SC Weekly – July 2025 – #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 just got diagnosed with fibromyalgia this past week.
I’ve been thinking this was a possibility for many years (more than a decade, for sure).
Many doctors have told me that it’s “a diagnosis by exclusion” though more recent reading suggests otherwise. Regardless, I have basically all of the “classic” symptoms (“tender points” etc.) Back in the day, I thought I had CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) though that term has fallen out of favor. My situation, like all situations, is unique in that I have a cPTSD diagnosis and is likely a reason pain is exacerbated and became chronic. No one knows. This mind and body remain mysterious.
I will accept unsolicited advice regarding fibro management.
I will say, a kind of wild experience, was putting a very basic prompt into ChatGPT asking about a reasonable daily schedule for someone with fibro and it immediately spit out a structure that is not far from the type of schedule that I have been attempting to fine-tune for years. A use case example of AI being a quick unlock. That being said, I needed to know enough about my circumstances, myself, my schedule in order to know that what ChatGPT was telling me was actually good information. So, there’s that to reckon with. All that to say, don’t just take medical advice from AI chatbots… they make a lot of mistakes.
People often ask me how I do “all that I do” with regards to ONE ART and I tend to half-jokingly say it’s because I chose not to have children. I will acknowledge here that I’m pushing through a lot of daily pain to keep on keeping on. There’s a mind over matter component. I’m stubborn, which helps I suppose. I’ve been through a kind of war before and I have built some useful armor. Do not recommend. Much like resilience, it’s not worth going through horrors in order to come out the other side with these skillsets.
Back to fibro, it’s “interesting” because as I’ve read even more on the subject post-diagnosis, I’m realizing that many issues I have could be [at least] loosely attributed. This could easily turn into a massive essay so I’ll leave it at that.
Well, actually, let me say on a positive note that fibro is by not the worst diagnosis that was on the table… as in it’s not fatal and it’s not CRPS. It’s also not lupus or MS or EDS— all of which were concerns. I say this because, you know, it’s good to take stock and have perspective. It’s not good to compare yourself with others though and, as someone wise recently reminded me, “pain is pain”.
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::: ONE ART :::
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TODAY!
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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On Tuesday, July 15th…
I thought the community was just sharing Andrea Gibson quotes and poems because their writing has touched so many and was having another viral moment
but alas
The Poet has died ... scary sad young no less
‘Poet Andrea Gibson, candid explorer of life, death and identity, dies at 49’
(AP News)
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Notably, I stumbled upon this company, Litographs, listening to a marketing podcast about clever instances of disruptive marketing.
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Heather Coughlin, self-described “Corporate Poet”, just started ‘workLIT’ which should prove interesting. Heather is not your typical literary community character and her different worldview should bring fresh insights and perspective.
Check out the workLIT substack.
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Tresha Faye Haefner is planning to do something very cool and special. Even if you don’t plan to join and take part, I’d encourage paying attention to how this unfolds.
‘Do You Want to Read for a Press? Have a Successful Book Launch? Teach Writing? Join us for These Upcoming Events at The Poetry Salon.’ (The Poetry Salon / The Teaching Press)
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‘WRITERS ON WRITING; Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points and Especially Hooptedoodle’ by Elmore Leonard (2001). Shout-out to Austin Kleon for linking to this in his substack.
I’ve heard more than one person say that “nothing ever happens suddenly in a poem”. And yet, the word appears fairly often. What can I say… life, like poems, have abrupt twists.
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::: Podcasts :::
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(Know What You See with Brian Lowery)
I can’t recommend this listen enough. In fact, it helped me on my own path. It’s a great listen in tandem with Brian Lowery’s book ‘Selfless’ which I recently finished. I’m the perfect audience which, unsurprising, makes this among my top reads of 2025.
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How to Be a Better Human: What it means to grieve for the state of the world (w/ Sarah Jaffe)
Part of the discussion is on “care work” which I really appreciated.
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‘The Future of Wellbeing in an Automated World’ (Better Life Lab)
Highly recommend. Great discussion. This is from 2022 and holds up impressively well. All the guests are very interesting though I was most impressed with Zeynep Ton, Founder of the Good Jobs Institute.
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‘Technostress’ (Better Life Lab)
Many will be aware of "technostress" without having a way to name the issue. Being able to name it may feel helpful. It also doesn't hurt to call extra attention to how big a problem this is. I've heard multiple experts say that surveillance technology had an extremely negative impact on the output of knowledge workers. In short, it makes workers work worse. Part of this is about stress and part of this is about trust. Do you want your workers to hate working for you? If so, stand over their shoulder while you watch them put in the hours regardless of quality. Or, don't publish effective workers from getting their part of the bargain done on their own time at their own pace.
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On the state of podcasting…
‘The world of podcasts is risking endless scroll’ (Semafor)
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::: Music :::
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Techno-regression
‘Put your (wired) headphones on’
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Charli xcx marries The 1975's George Daniel (EW)
This is cute. Happy for them.
I love The 1975 and Charli’s music.
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Still listening to Lorde’s new album ‘Virgin’ on repeat.
It remains a little surprising that Charli xcx didn’t feature on any of the tracks. Maybe remixes TBA?
