Hi hi,

Here’s some art, ideas, and internet for you:

1. Why is social change so hard? Part of it is system justification, or “people's inclinations to tell stories and believe things that justify the larger systems of which they are a part.”

2. List animals until failure; a collection of pulpits designed to look like fish.

3. One thing that really delighted me recently is a lady named Michelle who went on Jeopardy wearing a beautiful sweater that looked, somehow, familiar. She revealed during the interview segment of the show that she’d knitted it, and it may set off your recognition bells because it’s designed to mimic the colors and patterns of a pigeon. Now, she’s made the knitting pattern public and is doing a “pigeon sweater knit-a-long” that gets into techniques for beginning knitters. (It started on March 1 but you can obviously pick up the project at any time on your own schedule.)

4. The Dark Sky guys have a new weather app (h/t: Ezra).

5. A site that collects all the images Wikipedia uses across its language versions to illustrate concepts. This is weirdly affecting: the threads of universality yet cultural specificity of human experience, etc. etc. Here’s crying in every language, pottery in every language, novel in every language, death in every language, happiness in every language. Also: Riley, Indiana.

6. How far back in time can you understand English?

7. Bad Bunny 101.

8. I appreciated this Culture Study episode about being a “childless freak.” For those still in undecided land, The Cut also has a good and thoughtful series this week about deciding whether to have kids.

9. I am really enjoying the latest season of Shrinking. My household laughs out loud at this show often. Watching an episode feels like getting to hang out with all your favorite character actors in one place because that’s essentially what it is. Jessica Williams’ outfits are also so good.

10. In Sitka, because they are fond of them,
    People have named the seals. Every seal
    is named Earl because they are killed one
    after another by the orca, the killer
    whale; seal bodies tossed left and right
    into the air. “At least he didn’t get
    Earl,” someone says. And sure enough,
    after a time, that same friendly,
    bewhiskered face bobs to the surface.
    It’s Earl again. Well, how else are you
    to live except by denial, by some
    palatable fiction, some little song to
    sing while the inevitable, the black and
    white blindsiding fact, comes hurtling
    toward you out of the deep?
    
    —”Earl,” Louis Jenkins

Laters,

Laura

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