SC Weekly – April 2025 – #4
~ a curated selection of discoveries ~
::: The Open :::
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
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::: Personal Notes :::
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I’m thankful to Caitlin Jans, Jacob Jans, and especially Ella Perry, for inviting me to speak to an Authors Publish virtual class in a webinar on the 24th. It was truly a joy for me. I really appreciated the comfortable space and the thoughtful questions. It was also an opportunity to share a few ONE ART poems and discuss a little bit of my reasoning behind their publication.
I’m very much hoping to have more experiences similar to this in the near future!
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::: ONE ART :::
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Call for Submissions: Poems About Work
The Book of Jobs: An Anthology of Poems About Work (Online)
Edited by Erin Murphy
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ONE ART’s next reading is Sunday, May 4.
Featured Readers: Jennifer Mills Kerr, Terri Kirby Erickson, Dick Westheimer, Ann E. Michael, Kai Coggin
>>> Tickets Available <<<
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Organizing multiple forthcoming ONE ART workshops… in progress.
Logistics are complicated! 😅
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::: The Literary Community & Beyond :::
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Growing Cynical by Molly Fisk in Rattle
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SURVIVOR’S GUILT
by Julie Weiss
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Absurd world we live in…
‘A major US regional bank CEO recited a limerick from ChatGPT to explain the economic outlook on his earnings call’ (Sherwood)
Here it is:
Trump’s tariffs have caused quite a fuss,
With markets unsure who to trust.
Will prices ascend?
Will trade wars extend?
Or will growth just stall in the dust?
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WaPo:
You guessed it— my favorite part is that today the home is a Westin.
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::: Podcasts :::
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Justin Vernon — Being Bon Iver (On Being with Krista Tippett)
Genuinely surprised this is such a thoughtful and reflective conversation with Justin Vernon. I’d say there’s an overall focuses on personal growth. And, as discussed in the interview, wouldn't it be nice to perform artwork that is uplifting?
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How to enrich your everyday life with poetry (w/ Sarah Kay)
A very endearing conversation with Sarah Kay about poetry and joy and more.
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::: Health & Wellness :::
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‘Teens, Social Media and Mental Health’ (Pew Research)
“48% of teens say social media harm people their age, up from 32% in 2022”
This is a bit daunting. Hence why we usually tend to consume this from secondary sources… but, of course, they highlight/emphasize specific data and that can result in spin or other kinds of misinformation.
It’s a little difficult to approach these large datasets without having something specific in mind that you’re searching for; that being said, they do highlight some key takeaways.
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‘The interactive role of odor associations in friendship preferences’ (Nature)
People are more like dogs... well, we thought dogs were like us... Look, it's getting confusing.
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‘Life satisfaction and personality share strong genetic roots, new findings reveal’ (PsyPost)
Why am I not surprised?
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How Long Does Plastic Take to Decompose?
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Is Happiness Overrated? Why Some Prefer Meaning Instead (Psychology Today)
Turns out willpower might be part of our wiring.
This may fly in the face of 20-something Mark’s theory that adulthood is all about “mindfulness and willpower”.
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::: The Trump Regime :::
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'60 Minutes' chief resigns, saying show's independence was compromised (NPR)
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‘USAID Funding Cuts: Our Response and Ways to Help’ (GiveWell)
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‘3 ways you can help the people hurt by Trump’s foreign aid cuts’ (Vox)
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Resource to determine that donations are being spent in optimal ways.
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Feeling powerless?
A surprising pitch for the value of video games from Seth Godin.
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::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::
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‘Crushes, cliques, and classes: What most Americans remember about high school’ (YouGov)
This requires a trigger warning more than most subjects, don’t you think?
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‘Gen X was supposed to be peaking. Instead their careers and finances are tanking’ (QZ)
"For some, the challenge isn’t just adapting — it’s enduring."
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A little unnerving…
‘No sweat: Humanoid robots run a Chinese half-marathon alongside flesh-and-blood competitors’ (AP)
Big Black Mirror mood …
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‘Scientists create new colour 'olo' unseen by human eye’
This story (and literally looking at the image) made me somewhat uneasy.
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‘How Gen Z Became the Most Gullible Generation’ (Politico)
Oh good, a small win for millennials.
Seriously though, sources of quality news media (not all necessarily mainstream) need to win back Gen Z trust. We can’t maintain a society without a bedrock of, you know, agreement about certain facts and premises about the nature of reality.
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Florida Man takes over Florida's Government
"Florida. It's different here"
A wild story.
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Can we just go back to this?
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Thanks for these Mark. I always look forward to your weekly finds. This week's gem was the Nature article on friendship and smell. Wow.