ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
Plenty of reason for doubt, anger and sadness
/All of us — whatever our natural serotonin level — look around us and see plenty of reason for doubt, anger and sadness. A child dies, a woman is abused, a schoolyard becomes a killing field, a typhoon sweeps away the innocent. If we knew or felt the whole of human suffering, we would drown in despair. By all objective evidence, we are arrogant animals, headed for the extinction that is the way of all things. We imagine that we are like gods, and still drop dead like flies on the windowsill.
The answer to the temptation of nihilism is not an argument — though philosophy can clear away a lot of intellectual foolishness. It is the experience of transcendence we cannot explain, or explain away. It is the fragments of love and meaning that arrive out of the blue — in beauty that leaves a lump in your throat, in the peace and ordered complexity of nature, in the shadow and shimmer of a cathedral, in the unexplained wonder of existence itself.
Michael Gerson, published in the Washington Post
Look for the helpers
/When I was a boy and would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." To this day, especially in times of "disaster" I remember my mother's words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers-so many caring people. – Fred Rogers (Mister Rogers, born March 20, 1928)
Articles of Interest - March 18
/***JOURNALISM
Why Trump, in the era of fake news, is fueling journalism majors Roll Call
Fox News’ Shep Smith: 'History will poorly reflect' on journalists 'who intentionally misinform' The Hill
How the Seattle Times used a breaking news approach on enterprise reporting Better News
NYTimes Reporter Gets Bogus Defamation Lawsuit Dismissed As Judge Philosophizes About SLAPP Suits Tech Dirt
***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM
The New York Times Is Planning to Experiment With Blockchain Publishing Coindesk
Decline in readers, ads leads hundreds of newspapers to fold Associated Press
Facebook enters the news desert battle, trying to find enough local news for its Today In feature Nieman Lab
***TECHNOLOGY
Google is reportedly shutting down its in-house VR film studio Tech Crunch
Denver will allow smartphone voting for thousands of people Denver Post
You will soon be able to pay your subway fare with your face in China South China Morning Post
***BIG DATA & AI
No, scientists didn’t just “reverse time” with a quantum computer MIT Tech Review
The NSA makes open source its cybersecurity tool Ghidra Wired
Some scientists are arguing that the latest techniques in machine learning and AI represent a fundamentally new way of doing science Quanta Magazine
How Artificial Intelligence Could Transform Medicine New York Times
***SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter reveals big changes to conversations and new camera features NBC News
Can Too Much Time Online Make You Depressed? NPR
'Distracted boyfriend' couple star in Hungary pro-family ads BBC
The Hottest Chat App for Teens Is Google Docs The Atlantic
Facebook Can Make VR Avatars Look—and Move—Exactly Like You Wired
Facebook's sloppy data-sharing deals might be criminal Wired
***PRIVACY & SECURITY
Facial recognition's 'dirty little secret': Millions of online photos scraped without consent NBC News
Scientific American: The Internet Knows You Better Than Your Spouse Does Scientific American
Privacy-focused DuckDuckGo Now on Chrome as a Default Search Option Digital Trends
Facebook faces fresh questions over when it knew of data harvesting The Guardian
***PRIVACY & GOOGLE
What Google Knows About You Axios
Google Quietly Adds Search Engine Privacy Option To Chrome - Here's How To Enable It Forbes
***PRODUCING MEDIA
Calendars might be the next great online publishing tool Poynter
***INTERNET
At age 30, World Wide Web is 'not the web we wanted' ABC News
50 Years of the Internet: What we Learned & Where we are going next Tech Crunch
***PERSONAL GROWTH
The Value of Community Becoming (my blog)
Sorry to bother you, but do you say “sorry” too much? What to say instead Ted Ideas
***WRITING & READING
Publisher withdraws Derek Thomas’ Acts commentary due to plagiarism by the Presbyterian Pastor World Magazine
Public demand apology from artist at center of plagiarism scandal Global Times
***LANGUAGE
Mistakes are the engine of language’s evolution Economist
How ‘F’ Sounds Might Break a Fundamental Rule of Linguistics The Atlantic
***LITERATURE
Why should you read Sylvia Plath? (video) TED-Ed
***GENDER
If "Guys" Is Problematic, "Ya'll" Is Problematic Too The Stranger
The share of women in legislatures around the world is growing, but they are still underrepresented Pew Research Center
***RACE & ETHNICITY ISSUES
Black editor steps down from Alabama newspaper that called for KKK to ‘ride again’ AL.com
Mastermind Behind College Admission Scam Reportedly Faked Ethnicity of Students On Applications BET
***FREE SPEECH
Court: Flipping the bird to cop is free speech Washington Post
How Businesses Are Testing the Limits of Free Speech Wharton
***LEGAL ISSUES
Timbs v. Indiana: Supreme Court on Policing for Profit The Atlantic
Who Owns a Meme? A legal battle over Fortnite raises many questions without clear answers One Zero
'Star Trek'/Dr. Seuss Mashup Deemed Copyright Fair Use by Judge Hollywood Reporter
Two Examples of How Courts Interpret Emojis Technology & Marketing Law Blog
***LEGAL ISSUES: DEFAMATION
Tweet Containing Question Mark Isn’t Defamatory Technology & Marketing Law Blog
Tennessee high court rules for reporter in defamation suit ABC News
Nicholas Sandmann’s legal case against CNN is basically “MAGA” Slate
***CRIME
Public regularly denied access to police officer videos Associated Press
AI is being used to predict crime and send people to jail, but it could be just as biased as humans CNBC
***RELIGION
The Gospel Coalition, pastor CJ Mahoney and Sexual Abuse (opinion) Medium
Teen suspended after posting Bible verses around school, district says there's more to the story WLWT
Survey: Faith groups maintain widespread support for LGBT protection laws National Catholic Reporter
