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Swim or die. Imagine being such a hardcore predator that you evolve away the ability to breathe while standing still. Such awesome creatures.

“Methinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.”

This reminds me of certain species of shark that can only breathe when they are in motion. I remember thinking it was such a ridiculous thing when first hearing it but I suppose in this way we're not all too different! Really great article. I've never regretted taking a walk.

This is such a mess. I feel like this anger goes deeper than the mask themselves. The confusion about whether or not we should wear masks is one thing but it pales in comparison to the desperate situation that many have been forced into by the lockdown while trillions of dollars goes towards bailing out the largest corporations.

That said I'm sure plenty of people are just angry about being told to wear a mask. How's it really any different than "No shoes. No shirt. No service." though? A "mask" or "face covering" is such broad terminology, too. I started to freak out while wearing an N95 respirator after being stuck in Home Depot for over an hour. Switching to a bandana makes a big difference in comfort. I've seen some people with full on reusable respirators and don't know how they can stand it.

Great article laying out the issues that independent writers face in trying to choose where to publish and how to monetize.

Ownership and customization is super important. We've talked about building a feature to allow writers to draft and publish their content directly on Readup but that would never be the only option. For writers that have their own stack we could make it easy to automatically send out notifications to their followers on Readup when they publish a new piece using an RSS monitor or some other crawler.

Excellent reality check!

Digging deep on vaporwave and what some have started to call the 21st century gothic aesthetic. The political aspects of this analysis don't necessarily resonate with me, but I acknowledge that they might be inextricably linked to the artistic manifestation. The contrast between British and American hauntology is super interesting and something I hadn't come across before. I've also never considered vaporwave as a sort of sub-genre of a broader hauntological category of music. I'm a huge Boards of Canada fan but never made that connection.

There are a lot of interesting concepts here that I would be curious to hear others' thoughts on.

Mark Fisher noted that since the 1990s “cultural time has folded back in on itself”.

As someone who grew up in the 90's I certainly feel this but it's impossible to tell if this is something unique to our era or if every generation feels this way as they get older. Was the future really cancelled in the late 80's/early 90's or is it in a perpetual state of cancellation?

I find the concept of technology materializing memory similarly interesting. Again, is this a historical constant or have we really reached a turning point? Will Gen Z feel nostalgic for 4k video when 8k is the norm? I find it hard to believe. The deltas seem to be getting smaller as we approach ubiquitous "retina" resolution. Except for fucking Zoom calls of course.

A powerful message! It's such a pleasure to read articles that are so densely packed with meaning and substance.

I was expecting the accent to be mostly nonsense, but there's actually a lot of interesting history here! I don't think it will do much to alleviate the in-group cringe I feel when I hear people using it though. Then again, I'm remembering a time when I tried to order a "plain pie" at a pizza place in Portland, OR and the woman behind the counter just stared at me totally confused. Even without the accent there's definitely some lingering linguistic oddities.

This is infuriating. It's like these people are determined to erode public trust in the institutions they're supposed to be serving.

There is obviously a lot more going on here than just social media dysfunction, but I'm not surprised that many of these weird interactions are prompted by Tweets people are seeing in their feed.

Related: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/z3h94o/162-the-least-you-could-do

Black people all across the US are receiving the world's weirdest form of reparations: Venmo payments from white people. Producer Emmanuel Dzotsi investigates.

Lots of wisdom in this interview. Miss the guy.

What do you think of the news media’s handle on this political moment more generally? I don’t think it has ever had a good handle on a political moment. It’s not designed for that. It’s designed for engagement. It’s like YouTube and Facebook: an information-laundering perpetual-radicalization machine. It’s like porn. I don’t mean that to be flip. When you were pubescent, the mere hint of a bra strap could send you into ecstasy. I’m 57 now. If it’s not two nuns and a mule, I can’t even watch it. Do you understand my point? The algorithm is not designed for thoughtful engagement and clarity. It’s designed to make you look at it longer.

Absolutely unconscionable. Everyone should read this.

This is crazy! I get anxious when a refrigerator door is held open for longer than a few seconds. The outdoor cooling seems pretty wasteful but I also couldn't imagine living in such a climate. Being confined to the indoors for entire seasons sounds really miserable.

This is a seriously sad state of affairs. I feel like the way that the mainstream media has handled Russiagate and other "unquestionable" issues is a major force in driving people into the hands of fake news outlets.

Great find! I wish the article touched on the tax and legal issues with these "currencies" though.

Demand grew so high that collectors started paying $2.50 for a single wooden quarter — a 10x markup.

