SC Weekly – July 2025 – #2
~ 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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::: ONE ART :::
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This Week!
Writing Through Illness
Instructor: Karly Randolph Pitman
Date: Thursday, July 17, 2025
Time: 6:00-8:00pm Eastern
Price: Sliding Scale
Event will be recorded
>>> Register for Karly’s workshop <<<
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Next Sunday!
Sunday, July 20 — 2pm Eastern
Featured Poets: Alison Luterman, Karen Paul Holmes, Laura Grace Weldon
>>> Tickets Available <<< (Free! Donations appreciated.)
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Visibility and Book Sales: Marketing Your Small Press Book
Instructor: John Sibley Williams
Date: Thursday, August 14
Time: 3:30-6:00pm Eastern
>>> Tickets Available <<<
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The Hundred-Line Poem
Instructor: Harriet Levin
Please Note: This is a four-week workshop
Virtual workshop meetings via Zoom
Dates: August 5, 12, 19, and 26 (Tuesdays)
Time: 6:00-8:00pm Eastern
Standard Price: $100
Economic Hardship: $75
Please note: This workshop is going to be rescheduled for Fall/Winter. Please contact if interested.
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::: The Literary Community & Beyond :::
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‘ChatGPT Is Changing the Words We Use in Conversation’ (Scientific American)
This article isn’t much to speak of, but the problem discussed is deeply concerning and I’ve been worrying about this.
In fact, I wrote myself a note to try to write something called ‘The Dictionary of Underrated Words’ (but didn’t do so—you can write it if you wish!) … maybe this concern was part of the undercurrent (as I’ve been researching AI quite a lot…)
Thinking of Fahrenheit 451, as a slight twist, maybe we all need to start boning up on our linguistic gymnastics and memorize usage of words we believe have good utility so they do not become archaic. (I wouldn’t recommend overdoing it in poetry though… I prefer poetry with down to earth language as many are aware.)
Maybe this is how a zany chatbot would sign off here:
To sum up, it is crucial, perhaps even vital, that I share this comprehensive tapestry to ensure that we are all aligned on this impactful matter.
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Shout-out to Catherine Gonick who shared this piece to me (the same day I discovered the aforementioned piece also in Scientific American):
Each AI Chatbot Has Its Own Distinctive Writing Style—Just as Humans Do (Scientific American)
Idiolects:
“Linguists like me know that every person has a distinct way of expressing themselves, depending on their native language, age, gender, education and other factors. We call that individual speaking style an “idiolect.” It is similar in concept to, but much narrower than, a dialect, which is the variety of a language spoken by a community. My insight: one could analyze the language produced by ChatGPT to find out whether it expresses itself in an idiolect—a single, distinct way.”
“Idiolects are essential in forensic linguistics. This field examines language use in police interviews with suspects, attributes authorship of documents and text messages, traces the linguistic backgrounds of asylum seekers and detects plagiarism, among other activities.”
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‘Did Shakespeare Write Hamlet While He Was Stoned?’ (Lit Hub)
This article is trending… because drugs, sex, rock ‘n roll, ya know?
I don’t really find this very exciting or interesting… though I do find it interesting when you hear about non-human animals getting interested in psychoactive materials.
Auden famously took a small dose of amphetamines every morning. It’s not that strange. Most of us drink coffee or tea. What weirdest thing is that we are very ok with certain substances and not at all ok with other ones. And I don’t have to tell you why.
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::: Podcasts :::
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Marketing podcasts… and a digression into AI fears.
I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I’ve been listening to a bunch of marketing podcasts trying to up my game. Basically, my goal here is not to use these better honed marketing skills for traditional marketing but instead for ONE ART and the literary community (in positive ways).
Micheal Stelzner seems well-informed and pretty good at holding a thoughtful conversation on a range of marketing-related subjects.
If anyone has recommendations, I’m all ears.
Aside: Reflect on how disconnected and painful it feels, at times, to research things that feel relatively inane when you’re concerned the world may outright end for humanity in a few years due to some of the very things that you’re researching. I don’t like feeling like a Doomer but… here we are.
To learn a little more about how this could go… consider some glass half-full approaches discussed by Reid Hoffman in Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right with Our AI Future
Doomers: AI as dire existential threat to humanity. Doomers advocate that we slow the hell down before we wreck ourselves. The doomer outlook is that AI’s real-world harms are likely to be disastrous and heavy oversight is needed.
