June 14
Move your shitheap of a car to the other fucken side
Sick of that high horse / Our minds don't work like theirs
If you only listen to one unconventional, Alt-Pop / K-pop song this week, make it Nmixx - High Horse.
Other songs off the same album:
Slingshot (<★) &
KNOW ABOUT ME (live). [more inside]
All I want is to relive my favorite show of all time, one step at a time
Me Write Blog Good is a blog chronicling one Simpsons fan’s journey in rewatching the entire series, and giving his thoughts episode by episode. It’s a retrospective, it’s a tribute, it’s a questionable way to spend one’s time. But it’ll be funny as hell, guaranteed.
Democratic Minnesota Lawmakers Shot in Their Homes
In what officials are describing as "politically-motivated assassinations," two Minnesota legislators were shot in their homes early Saturday morning by a gunman posing as a police officer. Representative Melissa Hortman, a leader of the DFL in the state and former Speaker of the House, was killed along with her husband. State Senator John Hoffman and his wife were also shot; they are hospitalized as of this writing. [more inside]
The economics of GLP-1s from the pharmacy’s point of view
“Over the past year, my pharmacy spent $2m+ buying GLP-1s and lost $26k+ dispensing them.” I assumed pharmacies were also making a ton of money off the GLP-1 craze, but apparently not. Interesting read from the owner of CO Bigelow about how it looks from the pharmacy side. (Requires email signup)
No more dollars for endless slaughters
Veterans protesting imperialism Last night, Capitol Police in Washington, DC arrested 60 military veterans protesting American necropolitics the Army birthday festival and parade on the National Mall, including a Vietnam war vet using a walker. [more inside]
How do you disrupt decades of industry inertia?
Minor has not only figured out how to play (certain) video games. He’s trying to build a career with a singular goal: to make it so blind people can play any game they want. To the outsider, this sounds nonsensical. The “video” part of “video game” comes from the Latin for “see.” Isn’t it a bit unreasonable, expecting such a visual medium to be made blind-accessible? But Minor is making progress. He’s even becoming something of a celebrity in his field, with some impressive credits to his name. from The Blind Leading the Gamers [Wired; ungated] CW: domestic violence, suicide
June 13
Two Days Talking to People Looking for Jobs at ICE
On Thursday and Friday of last week I attended a Department of Homeland Security job fair at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, Virginia.
Farmers trial soil microbes to cut synthetic fertiliser use
Farmers trial soil microbes to cut synthetic fertiliser use. Tasmanian dairy farmers trial microbes across 500 hectares of land with the help of a top-notch soil biologist to reduce their reliance on synthetic fertilisers such as urea.
"what else will I discover about myself?"
"My Year of Raves" by
Phill Mendon1;a-Vieira (via Maya) starts: "In 2024, in my third year of being trans, I discovered that I like dancing." It's a long piece of memoir about getting into the rave scene, dancing, mental health, social media, gender, queer spaces, family, friendship, music, and joy.
AI induced mental illness
Across the world, people say their loved ones are developing intense obsessions with ChatGPT and spiraling into severe mental health crises.
"shadows are strange"
I don’t want, I don’t want, I don’t wanna be alone tonight
I Don't Wanna Be Alone is the first single from Joshua Ray Walker's new album, Tropicana. [more inside]
Cinéma Muppeté
Musical Transients
Musical Transients - by Psynwav (36m) - The newest mashup album from the creator behind Slamilton weaves a personal story through audio mashups with video edits to match throughout. It's worth letting the progression & reveal unfold, but if that's not enough to go off there's more under the fold [more inside]
Cosmic Dawn: NASA Documentary on the James Webb Space Telescope
Cosmic Dawn, 1h 37m, a documentary for NASA+ about the history and development of the James Webb Space Telescope.
