Author: Fernando Ortiz Jr.

Editor / Writer / Civil War historian

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

This week: Hating the monoliths / Maradona’s darker legacy / How to press flowers / The missing in Mexico / Shakespeare’s heroines

This week: Hating the monoliths / Maradona’s darker legacy / How to press flowers / The missing in Mexico / Shakespeare’s heroines

Most of these great items come from my social media networks. Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and Facebook for more fascinating videos, photos, articles, essays, and criticism. Learn more about my academic background here.

1. Tributes to Diego Maradona show how easily violence against women is ignored
By Joan Smith | The Guardian | November 2020
“Too often we’re in denial about the fact that heroes — such as Maradona and Sean Connery — might also be abusers”

2. The Can-Do Power
By Samantha Power | Foreign Affairs | January / February 2021
“The Biden administration should … pursue foreign policy initiatives that can quickly highlight the return of American expertise and competence.”

3. Yo-Yo Ma and the Meaning of Life
By David Marchese | Talk :: The New York Times Magazine | November 2020
“It’s all the connections we make in life. Once you’re connected, you feel responsibility. And ‘connected’ means that it’s a circular loop. I know you, but you have to know me, too. There’s an energy circle that goes back and forth.”

4. How to Press Flowers
By Malia Wollan | Tip :: The New York Times Magazine | August 2020
“Each bit of plant material should be spread out carefully and sandwiched between layers of nonglossy blotting paper and sheets of cardboard.”

5. The search for the disappeared points to Mexico’s darkest secrets
By Mary Beth Sheridan | The Washington Post | December 2020
“More than 79,000 people have disappeared in Mexico, most of them since 2006. It’s the worst crisis of the disappeared in Latin America since the Cold War. … And Mexico’s numbers keep rising. Last year saw a record. Mexicans are uncovering two clandestine graves a day, on average.”

6. Witty women
By Rhodri Lewis | Times Literary Supplement | December 2020
“Shakespeare’s languages and the origin of his comic heroines”

7. The Monoliths Are Stupid and I Hate Them
By Sarah Jones | Intelligencer :: New York Magazine | December 2020
“They feel like the last authentic objects in the world. Next to them the monoliths can only be props, a brief and frantic distraction. Escape lies just beyond them, in open land and an unblemished sky.”

8. The history of First Ladies’ hairstyles, untangled
By Matthew Sweet | 1843 :: The Economist | November 2020
“Haircuts in the White House are never just cosmetic. There’s a political message in every strand”

9. 2020 Has Been Miserable. Is Extreme Masculinity to Blame?
By Peter Glick | Politico Magazine | November 2020
“Whether it’s the refusal to wear a mask during a pandemic or the win-at-all-costs approach to elections, 2020 has been a banner year for a particularly toxic masculinity”

10. Can mosquitoes spread the coronavirus?
Viral Questions :: Associated Press | August 2020
“No. While mosquitoes can spread some diseases, most notably malaria, experts say COVID-19 is not among them.”

It’s only the beginning of the intellectual journey

I don’t consider myself particularly wise or much of a role model, but I thought I had a few guiding principles that might be useful, if only because history, journalism and fiction are my passions too.

I was reviewing old emails the other day, and I came across a letter I wrote to a young college student who asked for my advice. He was considering joining his college newspaper. He also hoped to pursue an academic career as a historian and maybe dabble in writing historical fiction. He was worried he couldn’t do it all.

Now, I don’t consider myself particularly wise or much of a role model, but I thought I had a few guiding principles that might be useful, if only because history, journalism and fiction are my passions too.

Here’s shortened and edited version of what I said.

******

Thank you for reaching out. It sounds like you’re taking the right perspective and asking the right questions. My overall advice is this: Stick with journalism and see where it takes you. Does this mean you can’t be a historian? No. It will make you a better historian and academic writer. Does this mean you can’t be a fiction writer? Absolutely not. It will make you a clear thinker and writer.

