Archive (Page 5) • Open Mode • Buttondown

"where are the unions?"

February 13, 2024

I’ve repeatedly wondered and heard others wonder something along the lines of ‘where is the labor movement on covid?!’ I think this wondering is appropriate...

is fast car a concrete universal? is this affirming what should be negated?

February 5, 2024

Sometimes I think I should drink more or try weed or something because when I’m under the influence I can have a thought or feeling instead having my mental...

jungle can be pandemic art

January 30, 2024

I mentioned the other day that I’d read a little Raymond Williams and found the idea interesting that part of the time-and-placeness of a time and place is...

Nonmasking derives from context not beliefs (ps - Bartleby feelings)

January 26, 2024

I had masking, and mostly not masking, on my mind and thought I’d sit down to type about it because it was distracting me from some other tasks, and because...

update for accountability's sake

January 26, 2024

hey gang, I’m back to worsen your inboxes, sorry about that! Though, I mean, not to minimize how irritating I am but if this is the worst part of your week...

lil shorterish for once - is there any good pandemic art?

January 21, 2024

Hello again correspondents, Before I forget - the thought struck me that I could do a something like a letter to the editor kind of thing in this little...

no writing update - kitchen sink drama, sorry

January 14, 2024

Hello there good people, and the rest of you as well, I hope you’re all warm and well. Here in Des Moines we’re in an intense cold snap and snow fall. It’s...

writing update (no kitchen sink drama, sorry)

January 12, 2024

Hello again friends, comrades, and enemies, I hope you’re all weathering the world alright, not too hellworn. I’m alright. Honestly I’m very good personally...

thinking out loud about Simon Clarke and public health

December 27, 2023

Happy holidays all. I bet it'll be next year before we communicate again. I hope to remember to make a stupid 'wow a whole year ago' joke and more...

my talk from the capitalist state book event

December 17, 2023

Thank you to everyone who came to the book event today for the capitalist state book I have a chapter in. I thought all the presentations were great and the...

Bigger aspirations than system-compatible politics?

December 15, 2023

I assume everybody reading this thing already reads Abby Cartus’s newsletter. She’s got a great new post now about social murder and Søren Mau's book Mute...

one whole book

December 10, 2023

I hate to brag but I just finished a novel. Reading one I mean. That's right, one whole book. [Smirks, dusts hands] I read it sort of like chainsmoking in...

And so passed the time given to you (come here me speak!)

December 8, 2023

Hola, amigos, I know it's been a minute since I rapped at ya but I've been busy staring in horror, deleting work emails, and trying to remember how it felt...

Our deaths don't alarm them / rationality in bad contexts

November 30, 2023

Tonight I saw someone who works on climate policy say something like the following: ‘you’re painting a dire picture of where the environment is at and that’s...

Too big to fail, comrades but not peers, etc etc

November 23, 2023

I had a thought or three while washing dishes that I wanted to write down - or really, I glanced down at the dirt and caught a glimpse of what might be the...

Help, I watched some movies and felt some feelings!

November 18, 2023

Our dishwasher was always a bit shit and it’s been busted for ages. A combination of laziness, cheapness, and not wanting to fuck with having a new one...

RSV immunity debt's fake and misfortunes hunt in packs

November 18, 2023

A friend sent me this paper arguing that covid contributed to the big rise in RSV cases and hospitalizations last year (covid infections suppress the immune...

partial knowledges and the limited perception of social murder

November 16, 2023

Hi all, I hope you’re holding up alright. This newsletter/blog/thing’s been dormant lately. My energy’s been dissipated by work (I’m teaching three new...

favor request from people with library access

October 31, 2023

hi all, I hope you're keeping on keeping on despite [waves arms wildly] everything. I'm busy and tired from teaching and staring in horror and whatnot so...

"Industrial Medicine and the Work of Normalizing Violence"

October 21, 2023

Hey everybody. I hope you're all hanging in there. I had the thought tonight that this might interest some of you so I figure I'll pass it along in case so,...