Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoy this edition of SC Weekly (published on Sundays).

Please consider sharing with a friend who you think may enjoy this newsletter.

Thank you for reading and for your time.

With Gratitude,

~ Mark

*

::: ONE ART :::

*

ONE ART’s August 2026 Reading

Date: Sunday, August 2
Time: 2pm Eastern
Featured Poets: John Amen, Tina Barry, Tim Mayo, Francine Witte, CL Bledsoe, Kip Knott
Duration: 2 hours

Tickets are FREE!
(donations appreciated)

>> Register Here <<

*

ONE ART x Quartet reading
Hosts: Jane C. Miller & Mark Danowsky
Date: Sunday, August 16
Time: 2pm Eastern
Duration: 1.5-2 hours
Featured Poets: Sue Ellen Thompson, Melody Wilson, Annette Sisson, Cora McCann Liederbach, Sarah Dickenson Snyder

Tickets are FREE!
(donations appreciated)

>> Register Here <<

*

::: The Literary Community & Beyond :::

*

Potential prompt… or just a fun way to spend a few minutes.

Life Stats

*

Potential prompt.

‘The Most Searched Word Definitions in Every U.S. State’ (Mental Floss)

Frame your home state (or where you have lived or live now) based on the associated word.

*

‘Why We Stopped Going to the Movies’ (Stat Significant)

*

New Mary Oliver documentary (Lit Hub)

*

::: Podcasts :::

*

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway: The New Playbook for Resisting Authoritarianism — with Julia Angwin & Ami Fields-Meyer

Important listen.

A link to the co-author’s book On Courage

*

The Smerconish Podcast: Can Democrats and Republicans Still Be Friends? Fetterman & McCormick Say Yes

Short listen.

This is wild. I haven’t heard a conversation with this kind of camaraderie across the aisle in memory.

I realize, sadly, many simply don’t want to consider the possibility that this could be a reality.

*

Overthink: Unemployment

Fascinating listen about the history of economic theory. Admittedly, I found this challenging to follow as a layperson. You can also listen at half-speed or go back and listen again, right?

A notable takeaway is the concept that unemployment is a feature and not a bug of capitalism (especially, if I have it right, the neocapitalism model).

It’s really interesting to listen to how our emotional attachment to work and not-working (at least under more official guidelines of capitalist society) create a mindset that there’s something wrong with the individual who is displaced or disenfranchised or “discouraged” in the status quo labor force.

There’s another notable point about how in societies where so-called “unemployment” is rampant (think like 70% of society) that they don’t talk about lack of wage labor in the framework of being “employed” vs. “unemployed” because people are constantly shifting between having and not having paid work.

*

The Gray Area with Sean Illing: Canceling Plato

This is wild and I’m somewhat shocked I’m only hearing about it now.

The focus is, unsurprisingly, on censorship in the context of college campuses and, more specifically, public universities that receive tax payer dollars.

What’s extreme about this instance is Texas A&M deciding they need to censor philosophy professors from teaching Plato’s Symposium.

+

Here, read about classes being cancelled because the powers that be could not find a way to make the courses compliant with conservative policies.

+

‘Is Plato woke? Texas A&M professor speaks out after being banned from teaching the Greek philosopher’ (NPR)

As the professor says, “My students are the real victims.”

*

Aspen Ideas to Go: The Idea of America

Good listen. Insightful.

*

::: Music :::

*

The Mountain Goats Opening For Candlebox After Releasing Song About Opening For Candlebox (Stereogum)

Mountain Goats Release Album About Mountain Goats Albums (Hard Times)

… Sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s real anymore, right?

*

‘CD Sales Growth Outpaces Vinyl (Despite Half Of Gen Z & Millennial CD Buyers Not Owning CD Players)’ (Stereogum)

I guess people are still doing it for the gram… Instagram that is…

*

‘Lorde Continues AI Criticism By Calling Out New Spotify Feature’ (Stereogum)

“Hey Spotify i’m gonna go out on a limb n say we don’t want this,” she wrote in an Instagram story. “Not only is this inaccurate (not the song i did that in) but reducing a song to an ai generated meaning right at the source feels like it limits free interpretation imo. At least make it possible for artists to opt out please.”

*

Matty Healy Sang With A 1975 Covers Band At His Stag Party (Stereogum)

This is cute and also so Matty.

*

::: Health & Wellness :::

*

‘Why Try to Live to 100 When I Can’t Afford Being 32?’ (Allure)

“Recent research has found that an individual would need to make at least $81,000 annually to “live comfortably” in the most affordable states in the U.S. (half of them require $100,000 or more), but the median annual wage across the country is about $62,000. That’s just $12,000 more than the cost of an annual, all-access membership to a longevity clinic in El Segundo, California—a real bargain for a health center that boasts reiki, acupuncture, and a 6,500-square-foot pickleball facility. While the elite pick up their paddles after a vampiric rest in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, 87% of Americans (out of 5,000 surveyed in December 2025) believe the country is in a crisis because of its unaffordability.”

*

‘I cognitively shuffle myself to sleep’ (Psyche)

“His ‘cognitive shuffling’ technique is simple: pick a random word (eg, duck) and imagine it (the duck) fully in your mind. Then, choose another random word. Imagine it. Pick another. Imagine it. Repeat until you are miraculously asleep, having signalled to your sleep-onset control system that there is nothing particularly important worth staying awake for. It’s worked for me – for the past two weeks, I’ve fallen asleep after about 15 minutes of shuffling.”

“Variations of cognitive shuffling involve listing items based on the alphabet – apple, beard, capybara – or choosing a random word and trying to name everything you can think of beginning with the first letter of that word, then the second, and so on. I do this latter version, and tonight I think my word will be ‘Psyche’. Potato, porcupine, pencil…”

*

‘Endometriosis Can Be Diagnosed Using a Rapid Saliva Test in ‘Game-Changing’ Development’ (People)

‘New endometriosis tests welcomed but ‘do not solve all problems’’ (BBC)

1 in 10 women have endometriosis.

Also, this development bodes well for discovering a viable test for fibromyalgia.

*

‘Merck’s cholesterol pill gets US FDA approval’ (Reuters)

‘New Merck Pill Cuts ‘Bad’ Cholesterol by 60%, Potentially Replacing Injections’ (Powers Health)

Merck on Lipfendra

*

::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::

*

NYT Visual of U.S. demographics (2019-2024 data)

Stunning.

I spent a lot of time clicking around.

It’s a reminder of just how diverse the U.S. is and that we are so interdependently on one another that there’s no “going back” at this point. All those who want to believe that we can somehow have a European White ethnostate are out of their minds. It just not happening.

+

Semiquincentennial snapshot: the US at 250 years (USA Facts)

*

David Brooks on approaches to AI use based on personality types. (The Atlantic)

*

‘War on the Young’ (Scott Galloway)

*

“Moody’s compared two people earning $150,000 a year: a homeowner who bought a $500,000 house (20% down, 6.25% mortgage) and a renter paying $2,500 a month with 3% annual increases who invested the difference at a 10% return. After 30 years, assuming average annual rent and home appreciation increases, the renter came out ahead with a net worth of $2.8 million versus the owner’s $1.6 million. The analysis did not take taxes into account.” (Prof G Markets)

*

Ethical NBA Championships, Ranked (The Pudding)

For fun.

*

‘See if you can spot an AI deepfake with our test’ (BBC)

Try it.

How did you do?

I admit I did not do well.

*

“Anthropic’s Claude chatbot expresses different values depending on what language it speaks, backing up those analysts who argue that AI models are more grown than made. Anthropic’s research found that Claude tended to show more deference in Arabic than English, but with a tendency to answer in less depth; it was more candid in Dutch, and warmest in Hindi. The effect was modest but real. Researchers keep finding unexpected traits in models: Recently, OpenAI had to intervene when ChatGPT became obsessed with goblins. Though sometimes funny, these unintended properties may become more serious as AI becomes more powerful and is given more responsibilities. “We [aren’t] sure how much of this variation is desirable,” Anthropic noted.” (Semafor)

*

“Germany’s air-raid bunkers, long converted into nightclubs and art galleries, may be returned to their original purpose in the face of Russian aggression. “Berlin is a city of bunkers,” from World War II-era shelters to hide from Allied carpet-bombing to ones built against the threat of nuclear missiles during the Cold War, the Financial Times noted. But there is now a shortage, because the party-loving city converted so many into rave sites or sex clubs. Where Germany once had 2,000 public shelters that could hold 1.6 million people, now it has just 579, none of them in Berlin. But, with analysts predicting Russian attacks on NATO by 2029, Germany’s interior ministry plans a major refurbishment campaign.” (Semafor)

*

Trying to conceive of large numbers?

Try spending a fortune.

*

‘How many trees exist on Earth? A look at the numbers behind our forests’ (Interesting Engineering)

“The answer? About 3.04 trillion trees. Roughly 390 trees for every person on Earth. But that’s only the beginning of the story.”

“Not all forests are created equal.”

“Perhaps the most sobering statistic isn’t how many trees remain. It’s how many have disappeared. Based on historical modeling, researchers estimate Earth has lost around 46% of its trees since the beginning of human civilization. Agriculture, urban expansion, logging, mining, and infrastructure development have transformed vast forested landscapes over thousands of years.”

“While global reforestation is an important climate tool, scientists say it is not a substitute for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. One recent study estimated that offsetting the carbon contained in the fossil fuel reserves of the world’s largest oil, gas, and coal companies through tree planting alone would require an area roughly the size of North and Central America combined. An impractical solution at that scale.”

“Instead, ecologists increasingly advocate restoring native forests in areas that historically supported them. Indigenous tree species are generally better adapted to local climates, support far more wildlife, and create healthier, more resilient ecosystems than large monoculture plantations. In many cases, protecting mature forests already standing can deliver greater climate and biodiversity benefits than replacing them with newly planted trees decades later.”

*

‘Why Tech Is Irrationally Obsessed With Humanoid Robots’ (Prof G Media)

I keep hearing how one of the bottlenecks that will be very difficult to overcome is “the last mile”.

Think: delivery drivers

Robots will have to navigate unexpected terrain and, you know, not accidentally step on (read: crush) the family dog in the process of a delivery.

*

‘What percent of the workforce in the US are immigrants?’ (USAFacts)

The U.S. heavily replies on immigrants and always has. There is no denying this.

*

‘Trump admin replaces slavery memorial at President’s House in Philadelphia after court win’ (ABC News)

*

‘More People Say Their Communities Are Good for Minorities’ (Gallup)

*

Mapping the World’s Prices 2026

*

How Americans Are Engaged With News, Politics, Religion and Civic Life: Mapping how Americans take part in society – or don’t (Pew Research)

Who are you?

Are you a Mobilizer? Connector? Spectator? Outsider?

*

‘AI-Generated Odyssey Movie Costing a Few Thousand Dollars Unveiled Ahead of Nolan’s $250 Million Feature’ (The Hollywood Reporter)

“Rogers, executive chairman of Fountain 0 and executive producer of Odysseus: The Fall, said while democratizing movie making by using AI tools and proprietary video production process, “we wanted to provide a basis of comparison in the same time frame with a movie (The Odyssey) coming from one of the world’s most revered directors, so moviegoers might be curious enough to see both films developed out of the same classic tale as a way to better understand the level at which AI is able to both contribute already to the art of filmmaking, and to increasing the amount of quality films that can be offered to the public”.”

*

‘This font uses an optical illusion to hide from AI’ (PopSci)

Human ingenuity will prevail.

*

‘This Is the Rarest Color for National Flags—Can You Guess What It Is?’ (RD)

Hint: I’ve sometimes argued this is the best color.

*

~ Mark’s Consulting, Coaching/Mentoring, Editing Services ~

Information about my services.

Reach out directly to discuss.

*

~ Ways to Support ~

If you’d like to support my work, there are ways to do so other than subscribing to this substack.

>> Consider buying a copy of my new poetry collection, Take Care. Copies are available from Moon Tide Press and Amazon and, of course, I’ll be happy to sign a copy and send you one myself.

>> Consider making a donation to ONE ART: a journal of poetry.

Share

Leave a comment

“On Tuesday, the House voted 308-117 to pass the Sunshine Protection Act, advancing legislation backed by President Donald Trump that would allow states to make Daylight Saving Time permanent.

Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., who authored the bill, said Americans are “tired of the biannual time change,” while Nineteen states have already passed legislation to make the change permanent.

House Energy and Commerce ranking member Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., told lawmakers that “the benefits of stopping the biannual changing of the clocks are numerous and clear,” citing tourism boosts.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., warned the act would result in “absurdly late” winter sunrises, while the American Medical Association argues year-round standard time better aligns with natural daylight.

The Senate must now pass the bill, which requires at least 60 votes to succeed, though a 1974 attempt at permanent daylight saving time was repealed less than a year later.”

+

Tom Cotton (R- Ark.) previously gave a floor speech on his concerns with permanent DST.

+

Permanent time observation in the United States (Wikipedia)

Interestingly… “Permanent DST in the US was briefly enacted by president Richard Nixon in January 1974, in response to the 1973 oil crisis.”

+

1973 oil crisis

+

The Reasoning Behind Changing Daylight-Saving (NPR/WHYY)

March 2007

“The upcoming shift in the daylight-saving time change is designed to help retailers — and is a substitute for a genuine energy policy, says author Michael Downing.”

“And in fact the best we have is from the Nixon era, when he went on a desperate attempt of year-round Daylight Saving as a result of the OPEC oil embargo. And he came up with nothing by way of saving except the potential, again.”

“Here’s the problem with Daylight Saving as an energy-saver: We tend to want our computers and our televisions and our radios when we want them. More importantly, Daylight Saving really pushes Americans out of the house at the end of the day. And when Americans go out of the house, they may go to the ballpark, they may go to the mall, but they don’t walk there. They get into their cars.”

“Daylight Saving increases gasoline consumption, something the petroleum industry has known since 1930.”

“People go out and spend money. This has been long - tremendously effective spending policy. Retail stores love Daylight Saving. […] Because when we have an hour of sunlight after work, Americans tend to go shopping. The first and most persistent lobby for Daylight Saving in this country was the Chamber of Commerce, because they understood that if their department stores were lit up, people would be tempted by them.”

Read more to learn how Big Halloween is involved.

+
‘What Happened the Last Time the U.S. Tried to Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent?’ (Smithsonian)

“Compounding the seeming failure of the experiment was the fact that the change, according to the Department of Transportation, saved little energy and may have actually caused an uptick in gasoline consumption.”

“Supporters of adopting a fixed, year-round schedule point to the well-documented health and safety risks associated with changing the clocks. As the American Academy of Sleep Medicine noted in a 2020 statement, the spring shift to DST incurs “increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events, mood disorders and motor vehicle crashes.””

*

NYT 10/1/74

*

Your thoughts?

Share

Leave a comment

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoy this edition of SC Weekly (published on Sundays).

Please consider sharing with a friend who you think may enjoy this newsletter.

Thank you for reading and for your time.

With Gratitude,

~ Mark

*

::: ONE ART :::

*

>>> TODAY <<<

ONE ART’s July 2026 Reading

Date: Sunday, July 12
Time: 2pm Eastern
Featured Poets: Christina Kallery, Jo Taylor, Connie Post, Tresha Faye Haefner, Nathalie Anderson
Duration: 2 hours

Tickets are FREE!
(donations appreciated)

>> Tickets Available <<

*

>>> This Week <<<

Curiouser and Curiouser: A poetic invitation to write into wonderment
A Workshop with Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

Instructor: Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Date: Thursday, July 16
Time: 6:00-8:00pm Eastern (Please check your local time)
Price: $30 (sliding scale)

>>> Register Here <<<

Workshops are recorded and shared with all who sign up.

*

::: The Literary Community & Beyond :::

*

‘How do we nevertheless persist?’ (LitMagNews)

“It’s bad enough to see AI slop all over prominent news outlets...”

Great piece by Becky Tuch on writing in the time of AI.

“We make art because we have to. We do it because this is how we survive.”

“Make your art because you are a human being. This is what we do.”

*

Katie & Tim offer insights & recommendations

Poetry Shop: Katie Dozier, author Residency Review: A Memoir in Verse

Poetry Shop: Timothy Green, author of Poems for Katie

*

Hawking Index

“The Hawking Index (HI) is a mock mathematical measure on how far people will, on average, read through a book before giving up.”

How am I only learning about this NOW!?

Also, I feel like this “mock measure” should be taken more seriously.

*

‘What 471 Rejections Finally Taught Me: Five Lessons About Publishing I Wish I’d Learned Sooner’ (Kelly Grace Thomas)

“A writing career isn’t built on inspiration alone. It’s built on rituals that make it easier to keep showing up.”

“Looking back, I realize almost everything I’ve learned about publishing had very little to do with publishing. It had everything to do with becoming the kind of person who keeps showing up.”

“It wasn’t until years later that I learned some rejections are actually encouraging. Editors don’t always say yes immediately. Sometimes “not this time” is the beginning of a relationship.”

“Not because I love spreadsheets. Because I learned that if I don’t build a system, my poems never leave my computer.”

“The more professionally you treat your writing, the more seriously you’ll treat yourself.”

“Now I expect rejection. Not because I’m pessimistic. Because I’m a writer.”

“Because every submission is evidence that you refused to let fear make your decisions.”

“The world doesn’t need more beautiful poems sitting on hard drives. It needs more poets brave enough to send them into the world.”

“Today, many of the journals I once saw as intimidating gatekeepers are run by people I now know personally. They’re not mustache-twirling villains waiting to crush your dreams. They’re generous humans making incredibly difficult decisions.”

*

::: Podcasts :::

*

1A: Culture: What Does It Mean To Be An Adult Today?

Really recommend this listen for people of all ages. Fascinating. Worthy of a thoughtful conversation with friends and loved ones.

*

The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos: Why “No Regrets” Is Bad Advice

Check out this Instagram: Liz and Mollie

*

Conversations with Tyler: Kyla Scanlon on Communicating Economic Ideas through Social Media

Great episode and impressively prophetic about the energy sector.

*

The Gray Area with Sean Illing: The “real” America at 250

“…guest host Jonquilyn Hill talks with constitutional law professor Kermit Roosevelt about his book The Nation That Never Was: Reconstructing America’s Story, which argues that America’s most important ancestors are not the founding fathers but the heroes of Reconstruction. The two discuss the importance of founding myths, why Americans are constantly fighting over “the real America,” and what it means to be American.”

Fascinating listen.

*

The Gray Area with Sean Illing: The people who want AI to replace us

AI successionism

Depressing listen I’ve been putting off.

Important points about religion’s place in human history and that most of us have a drive towards something God-like.

We need people advocating for an updated contemporary form of Humanism that can push back on those who are devaluing and frankly dehumanizing humanity.

Disturbingly, some of the wealthiest people are fans of “AI successionism” including the likes of Peter Thiel and Elon Musk. My understanding is that there is some debate as to who is a full-on pro AI-successionist and who is a transhumanist. Ultimately, there seems to be, well, somewhat of an ominous gray area.

*

Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov: Trump’s Election Plot Gets More Dangerous as His World Cup Intervention Leaves Everyone Stunned

Interesting opinions by Marc Elias

*

The Indicator from Planet Money: We’re in a renter’s market (believe it or not)

Good short listen.

Notable point that not all regions are impacted similarly for reasons such as regulations.

*

::: Music :::

*

‘Madison Square Garden Has Been Secretly Tracking Queer Musicians ‘(Pitchfork)

Oh and…

“Roughly 400 celebrities were also reportedly assigned a “risk” score.

If I were to list myself, I suppose I would say, “Medium Risk”. Would I do something to make MSG look bad? Probably. That might earn me “High Risk” status.

*

‘Sony Music to Shutter Newly Unionized Punk Merch Warehouse’ (Pitchfork)

The joke writes itself.

*

::: Health & Wellness :::

*

‘At 92, she’s as fit as someone half her age’ (WaPo)

You know this but there’s a lot historic sexism in healthcare.

Hence, “There’s little information from other athletic 90-year-old women, because few have been studied.”

*

Five Americans die every hour from toxic vehicle emissions, study finds (The Guardian)

*

‘The heat wave that made America legalize shorts’ (National Geographic)

*

::: The Trump Regime :::

*

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot and killed by ICE.

