The world is a musem of passion projects
Music
- This Ted Gioia newsletter on how TikTok is changing the incentives of the record business, shifting power away from record labels and into the hands of musicians who are able to find success on the platform. I would love to see this blow up into something.
Covid fallout
I’ve been seeing and reading more about the social and economic effects of Covid and pandemic related actions. It has me contemplating all of the second and third order effects of the last two years that we do know about and that we don’t. I fear that these things are indirect, diffuse and hard to measure so they get deemphasized in favor of more direct and measurable outcomes like deaths, hospitalizations, and all the other medical numbers everyone has been paying such close attention to. It’s going to be a long time before we understand the long shadow of the pandemic. Here are some of the things I’ve been reading on this:
- Covid and breastfeeding and related thread
- Covid and school closures
- Impact of Covid on education
- The Wikipedia page on the Social impact of Covid-19 is outdated, but a good starting point to think about what might be effected. Nature article on pandemic and education
If you have any suggestions on other sources, please get in touch!
Other
Early wheels and the evolution of cart design. A cool twitter summary of The Wheel, a history of the evolution of the wheel.
Good Hands Farm. I used to work with my hands and spend a lot more time outside. This spring in Vancouver has been especially cold and rainy, even for Vancouver. That, plus kids, plus the insane cost of living has me pining for a return to a life that is more focused on being outside. I’ve also found homestead twitter, which is where I found these guys. I liked their story.
Books
- Exit West, Mohsin Hamid. I loved this book. It’s a thought experiment about immigration, rendered with such big-heartedness. It’s optimistic, but doesn’t shy away from major difficulties. And his writing style is wonderful.
- The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje. I tried to read this once over a decade ago and didn’t make it very far. This time I enjoyed it thoroughly. Great characters, fascinating setting, deeply personal.
- The World Ending Fire, Wendell Berry. I feel deeply ambivalent about this book. His reflections on nature, place, farming, religion and career are vital, but his takes on western culture and economy are naive and cringy.
- Split Tooth, Tanya Tagaq