Reads, Listens, Watches

Reading list of books, magazines, newspaper articles, other physical documents, or online posts
Playlist of posts listened to, or scrobbled
Playlist of watched movies, television shows, online videos, and other visual-based events

📺 Global Political Expert and Author Dr. Brian Klaas on Tavis Smiley (PBS)

Watched Global Political Expert and Author Dr. Brian Klaas from PBS
The political expert and author discusses his latest book, The Despot’s Accomplice: How the West is Aiding & Abetting the Decline of Democracy. Dr. Brian Klaas is an expert on global democracy, democratic transitions, American politics, Western foreign policy, political violence, and elections -- and the security and economic risks of all these challenges. Klaas is the author of The Despot's Accomplice: How the West is Aiding & Abetting the Decline of Democracy. He is a Fellow in Global and Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics. Klaas has advised governments, US political campaigns, the European Union, multi-billion dollar investors, international NGOs, and international politicians.
It seems like every time I watch this show I need to buy another book. This time it’s The Despot’s Accomplice: How the West is Aiding & Abetting the Decline of Democracy.

👓 No, You Can’t Use My Photos On Your Brand’s Instagram For Free | PetaPixel

Read No, You Can't Use My Photos On Your Brand's Instagram For Free by Max Dubler (PetaPixel)
Photography and Camera News, Reviews, and Inspiration

📺 Journalist and Author Naomi Klein – Part 1 of 2 on Tavis Smiley (PBS)

Watched Journalist and Author Naomi Klein – Part 1 of 2 from PBS
The journalist and author discusses her latest book, No is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need. Part 1 of 2. Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, syndicated columnist and author of the international bestsellers, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate (2014), The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism (2007) and No Logo (2000). In 2017, Klein became Senior Correspondent for The Intercept. She is also a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute and contributor to the Nation Magazine. Recent articles have also appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Boston Globe, The Guardian, the London Review of Books and Le Monde. Her latest book is called No is Not Enough: Resisting Trump's Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need.
An interesting little episode. I’m glad there are two parts, but I already find myself wishing there were three.

👓 Creating an archive of my online writing, from 2002-2017 | Richard MacManus

Read Creating an archive of my online writing, from 2002-2017 by Richard MacManus (richardmacmanus.com)
I’ve just spent an inordinate amount of time creating an archive of all my past online writing work, in particular of the tech blog I founded ReadWriteWeb. I thought I’d outline my reasons for doing this, and why I ended up relying heavily on the Internet Archive instead of the original website sources.
Journalists, take note of how Richard MacManus created an online archive of his writing work!

I’m sure it took a tremendous amount of work given his long history of writing, but he’s now got a great archive as well as a nearly complete online portfolio of his work. If you haven’t done this or have just started out, here are some potentially useful resources to guide your thoughts.

I’m curious how others are doing this type of online archive. Feel free to share your methods.

🎞 Sing (Universal, 2016)

Watched Sing from Universal, 2016
When an eternally optimistic koala puts on a singing competition to save his failing theater, animals across the city gather to step into the spotlight and chase their dreams! Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane Directors: Christophe Lourdelet, Garth Jennings Writer: Garth Jennings Runtime: 1 hour 48 minutes
This was so good in the theater that I had to get a streaming copy on Amazon. I really like the soundtrack as well.

👓 A Photographer Captures the Unusual Way Sperm Whales Sleep | Colossal

Read A Photographer Captures the Unusual Way Sperm Whales Sleep (Colossal)
Photographer Franco Banfi and a team of scuba divers were following a pod of sperm whales when suddenly the large creatures became motionless and began to take a synchronized vertical rest. This strange sleeping position was first discovered only in 2008, when a team of biologists from the UK and Japan drifted into their own group of non-active sperm whales. After studying tagged whales the team learned this collective slumber occurs for approximately 7 percent of the animal’s life, in short increments of just 6-24 minutes.

👓 Libraries and publishers | Krissedoff

Read Libraries and publishers by Derek Krissoff (krissedoff)
A recent Chronicle piece on university libraries and what it describes as their pivot away from books has me thinking (with help from some friends on twitter) about the increase in library-reporting university presses. It’s a sensitive topic that doesn’t always, I think, receive a lot of attention or get treated with sufficient nuance.

👓 The W3C has overruled members’ objections and will publish its DRM for videos | Boing Boing

Read The W3C has overruled members' objections and will publish its DRM for videos (Boing Boing)
It's been nearly four months since the W3C held the most controversial vote in its decades-long history of standards-setting: a vote where accessibility groups, security experts, browser startups, public interest groups, human rights groups, archivists, research institutions and other worthies went up against trillions of dollars' worth of corporate muscle: the world's largest electronics, web, and content companies in a battle for the soul of the open web.

👓 I Found HanAssholeSolo’s anti-Semitic Posts. Then, the Death Threats Started. | Politico

Read I Found HanAssholeSolo’s anti-Semitic Posts. Then, the Death Threats Started. (Politico Magazine)
This is what it’s like to report on extremism in the Trump era.

👓 The Pitch Drop Experiment | Atlas Obscura

Read The Pitch Drop Experiment by Dylan (Atlas Obscura)
Begun in 1927 by Professor Thomas Parnell, this experiment was meant to reveal the surprising properties of an everyday material: pitch. Pitch is the name of a number of hard tar-like substances and in this case, bitumen was used. Though at room temperature pitch appears to be a solid and can be shattered by a hammer, it is, in fact, a very high-viscosity liquid, and Professor Parnell wanted to prove it.

👓 Something New For Baby To Chew On: Rocket Science And Quantum Physics | NPR

Read Something New For Baby To Chew On: Rocket Science And Quantum Physics by Lynn Neary & Julie Depenbrock (NPR)
The books introduce subjects like rocket science, quantum physics and general relativity — with bright colors, simple shapes and thick board pages perfect for teething toddlers. The books make up the Baby University series — and each one begins with the same sentence and picture — This is a ball — and then expands on the titular concept.
Ooh! We definitely need more books like these in early childhood education.

👓 Republican Lawmakers Buy Health Insurance Stocks as Repeal Effort Moves Forward | The Intercept

Read Republican Lawmakers Buy Health Insurance Stocks as Repeal Effort Moves Forward by Lee Fang (The Intercept)
JUST AS THE HOUSE Republican bill to slash much of the Affordable Care Act moved forward, Rep. Mike Conaway, a Texas Republican and member of Speaker Paul Ryan’s leadership team, added a health insurance company to his portfolio.
Aren’t there ethics rules to cover nonsense like this?

👓 How to Talk to Famous Professors | The Chronicle

Read How to Talk to Famous Professors (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
A cheat sheet for making a potential contact without gushing or embarrassing yourself.
Most people just wanted to be treated like people…

👓 Carrie Fisher’s final assets revealed, Billie Lourd named beneficiary of the estate | Entertainment Weekly

Read Carrie Fisher's final assets revealed, Billie Lourd named beneficiary of the estate by Mike Miller (Entertainment Weekly)
The Star Wars actress’s assets, outlined in court documents obtained by PEOPLE, include several bank accounts, a 2016 Tesla S, full ownership of several LLCs, and a life insurance policy. Personal and household belongings like jewelry, artwork, and collectibles will also go to Lourd, Fisher’s only child from her relationship with talent executive Bryan Lourd.