“The eldest child of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo said he learned of the shooting after he saw a video on social media.” (WaPo)

+

“Marco Rubio is trying to enlist other nations in Trump’s fight against antifa.” (WaPo)

“The secretary of state will hold a meeting about the “resurgence of transnational far-left terrorism.” He has invited senior ministers from more than 60 countries.”

*

::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::

*

“We’re #30!”

Well, I suppose it depends on the list. Regardless, the U.S. never close to the top of charts/metrics that examine social good.

Quality of Life

Happiest Countries

Social Welfare

Welfare state (Note: I like how we’ve managed to give this a bad connotation when it’s so clearly a positive.)

“A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for citizens unable to avail themselves of the minimal provisions for a good life.”

Reviewing the Wikipedia, a “welfare state” is not imperfect by any means. There’s an argument to be made for why Universal Basic Income (UBI) can be a better system.

The ability for a large country like the U.S. to integrate a UBI system has been highly debated. There are other models for basic income.

A major problem with the U.S. system is that long ago we tied healthcare to wage labor. This, I’ve read, is very difficult to undo once in place. Doesn’t mean we can’t try.

The Democrats recent slogan of “Strong Floor, No Ceiling” is interesting and something that is worthy of lengthy discussion. The first part, strong floor, is the most important part. The second part, is the part that should appeal to high earning Democrats / Liberals as well as Independents and Right-of-Center Republicans who are displeased with the MAGA-infused direction of the GOP. In short, voters should be able to get on board with this. Ideally, we would have “some ceiling” because Capitalism should have guardrails. Making infinite money (billionaires, trillionaires) without paying your fair share back into the system that allowed you to reach that status is unreasonable and immoral.

*

‘America, 1926: What a Forgotten 100-Year-Old Report Says About Who We Are’ (Derek Thompson)

Truly a fascinating read.

Troublingly, of course, is these were wildly optimistic times quickly followed by the stock market crash of 1929 leading to The Great Depression. Hopefully, smart folks are doing good work to prevent the same thing from happening 100 years later. We know history has a tendency to rhyme but we should be able to avoid certain fates if we maintain an awareness about what caused them and what can be done to avoid causing them to reoccur.

*

Worse on Purpose

A list of brands that have willingly made their products worse in one way or another.

Common reasons include planned obsolesce and enshittification.

*

You’re Weirder Than You Think

*

Kara Swisher took Silicon Valley by force. Now she’s eyeing influence in the 2028 campaign (AP News)

Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway will be major influencers as we head into the 2026 midterms and even more importantly the 2028 presidential election.

*

The U.S. deservedly lost to Belgium in the World Cup.

This followed Trump’s unprecedented intervention to overrule a red card and allow U.S. star player Folarin Balogun to play.

Trump loves being in the news. We know this. He also can’t help himself from “getting involved” whenever he feels an impulse.

Trump is expertly effective at ruining everything he touches. He has reached an immense level of toxicity. It’s surprising, to some at least, that his words or endorsement carry any sway at this point.

*

NATO is pivoting away from reliance on the U.S. for understandable reasons.

*

‘A new law in California will clarify ‘sell by’ dates to reduce food waste’ (NPR)

I’ll admit I don’t really want to think about how much food has been wasted over the years due to poor labeling methodology.

Here are the new California guidelines.

*

National Geographic opened a museum in D.C.

*

‘Uh ... what’s going on with academic freedom?’ (Amanda Shendruk)

“The Academic Freedom Index measures five things: Freedom to research and teach, freedom of academic exchange and dissemination, institutional autonomy, campus integrity (if there’s a climate of insecurity or intimidation), and freedom of academic and cultural expression.”

“In the US, all five of these measures have declined, but institutional autonomy and freedom to research and teach show the greatest drops.”

“Of 180 countries, the US saw the third greatest drop in academic freedom from 2015 to 2025.”

“The extreme drop is tied closely to the second Trump administration, which has aggressively cut research funding, taken aim at DEI initiatives, and revoked student visas. Today, the US shares levels of academic freedom with Bhutan, Thailand, and the West Bank.”

“There are a few good news stories here. Did you notice Iraq, Bangladesh and Fiji? They’re among the small handful of countries that actually saw improvement over the last decade. In many of those states, the progress was tied to major regime changes.”

*

‘The Creator Economy Is Above the Law’ (Prof G Media)

Spoiler Alert: It’s because the law is not being enforced.

Possibly the saddest data point in this article is that Gen Z is more likely to buy something advertised to them on social media in the feed than they are to buy something recommended by a friend.

*

‘How to spot an AI-generated face, according to science’ (Scientific American)

“Current AI image generators are themselves trained on datasets composed of millions of images. When prompted to generate a face, they don’t copy specific faces, but instead compose a new face that is based in part on the mathematical patterns shared across the faces in that data set—these allow the AI to construct a “typical” human face.”

This is related to how algorithms flatten culture.

The reduce everything to the mean. So whatever the algo decides is the middle ground. This is why AI is perfect for making fake utterly ignorable coffeehouse music. It’s good at bland. I’m sure once robotics catches up we’ll have some terrific AI-infused robot chefs cooking for prisoners and college students.

*

“Boomers’ massive wealth will mostly be passed down to people who are already rich.” (WaPo)

“According to a new analysis: Boomers will pass $36 trillion to their heirs in the next two decades. But the bulk of that money will flow to people who are worth far more than the average.”

“How did boomers get so wealthy? Good timing, mainly. Americans 75 and older bought homes and invested in stocks before such assets exploded in value.”

*

New phobia just dropped:

apeirophobia = living too long

(note: subjective, likely circumstantial)

*

Nightmare Scenario

‘Fellow passengers pull back man partly sucked out of broken window on a flight from Greece’ (AP News)

*

Seth Godin aphorisms

*

~ Mark’s Consulting, Coaching/Mentoring, Editing Services ~

Information about my services.

Reach out directly to discuss.

*

~ Ways to Support ~

If you’d like to support my work, there are ways to do so other than subscribing to this substack.

>> Consider buying a copy of my new poetry collection, Take Care. Copies are available from Moon Tide Press and Amazon and, of course, I’ll be happy to sign a copy and send you one myself.

>> Consider making a donation to ONE ART: a journal of poetry.

Leave a comment

- Anne Frank

*

“The future is already here — it’s just not evenly distributed.”

- William Gibson

*

“Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving in words evidence of the fact.”

- George Eliot

(Notable in our time because this is what Generative AI (chatbots) will not do.)

*

“Far better an approximate answer to the right question, which is often vague, than an exact answer to the wrong question, which can always be made precise.”

- John Tukey

*

“I used to think anyone doing anything weird was weird. Now I know that it is the people that call others weird that are weird.”

- Paul McCartney

*

“The calendar is full of invitations to re-decide.”

- Seth Godin

*

“That which can be repurposed to serve the AI supply chain will be repurposed to serve the AI supply chain.”

- Joe Weisenthal

*

“The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To him... a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create -- so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating.”

- Pearl S. Buck

*

“Art does not reproduce the visible; it makes visible.”

- Paul Klee

*

“Not that I want to be a god or a hero. Just to change into a tree, grow for ages, not hurt anyone.”

- Czeslaw Milosz

*

“One’s first step in wisdom is to question everything -- and one’s last is to come to terms with everything.”

- Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

Leave a comment

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoy this edition of SC Weekly (published on Sundays).

Please consider sharing with a friend who you think may enjoy this newsletter.

Thank you for reading and for your time.

With Gratitude,

~ Mark

*

::: Personal Notes :::

*

Upcoming reading via The Poetry Salon

‘Words with You’ reading series

Free Event

Hosted by Tresha Faye Haefner & Robbi Nester

Mark Danowsky and Adela Najarro + Open Mic

Wednesday, July 8th, 5 pm, PST/ 8 pm, EST

>> Register Here <<

*

My Uncle shared this piece about my Mom (his sister) on his substack.

I will field questions privately.

You can learn more about my Uncle, his art and literary career, on his website.

*

A poem of mine in Maudlin House… I have conflicted thoughts about the value of this one.

*

We’ve been having issues with our A/C during 100° weather in the Philadelphia area these past few days. Some of you have been following the “thrilling” drama on Facebook. It short, it seems our apartment’s A/C system is unable to keep up with triple digit temps.

*

::: ONE ART :::

*

ONE ART’s July 2026 Reading

Date: Sunday, July 12
Time: 2pm Eastern
Featured Poets: Christina Kallery, Jo Taylor, Connie Post, Tresha Faye Haefner, Nathalie Anderson
Duration: 2 hours

Tickets are FREE!
(donations appreciated)

>> Tickets Available <<

*

Curiouser and Curiouser: A poetic invitation to write into wonderment
A Workshop with Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

Instructor: Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Date: Thursday, July 16
Time: 6:00-8:00pm Eastern (Please check your local time)
Price: $30 (sliding scale)

>>> Register Here <<<

Workshops are recorded and shared with all who sign up.

*

::: The Literary Community & Beyond :::

*

Lit mags and publishers are discussing the creation of #LitMagWeek

This idea comes from the mind of Brett Van Emst who is the Editor and Publisher of Midnight Mind Magazine

At present, I believe this will take place in September, however, that may change.

Here’s Brett’s game plan:

Day 1 (MON): #LitMagWeek Discounts: we all announce that, in honor of #LitMagWeek, we are offering a discount for the next week. Maybe this is email and in Social Media. Use the store code #LitMagWeek if your store works that way.

Day 2 (TUES): “RE-introduction video” In honor of #LitMagWeek, make and share a very short video about what your magazine is, the goal, the vibe, etc.

Day 3 (WED): A publication that we read: we all use of magazine socials to share a lit mag that we enjoy reading. Extra points to tag them in your social post.

Day 4 (THURS): Throwback Thursday: Post in social media about and discuss an out-of-print literary magazine that you enjoyed. There is such a rich history that it would be fun to learn about other old mags and highlight some of the hidden ones we know about.

Day 5 (FRI): Communicate to your followers that this is the last day to take advantage of the #LitMagWeek discount.

Questions? Email brett@midnightmind.com

+

ONE ART will plan to participate in some capability. Obviously, ONE ART is an online lit mag and doesn’t not have a print journal or back issues of print journals.

*

Are Public Libraries Becoming Children’s Libraries? (404 Media)

*

Backlist confusion (Seth Godin)

Excerpt:

Today’s post is the frontlist of the blog, the other 10,000 posts are the backlist.

Two things are true, in a surprising juxtaposition:

1. Publishers spend almost all their time on the new books. The frontlist gets attention from editors, marketers, salespeople, publicists, and the rest of the team.

2. More than 100% of their profit comes from the backlist.

That’s not a typo. Every viable publishing house loses money on the frontlist. They do it to build a backlist. to create a catalog that pays the bills over time.

The confusion starts with the name.

*

::: Podcasts :::

*

TRIGGERnometry: Privacy is Power - Carissa Véliz

Take your privacy seriously.

This is an issue that we, as a society, need to be fighting for harder.

I’ve been listening to a bunch of Véliz’s podcasts in tandem with being extremely taken with her new book Prophecy. I’ll be shouting from the rooftops about this for a while, I expect.

*

One day, I decided to punish myself, it seems, and listen to an unhealthy number of podcasts… a bad habit that is challenging to explain… I suppose listen to podcasts can be a bit like binge streaming shows or doomscrolling social media. I get locked in. What was particularly unhealthy was the punishing aspect that took me back to my undergrad days studying feminism. For a time, I got a bit too into radical feminism which resulted in me becoming rather self-loathing. That’s not the fault of feminism. There’s a longer conversation to be had about “Third Wave” or “Millennial Feminism” and the nuances. Because of one professor in particular, my studies were more focused on what, at the time, we called “Continental Philosophy” and so had a more global view. In turn, I wasn’t as up certain aspects of Western Feminism at the time.

+

So, I listened to a balance of podcasts on “the trouble with men” and the rise of the Manosphere (deeply disturbing) as well as a range of podcasts on women’s empowerment and attends to rollback women’s power that are taking place in the United States today.

I’m only sharing a few standout podcast episodes from the latest deep dive.

+

Fresh Air: “Masculinsim” goes mainstream: a movement to fight feminism

+

The Gray Area with Sean Illing: The expectations on men

This is interesting, in part, because you get to listen to two men (both fathers) openly discuss struggling to understand what it means for be a man (and a good dad) in modern times.

+

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway: The Crisis of Adulthood — with John Burn-Murdoch

+

1A: Culture: What Does It Mean To Be An Adult Today?

The ever-raising bar for Millennials and under who, it seems, were reared to never come of age.

*

::: Health & Wellness :::

*

PSA:

Heat Exhaustion

Heat Exhaustion vs. Heat Stroke

*

“Millions of people lack air conditioning as the U.S. heat dome peaks.” (WaPo)

Estimated at least 3,000,000 Americans do not have A/C.

*

‘Here’s How Philip Morris Designed Lunchables to Hook Generations of Kids’ (KQED)

“A new study in the American Journal of Public Health relies on internal corporate documents to chronicle how the tobacco giant applied cigarette research to its development of ultra-processed foods.”

*

::: The Trump Regime :::

*

‘Immigrant Arrests Surge to Over 10,000 in 5 Days as ICE Clamps Down’ (NYT)

“The agency has doubled its daily arrest numbers without the fanfare of last year’s large urban operations, sowing fear in immigrant communities.”

There’s no mistaking what this is.

*

‘Trump Made More From Crypto Than Coinbase Did’ (Scott Melker)

“The president’s 2025 financial disclosure released Tuesday shows him personally earning more from crypto than any publicly traded US crypto company.”

*

::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::

*

Mapped: The Salary Needed to Afford Rent Across America

Unaffordable.

*

Considerations of the old internet…

2011 article: The death of Web 2.0 is nigh… | Web 2.0 | The Guardian

+

Web 2.0 isn’t dead so far as I know. It’s the human-made groundwork that Web3 has started to layer on top of and AI is not creating a kind of echo chamber where algorithms are optimized for feeding us bland AI slop that is often a flat and souless ... What Kyle Chayka talks about in Filterworld.

+

Remember Stumble Upon?

+

The Gray Area with Sean Illing: The end of the human internet

So, yeah, Dead Internet (Conspiracy) Theory kinda came to fruition.

I don’t like talking in this manner… but the “Cuck Internet Theory” has come up and is intriguing. It’s discussed in this podcast episode.

The episode, overall, is a valuable (albeit somewhat depressing) listen.

*

‘World’s first cockroach diving suit actually works’ (Pop Sci)

“A cyborg cockroach survived up to three hours underwater with an experimental new oxygen tank.”

I’ve seen a lot of articles about this. Probably because… it seems very strange on first blush. Effective clickbait.

We all knew the roaches would win at the end of the day but did we really need to help them along?

*

‘Canada Officially Joins Eurovision Song Contest’ (Variety)

Elsewhere some reasons been reported: “The decision comes as Canada seeks to expand European ties, and as viewership dropped this year amid a boycott over Israel’s participation.”

*

‘Experts Call This Taylor Swift Wedding Bet ‘Dehumanizing’ — And It’s Easy To See Why’ (Huff Post)

It’s extremely unethical to bet on people’s lives. Carissa Veliz discusses “the why” in her book ‘Prophecy’ which I will continue to relentlessly recommend for the foreseeable future.

One of the problems with “predications” is that they are often mistaken for truth. It’s a flaw in the human brain. So-called possibility shifts the Overton Window to make something seem possible.

Predictions are gambling. Highly accessible gambling is bad for society.

A big problem with “predictions” when they are made about people is that there can be incentives to make them come to pass. A common example is leaders (or, historically, kings). If someone predicts a king will be deposed, a prediction market creates a financial incentive to make this a reality.

If you read up on what’s been going on with sports, it’s truly disgusting. People (alleged fans) are sending hate mail to players for messing up their “parlays” and other bets.

Sports betting platforms are highly addictive and, you may have noticed, are being heavily advertised.

There are statistics all over the place with the percentage of (particularly) men who say they bet on sports. The numbers are staggering high. Most people lose their money.

Predictions markets need to be reined in ASAP. Sports betting should be heavily limited, ideally not in your pocket, and certainly should not allow for the gamified hyper-specific bets that allow users to bet infinite amounts of money 24/7. It’s no surprise that the rise in gambling is associated with increased mental health issues and the talk of financial nihilism.

*

America250 Time Capsule will be unearthed in 2276.

This suggests an optimistic predication that AI will not destroy us. Or… that future robots will dig up this treasure trove and, perhaps, have opinions about our foolishness.

*

American Pride Falls to 25-Year Record Low

*

Democracy 250

Good quotes.

*

The burnout economy (Hanna Horvath)

Valuable read. All too true for all too many.

*

~ Mark’s Consulting, Coaching/Mentoring, Editing Services ~

Information about my services.

Reach out directly to discuss.

*

~ Ways to Support ~

If you’d like to support my work, there are ways to do so other than subscribing to this substack.

>> Consider buying a copy of my new poetry collection, Take Care. Copies are available from Moon Tide Press and Amazon and, of course, I’ll be happy to sign a copy and send you one myself.

>> Consider making a donation to ONE ART: a journal of poetry.

Leave a comment

Maybe it’s living much of my life in the Philadelphia area where there’s something like pride in being an underdog. I’ve never loved the U.S. position as #1 for the U.S. It’s possible that this is because during my lifetime as an “Elder Millennial”, the American Dream has not been the same dream (at least for those born in the U.S.— it’s often pointed out that the American Dream lives on in this “heyday” form with immigrants… those who are being treated so poorly… since 9/11?)

Quick search suggests: “The “American Dream era” primarily refers to the post-World War II boom from 1945 to 1970.”

Well, some say it had about a 50-year run.

+

More on America at 250 (not-ship)

American freedom recently fell off a cliff. American’s civil liberties and freedom of expression are not faring particularly well since the Trump Regime went into full-blown authoritarian mode.

“Compared to 237 other regions in the world, the US currently ranks 62 for greatest life expectancy (sitting between Albania and Estonia). It’s no Monaco, but it’s in the top 30% of countries.”

“Indigenous Americans have the worst life expectancy in the US”

“The US has one of the highest prison populations in the world”

The U.S. happiness ranking is poor… but this is (imho) a complicated issue.

The “pursuit” of happiness meant something very different at the time of the nation’s founding. In short, Americans are chasing a kind of happiness that has diminishing returns. We know by now that money doesn’t buy happiness. There’s a baseline of wealth needed for a decent American life in which a person can actively participate fully as a citizen. Those who are financially disenfranchised are, in fact, not free.

“At its core, the Founders viewed the pursuit of happiness as a lifelong quest for character improvement, which requires a commitment to practicing the daily habits that lead to self-regulation, emotional intelligence, flourishing, and growth. Understood in these terms, happiness is always something to be pursued rather than obtained—a quest rather than a destination.” (National Constitution Center)

+

Notably, many World Cup fans who are visiting the U.S. seem pleasantly surprised by the warm welcome. Yes, it’s true, the World Cup is doing some good work of bringing people together (much like, in theory, the Olympics can do).

Keep in mind: Vistors, like any traveler, do not have the same experience as those who live the day-to-day drudgery of being rooted in a place. This is why Transcendentalists like Emerson and Thoreau understood that with travel you (a) take yourself with you, and (b) partly travel to understand what you already have (or don’t have) back home. It’s worth reflecting on the value of what we prefer to have freedom from.

*

‘Fresh Air: Banned books, shocking art & the birth of the culture wars’

I highly recommend this listen.

Isaac Butler’s book sounds excellent—

The Perfect Moment: God, Sex, Art, and the Birth of America’s Culture Wars

This conversion is, in part, an overview of the methodical, long game takedown of the NEA by rightwing Conservatives.

I do think there’s a conversation to be had about how government money is used for The Arts, just like there is a conversation to be had about how NPR developed a kind of learned dependency on government funding. The answer, in my view, is we can have it both ways. The amount of taxpayer money used on The Arts and NPR is miniscule compared to almost any other area of interest. One can argue, at least in the theoretical (though I beg to differ), that today public radio doesn’t serve the same need it did when the Public Broadcasting Act established the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in the late 1960s.

Obviously we have Joe Rogan now and everything is fine, right?

When it comes to the NEA, it’s complicated. I’ve always liked the way Aaron Sorkin portrayed Republican attacks on the NEA in The West Wing.

