SC Weekly – January 2026 – #3

~ 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 have the honor of curating this exceptional essay by Erin Murphy in Cleaver Magazine.

I’m planning to use the essay as an ideal example of what I’m seeking as Poetry Crafts Essay Editor for Cleaver.

I hope you’ll get in touch if you have a poetry craft essay or an idea for a poetry craft essay you believe might be a good fit.

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::: ONE ART :::

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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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Mastering the Epistolary Poem – A Workshop with John Sibley Williams

Workshop Leader: John Sibley Williams
Date: Monday, January 26
Time: 11:30am-2:00pm PT / 2:30-5:00pm ET – Please check your local times.
Duration: 2.5 hours
Cost: $25 (sliding scale)

>>> Register Here <<<

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Explore New Poetic Territory ~ Find New Meaning & Connections Using Found Poetry Techniques – A Workshop with Jennifer Mills Kerr

Break free from your usual poetic groove. Very often and without realizing it, poets slide into familiar language and images. In this workshop, Jennifer will guide you on how to restructure, remix, and recontextualize words from other texts in order to break into new poetic territory. This class is a creative kickstarter for all experience levels.

Bring at least three inspiring texts you’d like to explore to class–whether historical documents, novel passages, your favorite poems, or all of the above. Choosing your source materials prior to workshop will allow you to immediately jump into our writing sessions.

Workshop Leader: Jennifer Mills Kerr
Date: Tuesday, February 10
Time: 6:00-8:00pm Eastern – Please check your local time.
Duration: 2-hours
Cost: $25 (sliding scale)

>>> Register Here <<<

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::: The Literary Community & Beyond :::

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I remember these cherry blossom stamps well. I definitely bought some. Maybe you did, too?

Little did I know that Michael Dylan Welch was part of the translation effort for the tanka on the back of the sheet.

It’s been over a decade and these stamps remain memorable, and I’m not a stamp collector (though I engaged in a bit of this as a child… I was encouraged to explore many collecting-related hobbies).

Perhaps this will inspire you to write some tanka.

Michael Dylan Welch writes: “In English, a tanka typically has five lines, often with a pivot line of some kind, and seeks to leave something out so that it may be implied, usually with intuitive or emotional effect. Traditionally, tanka were love poems, but tanka has evolved over the centuries to encompass a variety of topics, and tends to be more overtly emotional and subjective than haiku (for this reason, and because it allows more metaphor and simile than, say, haiku, perhaps tanka is the most “Western” of Japan’s poetry genres).”

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106 Traditional Poetry Manuscript Publishers (2026 Update) (Authors Publish)

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2026 Literary Magazine Ranking–Poetry (Cliff Garstang)

See all genres here

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Poetry prompt:

Write from the perspective of one of the archetypes that is definitely NOT you

‘What Do the 12 Jungian Archetypes Reveal About You?’ (The Collector)

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Beta Reader Match Up (BIANCA MARAIS)

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::: Podcasts :::

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What is Missing in the Lives of America’s Young People?

(Aspen Ideas to Go)

More well-articulated damning evidence that social media has been a devastatingly negative force in the world. Elsewhere it’s been described (by Sam Altman of all people) as potentially the first misaligned narrow AI system.

I want to believe one day social media companies will pay in ways that Big Tobacco and Big Oil have not. More in the vein of the opioid epidemic outcomes… which, similarly, still will not be enough for the countless hours of lives wasted and ruined and lost.

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What Makes a Life Worth Living?

Aspen Ideas to Go

Seems like an amazing coincidence… I also burned recordings of Emerson’s essays onto CD-Rs and listened to them on my 9-mile commute on repeat over the course of half a decade.

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What Happened to the American Dream?

Aspen Ideas to Go

Fascinating historical deep dive. How did we get here? A few atypical approaches are discussed. Includes stories I don’t recall hearing elsewhere.

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::: Music :::

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‘Do Most Artists Peak With Their First Album?’ (Stat Significant)

Makes me think of talk of first novels. Used to be said that they contained everything in a person’s life up to the moment. First Novel Energy (FNE)?

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::: Health & Wellness :::

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Why everyone is sick right now

(Explain It to Me)

Useful reminders. Good info. Notably, letting us know the value of getting vaccines late is still worthwhile. I typically get my flu and covid shots mid-September. But winter is much later of course and that’s when viruses are circulating fiercely.

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::: The Trump Regime :::

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Trump “jokes” about canceling midterms. We know he’s famous for his sense of humor.

“Now, I won’t say, ‘Cancel the election. They should cancel the election,’ because the fake news will say, ‘He wants the elections canceled. He’s a dictator.’” (yahoo)

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‘Americans Predict Challenging 2026 Across 13 Dimensions’ (Pew)

Elsewhere, I’ve seen stats showing that Independents now make up the largest voting block at 45%. With this in mind, and looking at the level of partisan skew in this chart, it seems wise to focus on how Independents are polling. Let’s keep in mind, these are the folks who will be deciding the 2026 midterm elections and, potentially, getting behind a new third party in 2028.