Sounds like anyone redeeming the local currency would be on the hook for capital gains tax if the value increased since the time they acquired it. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency comes with the same baggage, but I'm guessing as long as the numbers are small enough the IRS won't come knocking (hopefully).

Reading about this also reminded me of the Liberty dollar which I remembered being raided by the FBI and Secret Service. Apparently it was the minting of coins which was illegal, not the paper certificates. Strange distinction.

Interesting analysis of what I think is an excellent ruling! I totally agree with Gorsuch's argument that you don't have to redefine what congress meant by "sex" in 1964 in order to side with the majority; namely that one can't discriminate against sexual orientation or gender identity without discriminating against an individual's biological sex as a matter of course.

I also enjoyed this quote:

“This elephant has never hidden in a mousehole,” Gorsuch concluded; “it has been standing before us all along.”

Bugs do ruin everything. Top notch analysis! I hope we can find a way to eradicate mosquitoes sooner rather than later.

Wow, this is an excellent reflection on the state of the internet and its implications for broader society. Lots of super interesting information. I especially love the overall optimistic outlook. I fully agree with the argument that a better understanding of the mechanics at play will lead to a collective "strengthening of our immune system" when it comes to navigating, consuming and processing information online.

The NYTimes opinion editor just resigned due to backlash for publishing this piece. The editor's note added to the beginning of the article seems pretty reasonable to me, but also leads to further questions for me about what the normal editorial process is for selecting and reviewing opinion pieces. I've certainly read plenty of opinion pieces in the NYTimes and Washington Post that I thought seemed pretty out there and made questionable assertions but of course that's what the opinion section is for, right?

As for the article itself I think there's definitely some value there, especially in providing the historical accounts of the military being used for law enforcement on domestic soil which I wasn't aware of. The current situation seems substantially different from the past examples though. Local law enforcement has been increasingly militarized since 9/11 and yet they're apparently incapable of preventing opportunistic looters from breaking into shops. Just seems to me like another sign that we've been going down the wrong path in that regard and that serious reform is needed.

This article includes the full text of Mattis's letter. It's a really worthwhile read. I'm glad he's speaking out. His default apolitical nature is part of the reason why he commands respect from so many Americans regardless of party affiliation.

Damn, this piece offers some great insight into the insanity that takes place on Twitter. It's weird for me to read, because as someone who doesn't use Twitter it can seem pretty inconsequential, but it's scary to think that it is the channel that so many people, writers and journalists in particular, are tuned into. Regardless of how stupid the platform might be, being on the receiving end of so much hate and vitriol is bound to take a very real emotional and psychological toll. Mad props to Bari for not only suffering through it, but reaching out and making personal connections in order to bypass the dysfunction inherent in the medium.

There are so many great quotes in the article. One of my favorites was from Dan Savage:

“With someone like Bari—someone people on my side drag to virtue-signal—there’s a temptation to cover your butt with ‘Now I don’t agree with everything she writes …,’” he says, “But, really, who couldn’t you say that about?..."

And this one from Bari:

“The animating energy right now in the culture is destruction,” says Weiss. “The casual dehumanization, from the left and the right, is so appalling to me.”

Also, I think "Hard-Left Twittersphere" would make a great band name.

The title of this article is misleading. I'm sorry for the author's ordeal and glad she's recovering, but it's pretty dishonest to imply that what happened to her is happening to a large number of young, otherwise healthy people. It's no surprise that there were no statistics in the article to back up that narrative.

I think she makes good points about how broken our healthcare system is and it was interesting to read her personal account, but I think that using it as an opportunity to spread fear should be discouraged.

Wise words.

It was amazing watching this live! It's also incredible that the first stage rocket landing itself on a drone ship isn't even noteworthy at this point. Really impressive stuff.

Vitally important information! The truth is out there.

Looking back at the Readup AOTDs that were about the Coronavirus makes me feel like the platform is working. Not too many of them, but enough, no real fear mongering and good discussions in the comments. I hope this article becomes the next one in the list!

SpaceX is scheduled to launch humans into space for the first time ever today (May 30th) at 3:22 p.m. Eastern! Such an unimaginably huge milestone not just for SpaceX but also for NASA and the United States. Great timing on this article @deephdave, looking forward to catching up on the rest of the series.

Launch Livestream

First off: Good for Joe (and Jamie!). I've been a huge fan for a while but recently have found myself listening to his podcast more than others.