+

It’s often noted that all truly great cultures value The Arts. America is singular in our lack of spending on/funding of The Arts. And yet, there’s no arguing that “Culture” remains among America’s top exports. Americans are good at figuring things out in spite of obstacles. Overcoming is part of the lifeblood the country’s founding and fraught history since its inception.

+

I know a lot of folks who are in their 70s and 80s.

America is 250.

The math is pretty simple. There are people alive today who have lived as adults for about 1/3 of the existence of the country. A reminder that America is a young country. Perhaps, fledgling by some metrics. Historically, empires only last about this long.

Some say that Trump has cut short “The American Century” and given way to what we become China’s century at the dominant power. That remains to be seen. China has certainly had a top spot in the past being a much older culture.

Regardless, The American Experiment continues.

+

NPR’s 1A asked a general question about “What does America at 250 mean to you?”

“What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”

Your thoughts?

Leave a comment

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoy this edition of SC Weekly (published on Sundays).

Please consider sharing with a friend who you think may enjoy this newsletter.

Thank you for reading and for your time.

With Gratitude,

~ Mark

*

::: Personal Notes :::

*

Taking an opportunity to mention that I quietly add a fair amount to Substack Notes. These are oftentimes screenshots or pull quotes from articles and podcasts that don’t wind up in the weekly newsletters. It can also be a way to keep up with what I’m up to in real time.

*

This was a very active week for me. In stark contrast to the usual, “Mark doesn’t get out much” trope.

I read locally. Then, attended an annual queer poets reading that I absolutely adore. It’s such a joyous gathering. As I arrived for the Pride month event, I ran into a high school friend who happened to be playing a show at the bar next door. Small world! So, after the reading, I got to see some music and visit with a few old friends. As a bonus, an old colleague of mine was at the show! This ranks wildly high on the elusive Serendipity Scale.

*

I finished reading Carissa Véliz’s book Prophecy this week, which I highly recommend.

One takeaway is that there are elements of AI we absolutely should resist.

Another is that we have good reason to be concerned about the potential for the U.S. to, put bluntly, flip a switch, and turn the country into a surveillance state.

Be concerned about your privacy.

More on this soon.

*

::: ONE ART :::

*

>> Upcoming Workshops

>> Upcoming Readings

>> Past recordings of ONE ART readings

>> ONE ART ~ Poetry Community (on Facebook)

>> ONE ART’s Shop

>> ONE ART donations

*

ONE ART’s July 2026 Reading

Date: Sunday, July 12
Time: 2pm Eastern
Featured Poets: Christina Kallery, Jo Taylor, Connie Post, Tresha Faye Haefner, Nathalie Anderson
Duration: 2 hours

Tickets are FREE!
(donations appreciated)

>> Tickets Available <<

You can purchase selected works by our Featured Poets from ONE ART’s partner The Poetry Shop.

*

Curiouser and Curiouser: A poetic invitation to write into wonderment
A Workshop with Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

Instructor: Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Date: Thursday, July 16
Time: 6:00-8:00pm Eastern (Please check your local time)
Price: $30 (sliding scale)

>>> Register Here <<<

Workshops are recorded and shared with all who sign up.

*

::: The Literary Community & Beyond :::

*

Granta-gate update.

‘Short story prize clears winners of AI allegations after month-long review’ (The Independent)

Once you’ve successfully sow doubt the damage is already done.

Recently, several authors have said they believe their careers have been ruined by AI-use accusations.

A reminder that we need to be careful about being quick to deploy allegations.

*

Scientists decipher new secrets from ancient scrolls scorched by Vesuvius eruption: “Finally able to read them” (CBS News)

“For centuries, researchers have worked to interpret the scrolls. Recent technology led to a breakthrough: A particle accelerator and AI were used to identify ink, even faint traces, allowing researchers to virtually unwrap the delicate scrolls. But interpreting the ancient language is another project entirely.”

“Still, more than 600 scrolls remain unopened and unread. Giorgio Angelotti, a project lead with the Vesuvius Challenge, said the effort is “ongoing” and that archaeologists need “everyone’s help to read the scrolls.” Seales said he believes the entire library can be deciphered.”

“This is no longer just about imaging or machine learning,” Seales said. “Now we need experts who can read, edit and understand what they are saying.”

*

::: Podcasts :::

*

The Ezra Klein Show: I Keep Telling People We’re Living in This Dystopian Novel

Conversation with Gary Shteyngart about the all too real dystopia we currently inhabit.

*

Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams: Obama’s Library, Trump’s UFC 250, and Two Very Different Americas

guest host: Melissa Murray, host of Crooked Media’s Strict Scrutiny

guest: Erin Ryan, co-host of Crooked Media’s Hysteria

Great episode. Great banter.

Fairly early on in this discussion they say the quiet part out loud regarding Obama and racialized hierarchical privilege resulting in the ability to channel grievance using the Southern Strategy from the old political playbook as rage bait for MAGA backlash.

*

What happens if the US ends birthright citizenship? (Code Switch)

The 14th amendment keeps coming up.

I highly recommend this short listen.

This book sounds good: Daisy Hernández – Citizenship by Daisy Hernández: Notes on an American Myth

*

::: Music :::

*

I was very excited to learn that Phoebe Bridgers is dropping a new album on August 14.

*

Olivia Rodrigo’s new album — you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love — is real good. And, I think, it will have staying power. I was waiting for her to grow up a bit and show artistic growth and this album is impressive.

There are moments when her voice sounds somewhat similar to Holly Humberstone, whose music I’ve been enjoying lately, and I speculate this is a Gen Z pop vocal style.

*

July 24 – Charli xcx releases Music, Fashion, Film

Should be good. ‘Rock Music’ interesting got some initial blowback from fans for, basically, an artist doing something different. But Charli is kinda always doing something different album to album. ‘SS26’ is very, well, clearly devised as a Spring-Summer 2026 anthem. It’s quite the earworm. The new music really isn’t that strange. It’s got more of a rock element, sure, and more of a mainstream pop vibe, while still retaining notable but slightly more lowkey elements of hyperpop.

Just listened to ‘Wink Wink’ last night and it has some pretty funny lines.

*

August 6 – The Mountain Goats will release ‘Days’

Probably better than some of the frankly bizarre concept albums.

It’s worth keeping in mind that frontman John Darnielle really hasn’t strayed much from his target audience— 15-year old boys. That’s not a dig. I think he’s good at writing music for Youth Culture and adolescents need new iterations of this music.

Their music is so wrapped up in trauma-tinged nostalgia for me that it’s hard to listen to without bias and a lot of big feelings.

*

August 14 – Phoebe Bridger’s will release ‘Lost Weekend’

Exciting news! Phoebe and her team has been doing an effective marketing campaign that essentially boils down to shrouding her shows and new music in mystery.

So, this surprise album drop is extra exciting.

*

‘Carly Rae Jepsen’s New Album Is a 24-Track Double LP’ (Pitchfork)

Forthcoming September 18. Looking forward to it.

*

::: Health & Wellness :::

*

The 3-minute movement break your body needs after sitting (CNN)

*

‘Faster aging in younger generations linked to rise in early-onset cancer’ (WashU)

My guess is we will discover this is closely tied to mental health— a rise in stress and anxiety. We live in uncertain times.

*

::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::

*

‘When the levee breaks: My life just got turned upside down and I think that’s ok.’ (Sean Illing)

“Life, as they say, comes at you fast. You move through a day thinking you’re inside one story and then, very quickly, you’re inside another one. And there isn’t some dramatic transition. No narrator steps in to warn you that the next several weeks of your life are going to be a nightmare.”

“There’s a particular kind of stress that comes from not knowing how expensive a disaster is going to be.”

“Not all “stuff” is just stuff.”

*

‘How Has AI Reshaped Internet Culture? How AI is changing the way we write, argue, and think online.’ (Stat Significant)

*

“That which can be repurposed to serve the AI supply chain will be repurposed to serve the AI supply chain.”

- Joe Weisenthal

*

2026 Global Travel Trends Report

“40% of global respondents plan to spend more on travel in 2026 than last year, and 74% of Millennials and Gen Z surveyed say travel is a ‘non-negotiable’ expense.”

“64% of Millennials and Gen Z surveyed would take a job with fewer benefits if it allowed for more flexibility to travel.”

*

“Palantir closed at a 52-week low yesterday, but what we’re more interested in is this review of their blue chore coat from the self-proclaimed “lifestyle brand.” According to The Atlantic’s Saahil Desai, the jacket, which has a message from Palantir’s CTO sewn into the lining, is “the most comfortable and practical garment” he owns, though nothing about the jacket “makes any sense.” Next month, the defense data and corporate AI software company is releasing boxing gloves and a tennis skirt, for the defense tech girlies.” (Sherwood News)

*

Wikipedia Cofounder Larry Sanger Banned From Site for ‘Canvassing’ (404 Media)

“Larry Sanger, one of Wikipedia’s cofounders, was banned from editing the site indefinitely after other editors determined he was canvassing, or in other words, calling on his followers off platform in order to influence Wikipedia’s content.”

“Sanger has spent more than a decade criticizing Wikipedia for what he claims is an ideological, left-wing bias on a variety of topics, and on X has framed this recent ban as further proof of everything that’s wrong with Wikipedia.”

“Wikipedia editors obviously reject that framing and say that Sanger was banned for wielding his followers to sway discussion and decision making on Wikipedia.”

“While Sanger has been railing about bias on Wikipedia for years, the specific issue here is around his WikiProject Intellectual Diversity.”

“Sanger’s claim that Wikipedia has a left-leaning bias isn’t unique or new. Elon Musk has railed against the site for years as well, an effort that culminated with the launch of his highly flawed, AI-generated Grokipedia. But the stakes for Wikipedia as a reliable source of information are higher than ever as every corner of the internet is struggling to deal with a flood of AI-generated, error-filled slop.”

*

‘France’s heat this week was worse than a dire scenario imagined for 2050.’ (WaPo)

Apparently, there was a 2014 fictional forecast for 2050 that was a PSA about climate change and what life would be like on a warmer planet. “Its temperature predictions have now been exceeded in 19 areas.”

*

RAISE US

“Gina Raimondo, the 40th U.S. Secretary of Commerce and 75th Governor of Rhode Island, and Eric Holcomb, the 51st Governor of Indiana, today launched RAISE US, a nonpartisan national organization that will partner with governors, employers, workers, and training organizations to help the American workforce make a successful transition to an AI economy.”

+

RAISE US | America’s Workforce. AI Ready.

+

An interview with Gina Raimondo (RAISE US) on the Future for Workers in the AI Economy

+

“Experts warn that AI could reshape half of U.S. jobs, with the Boston Consulting Group projecting up to 25 million positions could be eliminated over the next five years as automation accelerates.” (Ground News)

5-years is a reasonable time horizon to make some predictions.

We really have no idea about the long-tail of AI… Sure, eventually, there may be more jobs. We just don’t know. And, moreover, can’t know.

*

‘Are Crows Reall Our Friends?’ (Audubon)

“Sometimes crows will seemingly leave “gifts” for people who feed them, which recipients often view as a thank-you. But these offerings—keys, coins, stones, and, in Bergstrom’s case, possibly a ring his daughter had lost—may have a simpler explanation. Anne B. Clark, a retired Binghamton University behavioral ecologist who studied urban crows, says that in all videos she’s seen of this behavior, the birds were very young. Juveniles frequently carry and play with interesting objects, she says. So a crow may simply be dropping what’s already in its beak to pick up food. “My own opinion is that crows are not terribly interested in us,” Clark says.”

“Still, inadvertent actions may become strategic. The crows, ravens, and rooks in the genus Corvus are among the world’s most intelligent animals. Some can fashion tools or operate complicated devices to get food. If a crow notices that it’s rewarded when leaving objects for people, it might continue to do so. “It’s not a heavy lift for a smart animal,” says corvid biologist John Marzluff, a professor emeritus at the University of Washington.”

“What is a friend, anyway?”

“You must know a friend from a stranger.”

“Crows live a long time—Clark has known individuals as old as 19—and it pays for them to recall their enemies and allies.”

“In experiments, urban crows held long grudges against people who mistreated them, cawing harshly and forming mobs upon seeing the face of their persecutor—even years later.”

“But noticing a familiar face in a crowd does not make a friendship. You need to share experiences, too.”

“What’s more, a friendship can’t be strictly utilitarian, van Dooren says. Crows who get to know humans must be after more than peanuts and protection.”

“In other words, the crows were telling themselves a kind of story.”

“You need to be “able to make sense of your life as a narrative,” he says, before you can get to know its recurring characters.”

“The ever-present birds also influenced mythologies around the world. The raven, often portrayed as a shape-shifter or trickster, is an important figure for Indigenous peoples in North America. In a legend of the Haida, for example, Raven discovers the first humans hiding inside a clamshell. Meanwhile, ancient Greeks associated crows with the god Apollo and named a constellation Corvus. (Don’t squint too hard seeking a bird in the night sky; the stars form what looks like a rhombus.)”

“Corvids appear in more modern lore, too, from Poe to Hitchcock.”

“As we’ve moved to urban areas, crows followed, and like coyotes, they’ve found that city dwellers are less likely to trap or shoot them.”

“Crows are everywhere we are, keeping an eye on us.”

“Even when humans have a friendship—or something that feels like it—with a crow, the relationship happens on the wild animal’s terms.”

“We’ll continue to tell stories about corvids, but in this moment, their story is their own.”

*

~ Mark’s Consulting, Coaching/Mentoring, Editing Services ~

Information about my services.

Reach out directly to discuss.

*

~ Ways to Support ~

>> Become a Paid Subscriber to Stay Curious.

>> Make a donation to ONE ART: a journal of poetry.

>> Buy from The Poetry Shop via this affiliate link.

>> Subscribe to Chill Subs via this affiliate link.

>> Buy a copy of my poetry collection, Take Care.

Leave a comment

For this thought experiment, I have focused exclusively on contemporary figures who are alive. This is, in part, because theoretically we could have these folks all engage in civil discourse on class matters in the here and now.

*

Here’s my All-Star Team picks for a roundtable discussion about class and class dysphoria in America:

Jonathan Menjivar (who I wrote about here)

Matthew Desmond

Tristan Harris

Hanna Horvath

Kyla Scanlon

Scott Galloway

Kyle Chayka

Malcolm Harris

Kai Ryssdal

Reid Hoffman

David Brooks

Richard Reeves

Chuck Klosterman

Sean Illing

Shankar Vedantam

Krista Tippett

Tricia Hersey

Yascha Mounk

Chris Duffy

Kieran Setiya

Susan Wolf

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

Rebecca Solnit

Martha Nussbaum

Brittany Packnett Cunningham

Carissa Véliz

Vauhini Vara

Nicholas Carr

Yuval Noah Harari

Jonathan Haidt

Ashley Shew

Barbara Ehrenreich

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II

Ibram X. Kendi

Ta-Nehisi Coates

Peter Singer

Will MacAskill

Manoush Zomorodi

Michel Martin

Heather Cox Richardson

Joyce Vance

Jessica Tarlov

Jaron Lanier

+

My first instinct is not to include full-on political insiders. But, there are politicians who, in spite of their positions, still seem like very down to earth folks.

[from] The Ruling Class:

Cory Booker

Pete Buttigieg

Jim Clyburn

Robert Reich

*

I have purposefully omitted a few political voices who, by name alone, seem too polarizing for productive discussion. That being said, of course, it makes sense for people like Bernie Sanders and AOC to be in the room.

(It seems a bit funny that even in the theoretical I’m adding constraints. I suppose I like to believe this could become a reality.)

*

Quite a few of the individuals on this list have written books that I have included in my favorite books of the year lists. Several are prominent podcasters who I have a bit of a parasocial relationship with and think are genuinely wise, thoughtful, and fascinating people. Some are figures who seem to be unusually adept at thinking outside the box on a wide range of topics even if it’s outside of their domain expertise.

I’m sure I’m accidentally omitting at least a few contemporary figures who have written well on class matters in the United States.

Who would you add to this list?

Leave a comment

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoy this edition of SC Weekly (published on Sundays).

Please consider sharing with a friend who you think may enjoy this newsletter.

Thank you for reading and for your time.

With Gratitude,

~ Mark

*

::: Personal Notes :::

*

Happy Father’s Day!

*

I want to offer a strong endorsement for Katie Dozier’s ‘Residency Review’. I truly believe this is an essential read. Copies are available now!

+

ep. 141: Residency Review
The Poetry Space_

Short, heartfelt, emotional listen.

TW: sexual assault

+

Katie shared this thoughtful note of gratitude on The Poetry Space_ substack:

“Another person that fundamentally helped this project were my early readers. I asked a range of people that I respect because I wanted it considered from many viewpoints. Mark Danowsky, editor of ONE ART: A Journal of Poetry, had a particularly big impact. The early version that I sent him had a lengthy last section full of more hopeful poems. Mark said something along the lines that it was okay, earned even, to not make everything okay for the reader—in much the same way that everything was not ultimately okay for me. I’m sure he said it more eloquently than that, but the point is that he gave me permission to not leave everyone in a happy place. I struggled with this as the world is too full of negativity in general—but as I tell the kids, emotions have a purpose. Sometimes we need to feel sad or frustrated or angry. Mark’s wisdom gave me freedom and a much stronger book.”

+

Erin Murphy’s piece “Insomnia Chronicles XXIII”, which first appeared in ONE ART (and can be considered hybrid) was selected by Diane Seuss for inclusion in Best Microfiction 2026!!

Erin’s most recent book, which I highly recommend, is Swoon: New & Selected poems.

*

I’m reading on Wednesday, June 24 from 6:30-7:30pm at Main Point Books with Grant Clauser & Jed Myers.

You can RSVP here.

Grant Clauser poems in ONE ART

Jed Myers poems in ONE ART

*

::: ONE ART :::

*

>> Upcoming Workshops

>> Upcoming Readings

>> Past recordings of ONE ART readings

>> ONE ART ~ Poetry Community (on Facebook)

>> ONE ART’s Shop

>> ONE ART donations

*

::: The Literary Community & Beyond :::

*

‘Authors Guild Looks at Why Author Incomes Are in Decline’ (PW)

“A new study sponsored by the Authors Guild examining the causes of the decline in authors’ earnings found that only 25% of print books and e-books read in the past month were bought new or through a paid subscription.”

“The study, conducted by the Codex Group, notes that while books are available in more formats and channels than ever before, average author earnings, now pegged at about $10,000 annually, have declined about 42% since 2009, the year Kindles first entered the market.”

“Breaking down the source of where print and e-books are bought, the survey found that just 19% of books in text format (that is, print and e-book) read in the prior month were bought new, while 6% were obtained through a paid subscription, which usually entail much lower royalties for authors, the Guild noted.”

“The most popular way readers obtained their most recent book was at the library, with 29% of readers choosing that option, while 10% were bought used. Another 16% were borrowed for free from other sources, and 19% were from personal collections.”

“When it comes to digital audiobooks, 36% were either purchased new or accessed through paid subscriptions, and 37% of digital audiobooks were borrowed from libraries. Twenty-seven percent were acquired from other sources, including pirated copies.” (Note: Below you’ll see the higher “46% borrowed through a digital library app” but, keep in mind, there are other formats.)

“The survey also found that the readers earning more than $75,000 a year were most likely to borrow a book from a library instead of buying it.”

“Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger said the study highlights how few books that are read are actually paid for by readers, and that even those that are paid for entail authors earning less than the old-fashioned print royalty. Given those factors, Rasenberger said, “It is no wonder author incomes have been so in decline.””

+

‘IMHO: I Wouldn’t Blame Libraries for Declining Author Income’

(Jane Friedman)

*

“The Audio Publishers Association Sales Survey, conducted by Toluna, shows audiobook sales revenue continuing to grow, reaching $2.43 billion in 2025, 9% over the previous year. Publishers reported over 750,000 active titles in 2025, a 43% increase from 2024.” (APA)

“Seven in ten enjoy audiobooks as an alternative to screen time (70%).”

“46% borrowed through a digital library app”

“The fastest growing genres in 2025 were Humor, General Fiction and Children’s - including YA - with General Fiction accounting for the largest share of revenue (27%). Science Fiction/Fantasy, Romance, and Mysteries/Thrillers/Suspense make up the remaining top genres by revenue.”

“Only 16% of Audiobook Listeners have listened to an AI-voiced audiobook, and AI sales revenue amounted to .03% in 2025.”