Inside Denver's International Church of Cannabis Cosmopolitan
Giant underwater Jesus draws hundreds to frozen Lake Michigan Fox News
Belief in aliens could be America’s next religion The Outline
***RELIGION OUTSIDE THE U.S.
China official says West using Christianity to undermine country Reuters
Meet Romania's very internet-savvy witch community Wired
***RELIGION AND MONEY
Bible signed by Trump fetches $325 on eBay Fox News
Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability suspends Chicago-area megachurch Religious News Service
ECFA appears to lack meaningful oversight of members’ financies (opinion) The Throckmorton Blog
***THE MOSQUE ATTACK IN NZ
People Leaving Flowers at Mosques After Christchurch Attack TIME
Sikhs In New Zealand Are Helping Victims Of Shooting With Free Langars StoryPick
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
Evangelical approval of Trump remains high, but other religious groups are less supportive Pew Research Center
***GOOD NEWS
Egg Boy' to donate money raised for him towards victims of Christchurch attack New Zealand Herald
New Jersey teen overcomes homelessness, gets accepted to 17 colleges CNN
The "Trashtag Challenge" Is A Wonderful Viral Trend That Has People Picking Up Trash Everywhere BuzzFeed News
You got this!’: Mom who beat stage 4 pancreatic cancer writes open letter to Alex Trebek FOX-8
Chess Champion 8 year old Homeless Refugee New York Times
***REALLY?!
Loose cow ends up at Chick-fil-a following police chase Tribune Media Wire
Sons prank dad with giant billboard for birthday, prompting calls from around the world FOX 4 Kansas City
50 years after graduation, University of Michigan alum receives congratulatory telegram Michigan Live
Vermont town elects goat named Lincoln as its honorary mayor Associated Press
Slovenian woman's hand sawn off 'in insurance fraud' BBC News
***ART & DESIGN
If Your Favorite Typefaces Were Celebrities Medium
Healing the Healers: Art among physicians Forbes
***MUSIC
Tom Odell: “I couldn’t make the music I make today without having learned music theory” Music Radar
The BBC cutting Late Junction is a blow for experimental music The Guardian
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT
Senate easily approves bill giving sex abuse victims more time to sue Politico
Gallup Survey: ewer men say sexual harassment in the workplace is major problem The Hill
Women in Economics Report Rampant Sexual Assault and Bias New York Times
***SOCIAL ISSUES
The College Scam Is Exposing All the Legal Ways Rich People Game Society VICE
11 death penalty states haven’t used it in a decade or more Pew Research Center
What the college admissions scandal reveals about the psychology of wealth in America Vox
***BUSINESS & FINANCE
***ENVIRONMENT
A relatively painless guide to cutting plastic out of your life Fast Company
Where Will Your Plastic Trash Go Now That China Doesn't Want It? NPR
***HEALTH
Being a couch potato 'bad for the memory of over-50s' BBC
How to Negotiate Down Your Hospital Bills The Atlantic
Brain wave stimulation may improve Alzheimer’s symptoms MIT News
Electronic Health Records' Side Effects: Fraud, Burnout And Headaches NPR
***TRAVEL
See Photos of This Year's California Super Bloom Travel + Leisure
25 Healthy Travel Airplane Snacks to Keep In Your Carry-On Women’s Day
***FOOD
Good enough to eat? The toxic truth about modern food The Guardian
The Most Popular Pie in Every State ChowHound
***PARENTING
How Parents Are Robbing Their Children of Adulthood New York Times
Parents Are Only Happy with Kids When They Can Afford Them Fatherly
***RELATIONSHIPS
How People Meet Their Partners FlowingData
Why millennials are writing contracts for their relationships Washington Post
***ANIMALS
A Couple Created Good Boy, A Line Of Beer Your Dog Can Drink Delish
Barking drones used on farms instead of sheep dogs Radio NZ
Snoop The Dog Is Loving Life In New Home After Being Abandoned LADbible
Georgetown’s Kitten Lounge makes the cat cafe around the corner seem like old mews The Washington Post
Viral cat videos and the man who watches thousands of them BBC
***SCIENCE
Science tends to be presented as a firmly established epistemological method: but it isn't Medium
Brain wave stimulation may improve Alzheimer’s symptoms MIT News
***PSYCHOLOGY
Why Do People Believe in Pseudoscience? Gizmodo
Study: One in Six U.S. Children Has a Mental Illness American Assoc of Family Physicians
***NEUROSCIENCE
Forgetting Uses More Brain Power Than Remembering UT News
Can a Neuroscience Video Game Treat ADHD? Ed Surge
***ETHICS
Moratorium On Gene-Edited Babies Urged By Leading Geneticists NPR
The seven moral rules that supposedly unite humanity Quartz
The Larger Lie Beyond the College Admissions Bribery Case TIME
***RESEARCH
University College Dublin issues apology after computer science students were sent email asking to help develop sex consent app The Journal.ie
Continued Citation of Retracted Radiation Oncology Literature—Do We Have a Problem? Int Journal of Radiation Oncology
Even the head of $6M liver study doesn’t know what’s going on at San Diego VA Inewsource
How to write a good scientific paper Brunel University London The Journal
Improving the peer review process: a proposed market system Scientometrics
Should journals become more like content curators? ResearchResearch
Ten myths around open scholarly publishing PeerJ
The systemic problem behind the rise of retractions Perspectives on Behavior Science
***HIGHER ED
Celebrities among 50 charged in college admissions scam for unworthy kids, prosecutors say Vice
College Access And Inequality NPR
The U. of Southern California Is on the Rise. Why Is It a Hotbed of Scandal? Chronicle of Higher Ed
***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
Azusa Pacific University lifts LGBTQ relationship ban (again) San Gabriel Valley Tribune
PCUSA’s only seminary in Western US to become part of nonsectarian Calif University Christian Post
***TEACHING
Research scholars to air problems with using 'grit' at school The Hechinger Report
***STUDENT MEDIA
Students At UCLA Weigh In On College Admissions Scandal With 'Daily Bruin' Editorial NPR
***STUDENT LIFE
No One Asks the Top CEOs Where They Went to College Bloomberg
Orange County, Calif., School District Responds To Students' Offensive Social Media NPR
Millennials really are special, data show Washington Post
***ACADEMIC LIFE
Popular alternative-academic career platform owned by foundation behind the admissions scheme Inside Higher Ed
FBI: Former assistant planned to kill professor with ax Associated Press
Adjunct faculty at Elon University vote to unionize Greensboro
The Value of Community
/I used to think that community was as simple as having friends who bring a lasagna when things fall apart and champagne when things go well. Who pick up your kids from school when you can’t. But I think community is also an insurance policy against life’s cruelty; a kind of immunity against loss and disappointment and rage. My community will be here for my family if I cannot be. And if I die, my kids will be surrounded people who know and love them, quirks and warts and oddities and all.
