Tag: Suicide

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

This week: The resilience of U.S. democracy / Preparing for death out of a love for life / The magic of kokedama / Amanda Shires builds her post-divorce life / ‘Platoon’ was Charlie Sheen’s Vietnam

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

1. Six Ways to Start Early and Lift Your Mood
By Arthur C. Brooks | The Atlantic | September 2025
“Try my protocol for a happy start to the day and see what works for your own well-being.”

2. Transform your houseplants into art with this Japanese gardening technique
By Jessica Damiano | Associated Press | September 2025
“The Japanese method of growing plants in a living planter made of a moss-covered ball of soil, is a simple, DIY project that elevates common houseplants into works of art. They make great gifts, too.”

3. Amanda Shires Tells Her Side of the Story After Divorce From Jason Isbell: ‘I’m Not Scared’
By Natalie Weiner | Texas Monthly | September 2025
“The Lubbock-raised singer-songwriter-fiddler’s new album, Nobody’s Girl, is a raw and revealing look at falling out of love and finding resilience.”

4. I Tested How Well AI Tools Work for Journalism
By Hilke Schellmann | Columbia Journalism Review | August 2025
“Some tools were sufficient for summarizing meetings. For research, the results were a disaster.”

5. American Democracy Might Be Stronger Than Donald Trump
By Jonathan Schlefer | Politico Magazine | September 2025
“Yes, Donald Trump is a threat to democracy. But the country has a few attributes that make it more resilient than you might think.”

6. We Are Watching a Scientific Superpower Destroy Itself
By Stephen Greenblatt | The New York Times | September 2025
“We are currently governed by a leader indifferent to scientific consensus if it contradicts his political or economic interests, hostile to immigrants and intent on crippling the research universities that embody our collective hope for the future. The menace now is within. And with very few exceptions, the leaders of American universities have done little more than duck and cover.”

7. ‘I love life:’ The man who has scheduled his death so he can enjoy living
By Amandas Ong | Al Jazeera | September 2025
“Despite Alzheimer’s, Alex Pandolfo leads a full life. But when his health declines, he plans to have an assisted death.”

8. Historian Jill Lepore explores the Constitution and its interpretations in ‘We the People’
By Geoff Bennett | PBS News Hour | September 2025
“Originalism is often countered by the idea that the Constitution is a living, breathing document meant to be interpreted and changed along with the times.”

9. What If the Next Democratic President Governs Like Trump?
By Matt Ford | The New Republic | September 2025
“Between a permissive Supreme Court and his own governing innovations, the president has greatly expanded executive power. Liberals, take note.”

10. Cats and Dogs in History
By Christopher Rose, Joan Neuberger and Henry Wiencek | 15 Minute History :: UT Department of History | 2014-2020
Also see: Indian Ocean Trade and European Dominance | Indian Ocean Trade from its Origins to the Eve of Imperialism | Ukraine and Russia | Urban Slavery in the Antebellum United States

11. Charlie Sheen’s Lifestyle Couldn’t Kill Him. ‘Platoon’ Nearly Did.
By Charlie Sheen | The Hollywood Reporter | September 2025
“In 1986, well before the sex scandals, the crack and the tiger blood, the 20-year-old actor embarked on the most intense shoot of his career. In an excerpt from his explosive new memoir, Sheen reveals how Oliver Stone’s epic Vietnam War film changed him forever.”

12. Theaters bet big on massive screens, booming sound and recliners to lure movie fans
By Harshita Mary Varghese and Dawn Chmielewski | Reuters | September 2025
“Auditoriums with enhanced visual and video formats, such as IMAX, Dolby Cinema, and ScreenX, account for a record 14.9% of all tickets sold in the U.S. and Canada this year, up from 9.8% in 2019, according to data from research firm Comscore exclusively compiled for Reuters.”

13. Orchid Fever
By Susan Orlean | The New Yorker | January 1995
“How seductive are orchids? Connoisseurs spare nothing for a rare bloom — the issue in a battle between Florida, the Seminoles, and a man with a passion.”

14. The South’s Inner Civil War
By Eric Foner | American Heritage | Summer 2025
“The more fiercely the Confederacy fought for its independence, the more bitterly divided it became. To fully understand the vast changes which the war unleashed on the country, you must first understand the plight of the Southerners who didn’t want secession.”

15. 6 More Things E.R. Doctors Wish You’d Avoid
By Jancee Dunn | Well :: The New York Times | September 2025
“Stay out of the emergency room with these tips.”

16. Strawberries in Winter
By Adrienne LaFrance | The Atlantic | September 2025
“Most Americans do not want civil war. Anyone who is declaring it should stop.”

17. Why your nose could be the perfect window into your mental state
By Gillian Forrester | New Scientist | September 2025
“Diagnosing mental health conditions like anxiety and depression can be difficult, but it turns out that your nose could help doctors understand when you are feeling the strain.”

18. ‘We wanted to make it real:’ How ‘Goodfellas’ reinvented the gangster film
By Myles Burke | BBC Culture | September 2025
“Martin Scorsese’s crime epic was released 35 years ago. In 1990, the director and his stars, Robert De Niro and Ray Liotta, revealed its secrets to the BBC.”

19. Laughing in Hell: How We Tell the Stories of Other Peoples’ Suicides
By Sarah Adler | LitHub | September 2025
“I was drawn to memoirs about suicide even before Rebecca’s death, probably because when someone you love travels often against the thin curtain between life and death, these stories can feel like windows.”