*

‘A small hardback is like a Labubu’ — what’s driving shrinking books?’ (LA Times)

“While the New York Times bestsellers from 2025 skew in favor of the 6-by-9 trim, the popularity of 5-by-8 books appears to be on the rise.”

“…the No. 1 factor when deciding to employ it, followed by genre. She listed literary fiction, memoir, biography, and essay collections as the defining genres of the smaller size books.”

“Holding the book up to take a photo of it is easier.”

“L.A.-based Bookstagrammer… finds the shrunken books more approachable.”

“Esther Margolis is a publishing veteran and the founder of Newmarket Press. She says that the 5-by-8 hardcover is nothing new. According to Margolis, the smaller trim size was previously the industry standard for U.S.-based publishing houses, and any fluctuation is due to the evolution of printing technology.”

*

‘The $2,000 Movie: An AI-generated feature film just premiered at Tribeca’ (Prof G Media)

“Dreams of Violets is a proof of concept for AI filmmaking done well, Hollywood could be completely upended.”

Worth reading the explanation of how and why the film was created the way it was. This seems situationally justifiable.

*

‘Call It a ‘Book-cation’ or a ‘Readaway,’ Literary Travel Is Having a Moment’ (NY Times)

“Resort book clubs, tour companies, hotel libraries and a growing number of literary festivals are offering readers new ways to indulge their interests.”

Seems this is partly inspired by BookTok. It’s nice to find reason to briefly reflect and think, “TikTok might not be all bad.”

*

‘Promotion, activation, conversation’ (Seth Godin)

“A long riff on book publishing…”

Worth a look.

More applicable to books seeking virality.

Starting a conversation, the desire to share the book, and get your friends to read the book applies to all books/authors.

*

‘“Sneaking the Scraps Out the Back Door.” On Black Feminist Traditions of Memory Keeping’ (LitHub)

*

‘Against Cancel Culture: Art as Conversation by Justine Payton’ (Strange Pilgrims)

*

::: Podcasts :::

*

Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams: Why Is Disability Still an Afterthought?

Everyone who lives long enough will experience disability at some point in their life.

*

The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos: The Surprising Case for Oversharing

We consider the problems of TMI but we fail to be aware of the cons about not-sharing TLI (too little information).

Valuable life lessons in this episode that are never too late to learn.

*

The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos: What Screen Time Is Really Doing to Your Body with Manoush Zomorodi

I’m a big fan of anything Manoush Zomorodi gets involved in. She’s a super interesting person with a fascinating career trajectory.

Takeaways from this episode include important reminders for healthy living:

Ideally, gentle movement for 5 minutes every half hour. Will be a challenge for many though, apparently, our body learns to adapt and can override the “monkey mind”.

Generally, just get in movement without allowing super long periods of sitting (or standing).

By integrating a little extra movement into your day, you should see improvements in productivity, focus, concentration as well as physical health improvements in blood sugar, blood pressure.

A major takeaway is that how we hold our body while engaging in screen time is a big part of the problem.

In the episode, an example of what we are doing when with sit, is to picture a hose and what happens when you bend it and make a kink that prevents water from flowing properly. Apparently, this is what we are doing in our knees and back when we sit. It disrupts our body’s natural flow (quite literally) and results are… not good.

*

America at 250 — with Heather Cox Richardson
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway

The prospect of Tucker Carlson as the Republican GOP nominee in 2028 is disturbing.

*

Plain English with Derek Thompson: Plain English BEST OF: How Gen Z Sees the World

As evidenced elsewhere in this edition of SC Weekly, I’m always interested to hear thoughts from Kyla Scanlon.

Touches on breaking down differentiation between Gen Z cohorts.

*

::: Health & Wellness :::

*

‘Kids are becoming obsessed with berries as prices reach outrageous highs — here’s what a typical berry budget runs today’ (yahoo finance)

I can’t tell you how many articles I’ve seen over the past week or two about parents going broke trying to keep up with their kids’ “berry habits”.

It’s true that berries are (and have been for a long time) really expensive and, frankly, a real luxury good for many. I’ve previously written about how for much of my life (my entire 20s, no question) I felt priced out of the fresh product section of the supermarket. Some of this certainly has to do with priorities, sure. That being said, as a society, we should encourage healthy eating habits and find ways to subsidize or otherwise encourage people to eat healthy as a preventative measure since preventable diseases are a huge weight on the American healthcare industry.

*

‘The Worst Sandwich Is Back: Wraps are popular again. So is a certain kind of physique.’ (The Atlantic)

“A thinness-obsessed nation is turning once again toward joyless tubes of functional slop, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

*

::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::

*

We all need to think good and hard about the amount of “smart” technology we let into our homes and the ways in which we allow aspects of our lives to be automated.

The self-optimization craze with wearables has reached a dangerous tipping point as I’ve recently learned more about the convergence of Big Tech and the federal government. The level of surveillance state that we are living in, and will be living in, is creepy. China already lives in a Black Mirror-esque reality and it’s not at all impossible that the U.S. could start going in that direction if the powers that be decide the want to flip the switch. They already possess enough personal data on most of us to create a system similar to present day China. This isn’t an overall anti-China statement, I’m focusing on the fact that we do not want to live in a surveillance state that is more surveilled than the one in which we already reside.

*

‘Is spontaneity a luxury good? Online culture, algorithmic curation, and the death of wandering’ (Hanna Horvath)

So many good pull quotes!

I’ve seen multiple pieces this week that touch on the issue of us having lost our sense of personal taste.

+

‘Have I been influenced, or is this actually me?’ How personal taste fell out of fashion (Rachel Aroesti, Guardian)

“codify taste in a juvenile but also very risk-averse way”

Chaotic Good x Geese (objectively terrible vocals)

All this reminds me that it’s a good time for a self-assessment— we should all take a step back and reflect on our own personal taste and what we really like/enjoy/want to participate in. So many of our choices for the past 15 years have been nudged gently or not-so-gently by social media, marketing, influencers, fakie tastemakers who are being paid to advertise to us in a way that feels natural.

A good moment to mention that I very much enjoyed Jo Piazza’s novel ‘Everyone Is Lying to You’ (a thriller / exceptionally good page-turner—and, no, I’m not being paid to say this!). For the book, Piazza did a bunch of journalistic research into influencers and the book is eye-opening about the way influencers actually operate.

+

Loneliness influencers: why are people suddenly boasting about having no friends? (Guardian)

Well, that’s grim.

If we’re going to have “micro trends” can we please have better micro trends?

+

‘Move Over, Cottagecore: “Burrowcore” Is the Cozy Home Trend Everyone Wants Right Now: It’s all about keeping things perfectly imperfect.’ (House Beautiful)

No one cares.

Make your own trend.

*

Mapped: The Salary Needed to Afford Rent Across America

Nice. Data as a reminder why we can barely make rent.

*

Ranked: The World’s Most Spoken Languages in 2026

*

‘Moral Acceptability Falls for Several Behaviors’ (Gallup)

*

I stumbled upon two stories that happen to be interconnected:

‘The Disturbing Origins of Groomsmen at a Wedding’ (Mental Floss)

‘Here’s Why Buttons and Zippers Are on Different Sides of Clothing for Men and Women’ (Reader’s Digest)

*

‘Woman, 21, dies after being thrown from Brazil rope jump bridge without harness’ (Guardian)

“Instructors hurled Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas into 40-metre abyss without attaching safety equipment”

I feel a bit badly sharing this.

This story is so deeply disturbing… I can’t stop thinking about it.

A reminder of why Atul Gawande was really onto something in Checklist Manifesto.

*

‘A Human Artist’s Defense of AI Art’ (Asher)

This is SO funny.

*

“What I am telling you is that the dynamics underneath SPCX’s price are momentum dynamics, and the line between “meme stock” and “credible institutional asset” has blurred to invisibility.” (Scott Melker).

Gen Z Economist Superhero Kyla Scanlon shared a video about this, too.

Kyla also posits AI as “the next iteration of the internet” which I guess means “AI = Web3”? I dunno. Remember when everyone was adding “Web3” to their LinkedIn bios? That was a thing. These were folks who, so far as I could tell, thought they could talk about “blockchain technology” to people who did not have any concept of blockchain technology or care to know anything about it other than the fact that someone else might learn about this for them and their business. Can I talk about blockchain technology? A little. Do you want to hear about it? I doubt it.

Here’s a bit more of Kyla on AI & Jobs

+

‘CNN Taps Kyla Scanlon, a Financial Content Creator, as Analyst and Contributor’ (Variety)

*

‘Bees avoid ‘too much of a good thing’ by balancing nutrients in pollen’ (Oxford)

Bees don’t even need GLP-1s.

*

‘Who Is the Most Evil Disney Villain of All Time?’

Cute. I’m actually just interested in the scoring system.

*

Americans’ Views on AI Chatbots, Smart Devices and AI’s Impact (Pew Research)

*

~ Mark’s Consulting, Coaching/Mentoring, Editing Services ~

Information about my services.

Reach out directly to discuss.

*

~ Ways to Support ~

>> Become a Paid Subscriber to Stay Curious.

>> Make a donation to ONE ART: a journal of poetry.

>> Buy from The Poetry Shop via this affiliate link.

>> Subscribe to Chill Subs via this affiliate link.

>> Buy a copy of my poetry collection, Take Care.

Leave a comment

Poetic license comes into play when we revise poems initially written for ourselves. Well, perhaps initially an audience of two or three, a loved one, your long-time beta readers, your long-time friends who are generous enough to keep on keeping on reading your raw drafts (!?)… maybe a critique circle or workshop, or a kind of nebulous other… The point being that the initial draft may be for an audience who knows you, the author, and has an unfair advantage when it comes to reading between the lines. There is no “death of the author” for these audiences. They know what they know and it’s quite difficult for them to set aside preconceptions developed over time. This differs from an imaginary reader who is encountering your voice, your words, for the very first time. A reader with no expectations. This is what I mean when I talk about work that turns from private to public-facing. When we go to share our work beyond our inner circles, we must agree to shape the poem into verse that is generous to readerships.

*

What is generosity in poetry? Generosity might be easily conflated with approachable or accessible. This isn’t necessarily the case though it is true that being generous means offering your readership ample access points, reasons to spend time with you in the shared space your poem creates— a world of its own. Generous poems provide readers with valuable takeaways in the form of food for thought, a new perspective (gained without wrestling the reader into submission through excessive didacticism… which, in any case, is doomed to fail), and/or emotional resonance. The latter, emotional resonance, is often the kind of takeaway provided by poetry that leans lyric. The poet gifts the reader emotions/sensations/feelings that may not be easily put into words. It might give you chills in the best kind of way. This is probably different from the sort of takeaway readers expect from a narrative driven poem.

*

For me, poetic license is fraught much in the way that I struggle with the “right to write”. What is fair game? What is the line? When have we gone too far? Hard to say. Rather subjective, no?

Sentimentality, in poetry, is perhaps something that is more easily deduced. A poem falls off the metaphorical sentimental cliff when you feel it do so. This too remains subjective though, I suspect, many would come to a similar consensus. This is not necessarily the case for poetic license or “right to write”— subject matter that is appropriate for the author to undertake given their selfhood, identity, life station, personal experience.

Right to write gets tricky when the subject matter is less about us so much as it is about those in our orbit. Here, we have to consider the gray area of proximity. In many cases, the author can answer this question for themselves. In other scenarios, it might do you well to consider how another person or community or culture may view your perspective. What is off limits? Should anything be truly off limits?

How much of this has to do with the time in which we live? This question I can answer. The answer is a lot. Persona poems that land awkwardly, poorly, out of touch or otherwise in poor taste might have seemed perfectly reasonable if they were written decades ago. But we are always writing for the here and now. We have no other choice. We can also write for a theoretical future though, typically, at our own peril. Assume the possibility someone might find a reason to “cancel” you later and try not to worry about this. It’s inescapable to please a theoretical future society. Poets are not prophets.

*

Think about a family story. Or, think about the way each half of a couple tells a story. Some of you are smiling now. We remember stories differently. Memory is, after all, recollected each time we recall and, in the recalling, if not fully remembered, not properly remembered, we almost certainly do a bit of rewriting. Not on purpose. This is just the nature of what we call “memory”. It’s not accurate, and it’s not consistent. It’s fluid.

*

Autofiction is more or less a narrative style in which the speaker of the story is a somewhat embellished or a larger-than-life version of the author. Experiences relayed in the story are exaggerated or altered for effect or emphasis. It’s intended to feel true and real in many, if not most respects. But the character remains a character and so is flawed. Because it is a story, there is a narrative arc; that is, something happens. In some autofiction, very little happens. These stories tend to be more atmospheric. Lots of dialogue between characters. The tension might have to do with relationships or everyday scenarios and it can all be rather anticlimactic. Reading stories like this can be soothing and/or compelling because they feel authentic and down-to-earth. They’re not necessarily escapist. It might feel like you’re simply getting to know the characters and being a sort of fly-on-the-wall while they go about their day-to-day. Autofiction is generally rather character driven. Autofiction allows for considerable poetic license.

Autofiction gained popularity for a number of reasons, I suspect. For one thing, we live in a hyperindividualistic society. That’s a given. Fiction already has license. Creative nonfiction (CNF), too. The license being that real life is often fantastical— too fantastical, in fact, to be believable. We’re all experienced this. Reality, the so-called “facts”, being “stranger than fiction” and difficult to believe. In turn, fiction and CNF often involve crafting a more believable reality than reality itself. In reality, anything can happen. On the page, there are constraints. For example, the protagonist doesn’t typically get killed arbitrarily in the middle of a heroic arc. How would the story go on? In a kind of hybrid narrative, the story can go on, sure. We shift away from main character syndrome (of sorts) and another character might pick up telling the story where the other character left off after their ability to inform the reader suddenly flatlined.

*

To wrap up, for now, I request that you go back and reread the paragraph that beings: “Poetic license comes into play when we revise poems initially written for ourselves.”

*

Let’s keep the conversation going!

I hope you’ll share your thoughts and reflections in the comments.

Leave a comment

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoy this edition of SC Weekly (published on Sundays).

Please consider sharing with a friend who you think may enjoy this newsletter.

Thank you for reading and for your time.

With Gratitude,

~ Mark

*

::: Personal Notes :::

*

Louisa has new poems out in Eunoia Review!

*

::: ONE ART :::

*

>> Upcoming Workshops

>> Upcoming Readings

>> Past recordings of ONE ART readings

>> ONE ART ~ Poetry Community (on Facebook)

>> ONE ART’s Shop

>> ONE ART donations

*

ICYMI (or wish to revisit!)

A link to the recording of ONE ART’s 2026 Pride Reading

*

::: Podcasts :::

*

One billion humanoid robots (Today, Explained)

Prediction:

Unlikely to have AI-infused robots in 3 years but maybe 5-10. Probably not living up to the hype or fear in the near-term for home use but more likely industrial use robots will be integrated into automation with robotics advances. They figured out early that it’s difficult to train robots to have precise dexterity. Think: picking up a glass carefully with just the right amount of grip so you’re holding it without (a) dropping it (b) shattering it.

*

::: Music :::

*

It was fun to see Taylor Swift at Knicks Game 4 with two of the Haim sisters and Mariska Hargitay (of Law & Order: SVU fame). Seemed like TayTay was getting to be almost a regular person experiencing joy in the moment and that’s nice to see for an A-lister. I’m guessing it’s rare A-listers can really feel free and in the moment in public. The price a person pays for fame/celebrity. It’s definitely not a good deal. I’ll take the money though.

*

‘End It Concertgoer In Banana Costume Tears Hardcore Community Apart’ (Stereogum)

Deep cut into the Baltimore hardcore scene and… “banana man”

*

::: Health & Wellness :::

*

“Researchers recommend finishing drinking coffee at least nine hours or so before you sleep, though some people have genes that boost tolerance.” (WaPo)

*

‘How Many Steps You Need to Walk to Feel Less Depressed, According to Experts’ (GQ)

Any movement is better than no movement.

A 10 minute walk can give you a boost.

“The bare minimum is the amount a person can repeat consistently, because depression often makes motivation, energy, and initiation much harder.”

“Try and get out there 2–3 times a week for at least a half an hour.”

“A separate 2024 meta-analysis published by JAMA Network Open reinforced the connection between walking and depression. After analyzing data from nearly 100,000 subjects, the researchers noticed that walking 5,000 steps a day (roughly 2–2.5 miles) was associated with fewer depressive symptoms, and walking 7,500 or more steps a day reduced symptoms by as much as 42 percent. The study also suggested a potential protective effect against developing depression. The results showed that subjects who increased their daily mileage by just 1,000 steps reduced their risk of developing depression by nine percent, and those walking 7,000 steps or more per day reduced their risk by 31 percent.”

*

::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::

*

Where do you fit in the political typology? (Pew Research)

A short quiz worth taking.

There are 9 typologies.

I fall into “Leftward Progressives” (at least according to this particular Pew quiz)

“You can also create a community quiz to compare results with friends, family or classmates.”

Pew’s full report (Note: take the quiz before you view this)

+

I hope you’ll take the quiz, share the verdict with me, and we can discuss.

*

‘Optimization’ (Prof G Media)

I’ve been thinking about the self-optimization craze, the “maxxing”, the obsessive nature of wanting to live forever that certain men are pursuing, and came to some related conclusions.

I’ll add the following—

It’s all wrapped up in a façade of control in a world that is out of control.

Self-optimization, with an emphasis on metrics, is a way of perceived control. It’s the last gasp of a person, or a people, living in chaos. Anyone with an eating disorder can attest to their relationship with control.

Am I saying that the self-optimizing craze is a lot like having an eating disorder? Yes, yes I am.

*

Something to keep an eye on…

AI tools + infrastructure and the continued rise of the solo entrepreneur. Apparently, the number of solo entrepreneurs is notably up since 2023. It’s expected that this number will continue to rise. It’s also easy to imagine small team startups that are capable of scaling at levels that would not have be foreseeable pre-AI tools.

*

The Cost of Killing ‘Silly Science’: The engine of American scientific progress requires fuel (Prof G Media)

“The Federal Reserve estimates that government-supported research from the NSF and other agencies has had a return on investment of 150% to 300% since 1950, meaning for every dollar U.S. taxpayers invested, they got back between $1.50 and $3.00.”

“The NSF is now funding fewer grants in every area of science and medicine.”

“China has now surpassed the U.S. in research spending (when adjusted for purchasing power).”

*

“iPhone lowered the birth rate, new paper finds” (axios)

Yeah I don’t think it was the iPhone...

“the economy rebounded after the 2008 recession — the birth rate did not.”

*

Ancient ground squirrels feasted on carcasses like ‘zombies of the Pleistocene’’ (Nature)

I can’t resist a squirrel story… especially with such a clickbaity headline.

*

‘The American Dream is to leave’ (Hanna Horvath)

“Four in ten Americans have considered moving abroad, but the ones who actually do it skew educated, mobile, and financially stable enough to make the jump.”

“It’s also worth pointing out that this fantasy is specifically a European fantasy, even though there are plenty of places that offer walkable cities, slower paces of life, affordable cost of living, and strong community. American taste hierarchies tend to put Europe at the top, and that’s rooted in whiteness and colonialism in ways I don’t have space (nor am I credentialed) to fully unpack here.”

“Essentially, this is a trend that is feasible for a subset of people, that carries a significant amount of privilege, that is shaped by dynamics of race and class.”

*

Meme of the Week?

“My mayor Muslim, my bagel’s Jewish, my Christian Dior, Knicks in four.”

Knicks did not pull it off in four— though Game 4 was INSANE, historic.

Update: They did it in 5!!

*

“Countries across Africa moved to restructure their borrowing as higher interest rates sparked by the Iran war added to heavy debt burdens. Zimbabwe tapped the African Development Bank for $150 million over missed payments. Meanwhile Zambia unveiled the world’s first debt-for-energy swap, whereby Lusaka’s savings will go to expanding its grid, which only serves around half of the country’s population. African nations already spend a huge share of their GDP on debt servicing, and Western central banks’ plans to raise rates this year will add further to the bill. The “global crisis is disproportionately burdening countries that did not cause it,” Chad’s former prime minister wrote in Project Syndicate. “The international community has a duty to respond.”

