIGN
Watch: Stan Lee on "To Tell The Truth" game show in 1970 (14m) BongBong
7 Female Impressionists Every Art History Lover Should Know Artsy
***FILM
Watch the First Film Adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1910): It's Newly Restored by the Library of Congress Open Culture
***STUDENT LIFE
Northern Michigan U. Compensates 4 Who Were Threatened With Punishment for Speaking of Suicide Chronicle of Higher Ed
No 'Parks & Rec' jokes: Oregon's teen mayor is here to get stuff done Oregon Live
A professor at UT San Antonio was recorded calling the police on an African American student who had propped her feet up on the seat in front of her Inside Higher Ed
Generation Z Is The Most Racially And Ethnically Diverse Yet NPR
Half of the post-millennial generation is non-white Axios
The Bridesmaids Are Multiplying: The role is almost entirely symbolic—but it’s only getting more popular The Atlantic
How College Caused Me To Read Less (opinion) Study Breaks
***INTERNSHIPS
4 Internships LA Times
Summer DC Scholarship Program DC Internships
Spring Internships The Student Press Law Center ($490 a week)
Investigative journalism internship Center for Public Integrity, Washington, D.C.
***JOBS
***SEXUAL ASSAULT
Fewer office holiday parties this year, a sign of #MeToo liability fears CBS News
Former Title IX Official Outlines Changes To How Colleges Handle Sexual Assault Cases NPR
Sharp Divide Over Trump Administration's Title IX Overhaul Inside Higher Ed
Dartmouth women sue school over sexual assault, harassment New York Post
Ed Dept. Proposes Enhanced Protection For Students Accused Of Sexual Assault NPR
***SOCIAL ISSUES
Guns in America: our relationship with firearms in 5 charts Wired
Critics step up bid to stop US school using electric shocks on children The Guardian
***BUSINESS & FINANCE
This researcher studied 400,000 knitters and discovered what turns a hobby into a business Washington Post
How Stan Lee transformed the comics business Economist
***ENVIRONMENT
Why covering the environment is one of the most dangerous beats in journalism Harvard’s Nieman Lab
How to Stop Using So Much Disposable Plastic Life Hacker
***HEALTH
As social media ‘influencers,’ patients are getting a voice. And pharma is ready to pay up Stat News
Medical Advice You Can Trust The Week
Startup Offers To Sequence Your Genome Free Of Charge, Then Let You Profit From It NPR
Alcohol is killing more people, and younger. The biggest increases are among women USA Today
Exposure to air pollution during pregnancy linked to autism diagnosis Stat News
***VACCINATIONS
Junk science promoted by bots and trolls results in North Carolina chickenpox outbreak BoingBoing
School with major chickenpox outbreak has high vaccination exemption rate USA Today
3 ethical reasons for vaccinating your children The Conversation
***DIET & EXERCISE
Low-carb diet: does cutting carbs really help keep weight off? Vox
There's a Major Change in The Latest US Exercise Guidelines. Here's What You Need to Know Science Alert
***TRAVEL
50 Strange But True Facts About the U.S. CN Traveler
2019 Fodor’s Travel NO List San Jose Mercury News
How Samantha Brown Got Her Start: Women Who Travel Podcast CN Traveler
***FOOD
Public Perspectives on Food Risks Pew Research Center
6 airplane foods you should avoid, according to food safety experts CNBC
***PARENTING
Stop talking to your kids about politics (opinion) The Week
Online or offline? Parents are struggling with their children’s screen time use Evening Standard
***ANIMALS
30 dogs under 30 The Week
The 18 Best Dogs in Netflix’s Dogs, Ranked Vulture
***PSYCHOLOGY
The Replication Crisis: Can academic psychology be trusted? BBC
Super recognisers: the people who never forget a face The Guardian
The Best Way To Save People From Suicide Highline
Facebook Increasingly Reliant on A.I. To Predict Suicide Risk NPR
Freud versus Jung: a bitter feud over the meaning of sex Aeon
***NEUROSCIENCE
The Human Brain is a Time Traveler New York Times
A new study says alcohol changes how the brain creates memories BigThink
***HISTORY
Why the Enlightenment was not the age of reason (opinion) Aeon
How would you Draw History? New York Times
***ETHICS
Can judging be automated? Axios
How to use science fiction to teach tech ethics BoingBoing
***RESEARCH
Handing Science Over to the Machines The Spike
Correction to climate change study highlights flaws in peer-review process CBC
