Kickoff For April 1, 2024
This edition doesn't contain any jokes or pranks. April Fools' Day shenanigans are frivolous nonsense, so I refuse to take part. You're welcome.
And welcome to the new home and (slightly) new look of The Monday Kickoff. I hope you find it as enjoyable and insightful as before.
With that out of the way, let's get Monday started with these links:
Going for a walk wasn’t really a thing 300 years ago – the Victorians turned it into a popular pastime — Wherein Lauren Nichola Colley shares a brief history of pedestrianism, an idea that didn't take root in the popular imagination until the 19th century.
From the article:
Walking as a leisure activity came about around the 1780s. Until this point walking had been an act of necessity, associated with poverty, vagrancy and even criminal intent. Many individuals would live and die never having seen beyond a few square miles of bleak cityscape and only slightly further for those in the country.
What Happened to San Francisco, Really? — Wherein we take a deep dive into the roots of the perception (and the reality) of the decline of the City by the Bay and what groups — both governmental and private — are trying to do to put San Francisco back on course.
From the article:
In San Francisco, the nation saw its dreams, and now it thinks it sees its nightmares. The question is what caused so swift a change.
Nothing Personal — Wherein we learn about the origins of the seemingly callous behaviour towards others of philosopher Derek Parfit, who believed that he needed to avoid anything that would distract him from his work.
From the article:
Parfit’s callous behavior toward those close to him was the result of a sort of wager. Parfit came to believe that his philosophical work was deeply important and that anything that took him away from this work must be studiously avoided. Hence, he ate the same food and wore the same clothes every day. He avoided social engagements and nonphilosophical conversation.
We Can Be Heroes — Wherein we learn how we might be able to give our lives more meaning by changing tack in those lives and becoming the heroes of our own stories.
From the article:
Each one of us ... is wired to behave like an “autobiographical author”—to make sense of the world by creating stories about our lives. These stories “sit in our heads and they give our life a sense of purpose and meaning.
Three abandoned children, two missing parents and a 40-year mystery — Wherein we learn about three youngsters left alone in Barcelona's central railway station in 1984, and their attempts four decades later to discover why and to find their biological parents.
From the article:
The photographs depict a close, happy family. What had gone wrong? Elvira hoped that her parents had been protecting them from a greater danger. Before he disappeared, her father had told a cousin he was close to pulling off a major heist or deal. Had he been out of his depth? Or perhaps he and Rosario had reconciled, seen the danger and fled far away?
How citizens' assemblies could resolve New Zealand's toughest debates — Wherein we learn about the titular concept, a form of deliberative democracy that brings ordinary people together to hash out recommendations to the government, and how those assemblies might solve problems in the country I now call home (and elsewhere).
From the article:
But what if there is a way to rebuild this trust? What if there is a way to have considered debates about tricky issues of national importance that doesn't lead to protestors gluing themselves to a Wellington road or defacing a museum exhibit? What if there is a way to reduce the noise created by polarising or extreme views and find workable solutions to seemingly irreconcilable issues?
Delusions of Grandeur: The Scandalous Crime of a Los Angeles Millionaire — Wherein we learn about the night wealthy businessman Griffith Jenkins Griffith tried to kill his wife, about the relatively light sentence he received for that crime, and in spite of his crimes he still had a huge park named after him in Los Angeles.
From the article:
Today, a fourteen-foot bronze statue of the benefactor greets visitors at the park’s entrance. A plaque on the base acknowledges his gift but makes no mention of the day he almost murdered his wife.
Death of a (Really Good) Salesman — Wherein we learn about Steve Carroll, a one-time corporate high flyer whose life entered a long, uncontrollable, and eventually deadly downward spiral.
From the article:
His behavior, long skating a jagged edge between flamboyance and recklessness, started to veer in a dangerous direction. His personality, in his mind, was inextricably linked to success and its perks, and now much of that had been wiped out. He had cultivated an image, a persona among his friends and family. What would happen if he failed to live up to it?
How to discover new music — Wherein James Hadfield shares a blueprint that can help you better interact with online streaming (and other) services to discover music that's both new to you and which will stick with you — all without being overwhelmed by choice.
From the article:
As a teenager, I could afford to buy a new CD only every month or two. That meant giving each fresh purchase the attention it deserved. Radio, especially John Peel’s late-night show on BBC Radio 1, was a rich source of discoveries. So were music magazines, although I’d often spend months imagining how something I’d only ever read about might actually sound.