SC Weekly – February 2025 – #1

~ a curated selection of discoveries ~

Feb 02, 2025

::: The Open :::

Dear Reader,

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With Gratitude,

~ Mark

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::: Personal Notes :::

I’ve read and listened to a lot of material this week that was not created in the present moment. This did not start as an intentional direction. Rather, I’ve been drawn to the past in search of trying to better understand how to navigate the present and what is all too likely ahead.

Here’s a short excerpt from Hannah Arendt posted 8 years ago.

“In an ever-changing, incomprehensible world the masses had reached the point where they would, at the same time, believe everything and nothing, think that everything was possible and nothing was true…”

Arendt wrote those words in her 1951 text Origins of Totalitarianism.

I read an article from 2017 where the focus was on “alternative facts”. Remember when that was a thing? Trump 1.0.

January…

I’ve been sick for a good portion of January. Louisa was rather sick for a few days and, thankfully, recovered fairly quickly. Some of this is all too likely related to Trump taking office. High stress, high anxiety, duration— it leaves you wide open.

As a silver lining, I’ve done very little driving this month. Just refilled the tank and I’d only used ~ 5.5 gallons. This is a far cry from my days as a rideshare driver. So, in some ways, I’m making up for that. Balance would be better. In any case, it’s nice to see the environment get a small win. Maybe you too want to consider keeping track of your monthly gasoline use? We all have to pick our battles, only so much is in our control, and there’s a big gap between personal responsibility and the climate devastation that is disproportionately attributed to corporations and the Top 1% of wealthy consumers. There’s a stat that in the first 10 days of the year, the wealthiest Americans used the same amount of carbon emissions as a regular citizen will over the course of the full year.

::: ONE ART :::

ONE ART’s 2025 Haiku Anthology

Soon, I’ll be announcing details about ONE ART’s 2025 Haiku Anthology edited by Katie Dozier. The submission window will be the month of March. There will be a unique email address used for submissions so we’re asking that folks wait to submit until that email address is shared and the official submission window opens. The online anthology will be published on International Haiku Day, which is April 17.

Upcoming reading!

Sunday, February 9 — 2pm (Eastern)
Featured Poets: Alison Lubar, Sean Kelbley, Jacqueline Jules, Dick Westheimer, Julie Weiss
Tickets available here (Free or Donation)

Other reading line-ups are in progress for the rest of the 2025 calendar year.

Upcoming workshop!

“Stealth Formalism”: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Formal Verse
Instructor: Nicole Caruso Garcia
Date: Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Time: 6:00-8:00pm Eastern
Price: $25 (payment options – Stripe / PayPal / Venmo / CashApp)

::: Stay Curious :::

‘Submission Fees and Their Discontents by Marc Alan Di Martino

"A Failed Synonym For Love:" Introducing the Poetry of Marc Alan Di Martino (Rachel Neve-Midbar’s JUDITH Magazine)

While we’re on the subject of Marc’s work— he also just got a shout-out for his translations in the Times Literary Supplment (TLS)!

An essay I wrote earlier this week…

The Will of The People: How far will we allow Trump to go?

::: Podcasts :::

I’m excited to have stumbled upon ‘UNDISTRACTED’. I found this podcast because I wanted to hear more from Dr. Brittney Cooper about how to navigate our current moment and, as the episode discusses, the road ahead.

“We are the Evidence” MLK, Inauguration Day and The Road Ahead w/ The Group Chat

(UNDISTRACTED with Brittany Packnett Cunningham)

I’ve been working on an essay on literacy this past week and it mentions another episode of UNDISTRACTED. I mention this in part to say that I highly recommend the podcast.

The Bulwark Podcast: Yascha Mounk: The Identity Trap

A look back at this 2023 episode. Includes brief mention of the Trump 2.0 threat. This is sensitive subject matter and I am aware Mounk's positions while openly Center-Left are concerning and can feel like a personal attack. I do believe this is a good faith argument with the hope of creating a better society for all.

FREE FOR ALL: Chris Hayes on “The Sirens' Call” and the war for our attention

(The Ink hosted by Anand Giridharadas)

Fun listen that'll bring a few smiles ~

Tig Notaro on SmartLess (hosted by Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes)

::: Music :::

Clearly I’m a lousy millennial having lacked knowledge of the “millennial whoop”.

The Weeknd released a new album… that is just more standard Weeknd. On Spotify, this is the #2 most listened to artist in the world. The World. In a potentially exciting development, Abel Tesfaye has indicated he may drop (or temporarily set aside) his stage character, The Weeknd, in pursuit of something different and maybe more authentic to the person he is now. It’s possible now that he’s in his 30s he’s feeling like less of a “sex god” but who am I to say.

I believe I already referred the new album by The Weather Station (Humanhood) in a previous edition of SC Weekly. It’s subdued and something about it feels right for the moment.

What have I actually been listening to? Mostly what has been on standard rotation since 2022 or thereabouts. Sunday (1994), a newer discovery, is certainly in the spotlight. Also, hitting some lowkey deep cuts of Taylor Swift (though I have a sense there’s no such thing as a “deep cut” for a true Swiftie). I like listening to TS alongside The 1975. Hearing these songs back to back is fun for any number of reasons. I imagine there are a pocket of TS fans who might feel some type of way about this position.