I was always shy, but I realized early in life that I enjoyed expressing myself through the written word. When I was in my teens or early twenties, I read about Theodore Roosevelt and the many different passions he pursued throughout his life, and I decided I would be someone like that. I decided that my life would focus on three overall passions. I decided that I wanted to be remembered as a journalist, as a historian and as a historical novelist.

I started writing in college newspapers at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi (The Foghorn) and at the University of Texas at Austin (The Daily Texan). I wrote book reviews, reviewed theater performances and movies, and contributed op-ed pieces. I was already deeply interested in history, and I convinced the editors at the Texan to let me write an occasional column on history. Ironically, I wasn’t interested in straight reporting and was too shy to speak to strangers, so I never became a reporter. I worked as a proofreader — what they call a copy editor — and as a page designer.

After college, I eventually got a job at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. No matter how accomplished you may be, always swallow your pride and start at the bottom — I started as a news assistant and junior copy editor — and work your way up. I did this even in college. Step by step. Prove yourself to your colleagues and to yourself. Learn everything you can from everyone — they all know something you don’t.

Figure out how each job and experience can help you move on to the next job and take on the challenge. The college newspaper jobs helped me get the Caller-Times job. The Caller-Times job led to a similar job at the San Antonio Express-News. That editing and writing experience was invaluable in graduate school at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and at the University of Texas at San Antonio. After several years in academics, as you know, I’m now an editor at Texas Public Radio. …

I had always been interested in current events and foreign affairs. I always saw journalism and history as two halves of the same heart, the two ends of the same spectrum of civilization. I had an old-fashioned idea that all smart people — writers, scientists, athletes, anyone — should all spend at least a year working in some capacity at a newspaper. It’s a great place to learn how to write clearly and succinctly. Experience the constant flow of information all around you and through you. Understand the value of journalism in a democracy. I equated journalism to public service or military service — an enriching challenge that benefits everyone. That’s what motivated me to enter journalism and become an editor. I feel it is noble work, just as noble as being a teacher. You are really making a difference as a journalist. I wish more people would participate in the industry. I wish it was better funded.

Working in a newspaper taught me to pay close attention to details and maintain a consistent sense of what’s important and what isn’t. It strengthened my capacity to deal with all kinds of different people and personalities and deepened my sympathy for the less fortunate, those without a voice, those who need help. You can’t be afraid of a newsroom’s chaos, and you have to have faith that you can bring a semblance of order to it all. Always view problems and setbacks as opportunities. Always.

You’ve got your foot in the door at the student newspaper. Stay with it. Work for free. Work for the experience. Work at one job, then at another, then another. Build up a body of experience and a body of work. Work in different departments. Figure what you don’t like doing and what you really like to do. Write book reviews. Learn about the newspaper’s website. If you want to work at a professional newspaper or radio station, bring them a wide variety of examples of the work you’ve done in college. That will take time but it’s doable and worth every second of effort. Talk to journalism professors and to the leaders of the college newspaper or radio station. When you have time, see if professional newspapers/news web sites need help from a smart college journalist. That’s great experience too.

The great advantage of staying with journalism is this: The field has space for and needs all kinds of different, smart people to illustrate and explain the world for everyone else. Also, don’t assume that once you enter journalism you will be a journalist forever. Learn about science, literature, law, history, engineering, politics and other subjects. Let journalism be the foundation upon which you build a life filled with different experiences, different expertise and different ambitions. Becoming an effective journalist — editor, reporter, whatever — is only the beginning of your intellectual journey.

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

This week: Learning from the losers / Spend the holidays with some generals at war / Our love affair with bookstores / A critical look at Barack Obama / Presidential sex scandals

This week: Learning from the losers / Spend the holidays with some generals at war / Our love affair with bookstores / A critical look at Barack Obama / Presidential sex scandals

Most of these great items come from my social media networks. Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and Facebook for more fascinating videos, photos, articles, essays, and criticism. Learn more about my academic background here.