Widespread plagiarism detected in many medical journals based in Africa Nature
Scholar behind predatory journals exposé says study ‘backfired’ Times Higher Education
Here Comes ‘The Journal of Controversial Ideas’ -Cue the Outcry Chronicle of Higher Ed
The more authors, the more retractions Appam
Will Blockchain Revolutionize Scholarly Journal Publishing? Chronicle of Higher Ed
***HIGHER ED
How One University Went From Proposing to Cut 13 Mostly Liberal-Arts Programs to Eliminating Only 6 Chronicle of Higher Ed
Study finds female chairs improve departments' gender diversity and equity Inside Higher Ed
A Fifth of Private Colleges Report First-Year Discount Rate of 60 Percent, Moody’s Says Chronicle of Higher Ed
What You Need to Know About the Proposed Title IX Regulations Chronicle of Higher Ed
Hate Crimes on Campuses Are Rising, New FBI Data Show Chronicle of Higher Ed
Liberty University official accused of attempted murder, abduction WSLS
Azusa Pacific students file grievances over reinstatement of LGBTQ relationship ban San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond to close in 2019 Baptist News
Cal Lutheran to hold memorial service for alumnus killed in Thousand Oaks shooting 10New
David Jang’s Christian University Charged in $35 Million Fraud Scheme Christianity Today
***TEACHING
The Future Of Learning? Well, It's Personal NPR
A Little Music Before We Begin Chronicle of Higher Ed
How to Create a Welcoming Culture for Autistic Students Chronicle of Higher Ed
10 alternatives to PowerPoint PR Daily
***STUDENT MEDIA
Western Kentucky Student Newspaper shakes up camps with report: More than 500 mold reports on campus in past year College Heights Herald
Harvard's student newspaper just elected the first black woman president in its 145-year history CNN
Articles of Interest - Nov 12
/***SOCIAL MEDIA
Study shows that social media limits made people feel less lonely Engadget
Advertisers see value in people with as few as 1,000 followers: the nanoinfluencers New York Times
***MOBILE
Why robocalls have taken over your phone The Verge
The quiet revolution that's making your phone smarter than you at photography Tech Radar
***PRIVACY & SECURITY
How Secure Were The Midterm Elections? NPR
The Best Security and Privacy Tech to keep your Friends Safe Tech Crunch
***PRODUCING MEDIA
Welcome to the age of the hour-long YouTube video Wired
This website lets you make your own emojis BongBong
***INTERNET
Pew Research Center Says Half Of Adults Use YouTube To Learn New Things NPR
***JOURNALISM
The New York Times is digitizing more than 5 million photos dating back to the 1800s Harvard’s Nieman Lab
Apple News’s Radical Approach: Humans Over Machines New York Times
Conflict Photographer Lynsey Addario on Art, Love, and War Big Think
A journalist’s dilemma: wanting to do more to help than tell the story The Ground Truth Project
In cities across America, this morning’s newspaper told you there was an election yesterday — but nothing about it Harvard’s Nieman Lab
Following investigation, Houston Chronicle retracts eight stories Houston Chronicle
Why are some women “news avoiders”? New research suggests one reason has to do with emotional labor Harvard’s Nieman Lab
The Many Voices of Journalism Columbia Journalism Review
The commercial use of FOIA in the service of corporate interests New York Times
So Many College Students Get News on Snapchat Mashable
***FAKE NEWS
These news anchors are professional and efficient: They’re also not human Washington Post
Free Speech and Journals’ Responsibility in Vaccine Debates PLOS
The Acosta Video Debate Is the Future of Fake News Medium
Don’t want to fall for fake news? don’t be lazy Wired
Find Out If You Got Duped By The Internet With This Week's Fake News Quiz BuzzFeed News
WhatsApp awards $1 million for misinformation research Poynter
***STUDENT MEDIA
Dear Journalism Students, You Are NOT The Enemy Dynamics of Writing
Pepperdine Journalism Student Reacts To Thousand Oaks Shooting NPR
***STUDENT LIFE
Gen-Z employees don’t do email Fast Company
Somebody at Hasbro Apparently Thought Monopoly for Millennials was a great idea Mashable
***PERSONAL GROWTH
The Tyranny of Clock Time Becoming (my blog)
Do We Grow Less Tolerant of Language Change as We Age? Chronicle of Higher Ed
***WRITING & READING
How To Become A Great Writer: George Orwell Medium
Writing advice from author Katie Kitamura PBS