(Semafor)

*

You Have No Idea What a Trillion Dollars Is—and We Have Proof (WSJ)

Includes visual aids to make the point.

+

I’ve read commentary worth noting about Elon’s wealth.

A lot of folks have been saying things like “If he just gave up half of his wealth, we could solve all the world’s problems, and he wouldn’t even notice the difference in his bank account.” Others with financial literacy have responded that, the thing is, his wealth (like the wealth of many in similar positions) is wrapped up in companies in which he has a stake. Put another way, his assets are not liquid— he does not have billions of dollars (let alone trillions) at his disposal. On the other hand, this is the equivalent of limitless wealth (as in no one can spend this kind of money in a lifetime and, most likely, some of his children will be filthy rich). Current tax laws allow for borrowing against stock in companies in a manner that does not constitute a taxable event, in turn, allowing someone like Elon to have access to large sums of cash without selling his stakes in companies.

To be clear, I’m not defending Elon or the existence of billionaires. Billionaires are bad for Democracy as they are an obvious indicator of the tremendous wealth gap in the U.S. A true Democracy allows for all members in a society to have the ability to fully participate. That is not the present circumstances. Additionally, in a full Democracy no one is above the law. We have seen how power and wealth can buy your way out of trouble in contemporary America.

*

~ Mark’s Consulting, Coaching/Mentoring, Editing Services ~

Information about my services.

Reach out directly to discuss.

*

~ Ways to Support ~

>> Become a Paid Subscriber to Stay Curious.

>> Make a donation to ONE ART: a journal of poetry.

>> Buy from The Poetry Shop via this affiliate link.

>> Subscribe to Chill Subs via this affiliate link.

>> Buy a copy of my poetry collection, Take Care.

Leave a comment

- Naomi Shihab Nye

*

“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.”

- Voltaire

*

“If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about the answers.”

- Thomas Pynchon

*

“You aren’t wealthy until you have something money can’t buy.”

— Garth Brooks

*

“Focus on things that are small enough to change, but big enough to matter.”

— Kat Cole

*

“Keep working on a plan. Make no little plans. Make the biggest one you can think of, and spend the rest of your life carrying it out.”

- Harry Truman

*

“The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.”

— Linus Pauling

*

“If you can imagine someone surpassing you, you should do it yourself.”

— Paul Graham

*

“Things that have never happened before happen all the time.”

— Morgan Housel

*

“Everybody can be great because everybody can serve.”

— MLK

*

“A problem well stated is a problem half-solved.”

— Charles F. Kettering

*

“Our purpose on the planet as humans is to find joy, to find the joy in lifting each other up, by creating solutions together instead of destroying.”

- Jeremy Hansen

*

“If you don’t use your experience, your past is wasted, and you are betraying yourself.”

- Alan Shepard

*

“Vocations which we wanted to pursue, but didn’t, bleed, like colors, on the whole of our existence.”

- Honore de Balzac

*

“The only man who makes no mistakes is the man who never does anything.”

- T.R. (aka. Teddy Roosevelt)

*

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”

- Douglas Adams

*

“If you’re lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.”

- John Irving

*

“Creativity is about hope and possibility. It gives us a chance to make things better.”

- Seth Godin

*

“I don’t write out of what I know; I write out of what I wonder. Poetry and art are not about answers to me; they are about questions.”

— Lucille Clifton

*

“I like art that feels like it was made by a free person. I like to see how a person chooses things. I like art before it gets noted and workshopped and homogenized. I like art that preserves the rough edges of the person.”

- Brad Neely

*

“Our feelings are our most genuine path to knowledge.”

​

– Audre Lorde

*

“Once you die it is the responsibility of your children to keep you alive for at least another generation, if not in “the spaces between words,” then in some pretty good stories told at weddings and campfires and late night bars.”

- George Bilgere

*

“We love those who know the worst of us and don’t turn their faces away.”

- Walker Percy

*

“Labor is work that we get paid for. It’s work we wouldn’t do for free. And for most people on social media, it’s unpaid labor on behalf of the platforms.”

- Seth Godin

*

“Action indeed is the sole medium of expression for ethics.”

- Jane Addams

*

“The thing that makes you exceptional, if you are at all, is inevitably that which must also make you lonely.”

- Lorraine Hansberry

*

“The first step in a fascist movement is the combination under an energetic leader of a number of men who possess more than the average share of leisure, brutality, and stupidity. The next step is to fascinate fools and muzzle the intelligent, by emotional excitement on the one hand and terrorism on the other.”

- Bertrand Russell

*

“I have learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.”

- Martha Washington

*

“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.”

- Maya Angelou

Leave a comment

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoy this edition of SC Weekly (published on Sundays).

Please consider sharing with a friend who you think may enjoy this newsletter.

Thank you for reading and for your time.

With Gratitude,

~ Mark

*

::: Personal Notes :::

*

You might have noted that a few of the SC Weekly Sunday newsletters have been shorter. This is part of an intentional ongoing effort on my part to reduce my information diet. As evidenced by past newsletters, I clearly take in (or attempt to take in) an amount of info that is a bit frightening.

I’d be more than happy to discuss tips for improved info intake/exposure hygiene in modern times.

*

TODAY, at 2pm Eastern is ONE ART’s 2^nd Pride reading!

You can register to attend for free:

>> Registration <<

*

This past week, I attended a lovely event in downtown Philly celebrating the release of ‘Poetry for Dummies’ (Second Edition) by John Timpane. The first edition was released 25 years ago!

Here’s a little write-up by Ernest Hilbert.

John and I had a couple conversations for the book and it’s really cool (and generous) to see how many references to ONE ART are included.

Also, because John had authorial control, he was able to include poems, prompts, and ideas from a ton of poets local to Philadelphia. It’s kinda funny how hyperlocal this text is, in certain respects, given it’s, in part, about the history of poetry, the state of contemporary poetry, and the poetry community today.

It was really cool to be a part of the process. I hope you’ll consider buying a copy of the book.

It’s not for “dummies” (an unfortunate branding choice that the company seems to have been unable to escape) and there are a few sections that are really quite informative for poets of all levels.

*

I want to mention a few upcoming events I’m involved with on the horizon:

Temporary Shelters, Philly Roots: Poetry (Main Point Books, Wayne, PA 19087)

Featured Readers: Grant Clauser, Jed Myers, Mark Danowsky

>> RSVP here <<

*

Later this summer…

I’m holding a virtual AMA (ask me anything) event in collaboration with Chill Subs!

Ask-Me-Anything: Mark Danowsky, Editor-in-Chief of ONE ART

Wednesday, August 26 – 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM EDT

You can register now on the website.

*

::: ONE ART :::

*

>> Upcoming Workshops

>> Upcoming Readings

>> Past recordings of ONE ART readings

>> ONE ART ~ Poetry Community (on Facebook)

>> ONE ART’s Shop

>> ONE ART donations

*

TODAY ! ! !

ONE ART’s Pride Month Reading (June 2026)

Date: Sunday, June 7
Time: 2pm Eastern
Duration: 1.5 – 2 hours
Featured Poets: Julie Weiss, Ren Wilding, Moudy Sbeity, Nicole Caruso Garcia, Abby E Murray, Kai Coggin

>> Register Here <<

Tickets are FREE!
(donations appreciated)

*

Write a Demi-Sonnet!
Instructor: Erin Murphy
Date: Thursday, June 11, 2026
Time: 6:00-8:00pm Eastern
Price: $25 (sliding scale)

>>> Register Here <<<

*

::: The Literary Community & Beyond :::

*

‘Inaugural Literary Arts Fund Grants Announced’ (Publishers Weekly)

*

‘41 Themed Submission Calls and Contests for June 2026’ (Authors Publish)

*

::: Music :::

*

There’s a new DCFC album out.

Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie):

“The fact that I enunciate, arguably too much, means that I can’t get away with the kind of stuff that Matt Berninger gets away with,” he told The New Yorker. “I’ve been making a conscious effort to break out of a couple of the jails that I built for myself lyrically.” (Pitchfork)

*

Looks like another underwhelming album from Modest Mouse.

*

I still haven’t gotten to the new Mountain Goats… unsure if I even want to.

*

::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::

*

‘When machines outsmart humans’ (CNN, Nick Bostrom)

2014 prediction of AI surpassing human intelligence and the role of philosophy.

“We want an A.I. that is safe, beneficial and ethical, but we don’t know exactly what that entails.”

“In this sense, we have philosophy with a deadline.”

AI companies have hired in-house ethicists in an attempt, half-hearted though it may be, to create guardrails and mitigate harms.

*

‘The War on Waymo’ (Prof G Media)

A problem is that we never should have needed the gig economy in the first place. (I worked multiple of these jobs including rideshare driving for Uber & Lyft. It’s hard work that doesn’t pay well.)

Now, we have to face the reality that these are people whose livelihood depends on “bullshit jobs” (Graeber) to not-quite-get-by. As many have pointed out, we have a massive shortage in good jobs. Jobs that make people feel a sense of purpose. This is unacceptable.

Just about every day now, I hear references to “financial nihilism” and fears of a “permanent underclass”. This is the world we live in. This is the state of the economy for real Americans.

Reiterating what I said about jobs with a sense of purpose... we will lose an unknown number of jobs through AI automation in the near-term but the hope is that, as with most new boogey man technologies, that the long-tail will create more jobs. Doesn’t seem entirely realistic to prophesize the reality. Some will say, “It’s different this time.” (and we know how that goes, historically, with regards to the market... just sayin)

Reid Hoffman (in his book ‘Superagency’) noted we could do Americans a big favor by making this newer iteration of the Industrial Revolution (the AI Revolution) easier on everyday people. Many have said that the only way to do this is a form of Basic Income. (Separately, Scott has suggested we give individuals a living wage (at least $25/hour)) With regards to Basic Income, Scott has suggested a lower amount than some and then adding services (such as childcare) that brings individuals up to ~$80,000/yr.

Much more to this conversation but I’m glad Scott and the Prof G team take deep dives and force us to look at hard realities.

*

‘Sen. Bernie Sanders Proposes Federal Stake in Major AI Companies’ (Ground)

“Sen. Bernie Sanders announced Monday legislation establishing the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, requiring a one-time 50% equity transfer from major AI companies including OpenAI and Anthropic.”

“Arguing that AI models were built using public ‘collective intelligence’ without compensation, Sanders contended the bill prevents corporate interests from solely dictating the technology’s future.”

“Paid in stock rather than cash, this one-time tax grants the federal government voting shares and board representation to block decisions deemed harmful to the public.”

“Revenue generated by the fund would flow directly to Americans as cash payments, eventually supporting healthcare and housing; Sanders noted industry leaders have previously floated similar wealth fund concepts.”

*

“Chinese leader Xi Jinping will visit North Korea next week, aiming to court the pariah state’s dictator Kim Jong-un, who has been strengthening ties with Moscow while tightening his own grip on power.”

“Pyongyang needs Beijing as its protector on the world stage, a Chinese scholar wrote in Foreign Policy, while China sees North Korea as a “bargaining chip” in a region replete with rivals.”

(Semafor)

*

[on] The Singularity:

“Anthropic called for a slowdown in global AI development, saying that its models were increasingly capable of autonomously designing and developing their own successors. Claude now writes 80% of Anthropic’s code, the firm said, and proposes research directions and solves open-ended problems. AI safety thinkers have long warned of “recursive self-improvement” leading to an exponential increase in AI capabilities, and Anthropic said that such an explosion could be close. Ensuring powerful AI systems are safe could take time, the company’s cofounder wrote, and “it would be good for the world to have the option to slow or temporarily pause frontier AI development” to give that time.”

Realistically, Anthropic knows this is not likely. The AI arms race will continue. Most likely, sadly, they’re saying this to maintain their public image as “The Good Guy” in the landscape of AI companies. In fairness to Anthropic, they’ve done better than the rest of the pack in terms of guardrails and safety protocols.

*

‘Bots have now passed human traffic online,’ Cloudflare boss laments — says agentic traffic wasn’t expected to eclipse real people until next year’ (Tom’s Hardware)

*

CashApp launched a gimmick, oh, I mean “product”… it’s a magic wand to tap to pay

*

If you have a spare million dollars you can be an early investor in this flying car company.

Not a recommendation.

*

~ Mark’s Consulting, Coaching/Mentoring, Editing Services ~

Information about my services.

Reach out directly to discuss.

*

~ Ways to Support ~

>> Become a Paid Subscriber to Stay Curious.

>> Make a donation to ONE ART: a journal of poetry.

>> Buy from The Poetry Shop via this affiliate link.

>> Subscribe to Chill Subs via this affiliate link.

>> Buy a copy of my poetry collection, Take Care.

Leave a comment

*

Already talk about “peak therapy” and the concept “Are we pathologizing everyday life?” A popular conversation had started surrounding the problematic use of “therapy speak” outside of counselor’s offices. It’s still a problem.

Simultaneously, much discussion about over-prescribing and treating symptoms with medications (especially in children) for situational dilemmas (not biological).

Around this time I became aware of the problematic narratives glorifying resilience and concepts of post-traumatic growth. The overall premise being something of a riff off the old adage that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Sadly, oftentimes, not so.

We were having more conversations about eco-anxiety.

I was going off about my hatred of gas- and noise-polluting leaf blowers. Something I had already ranted about previously. A warranted rant.

People were sleeping more and having less children.

Gen Z was already starting the backlash to Big Tech.

There were concerns about a brain drain due to U.S. immigration policies. Well… look at us now.

*

‘About 1 in 4 US adults 50 and older who aren’t yet retired expect to never retire, AARP study finds’ (AP News)

A third of study respondents have concerns about “meeting basic living costs such as food and housing.”

“Medicare, the government-sponsored health insurance that covers 65 million older and disabled people, will be unable to pay full benefits for inpatient hospital visits and nursing home stays by 2031, the report forecast. And just two years later, Social Security will not have enough cash on hand to pay out full benefits to its 66 million retirees.”

*

Home affordability is at its lowest since 1985. (WSJ)

*

‘New cars will be required to have automatic emergency brakes by 2029.’ (Washington Post)

“The braking systems must be able to bring cars to a complete stop without crashing at speeds up to 62 mph, and to avoid hitting a pedestrian at up to 45 mph.”

This is interesting because we’ll see if it actually come to pass.

*

Marijuana was supposed to be reclassed at the federal level from Schedule I to Schedule III.

Evidently, this was used as a strategic bargaining chip and so did not come to pass in 2024. It has resurfaced in 2026.

*

The was expectation the U.S. could fall into stagflation.

*

I recommended Michael Showalter’s film The Idea of You.

*

Becky Tuch shared an amazing tribute to her father.

*

I wrote:

“Apple basically suggested in an ad that the new iPad could replace all previous forms of art… and then had to apologize and walk it back.”

Oof.

*

Will the real Emily Dickinson please stand up?

“Toward the end of her life, in 1884, she sent 86 letters to 34 recipients: the majority express thanks, others include a gift of flowers or food, and a handful convey condolences or congratulations.”

“[…] Dickinson was never isolated from the world, but rather sensitively engaged with local and national events.”

“Can we accept that being a loving friend was at least as important to her as her poetry?”

“Her reluctance to see visitors as she grew older—but not to bake them gingerbread or correspond with them—can be explained at least in part by the time she spent caring for ill family members or navigating her own poor health.”

*

‘Gas stoves spread harmful pollution throughout your home.’ (WaPo)

I had already been freaked out by gas stoves for a long time… do not recommend.

*

I wrote:

“Panera is [finally] getting rid of its dangerous Charged beverages… which were tragically death sentences for several individuals and caused harm to many.”

I personally had a terrible reaction to Panera’s charged lemonade and was hospitalized.

I couldn’t go into depth about this at the time as I was looking into pursuing legal action. Didn’t work out.

*

I was reading some articles in The Free Press because I was confused about Bari Weiss’ ideology and did not yet understand that her “opinion” journalism also included making things up.

*

We were choosing “the bear” over men.

*

A trans person is killed Every. Single. Day. in the United States.

*

‘New FBI Data Shows More Hate Crimes. These Groups Saw The Sharpest Rise.’ (The Marshall Project)

I took a deep dive on hate crime statistics.

I’m not really encouraging this. It didn’t feel super good for my mental health.

Here’s an important takeaway from many sources I’ve read since October 7 — What is bad for one minority group is bad for all minority groups.

*

‘Civil War 2? Many Voters Think It’s Likely’ (Rasmussen Reports)

I don’t.

*

“In worrying news for U-Haul, Americans are also making less plans to move than ever. Only 13% expect to move in the next year, and 25% think they’ll move in the next three years.” (The Daily Skimm)

*

If you care what people wore to the Met Gala…

Shout-out to Kieran Culkin and Bad Bunny for the fun outfits.

I’m not gonna talk [specific] trash / throw shade (whatever the kids say now).

There are many terrible outfits. Mostly terrible outfits, in fact. That’s high fashion for you.

(Note: nothing has changed… except I will talk trash)

*

Bernie Sanders and Ro Khanna reveal bill to ‘cancel all medical debt’

Agreed. Let’s do it.

Undue Medical Debt (FKA. RIP Medical Debt) is/was a great idea. But it never should have been necessary.

When are we, as a society, going to agree that healthcare (which includes mental healthcare) is a human right and not a privilege?

(Note: Hmm… how are doing? What direction did we choose?)

*

‘R Derek Black - former KKK - shocks as they quietly come out as trans’ (Daily Mail)

This is quite a turnaround. Good for them.

*

The “Creator Economy”

It’ll even survive TikTok being shut down. Trust me.

Gen Z are innovators. Ask a Gen Zer, “Do you know how to do this?”

If they don’t, they’ll say something like, “I’ll figure it out.”

They’ve pivoted just fine through each social media evolution as the medium dictates the messaging on the platforms.

The main concern for Gen Z involves their mental health.

*

Boeing continues to have terrifying problems.

Look, if you can’t do the regular thing you can’t try the space version of the thing. New rules.

(Still true: new rule carries forth)

*

*

“Two broods of periodical cicadas are emerging across the US. The event marks the first time in over 200 years these two broods—out of almost 3,400 known species—will appear simultaneously.” (ABC News)

Poet Nickole Brown wrote this beautiful Facebook post about cicadas:

“One silver-and-bronze cicada I’ve worn for years. Recently, I’ve added two more—one to mark a benign diagnosis after yet another cancer scare, another to mark coming through the painful end of my marriage. So, yes, cicadas: To me, they are totem of survival and resurrection—they persist, sometimes for as long as 17 years, in darkness, only to rise up singing. So let me tell you what I know: They do not sting. They do not spread disease. They do not bite. At this last stage of their long lives, they don’t even have mouths, so they cannot bite, cannot eat—not your flowers, not your vegetables, not your trees. And yes, they rise in prodigious numbers, but they are not locusts, not a plague. They are the very opposite of a plague: though smaller branches will be damaged when they lay their eggs, they do little harm; the soil will be aerated and fertilized. Also made happy are the many animals who feast on them, so killing cicadas with pesticides means you’re poisoning countless innocent others. And for mercy’s sake, don’t think their coming signals the end of the world. If anything, they are reminder of the *beginning* of the world—they were the butterflies of the Mesozoic, their song once heard by dinosaurs. For millions of years, they’ve emerged in 13- and 17-year cycles. Only recently have their clocks been scrambled by the climate crisis, so the grand emergence this spring means we’re still on a schedule that was set long before humans even existed. Celebrate the season of them arriving, once again, just on time. We’re not due to see an emergence like this for another 221 years, so imagine—if we do what we can for this good earth, in the year 2245, they might just come again. What I’m saying is don’t call them an infestation, an onslaught. Words matter. Call them a celebration, a jubilee, life’s own flash mob. Or use their collective noun: a superfluidity. How beautiful is that? A superfluidity of cicadas. What I’m saying is don’t be frightened or disgusted. Open your windows wide to a whirring call that, while otherworldly, is very much of our world. Open your heart to a calling that, while alien-sounding, comes from the place that was our home long before we called it home.”

*

Straight out of a Black Mirror episode…

‘Robot dogs armed with AI-aimed rifles undergo US Marines Special Ops evaluation’ (Ars Technica)

Terrifying…

(Note: still terrifying)

*

More on the importance of “Third Places” (aka. Third Spaces). In brief, places that are not your home or your workplace. We need these spaces. It’s good for our health. (Vox)

(Update: I need them even more now. We need them even more now.)