1. What Trump Showed Us About America
Politico Magazine | November 2020
“A disruptive presidency is coming to a close. Here’s what 35 thinkers say it revealed — not about the man, but about the rest of us.”

2. Generals at War: The television series.
National Geographic | 2010
“[The] series takes a fresh approach to the great battles of World War Two, examining them through the decisions, dilemmas and disasters of the generals on both sides.”
Watch the episodes: El Alamein | Stalingrad | Kursk | Singapore | The Bulge | Midway

3. The Etiquette of Defeat: What Donald Trump Can Learn From History’s Biggest Losers
By Daniel Mendelsohn | Vanity Fair | November 2020
“From ancient Macedonia to recent Emmy Awards, history offers good and bad examples of how to handle not winning.”

4. How to Suture a Wound
By Malia Wollan | Tip :: The New York Times Magazine | August 2020
“A medical-grade suture kit is the most hygienic option, of course, but sometimes you have to improvise.”

5. A Literary History of the Writerly Love Affair with Bookstores
By Jorge Carrion | Lit Hub | November 2020
“Good bookshops are questions without answers. They are places that provoke you intellectually, encode riddles, surprise and offer challenges, hypnotize with that melody — or cacophony — which creates light and shadows, shelves, stairs, front-covers, doors opening, umbrellas closing, head movements indicating hello or goodbye, people on the move.”

6. Blackjack with Matthew McConaughey
By Simon Willis | 1843 :: The Economist | November 2020
“The smooth-talking Hollywood actor reveals his hand”

7. Barack Obama Doesn’t Have the Answers
By Osita Nwanevu | The New Republic | November 2020
“The former president seems unable to reckon with the failures of his presidency and diagnose the Republican Party’s incurable nihilism.”
— Also see from Politico: Could Obama Have Been Great?

8. A Look At Grand Army Plaza’s $8.9 Million Restoration Design
By Jen Cheng | Gothamist | November 2020
“The arch, which was dedicated in 1892, is the main focus of the restoration work.”

9. A Presidential Affair: The Secret, Salacious Sex Scandals of U.S. Presidents
By Joyzel Acevedo | Rummaging Through the Attic :: Jezebel | October 2020
“[P]olitical figures and their sex lives were frequent topics of discussion in the press throughout most of the 19th century. But things shifted in the early 1900s, with the establishment of the National Press Club.”

10. Can I get the coronavirus twice?
Viral Questions :: Associated Press | September 2020
“It seems possible, though how often it happens isn’t known.”

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

This week: The enduring strength of hurricanes / Recovering 1980s fashion for ‘The Crown’ / Make a wildflower bomb / The glory of sleep retreats / Picking the right hand sanitizer

This week: The enduring strength of hurricanes / Recovering 1980s fashion for ‘The Crown’ / Make a wildflower bomb / The glory of sleep retreats / Picking the right hand sanitizer

Most of these great items come from my social media networks. Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and Facebook for more fascinating videos, photos, articles, essays, and criticism. Learn more about my academic background here.

1. Hurricanes stay stronger longer after landfall than in past
By Seth Borenstein | Associated Press | November 2020
“The new study looked at 71 Atlantic hurricanes with landfalls since 1967. It found that in the 1960s, hurricanes declined two-thirds in wind strength within 17 hours of landfall. But now it generally takes 33 hours for storms to weaken that same degree.”

2. Can America restore the rule of law without prosecuting Trump?
By Jonathan Mahler | The New York Times Magazine | November 2020
“Donald Trump’s potential criminal liability is the key to understanding his presidency. When he leaves office, it will present the country with a historic dilemma.”

3. ‘Charles is very stylish’: how The Crown‘s costume designer brought 1980s to life
By Hannah Marriott | The Guardian | November 2020
“Season 4’s wardrobe includes Diana’s Cinderella dress and Thatcher’s power shoulders”

4. How to Make a Wildflower Bomb
By Malia Wollan | Tip :: The New York Times Magazine | March 2020
“Before you go launching wildflower seed projectiles, start with a solid recipe.”

