SC Weekly – May 2025 – #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
*
::: ONE ART :::
*
TODAY at 2pm Eastern!
ONE ART’s next reading is Sunday, May 4.
Featured Readers: Jennifer Mills Kerr, Terri Kirby Erickson, Dick Westheimer, Ann E. Michael, Kai Coggin
>>> Tickets Available <<<
*
Call for Submissions: Poems About Work
The Book of Jobs: An Anthology of Poems About Work (Online)
Edited by Erin Murphy
*
::: The Literary Community & Beyond :::
*
The Simpsons and the frustration of people saying your best work is behind you.
*
“The truth is that books don’t sell very well in the supermarket, where there are no other books. They do better in the bookstore, right next to all the other books.” – Seth Godin
*
‘Tiny new species of snail named after Picasso’ (Phys)
*
Things aren’t looking from for the NEA… or the NEH… or the IMLS
*
::: Podcasts :::
*
America's Path To 'Competitive Authoritarianism'
*
Rethinking School in the Age of AI
*
Weaponizing Uncertainty: How Tech is Recycling Big Tobacco’s Playbook
*
::: Music :::
*
‘What Are the Greatest Karaoke Songs of All Time? A Statistical Analysis’ (Stat Significant)
*
::: Health & Wellness :::
*
Why You Should Also Worry About Whooping Cough Amid Measles Outbreak — ProPublica
*
::: The Trump Regime :::
*
‘Tyrants like Trump always fall – and we can already predict how he will be dethroned’
(The Guardian, Op-Ed)
“Of the seven deadly sins – vainglory or pride, greed or covetousness, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, sloth – Trump is comprehensively, mortally guilty. In Isaiah (13,11), the Lord gives fair warning: “I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant and humiliate the insolence of tyrants.” God knows, maybe he’ll listen. Miracles do happen.”
“All this points to one conclusion: as a tyrant, let alone as president, Trump is actually pretty useless – and as his failures, frustrations and fantasies multiply, he will grow ever more dangerously unstable. Trump’s biggest enemy is Trump. Those who would save the US and themselves – at home and abroad – must employ all democratic means to contain, deter, defang and depose him. But right now, the best, brightest hope is that, drowning in hubris, Trump will destroy himself.”
*
Solving the world’s problems… on the golf course?
Probably not.
*
On a deadly serious note:
The Washington Post reports—
Trump has proposed forcibly taking over Canada. 86% of Americans oppose that idea, including 71% of Republicans.
Wait, hold up.
14% of Americans think we should go to war with Canada to make them the 51st State?
29% of Republican voters think this is a reasonable path forward!?
It’s difficult to process this; it’s impossible to justify it.
*
*
‘Linda McMahon Puts Student Loan Borrowers in a Chokehold’ (How We Fight Back)
Depending on when you were in accruing student loan debt… you know if you were badly cheated and sold false promises. My advice? Don’t pay if you don’t have to.
Not financial advice.
*
Watch John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight episode on HHS.
Horrifying.
RJK Jr. is an incompetent monster.
*
::: The Darkness of BNPL :::
'Eat now, pay later'? DoorDash-Klarna deal fuels concerns around loans for takeout
I was considering writing a whole piece on what this says about Class and our society.
I find this very dark.
In my experience, people that love takeout are seeking out small joys, small forms of being served on, because they lack access to more exciting and pleasurable forms of leisure. In short, poor people love delivery. But delivery pricing is often predatory— especially these modern ultra convenient forms such as DoorDash, GrubHub, Uber Eats. These businesses and their apps often charge extra for the items at the restaurant. People order from places that may not typically offer delivery— like, say, Outback Steakhouse. Just an example.
The problem is that this is doubling down on predatory apps. The delivery apps are already predatory. Then, on top of that BNPL (buy now, pay later) apps let you break up expenses so that they don’t feel as significant; however, these drips of payback, possibly with extra fees and penalties for paying late, slowly drain the bank accounts of people that cannot afford to use the services in the first place.
So, clearly I’m mad about this subject.
The scarier issue that is making the news is that people are using BNPL to pay for groceries. People don’t have enough money to pay for basic groceries. That’s the state of our economy. BNPL is not a far cry from a Pay Day lender who, as well many know, are extremely predatory in their practices.
*
::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::
*
“You can’t kill these things. I mean, we’ve heard stories of them coming back from a frozen state and crawling around restaurants.”
— Fisherman/Restaurateur [on] the invasive green crab
*
‘The $20,000 American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, and no touchscreen’ (The Verge)
“Is the market ready for a four-wheeled digital detox?”
Sounds nice.
“Think “American kei truck” and you’re not far off.” (I love those little vehicles. Too cute!)
“Slate’s mood board was something different: a big, gray shark, covered in scrapes and scars.”
Overall, their strategy sounds smart.
*
“A City in a Park”: Chattanooga, Tennessee, Is North America’s First National Park City (Nice News)
*
Warning: disturbing.
‘The Results of Asking ChatGPT for the Most Controversial Image Possible Are Rather Wild’ (Futurism)
*
Deeply concerning…
‘Character.AI is Claiming First Amendment Protection For Its Chatbots’ (Center for Humane Technology)
“This case could set a worrying legal precedent with cascading consequences.”
“If Character.AI is successful, AI-generated, non-human, non-intentional outputs — like chatbot responses — could gain protection under the First Amendment.”
*
‘California just leapfrogged Japan to become the world’s fourth-largest economy’ (VC)
*
‘Why Is Everyone Getting Their Tattoos Removed?’ (GQ)
Interesting cultural shift.
*
8 years of just in case…
Every year I get the “anniversary” email it makes me smile… so there’s that.
Universal Life Church - Free Online Ordination
*
‘Why Daulton Varsho's catch ranks among all-time greatest’ (ESPN)
Slick move.
Of course, it did happen directly after falling down.
*
This was my favorite sportsball moment of the week.
Really worth seeing the shot from several angles. (It was good. It was called correctly.)
*
‘The fly-tipped sofa: how an abandoned couch changed a small village – in pictures’ (Guardian)
Cute fluff piece that is somehow not all about JD Vance.
*
In cat news…
‘Catquistadors: Oldest known domestic cats in the US died off Florida coast in a 1559 Spanish shipwreck’ (Live Science)
*
‘Seriously’ (Seth Godin)
The best way to take yourself seriously or not so much.
*