Keep on GIFin’ — GifCities, the animated GIF search engine
The Internet Archive announces a new version of GifCities, their animated GIF search engine. It now has several new advanced search features. Previously in 2016 on the blue. [more inside]
Fetal homicide is the new Roe
Back in March, Jezebel reported that a teenager was being investigated for a self-managed abortion. She was turned away from a Planned Parenthood clinic at 20 weeks though abortion is legal in Pennsylvania until 24 weeks. She self-managed her abortion with her mother. Both have now been arrested. [more inside]
Average Youtubers versus the hardest footrace in the world
Rob Van Impe and his brother Arno decided that somehow getting through an Ironman wasn't enough, and aimed for something a little harder: the Marathon des Sables. They produced an amazing two hour documentary showing their training, injuries and the race itself, including meeting some amazing people.
Akin to watching birds freely fly over militarized borders
I’m just the gardener, struck deaf and dumb by the lovely lemon tree as it falls into the well. I’m over here just trying to get the tree out, drying off its veil. There’s a lot of feeling around, a lot of stumbling. But when the poem emerges from the well and I get it dry, the feeling is like I’ve watched the lemon tree get married all over again in reverse—if it ever did get married. (Maybe it just loved the dress?) from enjambments interview with Spring Ulmer [Poets.org]
June 12
Meet the woman tasked with protecting Earth from an asteroid strike
Meet the woman tasked with protecting Earth from an asteroid strike. NASA officer Dr Kelly Fast is responsible for identifying and tracking asteroids, and figuring out if any of these rocky bodies could be on a collision course with Earth.
Lil' Choppin
"You Can Listen to a Lost Chopin Waltz That Hasn’t Been Heard for Nearly Two Centuries" [more inside]
Chronic emotional malnutrition
"I'm pretty quiet about the fact I'm a transman usually, but holy shit I need to tell you about the culture shock I'm going through because it's blindsiding me. There's a huge sense of social isolation that comes with being perceived as male, because now people are subconsciously treating me as a potential predator... It made me realize that there is no inherent camaraderie in male socialization as there is in female socialization... You know how badly this would have fucked my mind up if I had grown up with this?"
Israel launches ‘major strike’ on Iran
Two takes on "Take 5"
Dave Brubeck's 1959 "Take Five" cast a long shadow. These are some alternate interpretations. Not covers per se, but songs that quote or play with the song.
From the San Francisco psychedelic scene, Quicksilver Messenger Service and their 1968 contribution Gold and Silver.
Legendary indie rockers Pavement and their 1994 5-4=Unity
Entering Nook code mode
Animal Crossing on the GameCube (2002) had an annoying on-screen keyboard. Using simple hardware that simulates a controller and some clever programming [YT], it's possible to use a real keyboard for typing. And once you have that, you might as well try some more fun stuff...
Bitches Brew re-brewed
Miles Davis' Bitches Brew was famously assembled by producer Teo Macero from long stretches of studio improvisation. This labor-of-love reconstruction from the outtakes creates an alternative universe version of the epochal record. It's just as far out as the original.
FKJ&YD
Live From The Greenhouse is thirty minutes from a day-long improv songbuilding session with multi-instrumentalist FKJ and drummer Yussef Dayes. [more inside]
Old Fashioned Music: early Jazz guitar straight from Osaka
I’m Yuji Kamihigashi living in Osaka, Japan, simply a guitar nard and love ealry jazz style. Yuji Kamihigashi, often with Hirofumi Asaba, playing early jazz, swing guitar, and occasional ukulele and guests, plus forays into country blues and other genres. The channel feels like a labor of love, if not deep devotion. [more inside]
Spaceballs: The Quest for More Money
Rick Moranis and Bill Pullman are confirmed to be reprising their roles along with Keke Palmer in an as-yet-disclosed new role. Mel Brooks has posted a fun teaser on his Bluesky account for the long awaited sequel to Spaceballs!
