SC Weekly – March 2025 – #4

~ 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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Doing my best.

Working on a bunch of different essays for SC.

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::: ONE ART :::

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Upcoming Reading!

We’re fast approaching National Poetry Month. ONE ART has the honor of hosting Kari Gunter-Seymour, Amit Majmudar, and Chad Frame as Featured Readers on Sunday, April 6.

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Upcoming workshop!

ONE ART is hosting an upcoming workshop with Tresha Faye Haefner on 4/10.

Learn more about Tresha and her work with The Poetry Salon.

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::: The Literary Community & Beyond :::

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Erika Dreifus called attention to my piece (on Stay Curious) about “Night Pages”.

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Interesting discussion over at Becky Tuch’s LitMagNews—

‘Are certain subjects too taboo for lit mags?’

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A DAY IS NOT A DAY by Erin Murphy (The New Verse News)

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Worthwhile read.

‘Lessons from My Most Prolific Year of Writing and Getting Published’ (Ratika Deshpande, Authors Publish)

This whole essay applies to poets, too.

“For the nonfiction writers: don’t look for inspiration in everything you do. Memoirs, profiles, travelogues, essays, etc. come from our experiences and observations of the world. Insecurity and fear can make everything start looking like a potential writing topic. Alternatively, if you’re young, it can lead to a feeling of helplessness that you can’t write nonfiction because you haven’t suffered or travelled the world or had exciting experiences.”

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‘Tracking Submission Costs’ (LitMagNews)

“The best advice I can give young writers, depressing as it may seem, is “if you have a good day job, stay in it as long as you can.”

Good advice.

And invest.

Compound interest, folks.

I missed the boat here… and it was a huge mistake.

This is true:

“Levity aside, it's difficult to imagine such a practice isn't a hardship for writers without substantial financial resources, especially those trying to establish themselves by submitting work to many reviews simultaneously.”

“Why is it that the top journals typically charge fees, whereas the vast majority of reviews do not?”

Answer: Because they can and people will pay.

“Editing a literary review is more than just a labor of love…”

True: It’s not supposed to be “a business” and yet it is “a business”. After all, we live in a consumer-capitalist society. Choice is limited in this regard. If you put in 40+ hours/week on your lit mag, then you do not have time to hold a traditional job. Just facts.

“I am now convinced that a $3.00 or $4.00 fee for submission is not unreasonable.”

It’s not unreasonable, and yet many will confirm that they will not pay any amount of money to submit to a lit mag on principle.

“I think reviews should consider providing a financial statement at the end of the year, which might do much to salve the hard feelings some writers have regarding submission fees.”

This is a good idea, in theory, but it’s essentially making your tax information public. Not everyone is going to be comfortable with this. If taxes were fair, this would be a non-issue. But they are not. The wrong people are the ones who pay. And so… it’s a dilemma.

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Facts in Fiction

If you write fiction, you’ll know that people are really serious about getting your facts right when it comes to certain subjects. Back in the day, I wrote a short story in which I got something wrong about a gun and that was the entire focus. Well, not the entire focus. There was a separate concern about how doors work on an armored Brinks-esque truck.

If you write sci-fi or spec fiction, there are still rules.

Here’s a few facts about how guns work in space. I have no idea if this information is accurate.

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Ask An SEO: What Should Be On Your Author Pages?

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::: Podcasts :::

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A moment for silence (The Gray Area with Sean Illing)

I’ve been loving these interviews with Pico Iyer about his new book Aflame: Learning from Silence.

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The Promise & Peril Of AI (Fresh Air)

‘Even-handed, explainer on where we are with AI in layperson terms – with a positive attitude towards this "Alien Intelligence" being a "net positive"

A few interview highlights

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Updated: Most Popular AI Tools

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Goodbye, church... Hello, Wellness Industrial Complex! (It's Been a Minute)

Wellness as alt-God

Wellness as personal identity + virtue signaling + self-focused + interior life oriented

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::: Music :::

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‘The surprising thing I learned from quitting Spotify’ (Vox)

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New Release!

