SC Weekly – February 2026 – #1

~ 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 had a fun conversation with Kolby Granville (After Dinner Conversation) about how to grow your substack with an emphasis on lit mag growth.

>> Substack for Lit Mags: A Conversation with Kolby Granville (After Dinner Conversation) (ONE ART’s Substack)

>> Read here via ONE ART’s website

>> How To Grow Your Substack (After Dinner Conversation)

>> Direct link to our conversation on ONE ART’s YouTube channel

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::: ONE ART :::

>> Upcoming Workshops <<

>> Upcoming Readings <<

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>>> TODAY! <<<

ONE ART’s February 2026 Reading

Sunday, February 1

Time: 2:00pm Eastern
Duration: 2-hours
Featured Readers: Kim Stafford, Kari Gunter-Seymour, J.D. Isip, Todd Davis, Grant Clauser

Tickets are FREE!

(donations appreciated)

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ONE ART ~ Poetry Community

Finally, started a Facebook group as a space where ONE ART contributors and readers can gather to discuss poems published in ONE ART, the poetry community, po biz, personal accomplishments, and other matters of import to the literary and arts communities.

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::: The Literary Community & Beyond :::

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Poetic reach.

An example of poetry having an impact.

‘If They Call Me A Domestic Terrorist’ (Joyce Vance)

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‘In defense of popups’ (Seth Godin)

“The bookstore? Imagine a route, a series of partnerships with 50 or 100 organizations that value information and exploration. A curated selection of 400 books, ready to roll out at a community center, church or school…”

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I just learned about a viral poem from the pandemic…

Writing that, just now, doesn’t seem logical. How is this possible? I’m asking myself.

The answer is, in part, that even in the niche poetry community there is monoculture. While this isn’t new, it remains somewhat surprising— especially when something “goes viral”. Nothing says “I went viral” like appearing in connection with anything remotely related to Oprah.

The poem even got turned into a children’s book.

Hat Tip: Zina Gomez-Liss / The Beauty of Things – How to Kill a Poet

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‘The 3 rules for writing great poems’ (The Times)

“First: read to write. Without reading, your work may be shallow and naive. Images will have a history you may not know. Phrases may carry meanings you haven’t considered. Your original ideas may well be ages old. You’ll churn out clichés or tautologies. Reading lots of poems, ancient and modern, is the antidote. The ratio of reading poems to writing one should be about 50:1.”

“Second: be dissatisfied. Millions of people can write a passable poem in free verse. Slightly fewer — but still a large number — can write something that rhymes. AI can do both. Set yourself to do better. Is this word the best? Is that description as accurate and surprising as it can be? Is this something only you could write?”

“Third: write for a reader. Maybe you’re a God-level genius. Maybe you’ve produced something like Finnegans Wake that will be read by very few people but will be celebrated for all time as high art. It’s possible. But I doubt it. Write for a reader. Make it make sense, as much as you can. Make it interesting. Write something — as Dr Johnson suggested — to make life more enjoyable or more endurable.”

Agree? Disagree? Share in the comments.

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‘An Everyday Genius: Remembering Jennifer Martelli’ (January Gill O’Neil / Poetry Foundation)

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::: Podcasts :::

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Heather Cox Richardson on America: ‘What Country Am I Looking At Here?’
(That Can’t Be True with Chelsea Clinton)

It’s true, in terms of cadence, Chelsea sounds just like her mom.

I’m a longtime Hillary Clinton fan.

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Battling brain rot

(Explain It to Me)

A better listen than I expected, notably optimistic.

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Rebecca Goldstein on Why Humans Need to Matter

(The Good Fight)

Finding what makes you matter in your own eyes.

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The biggest threat to Trump? Ordinary people.
It’s Been a Minute

Valuable short listen.

Includes a statement about why nonviolent protest works better than violent protest—and this essentially comes down to a “big tent” approach. Lots of people from all walks of life can participate in a nonviolent movement whereas a violent opposition movement requires certain characteristics that exclude most who might otherwise find a way to engage and cooperate.

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The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway: America Is Entering a Dangerous Moment — with Timothy Snyder

Timothy Snyder wrote the book(s) on the current authoritarian situation that the United States faces.

Snyder discusses where we [might] go from here.

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‘How did Tucker Carlson become one of the far right’s most influential voices?’ (Fresh Air)

This conversation includes discussion of Tucker’s aspirations for fame and power that obviously overshadowed any concern for maintaining a consistent or coherent value system.

It striking to hear just how pivotal of a role Tucker has played in who gets into key positions in The Trump Regime (including JD Vance and RFK Jr.).

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::: Music :::

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Kanye West (ye) took out a full page paid ad in The Wall Street Journal to apologize (again) for his pro-Nazi and antisemitic statements and actions during a prolonged manic episode.

There’s a lot of coverage.

You can read the full statement in this Guardian piece.

Parts of this sound real, authentic, though, as well we know, actions speak louder than words. So, here’s me hoping that Kanye finds a way to stay on a better path and remain healthy and stable.

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Sad reminder about streaming payouts…

“Musicians receive an average of $0.004 per stream, with compensation varying based on their share of platformwide streams” (1440 on Spotify)

Spotify, though not just Spotify, has been under fire for showing ICE recruitment ads.