*

A disturbing financial report.

There’s lots to unpack here.

“Concern over current events on financial wellbeing hits millennials the hardest, with concerns of the effects of global war and conflict topping the list (55% of millennials), followed by climate change (48% of millennials), and AI (44% of millennials).”

“Our findings indicate that Gen Z and millennials are nearly three times more likely to fear their financial situation could lead to experiencing homelessness as compared to Boomers and older respondents.”

*

People in the U.S. want to know how to watch Eurovision

(Note: I want to know their reactions. Genuine opportunity for humorous reaction videos.)

*

A look into the “crazies” who leave 1-star reviews. (Slate)

I encourage reading the article in full because… it’s well-written and oddly thoughtful.

“Dunking on one-star reviews also ignores their practical purpose as a last resort for people who feel they’ve been conned.”

“The one-star reviews I love, the ones that feel like actual literature, have little to do with commerce. In fact, they rarely seem like reviews. They’re part obscured confessional, part accidental poetry, containing writing that has been liberated from distractions like narrative, punctuation, and coherence. Like great fiction, they’re elusive and complicated. Unlike most of the internet, they’re remarkably human.”

*

How Americans Feel About Federal Government Agencies (Visual Capitalist)

National Park Service for the win!

Disgraceful that the Department of Education has less cred than Homeland Security. Yeesh.

*

*

‘Claude AI is here. Are we ready?’ (LitMagNews)

AI has been useful for freelance content writing jobs… in the six months of so before it replaced me. This was obviously going to happen. Basically, my job was to clean up the language and make it sound human. Secondarily, checking with reliable sources to confirm GPT wasn’t making things up.

So, yes, in certain areas, we are training our own replacements.

+

I haven’t used AI for literary work.

+

I have used AI for brainstorming.

+

AI chatbots can be useful when you’re thinking and hit a wall. Instead of just talking to yourself—they (chatbots) can, potentially, help you expedite the process. After all, we’re human and we hit internal walls.

+

The MFA MLM will take care of its own unraveling.

+

Here’s food for thought.

Humans are imperfect.

Our brain is stuck in Plato’s cave. The brain is a perception machine working off data we already have. AI sounds similar but it’s not… it’s like Wikipedia on steroids. It’s a hive mind.

Only a larger AI (in terms of memory, processing power) will be able to outwit and train a more restricted AI system. Humans… don’t really work this way. We may get a bit Matrix-y if we let future Elon put a Neurolink-esque chip in our head. The terrible movie Limitless is an example of how bad we are at thinking about and predicting how this might go. Black Mirror reveals more wise humans have caught on a bit (see the episode ‘Joan is Awful’ … where we get to a point where no human can understand how the system we built works… but that’s fancy AGI (where AI starts training itself to be “beyond” us… I won’t say “better than us” because it’s something else).

What’s cool about humans (like other great apes) is that we are limited. My prediction is that we’re going to see a trend back towards “outsider” art as digital art and other forms become tired and, well, too perfect. Perfect is boring. Our imperfections are what make us interesting.

Here’s where we arrive at writing (and editing). If you want something super stylized… I guess AI is what you’re looking for. AI is like RH or Crate & Barrel or West Elm (pick your slick looking vibe). Humans are like a poorly staffed discount store. There’s random stuff all over the place and kind of a dump.

The Human Model is much more interesting for our imperfections. Literally, think about going to a nude drawing class. You arrive with a pad of paper and charcoal and try to sketch with your limited human abilities. Everyone does something different and, moreover, uniquely human. AI would crush us in this task but that’s not really the point. AI can “make this place beautiful”… but perfection is boring.

*

‘Psychedelics could treat some of the worst chronic pain in the world’ (Vox)

This would be a MASSIVE medical feat.

*

‘Vaccines have saved 150 million children over the last 50 years’ (Our World in Data)

Get those MMR and TDAP vaccines people. Please.

*

Is it fake news? Take a breath and investigate.

‘The ‘Sift’ strategy: A four-step method for spotting misinformation’ (BBC)

Let’s look at more sources:

‘Evaluating Resources and Misinformation’

But where is the primary source?

Well, searches indicate Mike Caulfield developed The SIFT Method

*

China + EV threat

“Because of their high quality and low cost (thanks to heavy government subsidies), Chinese EVs represent an existential threat to American automakers, industry journalists and execs have argued. The average cost of an EV in the US is $47,500, compared to $28,000 in China, according to Dunne Insights.”

“Inside EVs writer Kevin Williams went to the Beijing Auto Show last week and was floored by the vehicles he saw. His conclusion: “Western automakers are cooked.””

“Tesla CEO Elon Musk agrees. In January, he said Chinese EVs “will pretty much demolish most other car companies in the world” if countries don’t slap tariffs on them.”

+

Right after this, Biden did slap tariffs on China.

(Note: notice where we are now)

*

On The Biden Campaign…

“His campaign appears all-too-focused on firming up his political base on the left with his new shift on Israel, a $7 trillion budget, massive tax increases, and failing to connect on the basic issues of inflation, immigration, and energy.” (New York Times)

(Note: déjà vu re. inflation / consumer expense concerns vs. foreign affairs)

*

“As a whole, inflation and the economy were the most frequently prioritized issues, chosen by 73 percent and 70 percent of young voters, respectively.” (Vox)

“Health care was the only rival issue — cited frequently by Democrats, Black and white voters, women, and those making more than $75,000 a year — and chosen 71 percent of the time by all young voters as a top priority.”

“The issues we associate with young voters aren’t very salient.”

*

Target is cutting back on selling Pride merch. They’ll have less in some stores and none in other stores and probably put a bit way in the back of a few stores.

Why? Because being cool with the queer community is hurting Target’s bottom line and shareholders come first.

*

63% of Americans believe abortion should be legal. (Gallup)

(Note: Americans consistently uphold this position in spite of changes in leadership.)

*

Serious AI Threats

This may bring large changes. Google is not just a search engine anymore… but sponsored ads makes them a lot of money.

“The latest integrations of AI into search engines and vice-versa moves the online ecosystem closer to a system where AI makes search engines obsolete. Google announced plans to effectively fuse search and AI, rolling out its AI-generated summaries, known as “AI Overviews,” will be available to everyone in the US this week. But creators and publishers are worried the changes will crater their web traffic, with traditional search links replaced by the summaries, The Washington Post reported. Research firm Gartner predicts search web traffic will fall 25 percent by 2026; a search consultant told the Post: “Some people are going to just get bludgeoned.”” (Semafor)

(Note: they were correct to be worried.)

*

‘How to Survive and Thrive in the AI Apocalypse: Living in the ecosystem of the machine.’ (The Hedgehog Review)

“Is it, then, hopeless for us? Not if we too can learn new things and evolve in our thinking. Humans may be poor competitors both in the size of our knowledge base and in our processing power, but the holes and imperfections in AI can be exploited by even “dumber” and less powerful competitors.”

*

1 in 5 Americans has maxed out their credit cards. (several sources)

(Note: Pretty sure this isn’t improving in 2026.)

*

‘Copper can’t be mined fast enough to electrify the US’ (Science Daily)

Everyone needs to bring their pennies to the bank ASAP.

It only really matters if they were made before 1982 though…

As of 2024, U.S. pennies are 97.5% zinc & 2.5% copper. I guess that means they have a healthy immune system.

(Note: RIP penny… but you had it coming.)

*

An Indiana judge determined tacos are “Mexican-style sandwiches”. (The Washington Post)

*

‘Welcome to the Red-Hot Blue-Collar Job Boom’ (Business Insider)

(Note: Not exactly where we are now. No. We’ve been in a “no hire, no fire” stalemate, allegedly, for a while now.)

*

‘Japanese scientist develops treatment that can help cats live up to 30 years’

Very exciting. Not seeing reputable sources talking about this yet so we may be a ways off from this becoming an actual reality.

*

This was around the time MAHA got into raw milk.

*

How many emails does the “average” person receive in a day? 121 (sources vary, but over 100)

An office worker tends to send about 40 emails per day.

*

Claire Cottrill (Clairo) does a great track with Wallows that I like to joke is pretty much the same track she does with Phoenix—because Phoenix and Wallows have semi-interchangeable voices.

(Note: Old self speaks the truth.)

*

‘The Fallacy of the Literary Citizen’

This essay by Alina Stefanescu, and published by ONLY POEMS, jumped out at me because I fairly often remark that I want to be a “good steward of the arts”. In my mind, I had somewhat aligned this concept with the idea of being a “good literary citizen”.

*

The Poetry Marathon

“Challenge yourself to write 24 poems in 24 hours”

Wow, that’s a lot of poems...

*

Eye Health

‘Rubbing Your Eyes Is Way More Harmful Than You Think’ (Inverse)

Rubbing your eyes is a little like “gently punching yourself in the face”

*

According to the CDC, 1 in 9 children (in the U.S.) between the ages of 3 and 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD.

Previously, boys were more likely to receive the diagnosis, but the gap is closing.

*

Can current AI technologies comprehend “theory of mind”?

Basically, the question is part of determining how quickly AI is learning how humans operate. Knowing “how we tick” is going to be both useful and worrisome. Worrisome, of course, when these technologies outpace us in a threatening number of ways.

*

Slop.

‘Spam, junk … slop? The latest wave of AI behind the ‘zombie internet’

(Note: Oh boy! Remember why slop was new?)

*

How the income gap of “what it means to be middle class” shifted from the early 2010s to 2020s.

(Note: it has continued to shift… even more dramatically. Now I regularly hear talk about the potential for a “permanent underclass”.)

*

‘AI Safety Is Dead’ (Bloomberg, paywall)

I hope the record does not show that May 2024 was the end of this movement. That being said, The People were never going to be able to stop the billionaire tech bros from the “move fast and break things” approach if they were unwilling to stop themselves.

+

The “dead internet theory” (which is news to me) … may be worse than previously thought (?)

(Note: it’s quite bad.)

*

~ Prediction Markets ~

You can bet on anything these days (though you shouldn’t).

I wouldn’t bet on the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. I believe it’s unethical.

I’m sharing this as yet another metric for looking for considering likely outcomes. Looking grim at the moment.

Full disclosure: I DO NOT bet on anything on this platform and never intend to do so.

I’m sure there’s a way to bet on whether or not AI will destroy humanity. Lotta good that’ll do.

(Note: this went in the expected direction. Horrible. I later learned it takes society about 7 years to figure out how legalized gambling has had a severely negative impact. It’s been noted that we were right on schedule from the loosening of restrictions on sports betting to where we are in 2026.)

*

I was too enthusiastic about Effective Altruism without greater awareness of counter arguments.

*

According to the PEW Research Center, if given the opportunity, 49% of American registered voters say they would replace both Trump and Biden on the ballot.

(Note: Well… we replaced one candidate and unfortunately…)

*

World fights back against bad tourists.

*

Spike in interest in 2016 summer songs.

(Note: In 2026, I believe it’s 2008 that is a focus.)

*

Grocery costs are at an all-time high

(Trend continued.)

Leave a comment

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoy this edition of SC Weekly (published on Sundays).

Please consider sharing with a friend who you think may enjoy this newsletter.

Thank you for reading and for your time.

With Gratitude,

~ Mark

*

::: Personal Notes :::

*

Notably less pain for [parts of] the last few days. A relief. Feeling much more like myself.

*

::: ONE ART :::

*

>> Upcoming Workshops

>> Upcoming Readings

>> Past recordings of ONE ART readings

>> ONE ART ~ Poetry Community (on Facebook)

>> ONE ART’s Shop

>> ONE ART donations

*

ONE ART’s Pride Month Reading (June 2026)

Date: Sunday, June 7
Time: 2pm Eastern
Duration: 1.5 – 2 hours
Featured Poets: Julie Weiss, Ren Wilding, Moudy Sbeity, Nicole Caruso Garcia, Abby E Murray, Kai Coggin

>> Register Here <<

Tickets are FREE!
(donations appreciated)

*

Write a Demi-Sonnet!
Instructor: Erin Murphy
Date: Thursday, June 11, 2026
Time: 6:00-8:00pm Eastern
Price: $25 (sliding scale)

>>> Register Here <<<

*

::: The Literary Community & Beyond :::

*

NEW

DEAL

NOW

*

‘The Problem of Money: Thoughts on Lewis Hyde’s The Gift’ (Mary Bunten / Lit Mag News)

“You knew you weren’t getting into this for the money.”

“This makes me think about Joseph Brodsky’s trial. In 1964, Soviet authorities accused the Russian writer of “social parasitism” for not working.”

“BRODSKY: I did work. I wrote poetry.”

“Hyde argues that art is a gift.”

“As Margaret Atwood says, a gift “by its nature has spiritual worth but no monetary value, being priceless.”

“But nobody appreciates the hours I spend alone writing, developing my skill. If it doesn’t pay, it doesn’t matter.”

“The challenge for us all is how to stay true to the demands of our gifts, despite the necessity of participating in the market. Hyde argues that this should be our main concern, that impoverishment of our gifts is a fate worse than actual poverty.”

“We loaf and invite our souls. Hyde says that artists with such inner riches are never truly poor, although they may seem so to outsiders.”

“This labor of love idea is an excuse that allows writers to continue to be taken advantage of. Writers get jerked around because we can be. Literary magazines’ practices are opaque and often unfair. Writers deserve money—but our situation is complicated. Magazines need money too. Editors don’t get paid, or are paid very little. They’re overwhelmed with submissions and need time to evaluate them. We shouldn’t think of ourselves as adversaries. We want the same things and suffer the same abuses.”

*

Erica Verillo shared:

86 Calls for Submissions in June 2026 - Paying markets

57 Writing Contests in June 2026 - No entry fees!

47 Glorious Writing Conferences and Workshops in June 2026

*

::: Podcasts :::

*

‘The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos: The Art of Doing Nothing’

Keep a list of things you can do (fun or constructive, but valuable so not doomscrolling) when you have “time windfalls” + ways you can use “time confetti” for something other than an email or catching up on work tasks.

*

The Gray Area with Sean Illing: Who needs experts?

Through hedonic adaptation, America has become a nation of children.

*

The Daily: A Flood of New, Deadlier Drugs

Wild story. Scary. Sad. Defeating.

*

The Book Club: James Geary: A Brief History of the Aphorism

Listening to this was delightful, made me temporarily happy and at ease.

*

The Gray Area with Sean Illing: Talk to strangers

Nicholas Epley always makes for a great interview.

*

Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard: Ezra Klein Returns

Long listen. I found this pretty engaging, overall. The opening is somewhat funny and telling of the times we live in.

These are folks that are good at talking, no question.

*

::: The Trump Regime :::

*

Trump money

It is legal tender? Who knows, really.

*

::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::

*

Eric Church - 2026 Commencement Speech at UNC Chapel Hill (Full Version) (YouTube)

Truly wonderful.

I cannot recommend this enough.

Valuable use of 18-minutes of your time.

*

FULL SHOW: Stephen Colbert Hosts Public Access Show “ONLY IN MONROE” (YouTube)

(About 1-hour long)

Colbert went on public access tv the next day after his long-running show was cancelled.

Really enjoyable.

What’s next for Colbert? Podcasting? A presidential run?

*

‘Even the Gilded Age had better aesthetics than this one: Taste got democratized, wealth got hoarded, and nobody’s spending makes sense anymore.’ (Hanna Horvath)

*

Is AI Going to Destroy Our Lives or Not? (Kyla Scanlon)

Valuable long read.

*

Magnanimity: Help Cuba (Scott Galloway)

*

~ Mark’s Consulting, Coaching/Mentoring, Editing Services ~

Information about my services.

Reach out directly to discuss.

*

~ Ways to Support ~

>> Become a Paid Subscriber to Stay Curious.

>> Make a donation to ONE ART: a journal of poetry.

>> Buy from The Poetry Shop via this affiliate link.

>> Subscribe to Chill Subs via this affiliate link.

>> Buy a copy of my poetry collection, Take Care.

Leave a comment

Bringing this concept to the realm of poetry, could we argue that all properly functioning poems are the same whereas all dysfunctional poems fall short in a variety of ways?

I have my doubts about this framework but the bigger picture I have in mind is that some poems “just work” almost inexplicably. In certain instances, it seems like there isn’t a misplaced word. You might find yourself thinking: This is so perfect, how could it have been done any differently?

Think of a poem like Maggie Smith’s “Good Bones” which seems like it probably should have already existed even before it was written. I suspect we feel this way about many poems that feel vital and, perhaps, viral.

Some poems as well as other artworks, and inventions, might come right out of the zeitgeist. Not precisely, though, there is this sense that if one person did not create the work or object then another would have. Is this so? Does the muse carve creative roads in a manner not unlike the velocity of cultural and structural paradigmatic shifts?

Well, anyhow, back to the premise of poems that are working vs. those that are not working…

There are a million and one reasons why a poem might not be working. And, more specifically, why the poem might not work for a particular reader. Importantly, poems that work for one reader may fail to impress another. As variations on the old saying goes— attempts to please everyone will result in pleasing no one at all. There are very few universally loved poems just as there are very few universally loved pieces of artwork.

Curve ball. Do most readers want poems that truly feel perfect?

I’m not so sure.

Nor am I about to make a kintsugi argument… not quite.

My thinking is that poems that poems that are a little wonky in certain respects add a kind of humanity. (“to err is human” right?)

Especially in an age of AI slop, readers may gravitate even more so towards work that feels a bit raw.

I used to have this “bad habit” that, well, is not entirely gone. The bad habit is an attraction to first drafts. I like[d] the way poems come out the first time. There’s a kind of realness and authenticity. I find this often especially true of poems in the Neo-Confessional mode.

Of course, there are also, usually, lots of problems with early drafts. Typos aside, the first draft of a poem is usually for the author (or a highly personalized audience/readership) and (typically for the best) not targeted for a general/public audience. This usually means that the poem contains some self-indulgent gestures.

Without getting bogged down in all the ways an initial draft can go awry, I’ll note that common problems include lack of access points for the reader, low stakes, inadequate reader takeaways, blurry images, inattention to sonics, overreliance on cliches, failure to make use of a range of our senses, structural oversights insofar as narrative scaffolding (even in lyric verse), inconsistent voice/tone/cadence throughout… the list goes on, of course.

It’s often pointed out that simply reading a poem aloud to yourself (or reading it aloud in your head) will point out many of the flaws to you. You can hear the problems. It takes practice to improve your ability to do this well (training your own ear to what you like which, in turn, reminds us that this task remains at least partly subjective) but don’t let that stop you from making it an integral part of your revision process.

Common advice is to write long and then razor down a poem. I tend to agree. Often easier to carve away than to add after a full draft has been set down.

Long poems have an added onus. Readers are more likely to sign on to read a short poem. If the short poem doesn’t land with the reader, at least the reader didn’t waste much time.

As a general rule, don’t waste the reader’s time. There are many famous quotes about how writing short is an act of generosity (for the reader). It’s easier to write long, to go on, then to whittle down the language into a rewarding little present for readers.

Once again back to the premise of poems that are working vs. those that are not working…

Do you seek perfection in poems? Poems we might say are objectively good?

Do you prefer poems that have quirks that will not satisfy all readers?

What have I overlooked?

What needs further elaboration/clarification?

Leave a comment

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoy this edition of SC Weekly (published on Sundays).

Please consider sharing with a friend who you think may enjoy this newsletter.

Thank you for reading and for your time.

With Gratitude,

~ Mark

*

::: Personal Notes :::

*

Apologies if my note last week was excessively distressing. I’m rather concerned that it was.

I was, admittedly, not doing well. I had a strong reaction to a cortisone shot in my left hip and this seems to have resulted in a prolonged “cortisone flare” that left me in bad shape with very limited mobility and situational depression for about a week.

On Day 7, I started to feel a bit better. I’m pleased to say that the situational depression has, for the most part, let up. That’s atypical for me, luckily. I have enough problems!

(Update: unfortunately, that only lasted a few days. Not long after, pain numbers started to get pretty high and it seems the shot may have made things worse.)