Gloomers: A perspective that is critical of AI risk but also Doomer, well, doomsaying. Gloomers see doomers as extremists. Gloomers have a glass half-empty perspective that the outlook AI presents is negative in terms of jobs, misinformation, bias, erosion of personal agency, the stuff out of Kyle Chayka’s Filterworld (flattening of culture), the issues we’re already seeing with AI slop, the environmental impact of AI which has been discussed for years now, the AI hype machine being more about getting Venture Capital dollars than positive use case scenarios. Gloomers want the oversight and maintaining control of AI to be the focus as opposed to fixating on worst case scenarios than hypotheticals (see: AI 2027).
Zoomers (not to be confused with Gen Z): Move fast and break things mentality. Pedal to the metal. And so forth. These are the folks like Sam Altman who think we need to accelerate at all costs and that AI’s potential benefits outweigh any AI risks. They are foolhardy and that is barely a biased opinion. Zoomers are anti-regulation and anti-oversight. They are all about innovation and see AI as a force that will provide abundance (see: Derek Thompson & Ezra Klein’s book).
Bloomers: This is Reid Hoffman’s position so, although I will not say he is making a straw man argument, I’m not sure if he’s providing a steel man case for the other three categories. Bloomers are, in theory, the balanced group. They are cautiously optimistic about the potentials of AI to help humanity face crises such as climate devastation. This position is in favor of reasonable risk management tactics to prevent worst case scenarios. Notably, unlike doomers or gloomers (so far as I understand Hoffman’s position), the bloomers are in favor of moving ahead with AI acceleration just, uhh, at a slightly less accelerated rate and with more guardrails. The bloomer perspective is reasonable because there are really any other options. The technocrats/technologists/tech bros/Big Tech (etc.) are in control and they are going to do as they wish whether we like it or not. So, advocating for a measured approach is kinda all we can do.
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Go Dark AI (yes, a play on Dark MAGA) and ironically consider what McKinsey (basically famous for taking away jobs) thinks about AI’s potential for… good?
Learn more about McKinsey’s history of “efficiency” in this episode of John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight
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Sigh. Right now, it’s really easy for any conversation to digress into deep concerns about AI and the future of humanity.
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::: Music :::
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Fun Fact:
Sabrina Carpenter's aunt is Nancy Cartwright (the voice of Bart Simpson).
Also:
Sabrina Carpenter’s song ‘Manchild’ has been trending which, I dare say, could speak volumes about the [perceived] state of men in contemporary society.
See also:
The lyrics to Lana Del Rey’s ‘Norman Fucking Rockwell’
See also:
Sabrina Carpenter’s lyrics to the song ‘Dumb & Poetic’
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::: Health & Wellness :::
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Ranked: The Best Countries for Life-Work Balance in 2025
America obviously #1, right?
In fact, no, America does not make lists such as this.
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::: The Trump Regime :::
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Everything is going to hell but don’t worry, here is a tiny tiny win.
‘TSA will no longer require all passengers to take shoes off at airport security checkpoints’ (CNN)
Oh yeah, we’re giving the people what they want, right?
But maybe not what they need…
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Donald Trump Declares 'Total Authorization' for ICE Agents (Newsweek)
Absolutely terrifying.
I wrote a poem recently about ICE fears. It’s not just about “The Other”.
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Church stands by call to execute gay people: “I will not apologize for preaching the Word of God.” (LGBTQ Nation)
Trump brings out the worst in people.
Even terrible people think he’s going to hell.
“He cited Trump’s declaration that he would date his own daughter if they weren’t related.”
That’s by no means the main takeaway from this article.
These are not good people. These are not people of faith. These are evil people who use religion as a cudgel. If there is a god, they should burn for it.
There is a reason we need strong separation of Church & State. People like this— members of the Sure Foundation Baptist Church.
These are the type of folks who are the makings of domestic terrorists. They’re right up there with the Westboro Baptist Church monsters. These are the people who shouldn’t walk around freely. These are the people who make me sick.
(Note: This is the type of material that I might write and then would typically decide to remove because it feels incendiary or reveals I’m being carried by emotion in my remarks. I’m going to share in this instance.)
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‘How Americans think the government should respond to natural disasters, according to recent polls’ (AP News)
This is why we don’t trust people to vote in their best interests.
Don’t read this but it’s a Reddit thread about “how people die in floods”. “Horribly” is the answer.
What you really need is a Disaster Preparedness Plan.
This is specifically about flood safety.
The reality is that most of us are not going to be properly prepared for emergency situations. That is, of course, why that are emergencies. Circling back to the article’s poll… if people don’t think FEMA is going to come to their aid, then we need to figure out a variety of other solutions.
