Waywords Studio

𝗧𝗕𝗥 𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗲: 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 -

A real grab-bag of titles this month. And yes, I am far behind on my Stephen King and SG Jones reading!

𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑵𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒔 - 𝑵𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒄 𝑫𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 -

We are left on the precipice of a severe, unavoidable aporia: when the Empire can absorb and commercialize our very language of protest, the only true ethical act of agency is to stop performing the script, reject the easy answer, and step directly out into the unimaginable dark.

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗪𝗮𝘆𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀: “𝗡𝘂𝗻𝗰 𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗺” -

𝑃𝑛𝑒𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑚𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑗𝑜𝑖𝑒 𝑑𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑣𝑟𝑒

𝑊ℎ𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝?

Another ekphrastic poem, a reflection upon visual arts, but this a bit more ironic in tone and topic!

𝐍𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐡𝐚𝐰𝐤: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 - 𝐂𝐡. 𝟐 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚

Full video, glossary, and more on the website.

Reading Guides on Waywords, one chapter and reflection video about every two weeks.

𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑵𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝑬𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒅𝒆: 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝑮𝒆𝒕 𝑾𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈: 𝑴𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒃𝒂𝒈𝒔, 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, & 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏

-

Is our intellectual exercise just an expensive lifestyle brand that keeps our hands clean? In this raw, self-interrogating mailbag episode, we turn the lens inward for a vulnerability audit of our own political battles and pedagogical failures.

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗪𝗮𝘆𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀: “𝗢𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗲 ” (𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗵𝗮 𝗦𝗮𝗽𝗮) -

𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑢𝑝, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ, 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒𝑠𝑡, 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠-ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑

𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟-𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑓𝑖𝑥𝑒𝑑 . . . 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒, 𝑛𝑜𝑤?

Ekphrastic poetry, but if we look at the reverse side of our art . . .

𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑵𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒔 - 𝑾𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑩𝒂𝒄𝒌: 𝑮𝒖𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂 𝑻𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒔 & 𝑩𝑻𝑺

Is that blank page paralyzing your activism?

𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑵𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝑬𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒅𝒆: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈: 𝑭𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔

Is your reading just an "escape"? Your favorite beach read might be a gated community for your conscience. Today, we interrogate the "catharsis commodity" of reading and ask if our reading habits are just another layer of the Hideous Bargain.

𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑵𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝑬𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒅𝒆: 𝑹𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝑷𝒍𝒐𝒘, 𝑺𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒏 𝑻𝒓𝒆𝒆: 𝑺𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒁𝒉𝒖𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒛𝒊

Can Stoicism answer our dilemma?

TBR Pile: May Reads - A few of the titles I'll be reading in addition to research for the new book!

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐖𝐚𝐲𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬: “𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝐑𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐬” -

"

To this wearied annual wrath:

Rake the winter chaff, clear the path:

Confessant renewal. Covenant.

"

𝐍𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐡𝐚𝐰𝐤: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 - 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Full video, glossary, and more on the website.

𝐍𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐡𝐚𝐰𝐤: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 - 𝐏𝐫𝐞-𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 -

𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑵𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒔 - 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑶𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑶𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒔: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒗𝒔. 𝑴𝒂𝒏

And when the child cannot speak for itself?

Humanity's first global lawsuit! In this 10th-century Islamic fable, animals put mankind on trial for the crimes of the extraction economy. We unsettle the habitus of human exceptionalism to ask: would we change the story's ending because we couldn't handle our own complicity?

𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑵𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒔 - "𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒚𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆: 𝑨𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒔, 𝑩𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏"

We've turned the basement into a casino!

A man who turns to fortune-telling to assuage his conscience. A society that chooses its victims through a lottery. Does "mathematical fairness" absolve the citizens of Omelas, or does it simply creates a more sophisticated illusion of justice?

Today it's the dark philosophy of Jorge Luis Borges’s "The Lottery in Babylon" and Machado de Assis’s "The Fortune-Teller."

https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/tyranny-of-chance-assis-borges/

𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑵𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝑾𝒂𝒚𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 - 𝑨 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 "𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒆 𝑻𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓" 𝒃𝒚 𝑱𝒐𝒂𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒎 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒂 𝑴𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒐 𝒅𝒆 𝑨𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒔, 1884

Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis is perhaps the greatest writer of Brazil. In “The Fortune-Teller,” a secret affair driven by anonymous threats pushes a committed skeptic toward a dingy attic and a deck of cards. How easily will we trade our reason for a comfortable prophecy? The future rarely negotiates with the stories we tell ourselves.

𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑾𝒂𝒚𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔: “𝑩𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒊𝒅𝒆” 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒔𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝑹𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 -

". . . but the edges have eroded, bluntered and edgeless. Warfarin-thin. A swiftwater rush, . . . "