A small collection of things I ~consumed~ recently. 

Not all of this is new. Inclusion does not imply endorsement. All of it gave me something to think about. Feel free to discuss in the comments below. 

Cross-posted from Patreon.

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• Shlohmo, on repeat, the last few days

• New Lucrecia Dalt today
  

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• America the Mediocre – Paul Musgrave, Foreign Policy

• Publishers Are Taking the Internet to Court – Maria Bustillos, The Nation

• habituation to horror and vocational awe – Anne Helen Peterson

• Mulan (2020) – Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central

• How Can We Pay for Creativity in the Digital Age? – Hua Hsu, New Yorker

• David Graeber, Africanist – Christopher J. Lee, Africa is a Country
  
  And also:
  

• The Bully’s Pulpit – David Graeber

• What’s the Point If We Can’t Have Fun? – David Graeber

• On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs: A Work Rant  – David Graeber

• Of Flying Cars and the Declining Rate of Profit – David Graeber
  

• AI researchers use heartbeat detection to identify deepfake videos – Khari Johnson, Venturebeat

• Red pills and dog whistles: It is more than 'just the internet' – Darlena Cunha, Al Jazeera

• The Emperor’s New Rules – Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein, The Baffler

• Proof of Love – Shirley Wang, Popula

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Molly and I watched all of Netflix's AWAY this week and while it was definitely not a GREAT watch, it was a very watchable watch. Think: high frame-rate, melodramatic soap that takes place in space and on earth, dealing with the stressors of both spaceflight and marriage, motherhood, etc.

The central narrative innovation in the show, I think, is that - for a time - cell phone calls are able to be made between people in space and people on the ground. I definitely got 24 vibes thinking - oh, yeah, sure ... we can just call people now. This makes sense. And it makes moving the action along that much faster and more satisfying. It definitely drives a fair amount of plot, a central tension (acknowledged minutes into the show) is: what does it mean to leave earth, and your family, behind for a grander cause? 

I would '''recommend''' it if you have ten hours to kill. If nothing else: the casting for the flight crew is great.

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• New Every Day post this week.
  

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Hope everyone is safe, healthy and has a great weekend <3