::: The Literary Community & Beyond :::

'Submission Fees and Their Discontents'

Guest Post by Marc Alan Di Martino

Maggie Smith is the newest Guest Editor for The Slowdown!

Thought provoking:

‘Why Simon & Schuster’s Flagship Imprint Won’t Require Blurbs Anymore’ (Publisher’s Weekly)

“It takes a lot of time to produce great books, and trying to get blurbs is not a good use of anyone’s time.”

“This only applies to Simon & Schuster’s flagship imprint, and this isn’t to say that we will outright refuse to include blurbs on our book covers and in promotional materials. If a writer reads a book because they want to (not because they feel beholden) and comes away so moved by it that they can’t resist offering an endorsement, we will be all too happy to put it to use.”

“But there will no longer be an excessive amount of time spent on blurb outreach. There will no longer be the fear that if we don’t secure the right blurbs or enough blurbs or even any blurbs, it will jeopardize a book’s chances for commercial and critical success.”

Trump Regime pauses all federal grants. (AP News)

“The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve,” said a memo from Matthew Vaeth, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget.”

He forgot to specifically denigrate the NEA but it’s implied.

USA Pen Press: The Ghostwriting Scam of a Thousand Websites

This post from Writer Beware is disturbing.

So many scams in the world.

::: Health & Wellness :::

Extreme heat will kill future people. And not just a few.

Reminder that you can think of climate change like a fever. The human body can manage ok with a temperature of 99… but 100 degree fever is a problem and beyond that is dangerous.

We need to put more of a priority on generations to come. It’s unfair to hog all of the planet’s resources and assets leaving a barren wasteland for future people. Not even distant future people. 2050 is projected to look grim and 2100 is currently projected to feel dystopian by today’s standards. And we’re already struggling in the here and now…

::: Trump 2.0 :::

He wants this attention. So, I’m doing my best to be committed to only giving attention to what is essential. The rest is just noise.

We’re a week in. The sky is falling. You know exactly what I mean. This is not normal.

You know who deserves a pay raise? The people who make sure planes depart and arrive safely.

‘Trump Medicaid freeze locks 72 million Americans out of their health insurance’ (QZ)

It was unfrozen… after massive confusion. There’s a lot more to the story, of course.

There is so much more… but you’ve likely already heard ad nauseum about all the obscene and reckless maneuvers during Week One.

::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::

One second.

The Doomsday Clock ticked one second closer to total annihilation. From 90 seconds to 89 seconds. A joyful update from Vox.

Listen up Elon! Here’s where DOGE could make a real difference. Except… not that chart. Unfortunately, that chart looks at average annual household expenditures instead of median household expenses. More below.

What if instead of making life easier for the Top 0.01% of Americans we decided to improve life substantially for the bottom 50% of Americans?

For the purpose of making an argument, I wonder if it’s best we begin to set aside the so-called “Middle Class”—which has always been nebulous and never been an equal or fair consideration of a cross-section of Americans.

The good work would be to chop away at the major expenses Americans face on a monthly basis with a focus on housing, health insurance, medical costs, food at home, and transportation.

Back to addressing Median vs. Average. I sourced a chatbot for the assist here, just to say. Then, I asked other chatbots to confirm accuracy.

Average Household Expenditures = This is calculated by dividing the total spending of all households in a group by the number of households. However, the average can be skewed by households with very high or very low expenditures. This means that a small number of households with extreme spending can influence the overall average.

Median Household Expenditures = The median represents the middle value of household expenditures when arranged in ascending order. Half of households spend more, and half spend less. The median is typically considered a more reliable measure of "typical" household spending because it is not affected by extreme outliers, making it a better indicator of what a typical household spends.

‘Gen Z Is More Fed up With Their Jobs and Work Than Gen X, Baby Boomers’ (Business Insider)

The Youth are (understandably) disenchanted.

“Gen Zers, on the other hand, seem to have grasped the transactional nature of work from the very outset. They don't have any of the naive expectations about employment that I did when I was their age. They've seen their parents work for years in soul-deadening jobs, only to wind up without enough to retire. They get that hustle culture is a one-way ticket to burnout. And they know that no amount of putting up with shit at work will protect them from being shitcanned. They're disengaged at work because they don't trust that they'll be rewarded for working.”

"App-analytics firm Sensor Tower released its State of Mobile 2025 report, which says that for all of 2024, consumers spent nearly 2.4 trillion hours on social-media apps. Of the social-media apps we wasted so much time on, TikTok was the leader, unsurprisingly." (Sherwood News)

People need hobbies

As has been pointed out, there’s a lot of rage right now and we need a range of outlets— this includes having something to do with our hands.

Top searches for “winter hobbies/activities” on Google

Past month, US

1. Art class
2. Therapy
3. Museums
4. Candle making
5. Spanish course

Search interest in cozy soup (and “cozy recipes” in general) is at an all-time high.

SC Weekly – February 2025 – #1

~ a curated selection of discoveries ~

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