March 21 – Japanese Breakfast: For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)

As expected, very good.

8.4/10

Also, as expected, Pitchfork reviewers couldn’t seem to nudge past that threshold of 7.8.

The album received… 7.7

As I’ve joked before (though it’s very real), your average Pitchfork review seems to fall between 6.4 and 7.8 (out of 10).

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Twin Shadow’s new album ‘Georgie’ is a change in direction. I’m reminded of my recent experience with The Weather Station’s newest album, ‘Humanhood’. It seems difficult (for modern me at least) to critique these subdued, quiet, more intimate albums.

Part of me want to suggest comparing Twin Shadow’s ‘Georgie’ to The Weeknd’s ‘My Dear Melancholy’ for reasons related to with the arc of these artist’s careers, their similarities and differences, and as is always the case there are personal attachments and subjective notions that lead me here. The only way to critique, at the end of the day, is to derive subjective meaning, interplay, meeting ground, that space where the receiver fills in gaps, as you engage with the artwork.

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Upcoming Album Releases:

March 28 - Lucy Dacus: Forever Is a Feeling (early released singles are real good)

March 28 - Perfume Genius: Glory

April 11 - Bon Iver: SABLE, fABLE (pretty much guaranteed to disappoint)

April 18 - Julien Baker & Torres: Send a Prayer My Way (not sure what to expect)

May 2 - Car Seat Headrest: The Scholars (probably disappointing, 8-minute Beck songs)

May 21 - Lana Del Rey: The Right Person Will Stay (really hoping for a new direction)

May 30 - Matt Berninger: Get Sunk (low expectations)

TBA – Lorde

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::: Health & Wellness :::

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Cozymaxxing

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::: The Trump Regime :::

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What do you call a group of wrecking balls?

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Many have called attention to statements by Steven Levitsky, an expert on authoritarianism, who appears genuinely shocked at how quickly U.S. democratic systems have been upended in two months. Apparently, our democracy is “backsliding” at an alarming rate— even when compared to other modern authoritarian regime takeovers.

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ALA statement on White House assault on the Institute of Museum and Library Services

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There was an opportunity this week to learn about the history of the “autopen”. The history, and the device, is interesting. Trump’s behavior is classic Trump.

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Dept. of Edu.

“God forbid we should educate people. Especially BIPOC and other marginalized groups. They might learn to think for themselves instead of believing what people in power tell them.” (Joyce Vance)

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What does the Department of Education do? (USA Facts)

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A theory…

It’s often noted that some freely give up in the face of authoritarianism. There are many reasons why Tech CEOs, Corporate Elites, and others were quick to kiss the ring.

Attacks on DEI (and DEIA) is a dog whistle. It’s cover for racism, sexism, classism, ableism.

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DOGE ≈ WMDs

It’s not a direct correlation. Rather, they are both excuses.

Reflect.

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Now, take an extremely popular tv show which is well-known to feature a wide range of gender identities, discussions about women’s rights and empowerment, and, in general, just all of the subject matters that are taboo for Conservatives let alone the Far Right.

So, sadly, it really comes as no surprise that ‘Sex Lives of College Girls’ has not been renewed for a 3^rd season in spite of it’s extreme popularity. HBO Max is worried about their bottom line. They’re running from anything that sounds like “DEI” or “woke” mentalities before they are called out by Trump & Co. and suffer backlash in the vein of Bud Light.

‘Sex Lives Of College Girls’ Creators Mindy Kaling & Justin Noble React To Max Cancellation: “We Are Living In An Era Where We Need Comedy Badly” (Deadline)

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::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::

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Religion in America

Visualizing the Religious Landscape of the U.S.

63% Christian (dominated by Evangelicals, Catholics, Protestants)

30% Unaffiliated (includes agnostics and atheists)

7% other (includes Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists)

It’s worth taking a step back to remind ourselves who is in control of society— especially as the U.S. government continues to blur the lines separating Church and State.

