extra space

Ben Hoerman talks about the rise of Internet cruelty in the form of prank content, "a-logging," and "lolcowing" and reactionary ideologies.

The "too long, didn't watch" is that "whole language learning" is just not as good a method to teach learning as phonics. I'm so glad I was personally taught phonics to read over the whole language model, bu I worry for those who weren't. Also, as long as public schools are being made to be "AI-focused," I think I'm definitely sending my future kids to Waldorf school or something.

Lady of the Library gives her opinions as a Classics PhD about discourse surrounding Christopher Nolan's adaptation of The Odyssey and specifically Emily Wilson's adaptation that Nolan is said to have been inspired by.

Lady of the Library on the controversy of an archaeology academic and a neopagan influencer he accused of being a neo-Nazi. In the end, no one was in the right.

A law has been passed in China declaring that social media influencers are not allowed to speak on topics that they do not have a degree in. This is supposedly to stop the spread of pseudoscience and general misinformation. Naturally, there is some controversy around the nuances of this law, but I always support putting a cap on the modern day snake oil salesmen that make up a lot of influencers.

In case this gets taken down, I do have it downloaded and saved to multiple drives.

Taylor Lorenz and Kyle Chayka talk about the death of social media with the shift from casual life posting to a growth in influencers, algorithms, and ephemeral content.

The Kavernacle on the obsession American conservatives have with England (or at least their image of it)

The Kavernacle on why fascists in the US have taken to converting to or generally embracing Catholicism in ways not seen in, say, Europe in the modern era - especially his native UK where Catholicism is associated more with migrant communities, like his Irish grandparents - and how it has to do more with vibes and random historical events over actual theology.