The Compost #3

A plant-based mix of links and recommendations intended to inspire and distract

The title for this weekly or bi-weekly compendium of links and recommendations comes from this quote from "Conscious Uncoupling”:

We strive to take all that is ugly and rotting, and turn it into compost to grow beautiful lives. —Katherine Woodward Thomas

Resources

The next time someone tells you science is (or should be) a meritocracy, send them this Nature article. But know it’s just part of a huge body of carefully researched and interpreted scholarship that completely blow the meritocracy idea out of the water. Some years ago, Ivan Baxter and I had a great conversation with Needhi Bhalla about the myth of meritocracy on The Taproot:

AI Reveals its Biases by Generating What it Thinks Professors Look Like. Sad!

Portland group works to make wealth redistribution a reality through real estate. I have thoughts, especially as we move forward on our own home purchase in PDX.

Reading

I’m taking a writing workshop at a local writer’s institute, and maybe by the end of the session I’ll be able to adequately describe how fantastic it is. Our outstanding leader Brian Benson recently asked us to read the short story On Subtlety by Meghan O’Gieblyn. I’m now very excited to check out her recent book “God, Human, Animal, Machine” next.

I also just downloaded the annual summer reading list from Anne Bogel. Her recommendations are usually excellent and in a range of categories from Mystery to Sci-Fi to Historical Fiction. You can pay $15 for a full list of 50 books, including short synopses, to type directly into your holds list on Overdrive. Or check out her “minimalist” list of 12 titles here for free.

Watching/Listening

OMG I am loving Somebody, Somewhere on HBO Max. A kind, nuanced show about friendship, family, love, and self. The acting, the chemistry between the actors, the setting—all of it is wonderful.

LOLs

The feats that faculty will perform to avoid service work.