Meanwhile, The Conservative Christian Right-aligned/affiliated with the Trump Admin is using antisemitism as a false pretense for canceling funding to Academic institutions, in turn, hurting the very people (Jews) they claim to be protecting. Because of course that’s not the point.

Much in the way the U.S. historically pits marginalized groups against each other (poor Blacks and poor whites, for example), we’re also seeing fuel added to the battle between Jews (2% of the U.S. population) and Muslims (1% of the U.S. population).

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Poverty in America

List of lowest-income places in the United States

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About: Persistent poverty counties

Map of Poverty Area Measures

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The US island that speaks Elizabethan English (BBC)

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“Daniel Kahneman, the Nobel-winning psychologist, died by assisted suicide in Switzerland last year, a long-time collaborator revealed. Kahneman birthed the field of behavioral economics, about how people act in economically irrational ways: He was “the world’s leading authority on decision-making,” wrote Jason Zweig in The Wall Street Journal, and, aged 90, made “the ultimate decision” himself: His wife had suffered dementia, and a friend told Zweig that Kahneman likely “felt he was falling apart, cognitively and physically.” Others, including Zweig, thought Kahneman made the decision too early, and was in good health. But Kahneman wrote in a final email that “the miseries and indignities of the last years of life are superfluous” and “I… will die a happy man.”” (Semafor)

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‘How James Bond Can Fix the Crisis in Masculinity’ (Ted Gioia)

It’s been a long time since I felt able to comfortably watch a Bond film. The level of misogyny is absurd. And the concepts of masculinity are horribly dated.

Adding some complexity to 007— a bit of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and lessening some of the Playboy vibes would (I hope) bring more people to the box office. If it doesn’t, honestly, let’s agree it’s time to just move on from tired tropes.

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March Madness bracketology is statistically bonkers:

“Not an expert, but have a little basketball knowledge? Your odds of a perfect bracket are roughly one in 120 billion.”

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‘U.S. hits new low in World Happiness Report’ (Axios)

TBH— I have a really hard time believing the U.S. deserves to be in the Top 25.

Most people in the U.S. really don’t understand the core principles of how to live a meaningful life and, regardless, our system is not structured to allow for this.

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How “kindness” may play a role (or not).

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Gen Z are finding some housing in Iowa.

Aren’t Millennials still renting? Jeez.

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Key data from the AKC (American Kennel Club):

2024 Most Popular Dogs in the U.S.

1. French Bulldog

2. Labrador Retriever

3. Golden Retriever

4. German Shepherd Dog

5. Poodle

6. Dachshund

7. Beagle

8. Rottweiler

9. Bulldog

10. German Shorthaired Pointer

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‘BYD charging breakthrough is another sign of China's EV lead’ (Axios)

“China continues to raise the bar on electric vehicles, with BYD unveiling a new EV platform that can be recharged about as fast as it takes refuel a gasoline car.”

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‘This app limits your screen time by making you literally touch grass’ (Tech Crunch)

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“A new report found that a shockingly low number of apps made over $1,000 a month within two years of launch.” (Sherwood)

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‘The 5 most LGBT-friendly colleges in America — and the 5 least’ (QZ)

No big surprises here… but you can guess the institutions that are targets by the Trump Admin.

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‘OpenAI’s o1-pro is the most expensive AI model in the industry’ (Sherwood)

Limited need for this level of compute… for everyday use. Luckily. Since, for now, these LLMs are energy-intensive (understatement).

Notable. Companies are losing money, in general, giving the public a “free” taste of their products. It’s normalizing chatbot searches often in lieu of Google searches… ad-supported will come soon but also will limit access and, probably, limit quality LLMs unless you are willing to pay.

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Scary.

Scary even though it was fairly obvious this was coming as soon as drones arrived on the scene.

Ideally, we would have done our best to avoid being a “drone hobbyist” from existing to avoid the normalization of having these wicked things fly around for non-commercial use.

‘Low-Cost Drone Add-Ons From China Let Anyone With a Credit Card Turn Toys Into Weapons of War’ (Wired)

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