5. The Texas governor who refused to concede after losing a bitter election
By Gillian Brockell | The Washington Post | November 2020
“The incumbent refused to concede. He had lost reelection, by a lot, but he claimed it was only because of election fraud. He appealed his case to the courts and called on militias to defend him. … This is a story about a Texas governor who barricaded himself in the governor’s office and refused to give up control.”

6. Farewell to Jim Cooke, the Greatest Art Director Alive
By Angelica Alzona | Jezebel | November 2020
“If you’ve ever enjoyed the art on any of our websites in their various iterations over the past decade, you have one man to thank: creative director, illustrator, designer, and art team father-of-four Jim Cooke.”

7. ‘Storm Tracker’ Maps Shows How Hurricanes Spread Invasive Species
By Theresa Machemer | Smithsonian Magazine | October 2020
“The U.S. Geological Survey launched the program in 2018 after hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate scrambled coastal ecosystems”

8. Need more ZZZ’s? Sleep retreats are a (glorious) thing
By Stephanie Vermillion | OZY | January 2020
“While the effects of sleep deprivation are ugly, the retreat destinations where you can address it are anything but.”

9. Married sex is like making risotto: always nice, but often you can’t be arsed
By Romesh Ranganathan | The Guardian | October 2020
“I know other couples who have just accepted that sex is now too much effort, and have given up altogether. And while I believe that acceptance will bring them nothing but happiness, I do worry about what not having sex means for our relationship.”

10. What should I look for in a hand sanitizer?
Viral Questions :: Associated Press | September 2020
“Pick one that contains mostly alcohol, and has few other ingredients.”

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

This week: The future of the space station / Protect yourself from conspiracy theories / Decline of local news poses a new problem / A private tutor’s secret life / The adventures of fighting fires

This week: The future of the space station / Protect yourself from conspiracy theories / Decline of local news poses a new problem / A private tutor’s secret life / The adventures of fighting fires

Most of these great items come from my social media networks. Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and Facebook for more fascinating videos, photos, articles, essays, and criticism. Learn more about my academic background here.

1. What happens when NASA retires the International Space Station?
By Andrea Leinfelder | Houston Chronicle | October 2020
“The space station is authorized for human habitation through 2024, and Congress is expected to extend that to 2030. NASA believes the orbiting lab will survive at least another 10 years, and there’s precedent for long-lasting space hardware”

2. Ancient tectonic plate discovered beneath Canada, geologists claim
By Michael Irving | New Atlas | Ocotober 2020
“The face of the Earth has changed drastically over its life, with plates shifting and sinking. Now, geologists at the University of Houston claim to have found the remains of an ancient tectonic plate beneath Canada that was pushed under the surface tens of millions of years ago.”

3. Conspiracy theories: Why some people are susceptible and how to protect yourself
By Angela Haupt | The Washington Post | October 2020
“Conspiracy theories such as these swirl around us like noxious germs, targeting the mind instead of the body. And in the same way that our immune system can leave us more vulnerable to pathogens, our emotional state can make us more open to false — and potentially harmful — beliefs.”

4. How to Talk to Someone With Alzheimer’s
By Malia Wollan | Tip :: The New York Times Magazine | December 2019
“Approach someone with Alzheimer’s from the front. If the person doesn’t recognize you, say your name.”

5. The decline of local newsrooms could make it harder for us to detect the next disease outbreak
By Lauren Harris | Columbia Journalism Review | October 2020
“Here’s the irony: our society is better positioned to recognize the value of monitoring local journalism for viral warning signs—but the local news ecosystem is more beleaguered than ever.”

6. ‘One By Willie’
Texas Monthly | September 2020
“But this series isn’t just about the songs. It’s about what music really means to us — the ways it can change us, take care of us, and connect us all.”