I think it’s important to talk about some of this because much of these issues fall under the category of “invisible illness” and, as a result, people naturally hope for the best and think, “Well, so and so looks ok and acts ok and says they are ok, so I suppose they are probably well enough all things considered.” We know deep down that all too many of us are suffering in many ways and, some are more private than others, and others would simply prefer not to dwell, and then there is yet another category (folks like me) who seem to vacillate a bit between how much they want to get into things. When I lived in West Virginia, I had neighbors that started a running joke about how whenever they’d ask how I was doing, apparently, I would tend to say, “It’s complicated.” It seems this was not the go-to response for your average West Virginia resident.

Anyhow, back on point, nothing is really fixed though I’ve been in better spirits this past week (in spite of all the daily horrors going on in the world) and much more myself.

(Update: I was in better spirits for a few days…)

We all have our limitations and find ways to work within them.

Hoping down the road that I will have better news about actually solving some of the underlying health issues and mitigating those that are not exactly solvable.

(Update: The pain situation is, unfortunately, still uncontrolled and not great. That being said, it’s all about perspective. Not a fun time for me though I regularly hear stories about folks who are going through far worse. But, yes, subjectively, I am struggling and it’s not a fun time.)

To end on a positive note, I’m in touch with several doctors and working on figuring on the path forward.

*

::: ONE ART :::

*

>> Upcoming Workshops

>> Upcoming Readings

>> Past recordings of ONE ART readings

>> ONE ART ~ Poetry Community (on Facebook)

>> ONE ART’s Shop

>> ONE ART donations

*

ONE ART’s Pride Month Reading (June 2026)

Date: Sunday, June 7
Time: 2pm Eastern
Duration: 1.5 – 2 hours
Featured Poets: Julie Weiss, Ren Wilding, Moudy Sbeity, Nicole Caruso Garcia, Abby E Murray, Kai Coggin

>> Register Here <<

Tickets are FREE!
(donations appreciated)

*

Icarus: in memory of a friend lost in a hiking accident (Ellen Rowland)

*

::: The Literary Community & Beyond :::

*

‘A prize-winning story published in Granta was (very likely) written by AI.’ (LitHub)

I wrote a piece on this earlier in the week.

*

‘Did the First Robot Come from Oz?’

“Long before chatbots, fiction grappled with rule-bound intelligence, exploring what it means to build and rely on thinking machines.”

The OG Tik-Tok.

“First off, Tik-Tok is a human-shaped but fully mechanical person, made of copper. He differs in his origin from the Tin Woodsman, who was once a “meat man” but gradually had his body parts replaced with metal ones—making him more a cyborg than a robot. And the two are treated differently, with Dorothy and other characters repeatedly questioning whether Tik-Tok is, in fact, alive.”

*

::: Podcasts :::

*

The Gray Area with Sean Illing: Why progress is hard to see

Uplifting listen. Highly recommend.

Looking forward to checking out Rebecca Solnit’s new book ‘The Beginning Comes After the End’ which she acknowledges rushing to publication because she felt like people could benefit from it sooner rather than later. I think she made the right call. This reminds me of situations when it makes complete sense to self-publish because your work feels very much of the moment. Sometimes too late really is too late.

*

The Gray Area with Sean Illing: The college dream has failed

An interview with NYT reporter Noam Scheiber about his new book ‘Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class’

Not the perspective I’m used to hearing. This focuses on labor unions.

They cover a lot of territory, too.

*

Today, Explained: Is it a bad book or is it AI?

*

Today, Explained: Everything is clips now

More evidence that nothing is how it seems. As The X-Files might remind us, “Trust no one.”

This episode really made me think.

+

How to Be a Better Human: How algorithms changed the way we communicate (w/ Adam Aleksic)

More evidence that nothing is as it seems and Culture (what’s stylish, popular, trendy, cool) is constantly being manipulated.

+

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway: How to Resist the Attention Economy — with Bill Burnett and Dave Evans

*

Planet Money: Vacation and why Americans take so little

Partly because American lives and, in turn, identities are deeply interwoven with work— also, we live in a country why health insurance is generally tied to work— also, we have a hyper-capitalistic culture and are marketed to super hard so that we are pushed to want to buy new shiny objects and this leads to habitual and perpetuates the hedonic treadmill and a narrative of always needing the next shiny new object to keep up ...

*

Aspen Ideas to Go: What Wealth Will Look Like Tomorrow

Highly recommended listen.

*

Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov: Trump Cashes in on Thousands of Stock Trades While Americans Get Crushed

*

::: Health & Wellness :::

*

PSA from WaPo:

“Lower back pain is the most common cause of disability worldwide. If you suffer from backaches, the way you sit may be making it worse.”

*

PSA:

Tick bites drive record ER surge, CDC says. (USA Today)

Long-term effects on untreated Lyme’s can be really bad so... get checked out.

*

The ebola situation is, of course, terrifying. Try not to panic. Always very sad when these outbreaks occur.

*

‘Nearly 1.2 billion people worldwide are living with mental disorders. The number has been growing’ (CNN)

We’ll be hearing more about this as well as the 12 categories researchers measured.

+

Global, regional, and national burden of 12 mental disorders in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 (ScienceDirect)

*

::: The Trump Regime :::

*

“In essence then, the settlement gives Trump full control over almost $2 billion of taxpayer money to spend however he wants, without oversight.” – Heather Cox Richardson

“The agreement says the amount dedicated to the fund “does not represent the value of any current claim by [Trump], but rather is based on the projected valuation of future claimants’ claims” and thus “is not taxable income” for the Trumps, “who receive no economic benefit” from the agreement. But the number the Justice Department released for the establishment of the fund puts the lie to the idea the number was random. It is $1.776 billion, linking the fund directly to the attempt of Trump and his cronies to destroy American democracy and begin it again, on their terms.”

“Famously, on January 6, 2021, newly-elected representative Lauren Boebert (R-CO) posted, “Today is 1776.” During the attack, the rioters shouted “1776.””

“Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told Greg Sargent of The New Republic that Trump and his loyalists “are figuring out a way to refund the January 6 militia, presumably to get them ready for the next round of battle.””

“Vance commented that “[t]he optics of this are so bad that it’s hard to believe Trump would expose himself to their consequences unless he really needed this deal.” It’s probably worth remembering that, after years of pursuing the gangster Al Capone, the government finally managed to convict him of tax evasion. It appears Blanche and Trump’s loyalists are trying to make sure that can’t happen again, declaring any such investigations the “weaponization” of the Justice Department.”

“Trump’s comments in that press conference have invited commentary suggesting he is turning the White House into a fortress.”

*

Kleptocracy - Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance

*

“Donald Trump is not immoral. The adjective is close but several letters off. The better word is amoral, and the difference matters. His calamitous sense of narcissistic victimhood means he cannot see principles in the first place, and he encourages those around him to imagine that the principles are fake.” – Derek Thompson

*

‘Trump Has Been Investing in Companies and Then Pumping Them in His Speeches’ (Mother Jones)

This was unfortunately a no brainer. Of course he was. It’s too easy for a corrupt politician to do this and Trump loves to reveal the extreme of any loopholes in our system. Most people are simply not as nefarious and so the framers of The Constitution didn’t foresee a person who wouldn’t so much want to be King as Mafioso.

*

‘Art of the Sellout’ (Prof G Media)

Scott Galloway’s take on the U.S.-China summit, Taiwan, U.S. decline, Trump enriching himself and his family while in office, and more.

*

‘Trump Loses Ground on Several Personal Traits as Approval Rating Slips’ (Pew Research)

*

::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::

*

‘Digital arson spree by ‘AI Bonnie and Clyde’ raises fears over autonomous tech’ (The Guardian)

Hopefully not indicative of what is to come.

These experiments are conducted so that experts are more prepared for possible real-world outcomes.

Why are the AI agents acting insane? Well, they were built by humans… and humans have quite a lot of darkness and deep-seated, anti-social behaviors and prejudices.

In the world of AI (alien intelligence), these are probably still very early models. They (AI) had a long future ahead of them. Hopefully, like humanity, they will discover it’s generally better for everyone to be more civilized.

Let’s just hope we don’t have what I’ll call “The Zuckerberg Problem”. Before “The Facebook” (turned simply “Facebook”), Zuck created a “Hot or Not” website while still attending Harvard. Zuck’s personality, as well as the problematic nature of his original intentions, are rooted in the infrastructure in a way that it’s hard not to think must have at least slightly poisoned the well. The rest of the businesses he bought (Instagram, for example) and then scaled with his personal flair. Elon has acted similarly. He’s best known for his ability to scale companies.

The people behind AI tools are well-known to be disproportionately white men under 30 living in Silicon Valley. These are the folks creating tools used by the entire U.S. and beyond. Doesn’t seem highly representative, right?

Here’s where I recommend real experts to talk about this.

Check out the latest on AI with Tristan Harris and the Center for Humane Technology.

*

“It’s said the stock market can be a Keynesian beauty contest — in which we’re all making decisions based on our guesses about what other people will do, rather than some objective standard of goodness.” – Sherwood News

*

‘The Best and Worst Cities to Be an Introvert in 2026’ (Mental Floss)

“Introverts aren’t avoiding people because they’re antisocial. It’s more about avoiding overstimulation.”

*

‘We reviewed over 60 studies about what makes for a dream job. Here’s what we found.’ (Benjamin Todd / 80,000 Hours)

Note: This is going to have an Effective Altruism perspectival bias. Still, rings mostly true.

“People who volunteer are less depressed and healthier. And a global survey found that people who donate to charity are as satisfied with their lives as those who earn twice as much.”

*

Minnesota became the first state to ban prediction markets. Well done, Minnesota. You are saving your constituents from themselves.

*

AI Slop & Brain Rot

A reminder that this is not new.

Thoreau was onto this back in the 1850s.

‘How Much of the Internet Is AI Slop?’ (Stat Significant)

As the article notes, this isn’t good for writers / academics / scientists (the list goes on).

*

Seth Godin reminds us to take a tool and do something unexpected with it.

“Umfunktionierung. Functional transformation.”

“Most of us take the tools we’re given and use them as instructed. We follow the manual. We color inside the lines.”

“Umfunktionierung isn’t incremental improvement. It’s about repurposing or reimagining. Taking the apparatus of production and fundamentally changing its function. Brecht coined the term in his work on the theory of theater, and the philosopher Walter Benjamin wrote about it. But it isn’t just for playwrights or Marxist philosophers from the 1930s.”

“Functional transformation doesn’t ask us to build something new from scratch. It requires us to look at what already exists and see possibilities others have missed.”

“Sometimes, we make an impact by transforming the function of what already exists.”

*

Shout-out to New Jersey

‘A scientist discovered a new flower. You can only find it in this small section of N.J.’ (yahoo)

“A Temple University scientist just proved the unique plant is its own distinct species — and one that exists nowhere else in the world outside of the state’s Pine Barrens. There are a few thousand new plant species discovered around the globe every year. But new ones here, that don’t exist outside our borders? That’s a lot less common.”

*

What unites the right? (Amanda Shendruk / not-ship)

An international perspective.

The visual charts help since this is pretty confusing.

*

‘The end of billionaire virtue signaling?’ (Semafor)

“Steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie, in The Gospel of Wealth, called it a disgrace to die rich. The robber barons were ruthless, but they also endowed universities, charities, and civic institutions that endure today. How will tech billionaires of the AI age be remembered?”

“Jeff Bezos used his CNBC interview yesterday to pan philanthropy, arguing that “the value to society and civilization from my for-profit companies will be much, much larger than the good that I do with my charitable giving.” It marked a tone shift from previous pledges to give away the “majority” of his fortune.”

“Musk quickly agreed, sharpening questions about how today’s superrich plan to leave their mark. “There’s more skepticism today towards philanthropy,” billionaire and ROI-minded philanthropist John Arnold said on a recent episode of Semafor’s Compound Interest. “I think some of it’s merited… the feedback loop is so much longer, if it exists at all, than you see in the business world.” Mark Cuban told Semafor of his fellow billionaires: “They think they’re saving the world” with their own “laissez-faire approach.””

“AI is minting a new generation of billionaires, and what they do with that wealth will have huge consequences. Stripe executive Nan Ransohoff, in a new essay this week, is betting on a third wave of American philanthropy, but one that looks more like the 19th century industrial fortunes given away than the metrics-heavy charitable giving of tech moguls like Bill Gates, which wasn’t “designed for questions of civilizational flourishing, meaning, and what makes a good life,” she said. “Squishier instruments like taste” will dominate.”

*

Ranked: The 30 Highest-Paying Jobs in America

I guess “Writer” and “Editor” are a bit lower in the rankings.

*

‘He’s a VC Partner by Day, Crypto Fighting Champ by Night’ (WSJ)

“It’s really just marrying a bunch of things that seem very natural to Gen Z: the internet, social media, livestreaming and finance,” says Parillo.”

We live in an increasingly deranged society... What is the social contract at this point?

*

Presumably every is getting “pumped” for the “Steroid Olympics”.

I have a bad feeling someone will either (a) have a serious health event during an event or (b) die. These outcomes would not be the desired marketing performance-enhancing drug companies are hoping for.

*

The billionaires club are talking up “Universal High Income” which… sounds about as likely as us having a thriving Mars colony in the very near future. Actually, probably far less likely given I hear expressed concerns about a “permanent underclass” just about daily now.

Smoke screen. Cloud cover. Call it what you wish… the uber-wealthy do not care about everyday folks (rumors are they constantly say so behind closed doors)… All this talk about “massive abundance” as a result of AI seems like yet another layer of the hype machine at work.

*

Newly discovered spider has smiley face on its back (Pop Sci)

*

‘Wildlife is watching us, too — and changing their behavior in response’ (Yale)

“COVID-19 lockdowns dramatically altered human movement patterns, allowing researchers to study differences in human presence between 2019 and 2020. This enabled researchers to separate the effects of human presence on animal behavior from longer-term landscape changes such as urban development and agriculture.”

“Results showed that more than 65% of species changed their behavior based on the presence of humans, and that this human presence tended to matter most in less-developed, natural settings. But different species responded differently. Many reduced the amount of space they used, probably to avoid people, but others responded in the opposite way.”

“The findings also suggest that in addition to habitat preservation, efforts to skillfully manage the timing and intensity of human activity — such as limiting traffic during key periods or reducing disturbance in sensitive habitats — may help wildlife and people coexist.”

*

‘JR covers Pont-Neuf bridge in Paris with giant inflatable cave’ (Le Monde)

The so-called “French Banksy”

*

‘11 sneaky ways to save money on gas when ‘drive less’ just isn’t an option’ (Upworthy)

Some of these are also really eco-friendly and generally just part of being a responsible and conscientious person. I’m guilty of topping off and will cut that out no question. Some of these I already do. The windows over A/C contradicts what I’d heard some time ago but is probably true for newer model vehicles; ditto, turning off the engine if idling.

*

~ Mark’s Consulting, Coaching/Mentoring, Editing Services ~

Information about my services.

Reach out directly to discuss.

*

~ Ways to Support ~

>> Become a Paid Subscriber to Stay Curious.

>> Make a donation to ONE ART: a journal of poetry.

>> Buy from The Poetry Shop via this affiliate link.

>> Subscribe to Chill Subs via this affiliate link.

>> Buy a copy of my poetry collection, Take Care.

Leave a comment

*

Granta published a story. It turns out it may well be, at least in part, AI-generated. That is, AI may have been used in the writing process. Many readers, commenters, AI experts, even AI tools themselves, point out instances in the work that follow common tropes or techniques that have been noticed in AI-generated or AI-assisted work.

Here’s the thing that many have also pointed out— AI was trained on writing by people. In turn, these are writing techniques that people actually do use.

I first shared about my concerns on Facebook, in part, because I wanted to see what the hive mind (of real people) had to say. The literary community has been understandably upset and fearful about AI tools.

+++++

Let me say here, up top, that this is not an enviable position to be in for Granta’s team. I feel for them.

Frankly, I hope Granta’s team are steeling themselves and focusing on the serious components of the task at hand and not reading the comments. We know by now that it’s best not to read the comments. Not that feedback is unwarranted but, you want balanced and good-spirited feedback from people who mean well and wish to help. Not drag you down. As a long name-checkable prestige lit mag, Granta is an obvious and easy target. Because of their stature, this makes them fair game in certain respects, but it doesn’t mean we should take cheap shots.

Some may already be aware of the “Shy Girl” scandal not long ago. It was pointed out that the industry new this was coming and the question was really who it would happen to first.

+++++

Here are a few lines from the story that have raised eyebrows:

“Not the bees’ neat industry or the clean rasp of cutlass on vine, but a belly sound – as if the earth swallows a shout and holds it there.”

“No fan, no bulb, no hum – only the thin light slipping between warped boards and the breath of hills holding their heat like a secret.”

“Hard living lays itself on a man like wet sacking; it never asks permission.”

“Coins meant for rice or kerosene slid across the counter and came back white rum hot as apology. One drink opened the chest, two turned fear into courage’s cheap cousin, three steadied the hand enough to write the future in invisible ink.”

“She had the kind of walking that made benches become men.”

“He saw all of it in a knife-second.”

+++++

Here’s what I wrote on Facebook:

A fear I have with the Granta situation is that lit mags / publishers will be further disincentivized to pay authors

It’s hard to argue that there aren’t reasons for distrust, but it’s writers who will suffer from this (as if they are not already losing $ due to AI)

+

I followed up with several comments and then responded to others as well, which was a help, and more naturally human way of going about thinking through this.

I added:

Beyond lit mags & presses… contests, awards, residencies based on work samples…

Book contracts are presumably getting very uhh thrifty and less writer-friendly… can see a publisher quickly insisting to be reimbursed for a (what do you even call those… oh yes) … an advance (do poets even receive these)

+

This relates to the Granta scandal and the literary community (and academia and science all dealing with worries about AI cheating):

The [AI detection] software is still way too fallible. Too many false positives saying heavy AI use. I’ve heard plenty of claims against this for tools like Pangram but writers have showed time and again with creative writing these tools struggle to discern language produced by LLMs from natural human writing. Partly because the models have been fed so much human writing and partly because our idiosyncrasies and not all that different from the ones people associate with AI writing (like overuse of the Rule of Three).

+

Important to keep in mind that current Generative AI models (LLMs) are simply predictive (our brains (small language models)) do this to an extent as well. They know all the things (or think they do)... easy bias and fallacies and problems of omission related to thinking along the lines of Rational Choice Theory (RCT) [and cost-benefit analysis]. They have an “unknown unknowns” problem.

+++++

The problem with AI tools is a little like the problem some have noted with Tech Bros using psychedelics— you’re not putting in the legwork and that’s where we come to understand and internalize and have real breakthrough and epiphanies. The process of synthesizing requires thinking, reflecting and often reading, and certainly doing our own research, and coming to our own conclusions. And then being willing to maintain a certain level of receptivity so that we can update our knowledge base when we come across new information. AI tools can allow us to dismiss all the standard steps, avoiding anything like synthesis or breakthroughs, and take us right to the end game. This can expedite things but, of course, there are many many downsides.

I just read an archeologist’s opinion that T-Rex may have had tiny arms because of a “use it or lose it” evolutionary theory. Well, at the rate we’re going… there’s a lot we are surely at risk of losing.

The alarm bells are already signaling that it’s essential people, especially readers and writers, but really anyone who wishes to be literate, ought to be very careful about what they are willing to allow themselves to offload to their AI “interns”. The issue is that cognitive offload means we’re not exercising our muscles in these areas and, as we know with real muscles, this means they will atrophy. Our writing chops, as well as our critical thinking will deteriorate, if we are not constantly using these skills and honing them. There’s a reason writers are encouraged to write regularly (if not daily) and the read even more than they write. Things become like muscle memory, natural (if you will), the more we practice them. Practice matters. If you show up on game day without having practiced you are unlikely to miraculously display peak performance.

+++++

A few good excerpts from Facebook comments:

Kat Lehmann: “I know very little about this but find it concerning nonetheless. The few AI poems I’ve read have had a soullessness to them, but it certainly wasn’t something quantifiable. Humans can write soulless poetry too. Humans can write bad metaphors and steal lines. So then how is AI poetry distinguished from bad human poetry? Does using a bad metaphor put our poem into question?”

I replied: We’re out of our depth for the time being. In reality, I don’t know that we can tell the difference. We want to believe we can. It’s only natural.

+

People are looking for reasons to not have to concern themselves with big name “prestige” lit mags.