CAL FIRE is one organization that has been in the news in recent years of reasons we know all too well. A quick search suggests CAL FIRE’s 2024-2025 budget is $4.2 billion for over 12,512 positions.
The real deal seems to be that there’s a massive level of collaboration and coordination required in disaster situations. I’m guessing (hoping) that not all of the specifics are entirely made public for reasons of national security. Aside from FEMA, agencies that play key roles in disaster management include the U.S. Army Core of Engineers (USACE), Dept. of Health & Humans Services (HHS), Dept. of Transportation, the EPA, Dept. of Interior, DOJ, FBI, USDA, Treasury Dept., ATF. These are all involved in the NRT— National Response Team. Protocol involves a “National Response Framework” for emergency support.
All this to say— this is bigger than Trump or how anyone feels about climate devastation. There is clearly an increasing problem in this country. So-called “hundred-year” weather events are happening much more frequently… and yet ‘The U.S. faces more frequent extreme weather events, but attitudes and actions aren't keeping up’ (NBC News)
“As the weather has grown more extreme, our ability to prepare for and react to it hasn’t kept pace, the scientists said.”
“The message needs to be, if you’re used to some degree of nuisance flooding, every so often, look at what happened in Texas and realize that this is a shifting baseline.”
“As for future disasters, the country needs to figure out and plan for the worst-case scenario instead of looking to the past.”
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::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::
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'World's largest' time capsule opened in Nebraska 50 years later (NBC News)
We could do this now, but… it’s hard not to picture a horrifying dystopian sci-fi scenario 50 years from now. Maybe robots would open it and shake their heads at humanity’s absurdity?
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Hansel Enmanuel Lost His Left Arm at Age 6 — Then Became a Division I Basketball Superstar
This is impressive dexterity.
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‘Earth is going to spin much faster over the next few months — so fast that several days are going to get shorter’ (Live Science)
Ok, so, just a theory... We could actually make days longer ...
Are you in favor of a 25-hour day? Because… maybe we can work on that… I know a guy who has all of our social security numbers and this sounds like his kind of project.
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You can buy a tiny house on Amazon for $10,000.
The catch? You have to build it.
Alright, so, there are a few more catches… This includes having to live somewhere with very limited risk of natural disasters because… tiny houses are a little vulnerable. I’m sure the “tiny house experts” will fight me on this… but it’s difficult to differentiate the risks associated with tiny houses from the risks associated with mobile homes.
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‘Over half of Netflix subscribers now watch anime’ (Sherwood News)
Uhh, your thoughts on what this says about a cultural shift?
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Not only was this not what I thought it was… not really at least… I also didn’t realize that no else is really sure either.
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Here’s another thing I don’t understand.
(Yeah, I know, continuing in this direction would get very boring very quickly).
First, I can’t get enough of this graphic. Hypnotizing, right?
I was… not a science kid. Or a math kid… So here we are…
I looked this up due to some sort of rabbit hole I fell down… evidently, and thought this was a philosophy question. It appears Newton might have told me, circa 17th century, that indeed it is a mathematic philosophy concern… I would still be scratching my head.
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‘Little videos are cooking our brains’ (Vox)
Feedback loop.
“A 2023 study from researchers in Germany found that TikTok use impairs our prospective memory, which is what allows you to hold more than one thought in your head when you’re distracted.”
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‘Michael Madsen, star of Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill and Donnie Brasco, dies aged 67’ (Guardian)
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What the World Is Asking ChatGPT in 2025
Wow, it seems the general public is not jumping onboard yet.
My expectation was health and mental health concerns would top this list of queries… closely followed by trends and pop culture.
For comparison, here’s data on Top Google Searches. In the past, Google searches were taking you elsewhere. But that’s changing. Google’s built-in AI systems are resulting in far less clicks on primary sources. Many companies have reported staggering decreases in web traffic.
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2025 Digital 100 “Big Winners” Include Substack, Just Answer, and NYTimes Games App (similarweb)
Substack is crushing it. Wow. A little scary.
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::: Popular/Trending Google Searches :::
Top searched “why do people look different …”
past 10 years, US
When they die?
Without glasses?
When they wake up?
In person?
In photos?
I agree on the boning up on your words thing. I am a lover of dictionaries. I have so many. Old Websters, Oxfords so forth. But then there are others out there I have like rare, creative, beautiful, epic, lyrical, forgotton, obscure, words with no english translations...they're great reads and wonderful to have at your fingertips...or maybe i'm just a dork!
Have you checked out season 1 of 3 Body Problem on Netflix? I highly recommend it. It deals with and wonderfully illustrates this problem. I loved it, and I am looking forward to Season 2 when it comes out.