Jenny Anderson writing in Quartz
the power of knowledge
/A people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. -James Madison, born March 16, 1751
A Successful Team needs Cohesive Personalities
/A useful way to think about teams with the right mix of skills and personalities is to consider the two roles every person plays in a working group: a functional role, based on their formal position and technical skill, and a psychological role, based on the kind of person they are. Too often, organizations focus merely on the functional role and hope that good team performance somehow follows. This is why even the most expensive professional sports teams often fail to perform according to the individual talents of each player: There is no psychological synergy. A more effective approach focuses as much on people’s personalities as on their skills.
Dave Winsborough and Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic writing in Harvard Business Review
Three rules of work
/Three rules of work: 1. Out of clutter, find simplicity 2. From discord, find harmony
3. In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity. –Albert Einstein, born March 14, 1879
struggling with insecurity
/We struggle with insecurity because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel. -Steven Furtick
Media Job Sites
/Looking for a job in media? Here are some sites to check out:
Assoc for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
The Broadcast Education Association
Idealist (nonprofit jobs)
International Assoc of Business Communicators
Media Financial Management Assoc
Public Relations Student Society of America
Society of Professional Journalists (links to other job sites)
Articles of Interest - March 11
/***TECHNOLOGY
How Voice Computing will Transform our lives: The search for a perfect answer to an inquiry Wired
People were once terrified of travelling in lifts without operators. Makers of driverless cars should take note 1843 Magazine
Where Alexa Gets its Information Wired
Kick the keyboard: other ways to get text onto your screen Wired
***TECHNOLOGY: FACIAL RECOGNITION
The US Government Will Be Scanning Your Face At 20 Top Airports, Documents Show BuzzFeed News
How Taylor Swift showed us the scary future of facial recognition—surveillance at concerts is just the beginning The Guardian
***BIG DATA & AI
How Artificial Intelligence Could Transform Medicine New York Times
Why you should be worried about machines reading your emotions The Guardian
Maneuvering satellites using solar panels Economist
Neural networks use an "activation atlas" to teach themselves how to identify images Wired
Why data science teams need generalists not specialists Harvard Business Review
McAfee: Keep an eye on the humans pulling the levers, not the AIs Artificial Intelligence News
AI-powered apps could make us more creative—or less human Wired
Quantum physics could protect the grid from hackers—maybe Wired
***JOURNALISM
How We Mapped More Than 100 Years Of Wildfire History Open News
As newspapers close, role of government watchdog disappears Associated Press
The importance of FOIA reporting at a national level MuckRock
The Daily Quiz That Teaches Journalists How to Geolocate Images Global Investigative Journalism Network
How they did it: Reporters uncovered Trump hush payments to two women Journalist’s Resource
***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM
NBC News Streaming Service To Launch In May Media Post
***FAKE NEWS
On Amazon, a Qanon conspiracy book climbs the charts — with an algorithmic push NBC News
Memes, doxxing and doctored content: Understanding the tactics of disinformation for brands Digiday
Finding Facts in a world of fakes Wired
What Facebook is Getting Wrong in the Fight Against Fake News Vice
***SOCIAL MEDIA
The Special Curse of Living on Instagram's Favorite Street City Lab
A beginner’s guide to using TikTok Wired
Millions of Ugandans quit internet services as social media tax takes effect The Guardian
The Queen is now on Instagram Engadget
You May Have Forgotten Foursquare, but It Didn’t Forget You Wired
Is digital minimalism the answer to our distracted lives? Fast Company
Russians are shunning state-controlled TV for YouTube Economist
Mark Zuckerberg reportedly has an escape hatch in his office in case of emergency BGR
Mark Zuckerberg says he’ll reorient the company toward encryption and privacy Washington Post
Facebook's latest feature lets you leave 'Tributes' on accounts whose owner has passed away Mashable
After taking them down, Facebook restores Elizabeth Warren ads calling for breakup of Facebook BoingBoing
***MOBILE
7 key findings about mobile phone and social media use in emerging economies Pew Research Center
How Mobile Phones Represent Your Social Network Science Trends