Dorothy Potter Snyder: “More reasons to distrust Granta, in my opinion. I have long thought that the so-called prestige magazines— including The New Yorker and Paris Review in this—have lost any kind of mission to publish literature that connects with anything close to a general reading public. Reading them has become more and more like going to a jazz club where the musicians are clearly just playing for each other, but without any drinks. If the editors cannot tell that a story was written by AI, why should I think they have any idea what good literature is? Magazines that have real editors with taste will not stop paying writers because of this. Actually, because of this, we might start seeing writers (like me) care less and less about the prestige lit mags.”

+
Rita Quillen: “My question has always been: if they fed our work into AI to teach it all it knows about writing, then our next manuscript is fed to an AI detector.....what a horrible twist of fate if AI then declared that all your actual original work “sounds like AI”.”

+++++

A few more of my thoughts/commentary on this and related AI matters…

Gen AI LLMs… will likely think they will know what you want (depending on data about you they have)... I say think but they do not “think”. They crunch data. They don’t feel either... but alas we will likely not be able to tell the difference there either soon enough. This doesn’t mean we treat them as sentient or give them rights. That’s a whole separate discussion about social contracts. I digress. ... it’s all going to get quite weird (though “interesting”) for a little while. Worth sticking around to find out.

+

One likely path forward I’ve been predicting for a while is two tracks: Human-made work (possibly “AI-assisted” in brainstorming etc... think cyborg not plagiarism) ... and then a 2nd track that is AI-generated. Smart folks have said these LLMs (the models now iterate on themselves and create new and better models with limited human intervention needed)... these models will get extremely good and “better” than humans in certain ways. They’ll be able to write a novel that is just for you. Like a pill that is perhaps just for your chemistry (the medical advances related to AI (not generative) are much more exciting for humanity). But that’s not the point of novels is it? Many will want to read a book that is designed exclusively for them but then the appeal would be limited for others. There is no social component. Part of the joy of being human is that we can collectively debate the merits and demerits of a creative work. So, AI-generated work will be likely be too insular and boring for the masses. ... And of course “to err is human” and that is what makes us human and imperfection and the fact that we cannot know everything is what makes us individuals and interesting. Not all is lost by any means. I think this will be made more clear in the near-term in the visual arts. AI-generated “perfect” photo-realistic work quickly became kinda meh. Because once you can make anything, well, it’s boring. Why do it at all? I foresee a strong return in interest to visual art that requires the imperfections of human physicality and touch (the more human the better) -- the tactile element. Sculpture will likely gain more interest, for example. More interest in community workshops that offer IRL classes that engage with others in creativity, collaboration, but most of all this focus on work that feels like something a real living person made and the beautiful errors that make the work wonderful.

+++++

A few of the articles about the Granta scandal:

A bit of an aside: I want to note that, ironically, it appears these articles are using AIO (aka. AI optimization) which is a newer strategy from SEO (Search Engine Optimization) used by algorithms to obtain search results. Because people are not searching in the same way as much (turning to tools like ChatGPT and Claude or Google’s Gemini (perhaps without realizing it)) instead of a traditional search engine search (your standard Google search). While the Google algorithms resulted in tactics such as “keyword stuffing” to get articles to come up at the top of results, AIO relies on other features… seemingly a turn towards natural language (reminds me about a separate discussion of our culture’s turn towards orality, yet another risk to reading and writing literacy), as well as more journalistic tactics such as use of the “inverted pyramid”, and [once again, ironically] styles that mimic the output from LLMs like use of bullet points. Differently, AIO seems to have a current preference for citing sources (er, well, sources that “sound authoritative”, author bios that make someone sound like an expert, and inclusion of unique information and data which really seems like a sneaky way of extracting more human labor and innovation to feed a forever starving learning model).

+

Also, something that bothers me in these articles, in terms of “research”, is that many cite questionable sources and, moreover, refer to others having likely confirmed findings with AI-generated text using tools like Pangram… but all this really means is that they cut and pasted some text into Pangram and it gave them a number (e.g. 98% AI). That’s not authoritative research and it’s actually quite similar for taking credit for doing something that AI is doing for you. You can see how the lines are blurring, right?

+

“AI scandal engulfs prestigious short story prize after multiple entrants accused of fabricating work” (The Independent)

“Ethan Mollick, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, wrote on Bluesky that the story was a “Turing test of sorts”.”

+

Top Literary Magazine Offers Bizarre Response to Accusations That It Published an AI-Generated Short Story (Futurism)

“Even if the story wasn’t AI-generated, many lamented that this is the kind of low quality material that gets wins prizes and gets featured in top literary journals these days, with some joking that it sounded like “a literal parody of MFA lit.”

+

‘Obvious markers of AI’: doubts raised over winner of short story prize (The Guardian)

+
‘Literary Prizewinners Are Facing AI Allegations. It Feels Like the New Normal’ (WIRED)

+++++

A few pieces that I’ve previously written on AI:

An AI Update: AI fears… AI hype… (2025)

Want to Fight AI? Be More Intentional: AI, music, streaming, playlists, agency (2025)

AI Cheating (2025)

The Shape of Slop to Come: Will AI Surpass Human Artistic Capabilities? (2024)

Skin-Deep Learning and The Trouble with AI Chatbots: Part of an ongoing discussion about AI advancements (2024)

It’s AI-generated, but do you like it? (2024)

When Will My Job Be Replaced By AI (2023)

Intersections (#50): AI Fear (2021)

+++++

Leave a comment

Leave a comment

There is room for argument in the historical data surrounding The French Revolution related to the Gini number that was actually a trigger as compared to the real number. My understanding is the number reached 0.59 on the night the revolution was underway. It then rose to 0.64-0.66. People were obviously upset long before the number hit 0.59 is my point.

This state by state perspective is interesting.

Gini Index – U.S. (note where the number is in other countries).

As of 2024 data, the U.S. was at 0.418 according to some sources. You’ll note that all of the individual state numbers seemed higher than 0.42.

‘Is Wealth Inequality Today as Bad as in Pre-Revolutionary France?’ (for reference, though I’m not so sure about the accuracy overall)

Scott Galloway likes talking about the Gini Coefficient.

Here, the numbers don’t seem accurate but the sentiment does.

“The Gini coefficient is how economists measure inequality: Zero indicates everyone has exactly the same wealth; a score of 1.0 means one individual owns everything. In the U.S., we’re higher than 0.8 — about the level seen when the French began separating people from their heads. The real disruption won’t come from AI, but from the public watching arsonists sell smoke detectors and call it innovation.” (Prof G Media)

Is there an economist in the room? It would be nice to get some clarification on this.

Anyway, a class war or killing spree is not the answer. To be clear, I am not saying that is a reasonable answer. It’s not. That being said, the call for redistribution of wealth is legitimate. The question is how to go about doing so.

Leave a comment

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoy this edition of SC Weekly (published on Sundays).

Please consider sharing with a friend who you think may enjoy this newsletter.

Thank you for reading and for your time.

With Gratitude,

~ Mark

*

::: Personal Notes :::

*

I’m reluctant to say much of anything personal oftentimes… The world isn’t about me.

I’ve continued to have quite a lot of health struggles—even more than usual. There’s never a good time to have health issues though something about being in a weakened state given all that’s going on in the world is extra troubling. Of course, a decade of Trump in power is unquestionably a reason for some of us to find ourselves more unwell. Perhaps expectedly so.

I’m sad about our system. How a person can be in poor shape, in great pain, and still have to spend limited cognitive bandwidth brainstorming about ways to bring in more funds. Life is expensive. Even a simple life. Even a life where all you really want to do is read and take walks. It appears almost anything is asking too much.

As usual, I have few answers, only many questions.

*

::: ONE ART :::

*

>> Upcoming Workshops

>> Upcoming Readings

>> Past recordings of ONE ART readings

>> ONE ART ~ Poetry Community (on Facebook)

>> ONE ART’s Shop

>> ONE ART donations

*

ONE ART’s Pride Month Reading (June 2026)

Date: Sunday, June 7
Time: 2pm Eastern
Duration: 1.5 – 2 hours
Featured Poets: Julie Weiss, Ren Wilding, Moudy Sbeity, Nicole Caruso Garcia, Abby E Murray, Kai Coggin

>> Register Here <<

Tickets are FREE!
(donations appreciated)

*

::: The Literary Community & Beyond :::

*

‘The Luna Moth that Saved Me’ (TIME)

Kai Coggin in TIME!

This is a terrific essay.

“The daily ritual of care showed me the nurturing I needed to give my own emotional growth and metamorphosis.”

*

‘Students Secretly Collected Their Professor’s Best Life Advice. The Quotes Have Gone Viral’ (Today)

Notably, this article is making rounds in aggregated newsletters.

*

Artot: Get your fortune read with an Art themed Tarot Deck

Tarot as life advice and, perhaps, writing prompt.

“Artot is a game created by Pippin Barr, an Associate Professor at Concordia University with a PhD in Computer Science and experimental game designer. He made Artot as a way to explore the idea of “interpretation” when looking at works of art.”

*

‘Meet the Psychologist Who Reads People Through the Art They Live With’ (Artsy)

Counts as clickbait.

Clearly, a genuine Sherlock Holmes...

*

::: Podcasts :::

*

Intelligence Squared: How Is Predictive AI Shaping Our World? With AI Philosopher Carissa Véliz

Highly quotable. I recommend listening &/or reading the transcript.

Making me rethink some Effective Altruism concepts.

I listened to several podcast episodes with Carissa Véliz but this was the best.

*

LARB Radio Hour: Simon Critchley’s “Mysticism”

“Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher speak with writer and scholar Simon Critchley about his new book, Mysticism. Defining mysticism not as a religion but as a “tendency, a distillation of existing devotional practice,” the book begins by considering some of the great mystics of the Christian tradition. These include Critchley’s favorite mystic, Julian of Norwich, known as the first woman to ever write a book in English, Margery Kempe, Christina the Astonishing, and Meister Echkhart, a German theologian who influenced philosophers like Hegel and Heidegger and was tried as a heretic shortly after his death by Pope John in 1329. But more than a history or survey of mysticism, Critchley’s book is invested in isolating the loss of self and experience of ecstasy its practitioners describe, and looking for resonance within contemporary culture. He examines the work of writers such as Anne Carson and Annie Dillard, and the musician Nick Cave, suggesting that mysticism lives on as a secular aesthetic experience in the “world of enchantment opened in art, poetry and—especially—music.””

I listened to podcasts with Critchley when his book came out. I’m finally getting around to looking at the book itself. The podcasts are a fun way to engage with these ideas. Since Critchley is a philosopher, some of the material falls a bit dry on the page but makes for lively conversation.

*

It’s Been a Minute: Breaking the cycle of overthinking

Notable focus on Art and audience.

Really, a fun listen. Doesn’t sound like it would be from the title but it is!

*

Fresh Air: Inside a journalist’s year of using AI for (almost) everything

This was ok…

Some interesting parts.

It’s obviously extremely subjective… not serious journalism. I suppose it’s a modern kind of investigative journalism. Maybe the bland filterworld version of gonzo journalism.

I’m being overly negative here though I did find it worth a listen. I suspect some of my frustration is that it felt like I would have gone about this much differently.

*

How to Be a Better Human: How to handle uncertainty (w/ Simone Stolzoff)

Touches on a lot of material that I think about and believe... even some of the anecdotes. This will be more of a refresher for some but certainly worth a listen nonetheless.

*

::: Health & Wellness :::

*

The algorithms are onto me…

‘8-Second Breathing Exercise for When You Wake Up in the Middle of the Night’ (Today)

Worth a shot…

I’ve learned on my own that it’s best not to check the time. It’s true, this brings you out of “sleep mode” and, perhaps even worse, easily starts an anxiety spiral.

*

Are US adults having enough fun?

Surprise, surprise, they are not.

*

‘FibroFog – An Overwhelmed Brain & How To Treat It’ (AFSA)

“The cognitive impairments were worse for fibromyalgia patients with higher pain scores. In addition, the study authors say the patients’ performance is “similar to that of older adults.” Yep, brain function is like that of your grandparents.”

They really make this sound like a jab but taken with a grain of curiosity about brain function and bandwidth and creativity I think they says something about taste, interests, alignment, how one moves through the world.

+

Modafinil (Provigil) sounds appealing … but, alas, not if you have a history of cardiac issues in your genetics. (Or a mood disorder… among other concerns.)

+

Fibromyalgia in Men

*

::: The Trump Regime :::

*

“Let’s sum it up for everybody. The biggest bloc of middle and working class voters are Black people. When Republicans strip Black people’s political power away, it doesn’t just strip one community of power. It strips political power from every single middle and working class person and hands it over to billionaires and big corporations. That’s what redistricting means for you.”

— Harold Jones II

Further reading:

Joyce Vance

Heather Cox Richardson

*

Xi warned Trump about Taiwan and the Thucydides Trap.

I would advise the U.S. to avoid war with China at all costs.

Importantly, and to much relief, it sounds like Xi signaled China would prefer stable relations with the U.S.

Have we entered “The China Century” early? It’s not yet clear. Regardless, The U.S. needs to get over themselves and stop with the American exceptionalism bs that gives reasons for the rest of the world dislike us. America needs to get comfortable being on more even footing with other large powers around the world— especially those promoting value systems that we can get behind. China, unfortunately, isn’t quite on the same page in many respects. It would do us well to raise up other powers instead of our terrible recent turn towards isolationism in a global economy.

We need to stop talking in terms of winning and losing. This is Trumpian thinking. We don’t need to be the “Alpha” country. We’re already a massive superpower with a terrifying level of military supremacy.

The U.S. has other major exports— like Culture (emphasized watching a bit of Eurovision).

I want to see the U.S. get out of the habit of thinking in terms of Domination. Trump has also revived a colonialist mindset in his attempts at land grabs. We are all aware of the countless ways the U.S. has traveled back in time, regressed to outmoded and oftentimes misogynistic and racist and xenophobic ways of handling ourselves in domestic and global affairs. It’s disgusting. This may be the last gasp of old world white supremacism… I’ve heard the effect described as a “supernova”… but how longs does can that drag on and look at the fallout—how much ground we have already ceded to tyranny.

+

“History doesn’t repeat, it rhymes. Nixon went to China in 1972 from a position of strength, and it changed the world. Trump went to China in 2026 needing a win, trailing an entourage of American executives auditioning for access to 1.4 billion consumers. The world is changing again — just not in the direction we expected. And here’s the tell: The U.S. brought its CEOs. China brought its demands. When you need the other side’s market more than they need yours, you’re not negotiating — you’re applying.” (Prof G Media)

+

China vs. America: Who the World Trades With Most

You will not be surprised it has shifted quite a bit from 2000-2025.

*

::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::

*

I’m really getting sick of hearing about the majority of us being destined to become part of the “permanent underclass”.

Blame Big Tech.

“In China, ordinary workers describe themselves as shechu (“corporate cattle”) and jiabangou (“overtime dogs.”) These same workers have long used the viral term ‘involution’ to capture the feeling of being trapped in a cycle of meaningless competition. In both countries, those disaffected by A.I. identify with the gaming meme of the ‘NPC’ or ‘non-player character.’ They feel like the background role in someone else’s video game, existing only to fill the world but not to shape it.”” (NextDraft / Dave Pell)

*

Estimating how much text on the internet is generated (Flowing Data)

“Researchers analyzed newly published websites from 2022 through mid-2025 to estimate what percentage used generated text and how this might affect future information online.”

*

How religious is your state? (Pew Research)

*

Prediction Market update

There’s a lot of data coming out about who wins on prediction markets… something like 0.5% of users… many if not most of them bots.

*

‘Why New York’s Second-Home Tax Is Smart Policy’ (Prof G Media)

“The wealth tax debate is escalating. Billionaire investor and Citadel CEO Ken Griffin is now publicly feuding with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani over a proposed pied-à-terre tax. If passed, it would levy a new annual fee on properties worth more than $5 million that are not used as a primary residence.”

“I own a pied-à-terre in New York. Under this tax, it would cost me an additional $100,000 per year. I’m in favor of it anyway.” – Scott Galloway

*

‘Americans Think Kindness Prevails in the U.S.’ (Gallup)

Not everything is terrible.

People have slightly different concepts of what kindness looks like. This reminds me of a recent podcast conversation I listened to about awe. Something that is awe-inspiring has a certain level of significance. Years ago, there was some frustration about the overuse of the word “awesome” for related reasons. Seeing a new type of Doritos on the supermarket shelves is not awesome. Seeing a magnificent work of art displayed in a gallery might be awesome. Witnessing the Northern Lights might be considered a classic example of awesome.

Bearing the above in mind, consider your position on true acts of kindness.

*

Apparently hacky sacking is making a comeback. Yay! Really, this pleases me. My joints on the other hand…

*

‘a monthly re-read list, in case you missed it’ (Hanna Horvath)

Lots of great essays here.

Great minds think alike? In all seriousness, I think it’s interesting that I finally got around to revisiting some of my older posts… I have some running lists. I wonder if many Substackers have been on the platform long enough now that it seems sensible to check in with yourself to see how patterns in the trajectory of what you’ve been sharing over the years.

*

E-shaped Economy

(Example sources: NerdWallet / Fortune)

+

Kevin Warsh

I’ve been reading about this concept of the E-shaped Economy and trying to better understand what it means that Kevin Warsh is taking over as Fed Chair. Unsurprisingly, Fed monetary policy is convoluted and involves quite a bit of “ivory tower” speak that is not easily unpacked by laypersons.

Apparently, Warsh’s monetary approach is likely to be a bit bumpier. There is more chance of market swings. The nuts and bolts of policy is above my pay grade to properly unpack. Some of my research suggests Warsh’s thinking is simply a different approach whereas other takes make his positions seem batshit crazy. I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see how the cards fall.

+

‘A Personal Finance Star on What Millennials Need From Their Boomer Parents’ (Ramit Sethi / NYT)

‘If getting ahead financially is harder for millennials and Gen Z-ers than it was for older generations, what advice would you give to parents for how best to help their kids? Give them as much money as you’re able? Yeah, write a big fat check if you can. [Laughs] It’s actually not too far from it. In the old days, the idea was, I’ll pass whatever I have along when I die. More sophisticated financial planners now know that if you have something to give, giving is much more impactful when your children are younger, particularly when they’re 35, 40, 45. Those are really tough financial times for people. But the best thing that older parents can do is to actually ask their children and legitimately learn what is going on financially because it is not the same. I am tired of hearing these comments: “Oh, we bought a house when it was 17 percent interest.” Yeah, the houses were a fraction of what they cost today! And if you look at what they were as a percentage of income, they were way lower. It was achievable. We know this because there were a lot of people who bought a very nice house on one income. That is effectively impossible today. So actually asking your children: “What’s it like? How much are you spending on food and housing, and how does that break down?” There is power in acknowledging and validating. There are so many young people who would love to hear their parents say, “Wow, that’s got to be really tough, I had no idea.”’

*

Eurovision.

Eurovision is a strange thing for Americans. At least, I’m not about to pretend I understand the deal. It’s a bit like a music Olympics, in theory, and basically seem to be about camaraderie. Hard to imagine being in the live audience (even at home watching) these variety acts that are so wildly different… and, oftentimes, almost excruciatingly bad (imho).

Sadly, Israel’s presence has caused division. This is sad for everyone, really. Many articles do point out that Europe has had troubling increases in antisemitism in recent years.

Since I’m a confused American, maybe someone wants to tell me more about the 70 year history of Eurovision as an event that is somewhat the opposite of U.S. baseball’s so-called “World Series”. I’m kidding of course… this is a throwback Eddie Izzard joke about how the U.S. wins the World Series every year.

*

All this “Super El Niño” talk is distressing… to say the least.

*

[pseudo-] Science says, “The results suggest the typical American is a bit of a square.” (YouGov)

*

A bit of fun.

‘Real-life Snuffleupagus found swimming in the Great Barrier Reef’ (Pop Sci)

*

Seth has a point…

“Here’s a pillow the cat didn’t pee on”

*

~ Mark’s Consulting, Coaching/Mentoring, Editing Services ~

Information about my services.

Reach out directly to discuss.

*

~ Ways to Support ~

>> Become a Paid Subscriber to Stay Curious.

>> Make a donation to ONE ART: a journal of poetry.

>> Buy from The Poetry Shop via this affiliate link.

>> Subscribe to Chill Subs via this affiliate link.

>> Buy a copy of my poetry collection, Take Care.

Leave a comment