Seth Lerer from The Great CoursesDelve into the linguistic relationships of Old English to its earlier German matrix. Look at key vocabulary terms—many of which are still in our own language—to trace patterns of migration, social contact, and intellectual change. Also, learn how Old English was written down and how it can help us reconstruct the worldview of the Anglo-Saxon peoples.
Sean Carroll from preposterousuniverse.comMaxwell’s Demon is a famous thought experiment in which a mischievous imp uses knowledge of the velocities of gas molecules in a box to decrease the entropy of the gas, which could then be used to do useful work such as pushing a piston. This is a classic example of converting information (what the gas molecules are doing) into work. But of course that kind of phenomenon is much more widespread — it happens any time a company or organization hires someone in order to take advantage of their know-how. César Hidalgo has become an expert in this relationship between information and work, both at the level of physics and how it bubbles up into economies and societies. Looking at the world through the lens of information brings new insights into how we learn things, how economies are structured, and how novel uses of data will transform how we live.
César Hidalgo received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Notre Dame. He currently holds an ANITI Chair at the University of Toulouse, an Honorary Professorship at the University of Manchester, and a Visiting Professorship at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. From 2010 to 2019, he led MIT’s Collective Learning group. He is the author of Why Information Grows and co-author of The Atlas of Economic Complexity. He is a co-founder of Datawheel, a data visualization company whose products include the Observatory of Economic Complexity.
I was also piqued at the mention of Lynne Kelly’s work, which I’m now knee deep into. I suspect it could dramatically expand on what we think of as the capacity of a personbyte, though the limit of knowledge there still exists. The idea of mnemotechniques within indigenous cultures certainly expands on the way knowledge worked in prehistory and what we classically think of and frame collective knowledge or collective learning.
I also think there are some interesting connections with Dr. Kelly’s mentions of social equity in prehistorical cultures and the work that Hidalgo mentions in the middle of the episode.
There are a small handful of references I’ll want to delve into after hearing this, though it may take time to pull them up unless they’re linked in the show notes.
hat-tip: Complexity Digest for the reminder that this is in my podcatcher. 🔖 November 22, 2019 at 03:28PM
Joe Nocera shares some recent updates on the story with Laura Beil, host of “Dr Death.”
Breaking news in the case of Dr Isaac Herschkopf.
For the first time in nearly 30 years, Marty makes a phone call to an important person.
Phyllis Shapiro was visiting her daughter in Texas when her cell phone rang. It was hard to make out what the person on the other end was saying, she recalls, though it sounded something like “brother Marty.”
After all this time.
Shapiro had been bracing for this call for decades. Her brother, Marty Markowitz, hadn’t talked to her since the early 1980s, when he started seeing a Manhattan psychiatrist and severed ties with his family. Now it was New Year’s Eve 2010. Struggling to hear the caller, she wondered: Does Marty need a kidney? Is he dead?
Soon it became clear. Her brother was on the other end of the line — and he wanted back into her life.
Would she take him?
Detective novels. Personal memoirs. Patient notes. Marty Markowitz spent hundreds of hours typing and retyping them all, until he finally had enough.
Isaac Herschkopf, Manhattan psychiatrist, had a literary alter ego — Jamie Brandeis, a Manhattan psychiatrist who solves crimes using the power of psychiatry.
Brandeis is the brilliant protagonist of seven unpublished murder mysteries written by Herschkopf, with titles including “Some Like It Big” and “Some Like It Modest.” And that was just the beginning of the doctor’s literary output. In addition to lectures and published letters to the editor and columns, there were self-help books about marriage and family and a 1996 memoir describing a difficult childhood in a household of Holocaust survivors — a dozen manuscripts in all written by Herschkopf.
And typed by Marty Markowitz.
There’s a growing movement on the left and right for prison reform. On this week’s On the Media, a deep dive into the strange bedfellows coalition working to close prisons down. Also, in speeches, testimony, and leaked audio, Mark Zuckerberg has been trying to make a case for free expression — and for Facebook. Plus, what the TV show COPS reveals about our fascination with punishment.
1. Kate Klonick [@Klonick], assistant professor at St. John's Law School, on Mark Zuckerberg's pronouncements this month on democracy, free expression, and the future of Facebook. Listen.