For some, the reenactment has become a bit more literal
“I think there’s a certain exhaustion with modern-day fashion trends and the need to conform to unrealistic and constantly changing standards,” says Moon. “It affects self-esteem and self-image, I’m sure it is exhausting feeling the need to constantly try to fit into what the internet thinks is ‘cool’ this week.” With the trends of the 80s already permanently etched into history, it’s a relief to have the option to step out from the increasingly rapid, endless churn of beauty fads. Plus blue eyeshadow goes with every look, she says, which definitely helps. from Young people on TikTok are trying to make the 80s happen again [Dazed]
“READING” ABOUT HER FASHION
thanks it's all about the anxiety
False Knees is a delightful webcomic by Joshua Barkman mostly about birds. It's previously been on Metafilter in 2017 and 2023 but since the author has announced a new book (Ew, It's Beautiful) and I keep choke-laughing at this animation of this, I thought it was time for a revisit. [more inside]
The hunt for Marie Curie's radioactive fingerprints in Paris
"Marie Curie worked with radioactive material with her bare hands. More than 100 years after her groundbreaking work, Sophie Hardach travels to Paris to trace the lingering radioactive fingerprints she left behind."
Driving Miss Highsmith
I did not question her rules or the assertiveness with which she refused to let me out of her world or anyone in, insistent that nobody could interrupt her routine or distract us from her bitter wait. I was weak and submissive, both because of a lack of experience and because of the constant fear that something might happen to her while she was on my watch. I obsessed over not bothering her and shortened my walks around town, tortured by my sense of responsibility, worried that Pat was unwell and alone or needed me to fax the same page yet another time. So I adapted to her ways, becoming just as isolated, always home with her or near her, accompanied by only her novels, waiting for something to happen. I was mesmerized by the perfect crimes she had created in her books, and given how angry at life she seemed, I wondered if she had ever tried to kill someone herself.
"this joyous and challenging writer"
The novelist, short story writer and children's writer Jane Gardam died in April, aged 96. There is an obituary in The Guardian. The Los Angeles Review of Books thinks her novels are "a taxonomy of ordinary madness ... [with] a deceptively cheerful, spritzy rhythm". The Independent interviewed her in 2015, when she said "Short stories are nearer poetry than anything. They are like a conversation, a dialogue". The Captive Reader has written about several of her books. Reading Matters has reviewed The Old Filth Trilogy There is an interview with her on YouTube (one hour, transcript) from the Small Wonder short story literary festival in 2015.
The Octopus of Persuasive Cartography
Conspiratorial thinking can connect many distinct or distant ills to a central cause. This belief has visual form in the octopus map: a map where a central force (for instance a nation, an ideology, or an ethnicity) is depicted as a literal or figurative octopus, with extending tendrils. In this paper, we explore how octopus maps function as visual arguments through an analysis of historical examples as well as a through a crowd-sourced study on how the underlying data and the use of visual metaphors contribute to specific negative or conspiratorial interpretations. from The Many Tendrils of the Octopus Map [more inside]
June 11
Bumps on ancient, armored fish may have given rise to teeth in animals
Bumps on ancient, armored fish may have given rise to teeth in animals.
Sensory features on the armored exoskeletons of ancient fish may be the reason why humans have teeth that are sensitive to cold and other extremes.
Too Much Democracy
Before the far right threatened democracy, neoliberalism stripped it down. Democracies, according to neoliberal ideologues, had become “burdened with overactive minority group representation, too much emphasis on welfare provisions, too much protection of workers, a top-heavy public bureaucracy, and too many critics in academia and the media.” The result was an “inability to govern,” as addressing the demands of the citizenry would require a radical redistribution of resources beyond the limits of what capital was prepared to concede. To overcome this “crisis of democracy,” popular appetites would have to be curbed and governments would have to be rendered less susceptible to democratic inputs.
"Come Fly Away"
'Remembering the Golden Age of Airline Food.'
"Passengers on Trans World Airlines (TWA) once dined on roast beef au jus, carved from a trolley in the aisle. And those on Alaska Airlines toward the tail end of the 1960s might have taken advantage of its Golden Samovar service, an homage to Eastern European culinary culture, complete with dishes such as tartlet Odessa and veal Orloff." So what happened?