***PRIVACY & SECURITY
WordPress accounted for 90 percent of all hacked CMS sites in 2018 ZdNet
Disputed N.S.A. Phone Program Is Shut Down, Aide Says New York Times
The fourth attempt in 45 years turns on how federal law will supersede state laws Economist
Inside the mass invasion of your privacy Axios
***INTERNET
Shouldn’t we all have seamless micropayments through the internet by now? Wired
Vladimir Putin wants to stifle the internet Economist
***PERSONAL GROWTH
Diversity’s connection to Creativity Becoming (my blog)
Why Partisanship Changes How People React To Noncontroversial Statements NPR
Our Culture of Contempt The problem in America today is not incivility or intolerance. It’s something far worse New York Times
***TEACHING
Major survey: Profs worry about discrimination but aren't prepared to deal with classroom conflicts over diversity Inside Higher Ed
***GRAMMAR
What to look for in a usage and grammar guide Economist
Applications are open for the toughest job in grammar Quartz
***WRITING & READING
In SF’s Mission Bay, the surprise — and draw for writing center — is the kids SF Chronicle
Teaching Great Writing One Sentence at a Time New York Times
***PLAGIARISM
Why a Plagiarism-Detection Company Is Now a Billion-Dollar Business Chronicle of Higher Education
Girl, Get Some Footnotes: Rachel Hollis, Hustle, and Plagiarism Problems Christianity Today
Former Indiana University South Bend employees embroiled in lawsuit alleging plagiarism South Bend Tribune
Top Chinese officials, including former vice-president, plagiarised university theses The Straits Times
***LANGUAGE
People speak to express themselves rather than to propound facts Economist
Poetry slams are helping to revitalise the Basque language Economist
***LITERATURE
House that ‘inspired’ Wuthering Heights on sale for more than £1m The Independent
Tolkien’s drawings reveal a wizard at work 1843 Magazine
***GENDER
Where are the Women’s Teams? Trump ignores women’s champions in White House Sports Ceremonies Washington Post
Gender bias in peer review – opening up the black box London School of Economics & Political Science
8 notable women in Christian history Christian Post
Gender differences in peer review outcomes and manuscript impact at six journals of ecology and evolution Wiley Online Library
Eight statistics about gender inequality for International Women’s Day Quartz
A small step for women Progress in the boardroom is only a start Economist
***RACE & ETHNICITY ISSUES
Can I play that? (video) Saturday Night Live
A Professor Has Long Used a Racial Slur in Class to Teach Free-Speech Law. No More, He Says Chronicle of Higher Education
***FREE SPEECH
Florida sixth-grader arrested in Pledge of Allegiance dispute will not be prosecuted CNN
Why the ACLU defends white nationalists' free speech CBS News
The Inextricable Link Between Modern Free Speech Law and the Civil Rights Movement Electronic Frontier Foundation
***LEGAL ISSUES
Supreme Court Requires Completed Copyright Registration Before Filing Suit Technology & Marketing Law Blog
'Fortnite' Legal Dance Battles Paused Following Supreme Court Ruling Hollywood Reporter
***CRIME
A new method of DNA Testing could solve more Shootings Wired
A transgender wing seeks to resolve a clash of prisoners’ rights Economist
***RELIGION
6 in 10 Protestant churches are plateaued or declining in attendance Lifeway Research
Girl, stop reading: How an evangelical self-help guru fuels America’s happiness dilemma (opinion) Washington Examiner
How Americans' drinking habits vary by their religion Pew Research Center
An Instagram-worthy Bible aimed at millennials Washington Post
Lamb of God frontman organizes ‘kazoo champagne counter-party’ during planned hate group picketing WTVR
Cult leader claims to be able to cure cancer with breast massages and BURPS Daily Star
What Is Hell? It Depends on Who You Ask The Walrus
17 Signs That You’d Qualify as a Witch in the 1600s (video) Mental Floss
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
The politicisation of white evangelical Christianity is hurting it Economist
America’s porous wall between church and state A Supreme Court case could make the holes bigger Economist
***ISLAM
The 30m Muslims living in Europe and America are gradually becoming integrated Economist
Western governments want to have more influence on Muslim practice with their own borders Economist
***GOOD NEWS
Father-daughter duo completes rowing trip across Atlantic Ocean CBC
Teen saves for years to surprise friend with new wheelchair WTOC
Trainer with autism opens gym specifically for clients with autism WTSP
Air Canada pilot orders 23 pizzas to Halifax-bound plane stranded on tarmac CBC
Dad opened doughnut shop in Texas, but nobody showed up: His son’s tweet changed that The Wichita Eagle
