Rethinking the Civil Rights Movement
Princeton Historian Kevin Kruse gave a talk on the connections between the civil rights movement of the 1960s and similar struggles in our own time, and corrects some of the mythmaking around the movement–in a time of rupture, the insight gained from honest historical perspectives is essential.
The False Flag of Viewpoint Diversity by David Hollinger
A recent article In Chronicle of Higher Ed that clearly and rigorously lays out the high price of turning “epistemic authority over to lobbying groups and elected and appointed officials.” This failure to understand the role of disciplined inquiry in the creation and dissemination of academic knowledge lies behind the popular enthusiasm for the public posting of course syllabi and the surveillance of universities by legislators and civic groups with no deep knowledge of the disciplines they feel entitled to assess and control.
The Authority of Thought. by Pankaj Mishra A very sharp analysis of the “intellectual treason” of public intellectuals in the current moment. Painful to read.
“In Arendt’s experience, darkness had been brought on, too, by the intellectual treason of those who were supposed—indeed paid—to know better, to express outrage over the degradation of language and logic. Instead, they explained away “unpleasant facts and justified concerns.” Today, these normalizers of everyday atrocity, who specialize in, as she put it, “speech that does not disclose what is but sweeps it under the carpet…”
From journalist Ana Marie Cox/former history grad student: How to find trustworthy news sources like a historian:
The Trump administration is bragging about shutting down mainstream media outlets. I could give you alternative trusted outlets, but instead: here’s how to find new legitimate sources yourself.
Laurie Laybourn: How the World Ends (and How to Stop It) | PBS Weathered
Laurie Laybourn, Executive Director of the Strategic Climate Risks Initiative sat down with PBS Weathered producer Ryan for a wide-ranging conversation about why climate risks are often more severe than the way we typically frame them, and that the solution to avoiding worst-case outcomes is not necessarily rooted in science, but in stronger democratic governance.
Guide to Understanding AI as Normal Technology
A really helpful explanation of the medium-term future of AI and its impacts, as well as some reasons why there are wildly divergent attitudes towards it (depends on your “worldview!)
Experimental History
A science and research oriented substack by social scientist Adam Mastroianni that is beautifully written and always thought provoking. Some recent posts:
Help, I’m being persecuted! Great post on the clickbate and the attention economy.
The one science reform we can all agree on, but we are too cowardly to do. Public funding of science!!
Funding science is actually a badass thing to do.
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Pluralistic
a newsletter by Cory Doctorow
Doctorow coined the term “enshittification” to describe the intentional reduction in quality of on-line products and services we all depend on. Jam packed with links, articles, analysis, and usable advice about technology, the web, digital media, law, cyber security, AI–with special attention to the (dubious) financial and legal practices that are behind it all.
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College Majors with the Lowest Unemployment Rates
The data contradicts the widely held assumption that STEM majors are the only route to lucrative post-college employment. Majoring in nutrition, art history, or philosophy could set you up for more career success than majoring in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) field like chemistry or physics. Maybe its time to rethink the “STEM majors=employment” prescriptions.