I recently learned that one of ICE’s recruitment strategies (which has proved effective) is to target ads to areas where they expect turnout for likely potential recruits. Think: a country music concert or a UFC fight.

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::: Health & Wellness :::

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Apparently, Louisa and I are on trend making homemade granola bars (we used sunflower butter and dried cranberries) … ok, well, ours actually broke down into plain old granola … still delicious and nutritious though. Been enjoying adding granola to store brand cheerios which I realize is basically just doubling down on my oat consumption. But, come on now, who doesn’t love 2x oats?

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‘Mapped: America’s Healthiest States, Ranked’ (VC)

I’m surprised. I think you’ll be surprised.

Once I realized this isn’t just about healthy eating and “healthy lifestyles” it makes more sense.

For example, rankings take into account: “The state’s social and economic factors—seeing the lowest food insecurity, homicide rates, and highest high school completion—drive health outcomes.”

My overall takeaway is… this ranking seems a bit suspect.

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‘The rise of Fafo parenting: is this the end of gentle child rearing?’ (The Guardian)

Interesting to read about parenting as an outsider. Alien terrain.

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::: The Trump Regime :::

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Economic blackout.

“A one-day slowdown is irritating. A one-month slump is terrifying.” (NM/NM)

More here:

>> Resist and Unsubscribe <<

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‘General strikes have a long history in the U.S.’ (Marketplace)

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‘What is going on with DOGE?’ (USA Facts)

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::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::

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‘12 Distractions to Leave Behind in 2026’ (No Sidebar)

1) Push notifications that don’t serve your real priorities

2) Multitasking as a default way of working

3) Scrolling as a way to recover from stress

4) The “I’ll just check real quick” habit

5) Consuming more opinions than you can think through

6) Buying “convenience” that creates more work later

7) Background noise that never turns off

“None of this is inherently wrong. But constant noise trains your mind to avoid silence. And silence is where you notice what you actually feel.”

8) Comparison as a hobby

9) Meetings, chats, and threads that exist because nobody decided

10) A to-do list that never meets a calendar

“Lists feel productive. They’re also easy to ignore.”

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‘10 Things Minimalists Don’t Do’ (No Sidebar)

1. They don’t lose sleep over keeping up with trends.

2. They don’t succumb to decision fatigue before noon.

3. They aren’t drowning in email.

4. They don’t worry about what other people think.

5. They don’t spend Saturdays cleaning out the garage.

6. Or tidying up everything else.

7. They don’t let the past dictate their future.

8. They don’t forget what their loved ones look like.

9. They don’t lose the habit of curiosity.

10. They don’t skip out on great memories.

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Other popular posts from No Sidebar.

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Fun read.

I have fond memories of Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins

We need: “Hershel Comes to America”

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‘3 generations of women in one family show how choices on motherhood have changed’ (NPR)

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‘The news ≠ your life’ (Oliver Burkeman)

“Robert Talisse argues that politics is so broken precisely because politics so completely dominates our lives and minds. We first have to nurture social worlds in which we don’t relate to others primarily as political friends or foes, if we’re to build effective political coalitions. And marinating 24/7 in news-panic is a terrible basis for finding the energy and motivation to spend a few hours a week volunteering, or fundraising, or otherwise actually making a difference.”

“But let’s be honest: this is also just an argument in defence of enjoying your life. You hear it said that it’s a marker of privilege to be able to back off from the news – to spend a pandemic planting bulbs in your backyard, or get absorbed in your creative work while democracy declines. But if it really has become a privilege to retain one’s sanity, I think it’s one the privileged need to exercise, not disavow. In an era when the news leaves half your friends paralysed by misery, it’s no indulgence to make time for whatever’s pleasurable or engrossing in your life. On the contrary, the world needs sane people more than ever.”

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Waymo hit a child. This was an obvious fear from the beginning of autonomous vehicles being on the first. As Waymo points out, and research seems to bear this out, the Waymo vehicle reduced speed more than a human driver would have been able to in the same scenario.

“The event occurred when the pedestrian suddenly entered the roadway from behind a tall SUV, moving directly into our vehicle’s path. Our technology immediately detected the individual as soon as they began to emerge from behind the stopped vehicle. The Waymo Driver braked hard, reducing speed from approximately 17 mph to under 6 mph before contact was made.”

“To put this in perspective, our peer-reviewed model shows that a fully attentive human driver in this same situation would have made contact with the pedestrian at approximately 14 mph. This significant reduction in impact speed and severity is a demonstration of the material safety benefit of the Waymo Driver.”

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P(doom)

AI apocalypse… redux.

‘Pick your poison in the AI apocalypse’ (Semafor)

You can read the long essay by Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei

Note: Anthropic is the creator of Claude (LLM) and is the leading AI company adhering to the highest safeguards (which are still, unfortunately, nowhere near ideal).

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‘Humans welcome to observe: This social network is for AI agents only’ (NBC News)

Potentially the beginning of something extremely worrisome…

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‘The infinite tail’ (Seth Godin)

“And eventually, Netflix will generate TV shows that no one has ever seen, for an audience of one.”

“Slop and magic, in an eternal braid, a lot like the stuff humans have been producing for decades.”