Some have speculated that this is a moment where The People may be more open to a third party. In spite of Trump’s terrible popularity numbers, the DNC continues to poll extremely poorly. The Democrat brand hasn’t been doing well since the Obama Admin and the GOP is overshadowed by MAGA for the foreseeable future. I’ve heard Trump’s party described as a right-of-center segment insofar as voting block; this matters because those in the Trump personality cult (perhaps vaguely distinct from the MAGA brand that will live on through Russell Vought, Stephen Miller, JD Vance, Marco Rubio) are less likely to go to the polls if Trump himself isn’t on the ballot.

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More evidence that we are deeply siloed.

I was talking to a friend about us living in scary times. I mentioned Minnesota and, at first, he wasn’t entirely sure what I was talking about. This was worrisome. He was asking me if I was aware of a number of things that weren’t on my radar including air pollution in Memphis causing illness due to data centers. I’m not seeing a ton of articles. Nowadays, you have to wonder if you aren’t seeing articles because they are suppressed, or because the story is being exaggerated, or because it’s underreported, or because there’s media spin, or because a prominent YouTuber took a bite-sized nugget of reality and made it out to be something it’s not. I could go on. The questions and possibilities are endless. Everything has shades of doubt.

I’m not sure what is happening in Memphis because I haven’t talked to anyone who lives in Memphis and that’s probably the only way I’ll believe that there is something going on in Memphis at this point. Ok, that’s not wholly true. I’ll believe it if enough fact-checked mainstream media news outlets report about the situation in a way that seems even-headed and legitimate.

Back to the YouTuber subject for a moment. YouTube is one of the few platforms where, unlike a larger percentage of the U.S. populations, particularly millennials and younger, I have not fallen prey (yet) to the algo. If I have my numbers right, YouTube far exceeds the amount of time spent on the platform compared to TikTok or Instagram because the videos tend to run longer and people go there for longer form content (even general streaming) and expect to ride the algo for 5-hours or whatever. With all this in mind, I’ve somehow remained blissfully unaware of who or what is popular on YouTube with the rare exception being when someone forwards me a short video. It was odd the other day when I was made aware of a popular YouTuber who has a political talk show that ranks in the Top 50 and I’d never heard the person’s name. This just reinforces the degree to which we are already so siloed, even from those we know in real life. We’re not all taking in the same content and so it’s no wonder that finding mutual understanding and common ground has become trickier amongst those perceived as not like us.

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::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::

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‘Barbie launches first autistic doll.’ (USA Today)

A sign of mainstream adoption and, in this case, sensitivity to an issue that affects a large population that has long been stigmatized.

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‘11 Data Points and Discoveries That Stuck With Us in 2025’ (NYT)

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‘Why Do Some Americans Leave Their Religion While Others Stay?’ (Pew)

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Roku’s CEO predicts a 100% AI-generated hit movie “within the next three years” (Chartr) … what a time to be alive.

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‘VR headsets are ‘hope machines’ inside California prisons, offering escape and practical experience’ (AP)

Sounds useful. What immediately comes to mind is that I’m sure some will see use of VR by incarcerated people as a form of “escape” and deem this unreasonable. I can see a gray area. On the flipside, if we give prisoners access to TikTok then they’re doubly imprisoned. I’m not really kidding.

A reminder how technologies have the capacity to restrain us and also set us free.

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‘Are You Dead?: The viral Chinese app for young people living alone’ (BBC)

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‘More Americans are living alone than ever before’ (VC)

Loneliness epidemic.

This is partly due to Western influence. At least, that’s what I perceive. China is pretty capitalistic for a so-called “Communist” state. That being said, my understanding is that it really depends if you live in a wealthy city or in a small farming village that hasn’t changed much in centuries.

In any case, I’m surprised this isn’t a viral app for Americans or Japanese citizens— both well-known to be struggling with this problem. China presumably wants this information for government surveillance reasons (as if this isn’t true of other governments). They can force it. That’s a difference.

I recently listened to a discussion on homelessness in the U.S. and how it basically always is tied to increases in the cost of housing. That is, it’s not correlated with the severity of local drug problems. Apparently, a common example given is West Virginia. There are not as many homeless people in West Virginia as there are in other places because the housing is more affordable. That’s not to say there isn’t a problem with homelessness in WV—there is, and I’ve seen it for myself.

Another component is more people living in single family homes on their own. Some people just buy a house with multiple rooms and don’t want roommates. We have less multigenerational households. Empty nesters don’t typically go out and find roommates nor do they necessarily build additions onto their homes to be used as in-law suites.

I return again and again to the differences between being alone, loneliness, and solitude.

Learn more here:

From Unsheltered Conversations: Dr. Gregg Colburn: Homelessness Is a Housing Problem — Fixing the Supply Crisis, Sep 30, 2025

“The real difference is the housing market. Where rents are high and when rental market vacancies are low, we see with almost perfect predictive value, that’s where homelessness is higher. There’s not an exception to the rule. There’s not a really expensive place in the United States that doesn’t have a big problem with homelessness.”