7. First-class flights, chauffeurs and bribery: the secret life of a private tutor
By Emma Irving | 1843 :: The Economist | October 2020
“Tutoring has become a weapon in the global arms race in education. There’s no limit to what some parents will pay”

8. 3,000-Year-Old Orbs Provide a Glimpse of Ancient Sport
By Christopher Intagliata | Scientific American | October 2020
“Researchers say three ancient leather balls, dug up from the tombs of horsemen in northwestern China, are the oldest such specimens from Europe or Asia.”

9. ‘I got the bug’: a pioneering wildfire fighter on the thrills and threats of the job
By Gabrielle Canon | The Guardian | September 2020
“Sara Sweeney, the first woman to lead her unit, once couldn’t imagine fighting fires. Now she doesn’t want to stop”

10. What Just Happened in Peru? Understanding Vizcarra’s Sudden Impeachment
By Alonso Gurmendi Dunkelberg | Americas Quarterly | November 2020
“Expect more populism ahead in one of the world’s hardest-hit countries by COVID-19.”

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

This week: Teaching during the pandemic / The NYC subway map reimagined / !!!!!!!!! / Remembering Lolita the orca / Inventor of Rubik’s Cube still at play

This week: Teaching during the pandemic / The NYC subway map reimagined / !!!!!!!!! / Remembering Lolita the orca / Inventor of Rubik’s Cube still at play

Most of these great items come from my social media networks. Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and Facebook for more fascinating videos, photos, articles, essays, and criticism. Learn more about my academic background here.

1. In-person classes, Internet snafus, melancholy hallways: This is what teaching in a pandemic is like
By Nikkina McKnight | The Lily :: The Washington Post | October 2020
“Read one teacher’s 30-day diary, plus responses from readers around the world”

2. New York’s Digital Subway Map Comes Alive
By Christopher Bonanos | Curbed :: New York Magazine | October 2020
“In this dire year for New York City and its transit system, this digital launch is a rare moment of things looking up.”

3. Rogue Rocky Planet Found Adrift in the Milky Way
By Nola Taylor Redd | Scientific American | October 2020
“The diminutive world and others like it could help astronomers probe the mysteries of planet formation”

4. How to Spot a Counterfeit Watch
By Malia Wollan | Tip :: The New York Times Magazine | December 2019
“On the watch’s face, inspect the magnifying lens over the date, which is often not as strong on counterfeits.”

5. How the ‘right stuff’ to be an astronaut has changed over the years
By Jay Bennett | NatGeo | October 2020
“The first humans flew into space nearly 60 years ago from the deserts of southern Kazakhstan and the Atlantic shores of Florida. Since then, we’ve learned a lot about what it takes to leave the planet.”

6. Countering the tyranny of the clock
The Economist | October 2020
“How flexible working is changing workers’ relationship with time”

7. Read This Article!!!
By Julie Beck | The Atlantic | June 2018
“How many exclamation points do you need to seem genuinely enthusiastic?”

8. Native Americans honor Lolita the orca 50 years after capture: ‘She was taken’
By Cara McKenna | The Guardian | September 2020
“The southern resident orca, whom the Washington state-based nation calls Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut, was taken from waters off Penn Cove in Lummi territory when she was four years old.”

9. He Invented the Rubik’s Cube. He’s Still Learning From It.
By Alexandra Alter | The New York Times | September 2020
“Erno Rubik, who devised one of the world’s most popular and enduring puzzles, opens up about his creation in his new book, ‘Cubed.'”

10. Is it safe to drink from a water fountain during the pandemic?
Viral Questions :: Associated Press | August 2020
“There’s no evidence you can get COVID-19 from the water itself. But since the virus may linger on surfaces, experts say to avoid fountains if you can or to limit any direct contact when using them.”

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

This week: What happens if Trump doesn’t go? / COVID-19 and the English language / The history of ‘cuck’ / The loneliness of Prince / Coronavirus and secondhand smoke

This week: What happens if Trump doesn’t go? / COVID-19 and the English language / The history of ‘cuck’ / The loneliness of Prince / Coronavirus and secondhand smoke

Most of these great items come from my social media networks. Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and Facebook for more fascinating videos, photos, articles, essays, and criticism. Learn more about my academic background here.