30 Words Of Wisdom From Writers, To Inspire You Through The Rest Of NaNoWriMo Bustle
***LANGUAGE
Arabic has a low profile: Part of the reason is that it is not really a single language at all Economist
Why Do Quarterbacks Say 'Hut Hut Hike?' Digg
Blasphemy and the Strange World of Linguistic Crimes Chronicle of Higher Ed
Where Do We Begin? Language Learning and Grammar Chronicle of Higher Ed
***LITERATURE
The Real Names of 42 Fictional Characters Mental Floss
Read up with our favorite end-of-year books Wired
The Women of Brooklyn’s Well-Read Black Girl Book Club The Cut
***GENDER
Midterms Were Billed 'The Year Of Women' And Indeed They Were NPR
The 2018 Gender Gap Was Huge FiveThirtyEight
How the women in charge of programming at CNN are changing the news we see Fast Company
***RACE & ETHNICITY ISSUES
‘We are armed now’: In Kentucky, shootings leave a black church and the white community around it shaken Washington Post
School district investigates boys' apparent Nazi salute taken during prom NBC-15
Local racist angry at protestors in Orange, Texas BoingBoing
Key takeaways about Latino voters in the 2018 midterm elections Pew Research Center
***LEGAL ISSUES
Is Banning Reporters From The White House Legal? Jim Acosta's Press Pass Suspension Sparked Outrage Bustle
The idea of intellectual property is nonsensical and pernicious Aeon
***TECHNOLOGY
Is The Pentagon Modifying Viruses To Save Crops — Or To Wage Biological Warfare? NPR
The 7 Craziest Ways CRISPR Is Being Used Right Now Medium
Radars, Cameras, and Lidar: How Self-Driving Cars See the Road Wired
We Tried Facebook’s New Portal Device (So You Don’t Have To) New York Times
***BIG DATA & AI
Machine learning algorithms don’t yet understand things the way humans do — with sometimes disastrous consequences New York Times
Distinguishing between different types of data scientists..which to hire and what they need to succeed Harvard Business Review
The first proof that quantum computers can outstrip conventional technology Axios
***RELIGION
A Christian Radio Network is edging ever closer to becoming the Trump radio network: Sebastian Gorka Associated Press
Lead Singer for Christian Band Provided Freddy Mercury’s vocals in Bohemian Rhapsody Movie Relevant Magazine
Pepperdine Student, Cal Lutheran Grad Among California Shooting Victims Christianity Today
Randy Alcorn on Evangelical Sex Scandals: Bad Pastors Just Reappear at New Churches, Repeat Sins Christian Post
Baptist attitudes about alcohol may be shifting, observers say The Alabama Baptist
Unification Church Proclaims Christian Era is Over; Next Week Christian Entertainers Open for God’s Daughter Throckmorton Blog
Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren recovering after emergency surgery OC Register
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
Faith leaders denounce Trump proclamation denying asylum outside border crossings Religious News Service
Texas Megachurch pastor calls Democrats 'some kind of religion that is basically godless' KHOU
***GOOD NEWS
Fisherman in New Zealand rescues toddler floating at sea Associated Press
9 year old designs Virginia county's "I Voted" sticker CBS News
Heartwarming Photos of Acts of Kindness MSNBC
First-of-its-kind surgery allows child with polio-like illness AFM to walk again CBS News
Boy Has Dished Out More Than 65,000 Doughnuts To Cops To Say Thank You MSNBC
***ART & DESIGN
Why are tech companies making custom typefaces? ARUN
Recycled Packing Materials Sculpted Into Elaborate Renaissance Costumes by Suzanne Jongmans This is Colossal
The top submissions to Nat Geo's 2018 photography contest National Geographic
Why Do Filmmakers Love van Gogh? New Yorker
David Hockney's Portrait of an Artist and the priciest works by living artists ever sold at auction CBC
The Size of Things: Now with Context: An artist models the universe at 1/190 millionth scale Scholarly Kitchen
A New Online Database, Will Feature Works by 600+ Overlooked Female Artists from the 15th-19th Centuries Open Culture
Mary Baldwin shut down an art exhibit after two days when some students said images were racist Inside Higher Ed
***MUSIC
Inside the booming business of background music The Guardian
BMI tells Trump campaign Rihanna's work has been removed from their license agreement LA Times
The Album is in Trouble, and the Music Business Probably Can’t Save it Rolling Stone