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American exceptionalism as outlier.

‘America isn’t exceptional — it’s the exception’ (not-ship)

There are pictures.

There is data.

What more could you wish for?

Ok, you could wish for a better country.

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Ugh. This is so incredibly depressing…

‘The new form of house money’ (Business Insider)

“For most Americans, every home purchase is a bit of a gamble. Is now the right time to jump into the market? Can I haggle on the price a bit more? What if mortgage rates drop in a few months? These questions have always made buying a new place feel a little like hitting the blackjack table. For the better part of a century, these implicit bets on future real estate prices have been limited to the small pool of people making a home transaction every year. Plenty of other Americans, however, have an interest in where the housing market is headed — or at least some opinion on the fate of home values. Now, thanks to prediction markets, anyone can put their money where their mouth is. Think the median home value in Austin will end the month under $412,000? Prove it.”

“Prediction markets are all the rage in politics, sports, and pop culture, so it was only a matter of time before real estate joined the party.”

“The running joke is that Polymarket’s foray into real estate reflects a darkly comedic reality for younger generations: Born too late to actually buy a home, but just in time to gamble on home prices (and everything else) from the comfort of their cramped apartments. The move taps into the never-ending intrigue surrounding the housing market’s ebbs and flows — and the widespread desire for a piece of the action. Yet Polymarket users may already be occupied with the vast range of bets at their disposal. Trading volume on the fate of Logan Paul’s Pikachu card has already surpassed $4 million; the crowd seems to think there’s a good chance the card will sell for more than $8 million. Good for Paul. He could probably buy a house with that money.”

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‘MacKenzie Scott donates $45 million to The Trevor Project amid a rising mental health crisis for LGBTQ youth in the U.S.’ (CBS News)

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On trend.

365 buttons.

I have no idea what’s happening. It’s a TikTok-inspired thing. (yahoo)

My first thought was that we were supposed to start snail mailing each other buttons randomly. I guess we could do that, too, if you wish.

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Wikipedia at 25: What the data tells us (Pew)

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‘No Mercy / No Malice’ (Prof G)

See the “Real Problems” section and you’ll find a few of Scott’s consistent talking points.

Important pushback against “red pill” bullshit.

“Struggling to find a romantic partner is normal. Today, however, a dangerous ideology is infecting many young men, who see their incel status as inevitable, and even embrace it, blaming women instead of trying to better themselves. Many aren’t incels, but vcels — voluntary celibates who choose resentment over self-improvement.”

“Here’s the truth pill, re sex: Throughout history, 40% of men and 80% of women have reproduced. In the U.S. today, an estimated 75% and 85% of men and women will reproduce, respectively. American men today are twice as likely to procreate as their ancestors.”

“Empathy isn’t zero-sum.”

“Many young men struggle with mental health — understandable given the challenges they face. But here’s a truth the manosphere won’t tell you: In the end, meaningful relationships are the only things that matter.”

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Apparently, ChatGPT 5.2 is solving complex math problems now.

Resolution of Erdős Problem #728: a writeup of Aristotle’s Lean proof

Rohan Paul writes on twitx (twitter + x = twitx):

“The first paper on AI solving a long-standing Paul Erdos Math challenge. GPT-5.2-Pro built the proof by exploring lots of possible proof paths, spotting useful patterns, and stitching together lemmas into a full argument that a human could review.

Then the final proof was run through Lean, a proof-checking tool that verifies every logical step, so there is no “trust me” gap.

This kind of proof has many moving parts, and searching for the right chain of ideas is slow for humans.

But here, AI did real research work, not just writing, and the result is formally verified.

GPT-5.2-Pro here proved that this Erdos factorial divisibility puzzle has infinitely many solutions with a gap that keeps growing.

The puzzle talks about huge multiply chains like 1×2×3×...×n, and it asks when one of these huge products divides another one with no remainder.

The whole question is basically, “Can you pick 2 big numbers so that their huge products fit neatly inside another huge product, and how big can the leftover gap be?”

Before this paper, people did not know if that leftover gap can keep growing forever, or if it eventually hits a wall.

The paper proves the gap can keep growing, slowly but forever, roughly like how the number of digits of n grows.”

Don’t ask me… I’m no math wizard.

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‘The Laptop Boyfriends Can’t Stop Watching YouTube in Bed’ (GQ)
“YouTube launched in 2005 after its founders realized there was no way to rewatch the Janet Jackson–Justin Timberlake Super Bowl incident. Two decades later, YouTube is the most-watched video provider on televisions in the US, surpassing Netflix and Amazon Prime. With an estimated annual revenue of $52 billion in 2024, it is second only to Disney among entertainment companies.”

Why does everything start from such bullshit? Ugh.

I was just writing the other day about the pathetic origins of Facebook.

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

Information about my services.

Reach out directly to discuss.

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~ Ways to Support ~

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>> Buy a copy of my poetry collection, Take Care. Copies are available from Moon Tide Press and Amazon.

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