1. What Will You Do if Trump Doesn’t Leave?
By David Brooks | The New York Times | September 2020
“Playing out the nightmare scenario.”

2. How COVID-19 is changing the English language
By Roger J. Kreuz | The Conversation | September 2020
“A perennial issue for lexicographers is deciding whether or not a term has enough staying power to be enshrined in the dictionary. The COVID-19 pandemic has produced its fair share of new terms that are blends of other words, and many of these are on the editors’ watch list.”

3. The Long, Violent Literary History of Calling Someone a ‘Cuck’
By Eliott Grover | Inside Hook | October 2020
“From the Trojan War to Shakespeare, the oft-ridiculed archetype has always had much darker implications”

4. How to Build a Moat
By Malia Wollan | Tip :: The New York Times Magazine | October 2019
“Don’t expect your moat to stop swimmers not wearing armor.”

5. What We Talk About When We Talk About Magical Realism
By Fernando Sdrigotti | LA Review of Books | October 2020
“If anything, magical realism — in its juggling of exoticism and legibility, a combo that Edward Said would have called Orientalist when occurring in other elsewheres — is a practical marketing ploy, a reduction by means not of absurdity but of obfuscation — a crude simplification through fuzziness.”

6. Prince Was One of the Loneliest Souls I’ve Ever Met
By Neal Karlen | LitHub | October 2020
“After knowing him in forever-alternating cycles of greater, lesser, and sometimes not-at-all friendship over the final 31 years of his life, until our final peculiar phone conversation three weeks before he died: His greatest—and perhaps only—fear was dying alone.”

7. ‘This is really a government which doesn’t seem to be able to control the situation’ — Iraq
The Intelligence :: The Economist | October 2020
“A pilgrimage that is sure to become a COVID-19 hotspot is a sign of how much the country’s government is losing legitimacy to its clergymen and tribal leaders.”

8. How ‘Goodfellas’ and the Gangster Class of 1990 Changed Hollywood
By Jason Bailey | The New York Times | September 2020
“That autumn, The Godfather Part III was hotly anticipated. Instead, the Scorsese movie and other crime tales raised the stakes for filmmakers to come.”

9. As an anxious internet nerd, my relationships are thriving during lockdown
By Laurie Penny | The Guardian | September 2020
“Since lockdown began, I’ve moved three times, lost jobs and been separated from my family – but my online community hasn’t changed”

10. Can you get the coronavirus from secondhand smoke?
Viral Questions :: Associated Press | August 2020
“Secondhand smoke isn’t believed to directly spread the virus, experts say, but infected smokers may blow droplets carrying the virus when they exhale.”

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

This week: When a nation doesn’t have a functioning president / Returning a tribal item / Sade remains the queen of chill / The life of George Floyd / Coronavirus and pregnancy

This week: When a nation doesn’t have a functioning president / Returning a tribal item / Sade remains the queen of chill / The life of George Floyd / Coronavirus and pregnancy

Most of these great items come from my social media networks. Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and Facebook for more fascinating videos, photos, articles, essays, and criticism. Learn more about my academic background here.

1. Lip service
By Geoff Edgers | The Washington Post | October 2020
“Sarah Cooper became famous mocking Trump. She’ll be just fine if he loses.”

2. What happens to national security and foreign relations if the president is incapacitated?
By Gordon Adams | The Conversation | October 2020
“[A]t a time when many senior officials – including most of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – are quarantining, the country is not completely rudderless. That’s true even in a situation where the vice president has not become acting president, or if there are political or legal battles over the succession process.”

3. How a Scrap of Papyrus Launched a Reconsideration of Early Christianity
By Ariel Sabar | LitHub | October 2020
“But in the late 1800s, fragments of papyrus bearing traces of these lost scriptures began turning up at archaeological sites and antiquities shops across Egypt. The story they told about the earliest centuries of Christianity would force historians to reexamine almost everything they thought they knew about the world’s predominant faith.”