***REALLY?!
Woman Wins $10,000 For Reading Fine Print NPR
***ART & DESIGN
Finalists From Smithsonian Magazine's 2018 Photo Contest The Atlantic
Van Gogh’s Ugliest Masterpiece: A Break Down of His Late, Great Painting, The Night Café (video) Nerdwriter1
The Secrets of the World's Greatest Art Thief GQ
***FILM
Movies You Missed: 'A Face In The Crowd' NPR
***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA
The video game subscription wars are on Axios
***FREELANCE WRITING
Elite Daily is taking personal essay pitches about sexual assault
JSTOR Daily is accepting pitches for its Spring 2019 edition
Electric Lit is seeking pitches about books that shifted your opinion
Curiosity Magazine is taking your pitches
The Bold Italic is seeking freelance contributors outside of the Bay Area
Road Grays magazine is looking for nonfiction stories that use baseball as a lens to see the world
***SOCIAL ISSUES
The hipster effect: Why anti-conformists always end up looking the same MIT Technology Review
Most Sinful States in America Wallet Hub
The Least Politically Prejudiced Place in America The Atlantic
The scandal-ridden industry of migrant child shelters Axios
***BUSINESS & FINANCE
One of the world’s biggest video games developers is going after the cheaters 1843 Magazine
A new book explains how managers are challenged by changing customer behaviour Economist
The popularity of employee surveys Economist
***ENVIRONMENT
A Light Installation in a Scottish Coastal Town Vividly Shows Future Sea Level Rise Kottke
A Popular Benefit of Houseplants Is a Myth The Atlantic
***WATER
Climate change and population growth are making the world’s water woes more urgent Economist
Poisoned and over-exploited, many rivers are in a parlous state Economist
Disputes over water will be an increasing source of international tension Economist
Manufactured water can supplement the natural stuff, but never replace it Economist
The best way to solve the world’s water woes is to use less of it Economist
***HEALTH
FDA Confirms Asbestos in Makeup Sold at Claire's Mental Floss
Arkansas puts work requirements on Medicaid Economist
Sleep or Die: Neuroscientist Matthew Walker Explains How Sleep Can Restore or Imperil Our Health Open Culture
Generic Humalog Insulin: A New Option, 'Not A Panacea' NPR
New study reveals wide variations in how well or poorly people age Health Data
8 Scientific Benefits of Napping Mental Floss
***HEALTH: VACCINATIONS
MMR vaccine does not cause autism, another study confirms CNN
Wisconsin man criminally charged for allegedly breaking measles quarantine to go to gym NBC News
The Real Horror of the Anti-Vaxxers This isn’t just a public health crisis. It’s a public sanity one New York Times
***HEALTH RESEARCH
Researchers pinpoint specific brain signals linked to autism Science Daily
Robots and End of Life Care Economist
***TRAVEL
United States citizens will need a visa to visit Europe starting in 2021 CNN
***FOOD
“Wellness Beers” are a thing now—Here’s what you need to know Bon Appetit
15 Cool Facts About Frozen Food Mental Floss
For your mouth only: welcome to the era of personalised food 1843 Magazine
The Rise of fast-casual “Food Platforms” Wired
***FAMILY
New fears rise about kids online Axios
How to keep parents from fleeing STEM careers Wired
Teaching Kids To Control Their Anger NPR
***ANIMALS
Michigan State study: Dogs' personality traits are shaped by their owners Detroit Free Press
Cat Saves Florida Family From Carbon Monoxide Poisoning CBS Miami
***SCIENCE
Genetic tests reveal that the ancestry of some cancer cell lines is misclassified Chemical & Engineering News
***PSYCHOLOGY
FDA allows treatment of depression with club drug’s cousin Associated Press
The Prevalence of Marginally Significant Results in Psychology Over Time Sage Publication
***PHILOSOPHY
The Cringe-Inducing Humor of The Office Explained with Philosophical Theories of Mind Open Culture
35 Brilliant Women from the History of Philosophy Medium
***PRODUCTIVITY
Microsoft’s Excel app lets you enter data to spreadsheet directly from a photo Digit.in
***ETHICS
A 25-year battle to improve the image of McDonald’s Do you want ethics with that? Economist
***CHINA
China database lists 'breedready' status of 1.8 million women The Guardian
China recruits Westerners to sell its “democracy” Economist
China banned millions of people with poor social credit from transportation in 2018 The Verge
Planet Money Corrects Misconceptions About China's Economy NPR
China’s formerly white-hot tech sector is in the doldrums Economist
***RESEARCH
Peer-review experiments tracked in online repository Nature
Pro-payday lending research given to CFPB had curious beginning Washington Post
NIH letters asking about undisclosed foreign ties rattle U.S. universities Science Magazine
***HIGHER ED
Another Small New England College Closes Inside Higher Ed
Higher education: Colleges add cannabis to the curriculum SFGate
Dean resigns over school's choice to not allow Chick-Fil-A ABC-13
CEOs tell Trump they are hiring more Americans without college degrees Yahoo Finance
Hackers Broke Into Admissions Databases at 3 Colleges — and Then Offered to Sell Applicants Their Files Chronicle of Higher Education
The Humanities at Community Colleges Inside Higher Ed
***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
Christian college professor defends school after conservative commentator calls it a 'university no one has heard of' on Twitter Des Moines Register
Liberty University Invites Ocasio-Cortez To Speak Daily Wire
Oklahoma Christian works to right a wrong against black students 50 years ago News-OK
Evangelical Christian University Blocks Pro-Life Speaker Star Parker from Appearing on Campus CBN
The Master’s University Still on Academic Probation, President Transition Required by End of 2019 Warren Throckmorton’s Blog
Methodist Colleges and Seminaries React to Sexual Orientation Vote Inside Higher Ed
***STUDENT MEDIA
Why NYT’s Theodore Kim ticked off a squillion journalism folks with his list of Amazing J-Schools—and why you shouldn’t care about it at all (opinion) Dynamics of Writing
Student Newspapers stolen after story about former Catholic university professor accused of child abuse by diocese Student Press Law Center
***STUDENT LIFE
Drugs, sex and alcohol are losing their appeal for American teens Axios
Millennials care about job titles so much they’ll take a pay cut for them Quartz
Portland State student died from Ambien prescribed by student health center, $25 million lawsuit says Oregon Live
The high cost of college textbooks, explained Vox
Millennials buried in debt can't buy into American Dream Detroit Free Press
High school student accepted to 39 colleges, offered $1.6M in scholarships CBS News
***ACADEMIC LIFE
Wisconsin professor has been charged with sexual assault Jstor online
By proclaiming the gospel of human progress, Steven Pinker has made a lot of enemies: “The nastiest academic responses I have seen come from humanities professors” Chronicle of Higher Ed
Why Florida is Struggling to Fill more than 2000 Teaching Positions Washington Post
KU engineering professor suspended from class after telling student to ‘learn English’ Lawrence Journal-World
Work & the Project of Living
/Americans have forgotten an old-fashioned goal of working: It’s about buying free time. The vast majority of workers are happier when they spend more hours with family, friends, and partners, according to research conducted by Ashley Whillans, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School. In one study, she concluded that the happiest young workers were those who said around the time of their college graduation that they preferred careers that gave them time away from the office to focus on their relationships and their hobbies.
