I've disageed - how much depends on when you ask me - with much of Barbara Ehrenreich's positions, but I will always celebrate writers and thinkers who are clear and transparent in what they believe and articulate in explaining it to others. We need so much more of her kind of activism.
Hey Freddie, would you consider doing an explainer piece about sport betting, odds, and what the different numbers mean? I've never followed any sports but have been curious what the various terms mean when they're peppered into writing and conversations. Over. Under. Spread. Points. What does Buffalo Bills (-2.5) tell me?
Provide interesting, extremely well-written content for me to enjoy, even though I often disagree with it!
"What purpose do you serve in mine?"
Pay you subscription money and provide occasionally snarky comments that hopefully don't violate the "kind, true, necessary; pick at least 2 of 3" rule.
Freddie, would you consider doing a more detailed post on Barbara Ehrenreich's work, esp. your thoughts on "Nickel and Dimed" and "Bait and Switch"? RIP Barbara Ehrenreich.
There's a new YouTube channel called American Resiliency, essentially doing predictions by a climate scientist for how various parts of the US will change over the next few decades. I watched her take on Nevada recently, and she advised residents to leave if at all possible, because there just isn't going to be enough water.
Cadillac Desert is epic history. If more Americans- particularly those in corridors of power, influence and high status- read books like this one in the years after it was first published and heeded its lessons, perhaps they would have taken the measures to ward off of the inertial consequences of just rolling on heedlessly down the same road. And- to name one possible consequence of exercising some foresight in this realm of public policy, the states of California, Nevada, Colorado, and Arizona wouldn't be in the jam they're in right now. (After all, Reisner was telling anyone who would listen about the eventual fate of Lake Mead thirty-six years ago. But the "listening" part is the other half of that equation.)
I've just been reading a book that works neatly as a complement to Cadillac Desert. Legacy Of Conquest, by Patricia Nelson Limerick, published the year after Cadillac Desert came out, in 1987. (Thirty-five years ago.) Not quite the sweep of Marc Reisner's book, but the scholarship is formidable. Chapter Three, "Denial And Dependency", is worth the price of the book all by itself. There's some serious historical perspective to be obtained in that content; it's a myth-buster.
I've been a relative latecomer to your corpus, Freddie, so the "From The Archives" posts in the Digests continue to be first-experience delights. Can see what all the hype was about. I wish I'd subscribed sooner; reading stuff from you, and other highly-talented writers like Matthew Yglesias, makes me feel pretty bad about so many years of my life pissed away reading __The New Republic__-grade garbage. Opportunity costs: one doesn't know how bad the bad shit is, until after experiencing the good shit. Thank you for brightening my reading-life.
To be fair - you did see the loss in subscribers coming. It's the result of your tack towards more censorship not too long ago. You were not strong enough to maintain the integrity of your initial goal of protecting free expression, and you are too paranoid about the professional consequences of being perceived by losers on twitter as someone who associates with transphobes.
You had the best argument possible at the beginning - censoring these things only makes others blind to the reality that there are many people who really, truly hold such views. I hope one day you remember the strength of that argument and relent a bit on your censorship, but I'll remain a subscriber regardless due to the quality of your writing.
I know I'm supposed to read everything plus all the comments, as soon as possible, but I don't, and so would like the comments of the weeks to come with the names of the posts they commented on.
Welcome back, NFL picks! My annual league is doing its fantasy draft tonight. Also, I think this is the year the Bills break through and win it all.
Also, your interview with Coleman Hughes was great! Highly recommend.
Not sure if I’m excited now that I also have the Bills -2.5 or worried.
R.I.P. Barbara Ehrenreich. Her 1983 book "The Hearts of Men" was very valuable to me.
I've disageed - how much depends on when you ask me - with much of Barbara Ehrenreich's positions, but I will always celebrate writers and thinkers who are clear and transparent in what they believe and articulate in explaining it to others. We need so much more of her kind of activism.
Hey Freddie, would you consider doing an explainer piece about sport betting, odds, and what the different numbers mean? I've never followed any sports but have been curious what the various terms mean when they're peppered into writing and conversations. Over. Under. Spread. Points. What does Buffalo Bills (-2.5) tell me?
"What purpose do I serve in your online life?"
Provide interesting, extremely well-written content for me to enjoy, even though I often disagree with it!
"What purpose do you serve in mine?"
Pay you subscription money and provide occasionally snarky comments that hopefully don't violate the "kind, true, necessary; pick at least 2 of 3" rule.
Freddie, would you consider doing a more detailed post on Barbara Ehrenreich's work, esp. your thoughts on "Nickel and Dimed" and "Bait and Switch"? RIP Barbara Ehrenreich.
So sad to see Ehrenreich go. RIP. That is all.
There's a new YouTube channel called American Resiliency, essentially doing predictions by a climate scientist for how various parts of the US will change over the next few decades. I watched her take on Nevada recently, and she advised residents to leave if at all possible, because there just isn't going to be enough water.
That Kishi Bashi cover is unbelievable, so lovely, and was nice to be reminded of Byrne's genius.
"Hi yo we drift in and out
Hi yo sing into my mouth
Out of all those kinds of people
You got a face with a view."
"Sing into my mouth" and "Face with a view" -- the playful romance there, the love.
Cadillac Desert is epic history. If more Americans- particularly those in corridors of power, influence and high status- read books like this one in the years after it was first published and heeded its lessons, perhaps they would have taken the measures to ward off of the inertial consequences of just rolling on heedlessly down the same road. And- to name one possible consequence of exercising some foresight in this realm of public policy, the states of California, Nevada, Colorado, and Arizona wouldn't be in the jam they're in right now. (After all, Reisner was telling anyone who would listen about the eventual fate of Lake Mead thirty-six years ago. But the "listening" part is the other half of that equation.)
I've just been reading a book that works neatly as a complement to Cadillac Desert. Legacy Of Conquest, by Patricia Nelson Limerick, published the year after Cadillac Desert came out, in 1987. (Thirty-five years ago.) Not quite the sweep of Marc Reisner's book, but the scholarship is formidable. Chapter Three, "Denial And Dependency", is worth the price of the book all by itself. There's some serious historical perspective to be obtained in that content; it's a myth-buster.
I've been a relative latecomer to your corpus, Freddie, so the "From The Archives" posts in the Digests continue to be first-experience delights. Can see what all the hype was about. I wish I'd subscribed sooner; reading stuff from you, and other highly-talented writers like Matthew Yglesias, makes me feel pretty bad about so many years of my life pissed away reading __The New Republic__-grade garbage. Opportunity costs: one doesn't know how bad the bad shit is, until after experiencing the good shit. Thank you for brightening my reading-life.
To be fair - you did see the loss in subscribers coming. It's the result of your tack towards more censorship not too long ago. You were not strong enough to maintain the integrity of your initial goal of protecting free expression, and you are too paranoid about the professional consequences of being perceived by losers on twitter as someone who associates with transphobes.
You had the best argument possible at the beginning - censoring these things only makes others blind to the reality that there are many people who really, truly hold such views. I hope one day you remember the strength of that argument and relent a bit on your censorship, but I'll remain a subscriber regardless due to the quality of your writing.
I know I'm supposed to read everything plus all the comments, as soon as possible, but I don't, and so would like the comments of the weeks to come with the names of the posts they commented on.