4. How to Return a Tribal Item
By Malia Wollan | Tip :: The New York Times Magazine | October 2019
“You will be asked to describe it, and often to submit a photo.”

5. George Floyd’s America: Born with two strikes
By Toluse Olorunnipa and Griff Witte | The Washington Post | October 2020
“How systemic racism shaped Floyd’s life and hobbled his ambition”

6. The peril and the promise
By Henry Curr | The Economist | October 2020
“The covid-19 pandemic will accelerate change in the world economy. That brings both opportunity and danger.”

7. Why singer Sade is the queen of quarantine and chill
By Chuck Arnold | The New York Post | October 2020
“Clearly, she likes to take her sweet time, and if anyone is allowed to move at her own chill pace amidst all the stresses of the world, it’s Sade.”

8. Why you should read this out loud
By Sophie Hardach | BBC Future | September 2020
“Most adults retreat into a personal, quiet world inside their heads when they are reading, but we may be missing out on some vital benefits when we do this.”

9. The eight secrets to a (fairly) fulfilled life
By Oliver Burkeman | The Guardian | September 2020
“What follows isn’t intended as an exhaustive summary. But these are the principles that surfaced again and again, and that now seem to me most useful for navigating times as baffling and stress-inducing as ours.”

10. Can a pregnant woman spread the coronavirus to her fetus?
Viral Questions :: Associated Press | July 2020
“It’s possible, but it seems to be relatively rare and scientists think they know why that is.”

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

This week: Deceptive influencers / Nude celebs for voters / Five myths of the 25th / The military’s role in election chaos / Dress code for biking

This week: Deceptive influencers / Nude celebs for voters / Five myths of the 25th / The military’s role in election chaos / Dress code for biking

Most of these great items come from my social media networks. Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and Facebook for more fascinating videos, photos, articles, essays, and criticism. Learn more about my academic background here.

1. ‘Fake Private Plane Girls’: The Deceptive Genius of the Influencer Backdrop Economy
By Hazel Cills | Jezebel | September 2020
“[O]n social media — where living and documenting a life of luxurious travel can become a lucrative way to make a living — fake private jets, apartments, and mesmerizing photoshoot locations are almost as common as the real deal.”

2. More penises are appearing on TV and in film – but why are nearly all of them prosthetic?
By Peter Lehman | The Conversation | October 2020
“To me, this says something about the unusual significance we continue to grant the penis, along with our cultural need to carefully regulate its representation. In a way, the use of prosthetic penises maintains a certain mystique about masculinity, preserving the power of the phallus.”

3. Celebs getting naked to beg for votes is yet another downfall of 2020
By Kirsten Fleming | The New York Post | October 2020
“But if voting isn’t a joke, who the hell gave the OK to the actors and comedians like Tiffany Haddish, Sarah Silverman and Chris Rock (why, Chris Rock? Why?!) to get naked in the most cringeworthy celeb mashup since that black-and-white anti-racism video.”

4. How to Build a Latrine
By Malia Wollan | Tip :: The New York Times Magazine | September 2019
“To construct a basic pit latrine, you don’t need engineers, special equipment or much money.”

5. Specter of election chaos raises questions on military role
By Robert Burns and Lolita C. Baldor | Associated Press | October 2020
“Gen. Mark Milley, who as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the nation’s top military officer, has told Congress the military is committed to staying apolitical and steering clear of any election role.”

6. Five myths about the 25th Amendment
By Joel K. Goldstein | Five Myths :: The Washington Post | October 2020
“It’s not just about physical incapacity, and it doesn’t provide for removal of a president.”

7. The Age of Innocence: How a U.S. classic defined its era
By Cameron Laux | The American Century :: BBC Culture | September 2020
“Wharton was no friend of change. She didn’t like feminism, and she saw the worship of status in Old New York being swept away and replaced by the worship of money — hardly a forward step. But the story of Newland Archer and his tribe (also her own tribe, let’s not forget) is expressed with an elegant and complex ambivalence.”