How quaint that sounds. But it’s the same perspective that inspired the economist John Maynard Keynes to predict in 1930 that Americans would eventually have five-day weekends, rather than five-day weeks. It is the belief—the faith, even—that work is not life’s product, but its currency. What we choose to buy with it is the ultimate project of living.
Derek Thompson writing in The Atlantic
Articles of Interest - March 4
/***SOCIAL MEDIA
Why the Life-Insurance Industry Wants to Creep on Your Instagram New Yorker
Apps Give Private Data To Facebook Without User's Knowledge or Permission NPR
Facebook Slammed For Listing Users Phone Numbers Media Post
Two years after going public, Snap’s problems are still all about growth Recode
***TECHNOLOGY
China’s CRISPR twins might have had their brains inadvertently enhanced MIT Technology Review
Silicon Valley Raises Questions On Ethics Of New Technology And Social Media NPR
On Remote pacific island children now get life-saving vaccines from drones Fast Company
***JOURNALISM
The New York Times is taking its opinion video coverage in a new, YouTube direction Harvard’s Nieman Lab
Poll: How does the public think journalism happens? Columbia Journalism Review
***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM
What you need to know before starting your Journalism crowdfunding campaign European Journalism Centre
PAC-Connected Activists Set Up ‘Local News’ Outlets Snopes
***FAKE NEWS
How to spot fake photos online Fast Company
The anti-vaxxers' impact The Week
The Fake Sex Doctor Who Conned the Media Into Publicizing His Bizarre Research Gizmodo
Widower, stepdaughter who blamed panhandler for woman's stabbing death in Baltimore arrested in her killing Baltimore Sun
***FAKE NEWS: MOMO
The Momo Challenge Is Not Real The Atlantic
How local TV news stations are playing a major (and enthusiastic) role in spreading the Momo hoax Harvard’s Nieman Lab
How to Not Fall for Viral Scares Like Momo Wired
Schools, police and media told to stop promoting Momo hoax The Guardian
***MOBILE
Your smartphone screen is probably disgusting: Here's how to clean it USA Today
Want a Folding Phone? Hold out for Glass Wired
***PRIVACY & SECURITY
Why Are Bots Unable to Check "I Am Not a Robot" Checkboxes? Quora
‘You can track everything’: the parents who digitise their babies’ lives The Guardian
Major Airlines Confirmed There Are Cameras On Some Seatback Entertainment Screens Bustle
A second life for the 'do not track' setting—with teeth Wired
How to set up a VPN for increased security and privacy The Verge
Social networks put your privacy at risk, even when you don’t have an account Quartz
***PRODUCING MEDIA
What’s new in WordPress 5.0? Creative Bloq
This app makes it easy to create shareable video content, and it's on sale Mashable
***INTERNET
The surprisingly complex journey a text message takes every time we hit 'send.' Vice
The Life of a Comment Moderator for a Right-Wing Website New York Times
***BIG DATA & AI
The qualities that make for a successful data science team KD Nuggets
***PERSONAL GROWTH
The Mental Fog Begins to Lift Becoming (my blog)
Crossing Divides: The friends who are good for your brain BBC News
A Harvard Psychologist Shows How to Change Those Limiting Beliefs You Still Have About Yourself Inc
***GRAMMAR
The three most useless English language “rules” you can ignore Quartz
When Did the Verb “To Be” Enter the English Language? Daily Jstor
***WRITING & READING
The Surprising Origin Of Using Symbols Like #$%@! To Represent Curse Words In Print (video) Digg
Vatican spokesman Fr. Thomas Rosica resigns from college board after plagiarism apology; Jesuits withdraw award Catholic News Agency
Self-plagiarism: When is re-purposing text ethically justifiable? London School of Economics & Political Science
Plagiarize-Proof Your Writing Assignments Faculty Focus
***LITERATURE
Sorry, but Jane Eyre Isn’t the Romance You Want It to Be Daily Jstor
***GENDER
Cycling race in Belgium is delayed because a woman almost caught the male riders – who started first Chicago Tribune
How neuroscience is exploding the myth of male and female brains New Scientist
***RACE & ETHNICITY ISSUES
France: An old hatred grows stronger The Week
Bill Jenkins, Who Tried to Halt Tuskegee Syphilis Study, Dies at 73 New York Times
***FREE SPEECH
Trump says he'll issue order protecting campus free speech Associated Press
The Tyranny Of Copyright: How A Once-Humble Legal Issue Has Tormented A Generation Of Speech Tech Dirt
***LEGAL ISSUES
In Retrospect, Expert’s ‘How To Make Child Pornography’ Exhibit Might Have Been A Bad Idea Above the Law
Supreme Court To Decide Fate Of World War I Memorial Cross On Public Land NPR
How a flare-up at Harvard Law could undermine legal rights for everybody else The Week
Disability Rights Group Sues San Diego Over Scooters On Sidewalks NPR
***LEGAL ISSUES: COPYRIGHT
Fortnite dance lawsuits are bad for copyright and bad for culture The Verg
Community Theaters Kill 'Mockingbird' Productions After Lawsuit Threat NPR
***CRIME
California Keeps a Secret List of Criminal Cops But Says You Can't Have It KQED
Supreme Court: Nebraska county owes $28M for wrongful convictions Associated Press
Unable to Post Bail? You Will Pay for That for Many Years New York Times
***RELIGION
Christian radio personality 'Uncle Charlie' dies Christian Post
Southern Baptist group clears 6 churches of violating sex abuse standards Christian Post
Nazirite firefighter who promised God not to cut hair settles with Utica on religious lawsuit Utica Observer Dispatch