Andrea Bocelli Becomes First Classical Artist to Hit No. 1 on Billboard Artist 100 Chart Billboard
***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA
Vice Media to cut workforce by up to 15%, consolidate websites Market Watch
***FILM
The 50 Greatest Movie Dance Scenes of All Time Vulture
***JOURNALISM MOVIES
Review of A Private War: A Journalist Puts Her Life on the Line Chicago Sun-Times
What Makes a Great Movie About Journalism? New Republic
***JOBS
10 Impressive Questions to Ask in a Job Interview The Cut
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT
A Professor Accused of Sexual Harassment Faces Novel Penalty: Prospective Students May Read All About It Chronicle of Higher Ed
Dear Dads: Your Daughters Told Me About Their Assaults. This Is Why They Never Told You (opinion) Washington Post
He Spent Four Days In Jail For Sex Crimes Against A Minor: Prosecutors Want Him In Prison BuzzFeed News
Uber has defined 21 categories of sexual misconduct, from leering to rape Quartz
How Schools Can Reduce Sexual Violence NPR
***SOCIAL ISSUES
Mass incarceration is a political choice. It can be undone Economist
Firearms And Dementia: How Do You Convince A Loved One To Give Up Their Guns? NPR
***BUSINESS & FINANCE
Visualizing the World's Tech Giants 2018 by Market Cap How Much
To Give a Great Presentation, Distill Your Message to Just 15 Words INNOVATION 3 Business Models That Could Bring Million-Dollar Cures to Everyone Harvard Business Review
***ENVIRONMENT
The ozone layer appears to be successfully repairing itself BBC
Big Oil claims it's doing its part to combat climate change: A new study finds it's not even close Business Insider
***HEALTH
The key to a long life has little to do with ‘good genes’ Wired
Why Doctors Hate Their Computers The New Yorker
Autism Linked to Zinc Deficiency in Childhood Newsweek
The Mystery of the Havana Syndrome: Unexplained brain injuries afflicted dozens of American diplomats and spies The New Yorker
US cigarette smoking rate reaches new low CNN
Fewer than One in Three Americans Meet New Physical Fitness Guidelines Real Talk 910
Do gut bacteria make a second home in our brains? Science Mag
Something Happened to U.S. Drug Costs in the 1990s New York Times
***FOOD
These Men Ate Poison So You Could Have the FDA Gizmodo
Do you love or loathe coffee? Your genes may be to blame National Geographic
The Curse of the Honeycrisp Apple Bloomberg
Every State's Most Important Food Innovation Thrillist
***CHILDREN
Digital Media Is 'Like Cocaine' for Babies’ Developing Brains US News & World Report
Designer Babies Aren’t Futuristic. They’re Already Here MIT Tech Review
Many Turn to YouTube for Children's Content, News, How-To Lessons Pew Research Center
Parents worry more about bullying than anything else Economist \
The school bully has moved online and is following children home Economist
***SCIENCE
Frequent inbreeding may have caused skeletal abnormalities in early humans Science Mag
Stem Cells Remember Tissues’ Past Injuries Quanta Magazine
***PSYCHOLOGY
Super Empaths Are Real, Says Study Vice
Study: young men obsessed with building muscles have higher mental health risks Big Think
Researchers discover a link between nonverbal synchronization and relationship success Big Think
Veteran Suicide (podcast) Axios
***NEUROSCIENCE
Sadness Circuit Found In Human Brain NPR
How to train your brain to accept change, according to neuroscience NBC News
***HISTORY
Is Donald Trump the Andrew Jackson of Our Time? Chronicle of Higher Ed
We once trusted too much in inevitable progress: We got World War The Washington Post
***RESEARCH
The largest database of scientific retractions just went live and makes the process a whole lot easier HowStuffWorks
Scientists struggle with confusing journal guidelines Nature
Rash Of Retractions Highlight Flaws In Science, But Also Self-Correction WGBH
Why Fake Data When You Can Fake a Scientist? Medium
***HIGHER ED
How Americans voted on 6 key higher ed ballot measures Education Dive
The future of work won't be about degrees, it will be about skills CNBC
Feds Prod Universities to Address Website Accessibility Complaints Inside Higher Ed
What the results of the Midterm Elections Mean for Higher Ed Chronicle of Higher Ed
Florida’s College of the Arts will increase its faculty by over 10 percent Inside Higher Ed
Universities under investigation for poor website accessibility Education Dive
