I’m visiting some family in Washington State and flew out late last night, so I am very tired and this week was a lot of preparation to go out of town and general weird vibes from tropical storm weather. Thanks to the people who submitted sentences for this week, it really filled out the newsletter.

He begin with general abstractions arrived at ideally rather than with any detailed study of how actual social and political institutions work.

“The Spatial Fix: Hegel, Von Thünen and Marx”, David Harvey

I got so mad learning about the economic theories of Johann Von Thünen reading this paper that I had to take a walk to cool off. David Harvey is very good at pulling Marx-like petty bitch commentary in what are often very dense texts. A runner-up sentence:

Provided, that is, human beings acquire the universalistic consciousness of marginalist economics.

He recalled unloading body bags returning from Vietnam, which led him early on to question the established order.

Obituary of Eddie Canales by Adam Nossiter for the New York Times

Some industrial machines have soothing names; the laser snake is not one of them.

“Dismantling Sellafield: the epic task of shutting down a nuclear site”, Samanth Subramanian for The Guardian

Submitted by Ruth.

From the perspective of a living soul that wants to hang onto its life-force, this is a BAD THING.

“Are Games Good?”, Frank Lantz for his newsletter Donkeyspace

Submitted by Travis.

Needless to say, he doesn’t provide a scintilla of evidence (none exists).

Debt: The First 5000 Years, David Graeber

This is not on my PhD exams reading list but I started reading it on the plane last night for a fun break. Man, Graeber is fun to read. I think about what a loss it is he’s not with us anymore pretty regularly.

One of the earliest written accounts of a man being eaten by a shark is also the account of a shark in love.

“Beware of Sharkless Waters”, Katherine Rundell for The New Yorker

Submitted by Ranjit.