***RELIGION OUTSIDE THE U.S.
South Africa funeral firm to sue pastor for 'resurrection stunt' BBC News
Egyptian Christians Left With Nowhere To Pray But The Street NPR
***MEGACHURCHES
How a Radio Shock Jock Helped Bring Down a Megachurch Pastor Slate
Megachurch pastor Bill Hybels resigns from Willow Creek after women allege misconduct The Washington Post
***MISSIONARIES
Gospel for Asia Settles Lawsuit with $37 Million Refund to Donors Christianity Today
FBI Raid of Christian Missionary’s Home Found Thousands of Bones Indy Star
***RELIGION & LGBTQ
Methodists reject a proposal to allow openly gay clergy and same-sex marriage CNN
Lesbian Bishop Responds To LGBTQ Ban In United Methodist Church NPR
3 big US churches in turmoil over sex abuse, LGBT policy PBS
Growing Closer After Changing Faiths NPR
Rift over gay rights comes as United Methodists in U.S. have become more accepting of homosexuality Pew Research Center
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
Arkansas church insists sign saying ‘heaven has strict immigration laws’ was not political Fox News
***GOOD NEWS
The Book Catapult stayed open by the grace of its competitors The Washington Post
'That tank saved my life:' 95-year-old World War II veteran gets surprise of a lifetime KETV
Montreal man walks the city streets, donating coins he finds to charity Canadian Broadcasting Company
Man restores, donates dozens of power wheelchairs - from a wheelchair KARE
Oklahoma teacher, book collector makes hobby of reuniting families with meaningful bookmarks KFOR
Teacher cuts waist-length hair to support 5-year-old girl bullied for short haircut WLOX
Meet the street nun helping people make a living from New York's cans The Guardian
National Geographic 2019 Adventurer of the Year National Geographic
***REALLY?!
Top Florida Man Stories of All Time Miami Herald
Woman goes to Olive Garden in Utah and announces she stabbed her mother St. Louis Tribune
***ART & DESIGN
You Are Killing Me with Your Tiny Fonts GQ
A Brief History of LGBT+ Design Try Design Lab
Apple picks the winners of its shot on an iPhone photo contest Apple
The Fascinating Legal Conundrum Facing Banksy Fast Company
The Secrets of the World's Greatest Art Thief GQ
The Favourite is an Oscar-nominated design masterpiece Fast Company
Frida Kahlo’s Forgotten Politics Jstor
When Gorgeous Architectural Landmarks Are Also Monuments to Fascism Atlas Obscura
***MUSIC
A Guide to Harry Nilsson, Who You've Loved Forever Without Knowing It Noisey
Dido Returns With Family-Focused Album 'Still On My Mind' NPR
Scam Season Comes for the Orchestra Vulture
***FILM
U.S. Music Industry Posts Third Straight Year of Double-Digit Growth Variety
***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA
Digital ads expected to crush everything else this year Axios
***BUSINESS & FINANCE
When the Bully Is the Boss New York Times
Walmart Is Eliminating People Greeters. Workers With Disabilities Feel Targeted NPR
Five big winners tell what happens when you hit the jackpot, from free milk for life to a mountain of KFC The Guardian
Highly paid architects, TV producers, actors, and accountants live in a work culture that favor the already affluent The Atlantic
Is Business School a Waste of Time? Inc.