"A brief history of airline food’s rapid descent."
previously. [more inside]
"Passengers on Trans World Airlines (TWA) once dined on roast beef au jus, carved from a trolley in the aisle. And those on Alaska Airlines toward the tail end of the 1960s might have taken advantage of its Golden Samovar service, an homage to Eastern European culinary culture, complete with dishes such as tartlet Odessa and veal Orloff." So what happened?
"A brief history of airline food’s rapid descent."
previously. [more inside]
I'd die to be the blackberry you clutch in your fingers
Trapped in the Mine
The miners first realised they were in danger when someone threw stones down the shaft. To communicate with people above ground, usually to ask for food, water or medicine, the miners would shake a rope and shout through a cut-off plastic bottle that amplified their voices. Family members or other miners would shake the rope and yell back. Supplies would follow. But for days there had been no reply.
From Helen Sullivan for the LRB
Listening to MAHA: how to lose trust, and gain it
Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, MPH PhD, writes the blog "Your Local Epidemiologist." She has also been working to find out where the communication and trust gap lies with vaccine-hesitant people and MAHA. Last year, she met with one of the loudest voices against COVID restrictions and mandatory vaccinations. This year, some MAHA notables reached out to her to begin a conversation. And that conversation is continuing, with some productive results. Meanwhile, with articles such as "They're idiots. Why don't they trust us?" her colleague Kristen Panthagani is also investigating what caused the gap — and how it can be bridged.
Reborn Dolls
The video, which received more than 16 million views on TikTok, is part of a social media craze that has turned into a cultural and political flashpoint in Brazil. Widely circulated videos show women taking the hyperrealistic dolls to the park in strollers, celebrating their birthdays with cake and songs, and simulating childbirth. (A select few even simulate the dolls’ having a nosebleed or potty training.) … To some, the dolls, known as reborn dolls, provide comfort, escape or just plain fun. But politicians across Brazil have tried to pass bills banning the dolls from public spaces. [CW: pictures of very creepy dolls]
"mostly on the inverse of a raw food diet"
"But now we are losing these safeguards, imperfect though they were." "Eating food in the US in 2025 while immunocompromised" by Coral Sheldon-Hess discusses how the author (who has psoriatic arthritis, an autoimmune condition) is adapting to declines in US food safety. Their blog post covers categories of ingredients, preparation methods, and a few recipes. "Especially when I admit to taking shortcuts, I’m not suggesting that what I do is best practice or safe; I’m mitigating risk as best I can with limited time, energy, and money, not avoiding it completely." [more inside]
The dangers of sitting too long
At the heart of this peril lies the Valsalva manoeuvre – the act of forcibly exhaling against a closed airway while straining, such as during defecation. This puts pressure on your chest, which reduces blood flow back to the heart. For most people, it’s harmless. But for those with heart problems, this strain can lead to “defecation syncope” (fainting), irregular heart rhythms and even sudden death. from The perils of pooping [The Conversation]
RIP, Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson has died at the age of 82. Brian Wilson, who as leader of the Beach Boys and a founder of California rock invented a massively successful pop sound full of harmonies and sunshine, has died at the age of 82.
Can you explain how you get “big in dentists?”
Megan Greenwell On Living Under And Outside Of Private Equity, The Invasive Species Eating American Life. An interview of ex-Deadspin editor-in-chief Megan Greenwell, by ex-Deadspin writer David Roth, on the occasion of her new book about private equity, Bad Company. [more inside]
The LGBTQIA+ News Post, I'm Doing Science And I'm Still Alive: 6/11/2025
Welcome to the LGBTQIA+ News Post. I've been running behind for my own mental health, but here you go, so if some of these seems old or outdated, that's why. But we are all Immaterial girls, immaterial boys. [more inside]
The Men's Kitchen is changing the lives of men over 60
"I was the apprentice": Dennis is learning to cook after his wife's death. The Men's Kitchen is changing the lives of men over 60, many of whom are recently widowed or caring for partners who can no longer cook, teaching kitchen skills and offering social connection.