For Rewind Wednesday, I go back to a dangerous part of history for me (the 19th Century, my core playing field in academic days) to reflect on a figure who sincerely hoped that a more scientific approach to religious history could bring about a better world... and who missed the mark in ways we can learn from today.

(Warning: there be Aryanism discussed within. Choose how much historical prejudice you're up for today.)

#History #Humanism #Humanities #BetterWorldsTheory
https://open.substack.com/pub/mlclark/p/mulling-on-max-muller

My review of Scavengers Reign went up on Monday at Strange Horizons.

If you only saw the trailers, they will have sorely misrepresented this series. There is horror in this space-bound outing, but there is also wonder, and the reminder that we can and do often live like "aliens" to ourselves and each other. How we heal from that estrangement, and find harmony in our circumstances, is up to us.

This is a one-season gift of a mature viewing experience.

#SFF #CoSoTV
http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/scavengers-reign/

Another poem I've been reciting to myself more often lately (the perks of having a few poems in the ol' noggin, to give myself shivers at will or fortify myself in the chaos of the fray).

I am not always a good Man*, but I try.

Goodness knows, I think so many of us do.

---
*See: Ursula K. Le Guin's definition, from "Introducing Myself" (1992).

#Poetry

#Poetry for the afternoon.

I've been coming back to this poem a lot lately. The key word here is "first": its prescience, and the dread in it.

It was published in 1968 - so, still in the throes of modern globalizing media, but a long way off from where we are now.

And yet...

Humans don't change much, do we?

We whip ourselves and others up sometimes just to remember that we all still bleed, and that this *matters*.

What a thing it is, to have the courage to be kind while we've all gone mad.

Ooo, added bonus:

It's sunshowering. :)

I'll be back and hopefully feeling less silly in an hour.

Be well and do good crimes!

I have the sillies.

There was torrential downpour this morning, so I couldn't go for a run.

Wish me luck going for a midday walk without burning.

(In English, it's "like a lobster". In Spanish, it's "like a shrimp": camarón. Yes, yes, I've slathered, but still.)

#AI #News

This is honestly such a great time for CoSo to launch our wee little #Zine dream.

Articles like this one are constructed to sound the alarm. There's nothing more proactive in the delivery than simply suggesting that things are going very, very wrong (which they are)... which is why we need proactive discussion on how to turn the tide toward correcting the mistakes of hyper-centralized digital media.

We can do better, gente.
In some corners, we already are. 💪🏻
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/15/media/google-gemini-ai-search-news-outlet-impact/index.html

As ever, it is a delight to learn the ways in which we’re thinking wrong, care of Adam Mastroianni.

"Nobody thinks they can whip up an iPhone in their garage over the weekend, but most people think they know how to save the children, fix the schools, reform the prisons, overhaul healthcare, repair politics, restore civility, and bring about world peace. Perhaps that’s why we have iPhones and we don’t have any of those other things."

#Essays #Science #ScientificLiteracy
https://www.experimental-history.com/p/how-to-get-7th-graders-to-smoke

It should go without saying, but my heart is with everyone striving to make their state more democratically vibrant, robust, and safe for all.

Pluralism is HARD to sustain, because different groups in a democracy will always have different ideas about how to achieve the aforementioned aims, & those ideas won't always mesh or play well together.

But we *have* to strive for a world of more constructive dissent.

The alternative is a world in which we're endlessly fending off the worst extremes.

#War

Being pro-pluralist democracy isn't easy during war, when everyone wants to flatten groups to single POVs. But it's necessary to defend our full humanity.

Today there was an ultranationalist rally in Israel backed by gov't extremists, calling to resettle Gaza. This is on the back of extremists blocking aid trucks for months.

The US is not the only state in inner turmoil.

This is why we stand for democracy, not hivemind reductions of any given people to solo POVs.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/ben-gvir-calls-to-encourage-emigration-resettle-gaza-at-ultra-nationalist-rally/

Hey Dream #Zine Team!

I did not forget our fantastic conversation the other day.

I've organized our thread notes into a mock-up that is BY NO MEANS SET IN STONE.

It just represents how bad-ass I think this idea is, and how much I hope we can build upon it going forward. (Sometimes having visual cues also help for further brainstorming.) So fling more ideas at it!

All welcome, of course! This is a decidely CoSo production.

@BosmangBeratna @LaurelGreen @corlin @ceorl @redenigma @NiveusLepus

For the life of me, I don't know why I ever expect my "Tough Times Tuesday" posts not to end grimly. Today, we look at Canada's wildfire season in light of the hard science of recent experience, and the struggle of public policy to keep up.

So long as extraction economies are key to notions of national security, can we ever hope for the more ambitious societal reforms our climate crisis requires?

#ClimateCrisis #Environment #Science #Canada
https://open.substack.com/pub/mlclark/p/o-canada-whats-to-be-done-about-the

Morning, gang. 🤨

Internet left on all night, huh?

Well, fingers crossed we didn't need that reboot.

Holiday Monday, so I guess I can get cracking on tomorrow's newsletter next, since I have no classes tonight.

Time to deep-dive into some "fun" readings, in relation to climate change mitigation (or lack thereof) in dear ol' Canuckistan. 😐

Have a good/weird one, folks.

Last one off the 'net tonight, don't forget to switch it off so it can rest a bit, too!

Gearing up to record a BookTube now, but dagnabbit, sometimes the quality of good work in an issue just wallops a body.

The stories in this upcoming magazine review are top tier for the genre. They're the kind of writing that makes me question everything I ever wrote myself--and also desperately eager to start anew, if only to *try* to catch up to their excellence.

No envy. Only gladness to be part of a world where such good writing exists.

#WritingCommunity #SFF

For Monday Media Review, we reflect on the work of documentaries that remind us how much things suck. Food, Inc. 2 thankfully offers some proactive food for thought about the challenges posed by today's fast-food and agricultural practices, but it should also make us rethink how we "consume" media these days, too.

How "healthy" is our intake across the board?

#Food #MediaLiteracy #CoSoFilms
https://open.substack.com/pub/mlclark/p/eating-your-greens-a-food-inc-2-recap

Also, hello, good morning, and good coffee to you. Newsletter (on a different part of the polycrisis) will be up soon. ☕🤗

*Just encouraging people to watch their cardiovascular health.

Many parts of the media ecosystem right now (legacy and social network alike) are doing a terrible job empowering average citizens with accurate and useful data. We're encouraged to be ready to go at each other over the slightest trigger instead.

And if you get your rocks off on that rush, more power to you!

But if folks want to step away, don't feel like you're missing much.

War is a destroyer of truth.
Travel safely out there.