The Hottest New Place for University Satellite Campuses: Los Angeles Chronicle of Higher Ed
The Trump Administration Just Reissued Rules Allowing Employers “Religious Or Moral” Exemptions To Covering Birth Control Buzzfeed News
After California massacre, sister universities show support for Pepperdine Chronicle of Higher Ed
***HUMANITIES
We Need Cutting-Edge Humanities More Than Ever Pacific Standard
As Humanities Majors Decline, Colleges Try to Hype Up Their Programs The Atlantic
Employers Want Liberal Arts Grads Inside Higher Ed
***TEACHING
5 Teaching Tips From ‘How Humans Learn’ Chronicle of Higher Ed
The ‘Holy Grail’ of Class Discussion Chronicle of Higher Ed
How Can Schools Better Persuade Students To Show Up For Class? NPR
***ACADEMIC LIFE
Invisible police in senior academia Neurochambers
Connecticut community college professor put on paid administrative leave for giving Nazi salute Hartford Courant
An academic reported sexual harassment: Her university allegedly retaliated The Verge
The Tyranny of Clock Time
/Clock time is that linear time by which our life is measured in abstract units appearing on clocks, watches, computers, and calendars. These measuring units tell us the month, the day, the hour, and the second in which we find ourselves, and decide for us how much longer we have to speak, listen, eat, sing, study, pray, sleep, play, or stay. Our lives are dominated by our clocks and watches. In particular, the tyranny of the one-hour slot is enormous. There are visiting hours, therapeutic hours, and even happy hours. Without being fully aware of it, our most intimate emotions are often influenced by the clock. The big wall clocks in hospitals and airports have caused much inner turmoil and many tears.
Clock time is outer time, time that has a hard merciless objectivity to it. Clock time leads us to wonder how much longer we have to live and whether “real life” has not already passed us by. Clock time makes us disappointed with today and seems to suggest that maybe tomorrow, next week, and next year it will really happen. Clock time keeps saying, Hurry, hurry, time goes fast, maybe you wil miss the real thing! But there is still a chance.. Hurry to get married, find a job, visit a country, read a book, get a degree…Try to take it all in before you run out of time.”
Clock time always makes us depart. It breeds impatience and prevents any compassionate being together.
Henri Nouwen, Donald McNeill, Douglas Morrison from the book Compassion
There will come a point
/There will come a point in the race, when you alone will need to decide. You will need to make a choice. Do you really want it? You will need to decide. -Rolf Arands, a runner
Throwing Away your Children’s Art
/When I first tried throwing away my own young children’s art…I felt an ache as I pitched it into the trash. There’s a moment when a child first presents you with her art, holding it out with the last split second of attention she can muster after completing it. That moment contains a burst of pride on both your parts, and a frisson of mutual love. But in the end, your pride lasts longer than the child’s does. Eventually, and soon, it must move on to another venture. Theirs always does, but yours lingers, heartstrings tugged.
It’s the wish to prolong this moment artificially, I think, that motivates the urge to keep and curate your children’s art for posterity. You convince yourself there’s some future where your child will want to return to that moment of pride and love through the act of witnessing the thing she made so long ago.
Don’t fall for it. You’re only trying to make yourself feel better. You’ll never quite be able to tell which moment your children will remember, and it’s not as if you can regulate that memory on their behalf anyway. And besides, childhood is made from a thousand moments just like this. There’s no way to hold on to all of them.
Of course, you shouldn’t throw something away that your kids say they want to keep. But absent that urge, and particularly in the early years before it develops, most children’s art exists to be destroyed. The point of life isn’t to prolong youth, but to have grown up. That requires discarding things along the way, and enjoying the appropriate relief. That’s the kind of activity a parent ought to put their moral and aesthetic weight behind.
Mary Townsend writing in The Atlantic