I find it hilarious that in every article written about Rogan the author has to work in a disclaimer about how much they hate Alex Jones. The guy has been a guest on two episodes out of 1,479. He drinks and gets high and rants about intergalactic psychic vampires. It's pretty fucking funny. I like to think the author's use of "imprimatur" is a bit of a wink to the reader about the mandatory disclaimer. I'd be hard pressed to come up with a more ridiculous word to juxtapose against the tenor of those episodes. It's also a perfect example of why people are eschewing traditional mainstream media in favor of podcasts from individuals like Rogan.

I loved this quote:

Reading or watching the news is no longer immersive, as it was when you sat down with a bunch of papers or in front of a living room TV. Now it is a fragmented experience, usually done on a cellphone.

I don't think we've ever used the word "immersive" to describe Readup, but I like it a lot. We talk about removing ads and distractions, but always try to remind ourselves to frame things in the positive instead of negative; what we add, not what we take away. I like to think we're making the entire experience of reading online more immersive, beyond just making articles nicer to read, by fostering a community around the act of reading itself.

Highly recommend this real life murder mystery! Excellent read. I had never heard of this case before. Absolutely tragic.

I was ready to be on board with most of this, but assertions like this really put me off:

These are not my or anyone’s opinions, despite a tendency to publish this information in opinion sections. And the answers to the most common responses raised by any serious questioning of animal agriculture aren’t opinions.

Maybe I'm overly sensitive because of the pandemic, but I think it should be even more clear now than ever that facts, science and data aren't the be-all and end-all of policy making. I get what the author is trying to say, but if you follow that logic then you can make a really solid case for completely banning cars as well. We'd save tens of thousands of lives every year and radically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These are incontrovertible facts!

I say we focus instead on the issues related to factory farms and any subsidies and special treatment that they receive (think ag-gag laws). I think plenty of people could have their minds changed if they were aware of the horrors that go on in some of those facilities. Let's also not pretend that there is only one solution to the problem and shut down the possibility of alternative points of view.

I think this is a really important perspective to read. It's going to be especially important to keep in mind when the federal government will inevitably seek to further expand its power in the wake of the pandemic. The CDC and FDA already had enough authority to thwart early efforts to contain the spread with effective testing. They certainly don't need even more power and the last thing we need is a new pandemic cabinet department.

Solid assessment of the challenges involved with determining a single cause of death in general, let alone during a pandemic. It seems like the best data for policy making will eventually come from widespread, widely available tests that can be performed on a large random sample of the population rather than looking at death certificates.

Very important information! I wish there was more talk in general about what individuals can do to strengthen their immune systems rather than just telling everyone to stay inside and wait for a vaccine (which only further exacerbates vitamin D deficiencies and makes it more difficult for people to exercise which is also very important!).

I challenge anyone to read this and tell me how it makes more sense than Bitcoin.

Great read! It's amazing how much money, time and effort can be poured into creating such a dysfunctional solution to such a simple problem. I really don't think it bodes well for the rest of our economy and even economic system that this sort of thing can go on the way it is.

I'm not totally against the idea of panpsychism but the idea that individual electrons are making choices feels like a bit of a stretch to me.

For example the late Freeman Dyson, the well-known American physicist, stated in his 1979 book, Disturbing the Universe, that “the processes of human consciousness differ only in degree but not in kind from the processes of choice between quantum states which we call ‘chance’ when made by electrons.”

Talking about "the processes of human consciousness" as something that is even remotely understood is ridiculous. There's such a wide chasm between physics and philosophy and I feel like the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

Have you ever read a headline that was so stupid that you had to read the article? You got me, Huffpo.

Black graciously humored HuffPost by answering that question in a phone call last week. “I mean, I don’t know!” she said with a laugh.

Amazing.

Mushrooms are the best! It's very exciting to read that state-wide legalization of psilocybin will be on the ballot this year in Oregon. Really hope it passes! Fun fact: The spores of psilocybin mushrooms are actually legal and they're not terribly difficult to grow with lots of great information online.

Both of Paul Stamet's appearances on Joe Rogan's podcast are well worth the watch. Guy is such a trip and has an incredible wealth of mycoknowledge.

Joe Rogan Experience #1035 - Paul Stamets Joe Rogan Experience #1385 - Paul Stamets

Great analysis. It's going to be very interesting to see how this plays out.

George Costanza had the idea for this book in the Season 4 episode "The Pitch"! Jerry mocked him for wanting a historical record of toilet paper through the ages, but it is indeed a fascinating history. Also really happy to learn the entomology of "shit stick." I wish this interview wasn't edited for length and clarity. Guess I'll have to get the book!

What an epic story! It's super impressive how well the boys held up. They must have been psyched to find those chickens. We humans never would have made it this far if we weren't cooperative by nature.