8. Girl meets bike: but what should she wear?
By Pamela Druckerman | 1843 :: The Economist | September 2020
“A Parisian guide to dressing for two wheels”

9. How artificial salt marshes can help in the fight against rising seas
By Patrick Greenfield | The Guardian | September 2020
“Made from Crossrail clay, Europe’s biggest coastal habitat restoration project is a valuable flood defence but is itself threatened by climate change”

10. Can I get COVID-19 through my eyes or ears?
Viral Questions :: Associated Press | June 2020
“As with the nose and mouth, doctors say the eyes may be a route of infection if someone with the virus coughs or sneezes nearby.”

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

This week: The antibody test / The real Danny Trejo / The tsunami that changed history / The joy of cleaning / The sexual power of colonization

This week: The antibody test / The real Danny Trejo / The tsunami that changed history / The joy of cleaning / The sexual power of colonization

Most of these great items come from my social media networks. Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and Facebook for more fascinating videos, photos, articles, essays, and criticism. Learn more about my academic background here.

1. THE CHOICE 2020: Trump vs. Biden
Frontline :: PBS | September 2020
“Michael Kirk and his team, hear from friends, family, colleagues and adversaries about the challenges that shaped Trump and Biden’s lives and could inform how they confront the crises facing the nation at this pivotal juncture.”

2. A ‘Great Gatsby’ Quote Takes On New Resonance
By Ian Prasad Philbrick | The New York Times | October 2020
“People critical of the president’s and other Republicans’ behavior have been sharing a line from the Fitzgerald novel about the wealthy characters whose “carelessness” harms everyone around them.”

3. How Danny Trejo Built a Decades-Long Film Career After Prison
By Cat Cardenas | Texas Monthly | September 2020
“After years of playing ex-cons and bodyguards, the prolific actor became an iconic leading man in Robert Rodriguez’s Machete series.”

4. How to Tell Gunfire From Fireworks
By Malia Wollan | Tip :: The New York Times Magazine | August 2019
“Pay attention to the intensity of each pulse.”

5. How a ‘forgotten’ 600-year-old tsunami changed history
By Megan Gannon | National Geographic | May 2019
“New evidence shows a disaster similar to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami battered the same region centuries ago and may have given rise to a powerful Islamic kingdom.”

6. Empire and Degradation
By Rafia Zakaria | The Baffler | September 2020
“On the links between colonialism and sexual control”

7. The great experiment
By Emily Anthes | The Washington Post | September 2020
“The pandemic is tragic. It’s also an incredible chance to study human behavior.”

8. Lather me than you: the joy of soap
By Catherine Nixey | 1843 :: The Economist | September 2020
“Cleaning has long been the preserve of women. It’s time to burst some bubbles”

9. The spy who couldn’t spell: how the biggest heist in the history of US espionage was foiled
By Yudhijit Bhattacharjee | The Guardian | October 2016
“Ever since childhood, Brian Regan had been made to feel stupid because of his severe dyslexia. So he thought no one would suspect him of stealing secrets”

10. What can a COVID-19 antibody test tell me?
Viral Questions :: Associated Press | May 2020
“An antibody test might show if you had COVID-19 in the recent past, which most experts think gives people some protection from the virus. The tests are different from the nasal swab tests that determine if you’re currently sick.”

Rebecca Aguilar

#CallingAllJournalists Initiative | Reporter | Media Watchdog | Mentor | Latinas in Journalism

Anna Fonte's Paper Planes

Words, images & collages tossed from a window.

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Gayle Brennan Spencer - sending random thoughts to and from South Austin

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Talking about some of the best publications from the Federal Government, past and present.

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North River Notes

Observations on the Hudson River as it passes through New York City. The section of the Hudson which passes through New York is historically known as the North River, called this by the Dutch to distinguish it from the Delaware River, which they knew as the South River. This stretch of the Hudson is still often referred to as the North River by local mariners today. All photos copyright Daniel Katzive unless otherwise attributed. For more frequent updates, please follow northriverblog on Facebook or Instagram.

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