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::: Health & Wellness :::
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‘New research shows the psychological toll of the 2024 presidential election’ (PsyPost)
“Interestingly, stress about the election result itself—whether participants were upset about who won or lost—was not linked to an increased risk of either depression or anxiety. This finding runs counter to the assumption that disappointment or outrage over the outcome is the most emotionally damaging part of the election. Instead, it suggests that the stress leading up to the vote, and the non-stop news coverage surrounding it, may be more harmful than the result itself.”
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‘4 Reasons Why Looking at Art Is Good For You’ (Artsy)
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::: The Trump Regime :::
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Stunning interview that perfectly encapsulates our present moment, future potentialities depending on if we choose a moral high ground or dark path forward rhyming with the 1850s (& 1880s-90s)
‘America’s Branding Crisis — with Heather Cox Richardson’
(The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway)
I’m going to share this again in the next newsletter because I believe it’s that important and valuable.
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(also from Scott Galloway)
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‘ACA health insurance will cost the average person 75% more next year, research shows’ (NPR)
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“In the 2026 fiscal year, ICE will receive over $11 billion, a 10% increase from current funding. The new law will more than double that. It authorizes the hiring of 10,000 agents, bringing ICE’s force to nearly 30,000. In 1944, Nazi Germany had 32,000 gestapo officers and $2b (inflation adjusted) in funding. They were fighting a world war. Trump is fighting home health aides and Uber drivers.” (Scott Galloway)
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“Instead of militarizing immigration enforcement, we should be investing against the real challenge: AI. The World Economic Forum says 9 million jobs globally may be displaced in the next five years. Anthropic’s CEO warns AI could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs. Imagine the population of Greece storming the shores of America and taking jobs (even jobs Americans actually want), as they’re willing to work 24/7 for free. You’ve already met them. Their names are GPT, Claude, and Gemini.” (Scott Galloway)
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‘Trump administration hands over Medicaid recipients' personal data, including addresses, to ICE’ (AP News)
Trump’s not-so-secret police.
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‘Why Congress Defunding NPR And PBS Isn’t As Misguided As You Think’ (Forbes)
Points taken. Still, we know this is more of a statement than about NPR/PBS...
I don’t think some cuts to NPR/PBS are entirely wrongheaded but there’s a much more nuanced conversation to have about this.
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::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::
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Americans have voted. Here’s their Top 15 favorite states:
1. Hawaii
2. Alaska
3. Montana
4. North Carolina
5. Tennessee
6. Pennsylvania
7. Virginia
8. Arizona
9. Colorado
10. Maine
11. Nevada
12. South Carolina
13. Vermont
14. Wyoming
15. Wisconsin
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‘You might soon be able to pay for groceries with gold.’ (WaPo)
“Why? Missouri, Texas and other states have passed laws to treat gold and silver like currency, making it easier to buy things using cards and apps backed by precious metals.”
“Who wants this? People who are skeptical about the health of the U.S. dollar and federal financial policy. Gold prices have more than doubled since 2020.”
The libertarians are pleased.
Shout-out to New Hampshire folks, I guess. Someone tell me, what does “Live Free or Die” actually mean nowadays?
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Former Amazon principal engineer says he spent '1-4 hours' reading daily — and it's part of the company's 'secret sauce' (Business Insider)
Sounds wise. A meeting strategy other companies may want to consider.
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Speaking of business… here’s an argument for AI chatbot use cases.
‘Regain Your Time With ChatGPT: Training AI to Assist You’ (AI Explored)
The argument here is, in part, to look at chatbots as “an amazing intern”. Potentially very useful if you run your own operation or have a small staff. This discussion also highlights the actual utility of chatbots as a resource.
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People Are Being Involuntarily Committed, Jailed After Spiraling Into "ChatGPT Psychosis" (Futurism)
I’ve read a few articles like this. I have a sense that these are rare cases and this is alarmist. Still, disconcerting.
The advice seems to be that those with tendencies towards delusional or psychotic thinking should be mindful about how much they lean on AI chatbots for advice, how much time you want to spend engaging with these assistants, and try to rein in when it feels unhealthy or you notice someone is getting spun out from excessive engagement. Part of this has to do with a current problem with these programs— a tendency to be sycophantic. They’re not supposed to do this. That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that companies haven’t made good faith efforts to avoid or tamp down this mannerisms. Think back to Isaac Asimov’s “I, Robot” series and the three laws of robotics. Ok, so, these were not comprehensive… at all. But Sam Altman and OpenAI put together a lengthy guide to rules and regulations and yes this includes stating that chatbots and AI systems should not be sycophantic.
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Speaking of Asimov…
‘Former Top Google Researchers Have Made a New Kind of AI Agent’ (Wired)
We were warned this would be the year of AI agents starting to become more normalized and integrated.
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Keep in mind: “53% is currently the best overall rating if a company adopted all the industry best practices found across companies.”
Think about what 53% being the best case scenario meaning about the overall level of uncertainty.
We, humans, are in wayyy over our heads.
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‘Police arrest 12 men at gay party after discovering condoms and HIV medication’ (LGBTQ Nation)
I’m pretty hung up on this article. I read the headline first thing in the morning the other day and my first thought was… well, think of yours…
Ok, my first thought was that this was about an incident taking place in America.
It wasn’t.
But think about how close we are to this being a reality.
Is there much of anything left that makes this unlikely to happen here in America?
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Just to say, Mark, I’m here for you.
Sorry to hear about your heath issue Mark. Your treating physician must have ruled out other treatable conditions.Good luck with your fight.