***JOB SEARCH ADVICE
Delete these eight words from your resume immediately Yahoo News
Want to Save Everyone's Time in a Job Interview? The Top 6 Questions Smart Companies Are Asking Now Inc
LinkedIn Just Added a Flurry of Features for Members Looking for New Positions Ad Week
***FREELANCING
Ten tips for freelance writing Story Bench
How Freelance Labor Became the Unsung Casualty of Media Layoffs The Observer
Atlas Obscura is looking for freelance pitches for upcoming editions
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT
Thousands Of Immigrant Children Say They Have Been Sexually Abused While In US Custody BuzzFeed News
Sexual harassment rife in Australian science, suggests first workplace survey Nature
***SOCIAL ISSUES
Woman Delivers Stillborn Baby While in ICE Custody New York Times
Nearly Half of American jail inmates have a mental illness and two-thirds have a drug addition New Yorker
Colonialists are coming for blood—literally Wired
***ENVIRONMENT
Google and DeepMind are using AI to predict the energy output of wind farms The Verge
Meet The White House's New Chief Climate Change Skeptic NPR
***VACCINES
Arizona lawmaker calls mandatory measles vaccine 'communist' amid fight to control outbreaks NBC News
Growing up unvaccinated: My anti-vaxx mother made me a health risk for the whole community USA Today
Measles Outbreaks Prompt More States To Restrict Vaccine Exemptions NPR
***HEALTH RESEARCH
Semi-identical twins 'identified for only the second time' BBC News
Sleeping Late on Weekends Doesn’t Compensate for week-long exhaustion Research Highlights
FDA Expected To Approve Esketamine Nasal Spray For Depression NPR
Machine learning is far from ready for clinical practice of medicine Health Care IT news
***TRAVEL
Here are the Americans speaking at a hate group friendly with sanctioned Russian oligarchs Think Progress
***FOOD
Drinkable' potato chips: the products keeping your phone grease-free The Guardian
Why Are Pretzels Shaped Like That? And 17 Other Food Mysteries, Solved The Daily Meal
***CHILDREN
Being surrounded by green space in childhood may improve mental health of adults SciTech
Give your kid a name that travels well The Week
How To Communicate With Children On Difficult Subjects Such As Death NPR
Storytelling Instead Of Scolding: Inuit Say It Makes Their Children More Cool-Headed NPR
***RELATIONSHIPS
Kentucky man mistakenly gets wife turnips instead of tulips WKRN
Love, Marriage, and the ‘Wife Allowance’ Topic
***ANIMALS
Are Dog Parks Exclusionary? CityLab
Former NFL player travels cross-country with his dog USA Today
‘Pot dogs’ a growing concern for pet owners Cape Cod Times
***SCIENCE
The Unsolved Mystery of the Earth Blobs Earth & Space Science News
Lawmaker: Ky. official state mineral is a rock, state rock is a mineral WAVE
***NEUROSCIENCE
Doctors removed one-sixth of this child’s brain — and what was left did something incredible One Zero
How did reading and writing evolve? Neuroscience gives a clue Phys.org
***PHILOSOPHY
***PRODUCTIVITY
There’s an optimal way to structure your day—and it’s not the 8-hour workday Quartz
6 Tips to Maximize Productivity When You Have ADHD Entrepreneur
***HISTORY
What's the Real American Story? (video) Robert Reich
Almost everything you know about U.S. borders is wrong Chicago Tribune
Border Walls are Symbols of Failure Jstor
***RESEARCH
Scientific Integrity Principles and Best Practices: Recommendations from a Scientific Integrity Consortium SpringerLink
Correlations between submission and acceptance of papers in peer review journals SpringerLink
Preprints as Final Publication (opinion) BioSerendipity
Personality and fatal diseases: Revisiting a scientific scandal Sage
***HIGHER ED
Most Americans don’t realize state funding for Higher Ed fell by billions PBS
The costs of academic publishing are absurd: The University of California is fighting back Vox
A warning about reinventing universities around technology: How UT-Austin’s Bold Plan for Reinvention Went Belly Up Chronicle of Higher Ed
How Political Science Became Irrelevant: The field turned its back on the Beltway Chronicle of Higher Ed
***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
Mike Pence to give commencement speech at Liberty The Hill University
Facing Title IX investigation, Christian university lets pregnant students stay in dorms The College Fix
***HUMANITIES
***TEACHING
Almost 10,000 students went to this online school last year. 851 stayed the whole time Chalkbeat
My Top 6 Books on Pedagogy Inside Higher Ed
***ACADEMIC LIFE
College wins lawsuit to cut bad professor's pay Washington Examiner
Ex-Virginia Tech biotech professor found guilty of grant fraud The Roanoke Times
Self-esteem, self-symbolizing, and academic recognition: behavioral evidence from curricula vitae SpringerLink
A professor is accused of stealing a student's invention to make millions CNN
New video shows exactly what was said during a heated discussion at the annual gathering of classicists in January. Does it change anything? Inside Higher Ed
***STUDENT MEDIA
Am I obligated to take down an embarrassing story if the subject of it asks? Student Press Law Center
***STUDENT LIFE
Where Graduates Move After College Wall Street Journal
Millennials Face $1 Trillion Debt as Student Loans Pile Up Bloomberg
University removed a student's satire website on race relations -- and restored it only after faced with legal pressure Inside Higher Ed
The Mental Fog Begins to Lift
/Over time, you begin to see hints and glimmers of a larger world outside the prison of your sadness. The conscious mind takes hold of some shred of beauty or love. And then more shreds, until you begin to think maybe, just maybe, there is something better on the far side of despair.
I have no doubt that I will eventually repeat the cycle of depression. But now I have some self-knowledge that can’t be taken away. I know that — when I’m in my right mind — I choose hope.
Michael Gerson, published in the Washington Post
When Kids Realize Their Whole Life Is Already Online
/Jaime Putnam, a mom in Georgia, said she has started to be more mindful of the fact that many of her kids’ friends don’t yet know how much information about themselves is out there. Recently she saw on social media that one of her child’s friends got a puppy. She brought it up when she next saw him, and he looked at her, horrified. He had no idea how she had learned that seemingly private information. “It made me realize these kids don’t know what’s being posted all the time,” she said. Now she’s careful about what she reveals. “It kind of feels like you’re maybe crossing a line telling them everything you know about them.”
Taylor Lorenz writing in The Atlantic
Around the Corner
/There are many points in life when we cannot see what awaits us around the corner, and it is precisely at such times, when our path forward is unclear, that we must bravely keep our nerve, resolutely putting one foot before the other as we march blindly into the dark.
Richard C. Morais, The Hundred-Foot Journey