2. David Dagan [@DavidDagan], post-doctoral political science scholar at George Washington University; Mark Holden, senior vice president of Koch Industries; and Brittany Williams, activist with No New Jails in New York City, on the closing down of prisons and jails.
3. Dan Taberski [@dtaberski], host of the podcast "Running From Cops," on what he and his team learned from watching hundreds of episodes of "COPS." Listen.
American aid has the power to tip the scales in a broader battle between authoritarianism and democracy.
How a loyal Trump donor ended up at the center of the impeachment investigation — and why Republicans now accuse him of betrayal.
Aimee Stephens was fired for disclosing her gender identity to her boss. This year, the Supreme Court may make a surprising ruling in her favor.
Kentucky’s unpopular Republican governor was facing a losing battle. So he turned to President Trump, and a polarized political landscape, for help.
A new poll from The New York Times reveals which Democratic candidates may have a competitive edge against President Trump in battleground states.
At the state’s biggest political event of the year, candidates fought for frontrunner status before the first votes of the nomination race.
Porridge, for me, is made of oats, water, a bit of milk and a pinch of salt. Accompaniments are butter and brown sugar or, better yet, treacle, though I have nothing against people who add milk or even cream. So, while I’ve been aware of the inexorable rise of porridge in all its forms, I’ve been blissfully ignorant of the details. When I make, or eat, a risotto or a dal, I certainly don’t think of it as a porridge. Maybe now I will, and all because Laura Valli took the trouble to send me a copy of her research paper Porridge Renaissance and the Communities of Ingestion.
We had fun chatting about porridge, about how she helped start the only porridge cafe in her native Estonia, and about her participation in the World Porridge Making Championship last year, in Carrbridge, Scotland. As a result of which, despite the fact that I am usually the last person in the world to know about the international day of this, that or the other, I’m totally ready for Thursday 10 October and World Porridge Day.
Notes
- Thank you Laura for getting in touch and for your photos.
- On the spurtle, I welcome further details on why you should use one. In the meantime, I note that Neal Robertson, two time winner of the Golden Spurtle, despite having a quiver-full of spurtles to his name, uses a spoon in this video demonstration
- More on the 26th Annual Golden Spurtle® World Porridge Making Championship® and World Porridge Day
- NPR had a great article about Norway’s Traditional Porridge last year.
- Music adapted from bagpipe shredding by zagi2.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:03 — 17.0MB)
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I’m not sure Jeremy got to the root of his question about why porridge was hip and trendy, but I suspect that some of it goes down to the whole grain movement and the rising popularity of “exotic” grains like quinoa, which I recall he’s commented on before. Of course, many restaurants I visit will have at least a simple oatmeal on their breakfast menu, often for $10 or more and there’s nothing that will make food seem more mod than a 1000+% mark up on its fair market value. That combined with the comfort food aspect seems to get people every time, particularly when it’s difficult to mess up a porridge.
I will admit I’ve been eating a lot more porridge over the past few years, but part of it is the fact that I acquired a rice cooker which has a workable porridge setting that allows my grains to soak overnight and then automatically cook so that breakfast is waiting when I rise. My favorite is generally brown sugar with ripe strawberries and a splash of cream.
I was disappointed not to find Laura Valli’s paper Porridge Renaissance and the Communities of Ingestion linked to in the show notes, but apparently it’s because it either isn’t yet published or available online.
I note that Neal Robertson, two time winner of the Golden Spurtle, despite having a quiver-full of spurtles to his name, uses a spoon in this video demonstration.
Jeremy buries the lede here that Neal is also sporting a serious arm tattoo that reads “World Porridge Champion 10.10.10”! Though I do wonder where he keeps the golden spurtle?
I will also admit that as I was making breakfast this morning, my choice of podcast was a bit biased.
Terry Greene from voiced.caIt’s a crossover episode! Ken Bauer is the host of the Ask The Flipped Learning Network podcast (@askthefln) and an associate professor of #CompSci @TecDeMonterrey in Guadalajara. We chat about our respective podcasts, Virtually Connecting, Open Education, hockey, tacos and a wide variety of things in between.