20. Echolocation
By Melvyn Bragg | In Our Time :: BBC 4 | 2016-2018
Also see: Animal Farm | Agrippina the Younger | The Sikh Empire | The Gettysburg Address

    Recommended reading / viewing / listening

    Colin Powell reflects / Political advice from Cicero / A parent’s suicide / Camp David’s relaxed influence / Video frames

    Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

    1. Colin Powell on the Bush Administration’s Iraq War Mistakes
    By Colin Powell | Newsweek | May 13
    “Colin Powell reflects on lessons from the battlefield to the halls of power — including the mistakes of the Iraq War, his infamous U.N. speech, and the crimes at Abu Ghraib. ”

    2. The spirit of 1812
    The Economist | May 19
    “The [U.S. Navy] hopes to restore its prestige by celebrating a forgotten conflict”

    3. Campaign Tips From Cicero
    By Quintus Tullius Cicero and James Carville | Foreign Affairs | May/June 2012
    “[T]he author clearly knew a lot about Roman politics in the first century BC, which turn out to have a distinctly familiar feel.”

    4. When a Parent Commits Suicide: A Psychiatrist’s Advice
    By Harold S. Koplewicz | The Daily Beast | May 18
    “It’s the kind of death that’s doubly painful for children, who often need help handling conflicting and disturbing feelings. How to help the kids who are left behind.”

    5. Robert Caro’s Tristram Shandy Moment
    By Dean Robinson | The 6th Floor :: The New York Times | May 18
    “Two hundred and fifty years ago, another writer — albeit a fictional one, trapped inside a novel — got similarly bogged down trying biographize his own self. ”

    6. Camp David and Thurmont: A mountain shared, a world apart
    By David Zak | The Washington Post | May 17
    “Town officials are prepared for the worst, expecting the best, and will support citizens who want to exercise their constitutional rights by chanting in the general direction of a campground they can’t get within four miles of.”

    7. Dickens, Browning and Lear: what’s in a reputation?
    By Robert Crum | The Guardian | May 17
    “The bicentenaries of three great Victorian writers underline the capricious nature of literary afterlives”

    8. Q&A: Capturing a Video Frame
    By J.D. Biersdorfer | Gadgetwise :: The New York Times | May 14
    “How can I extract a single frame of the video and change it into a still picture?”

    9. Rereading: Mildred Pierce by James M Cain
    By Sarah Churchwell | The Guardian | June 24
    “Todd Haynes has adapted Mildred Pierce, James M Cain’s novel about a divorced mother in the depression, as a sumptuous TV mini-series. But what has been gained and what lost in the process?”

    10. The Greensboro Four
    Witness :: BBC News | February 1
    “On 1 February 1960, four young black men began a protest in Greensboro, North Carolina against the racial segregation of shops and restaurants in the US southern states.”

    **************

    TUNES

    My soundtrack for today included:
    1. CAN’T YOU HEAR ME KNOCKING The Rolling Stones
    2. DEEP DARK TRUTHFUL MIRROR (Unplugged) Elvis Costello
    3. A STROKE OF LUCK Garbage
    4. GIMME SHELTER The Rolling Stones
    5. FIRST CUT IS THE DEEPEST (Unplugged) Rod Stewart
    6. HARD TO MAKE A STAND Sheryl Crow
    7. MUSIC Madonna
    8. WE CAN WORK IT OUT (Unplugged) Paul McCartney
    9. SHE’S WAITING Eric Clapton
    10. HEY JOE Jimi Hendrix

    Recommended reading / viewing / listening

    Bring back Bill Clinton / Science of gaydar / Cheating or open marriage / The GOP and FIdel / Writer Alice James

    Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

    1. Time to bring back Bill Clinton
    By David Maraniss | The Washington Post | Jan. 22
    “Still feeling queasy about the character questions surrounding the Arkansas traveler’s sexual behavior? How does that hurt him in a world where Pope Limbaugh pronounces that it was a “mark of character” for Newt to ask his second wife for permission while cheating on her”

    2. Science Unlocks the Key to Gaydar
    By Cassie Murdoch | Jezebel | Jan. 23
    “Gaydar — the ability to be able to tell who’s gay just by looking or talking to them — is a ‘skill’ of debatable merit, but many people like to brag about having finely calibrated systems of working out who’s gay and who’s not.”

    3. The Gingrich Question: Cheating vs. Open Marriage
    Room for Debate :: The New York Times | Jan. 23
    “If more people considered such openness an option, would marriage become a stronger institution — less susceptible to cheating and divorce, and more attractive than unmarried cohabitation?”

    4. When a party flirts with suicide
    By Steve Kornacki | Opening Shot :: Salon | Jan. 23
    “The last time GOP elites lost control of their nominating process, they got Barry Goldwater — and an epic landslide”

    5. How the educated elite view government
    By Suzy Khimm | WonkBlog :: The Washington Post | Jan. 23
    “Around the world, distrust of government is on the rise, but the public — particularly the educated elite — believes there should be more regulation of business, according to a new survey.”

    6. Fidel Castro: GOP race is ‘idiocy, ignorance’
    By Mackenzie Weinger | Politico | Jan. 25
    “The former Cuban president wrote he was too busy to spend any additional time evaluating the Republican field.”

    7. This much I know: Slash
    Shahesta Shaitly | The Observer | November 2010
    “The musician, 45, on Stoke-on-Trent, groupies, and being addicted to cooking shows”

    8. The Height Equation
    By C. Claiborne Ray | Q&A :: The New York Times | August 2011
    “Is there an upper limit to human growth? Why does one generation grow taller than the last?”

    9. Five myths about women in combat
    By Jane Blair | Five Myths :: The Washington Post | May 27
    “Women are dying in combat, but Congress still officially bans us from serving in combat units that engage the enemy with deliberate, offensive action.”

    10. Civil War women: Alice James
    Civil War Women Blog | Oct. 14
    “Born into a wealthy and intellectually active family — sister of novelist Henry James and psychologist and philosopher William James — Alice James soon developed the psychological and physical problems that would end her life at age 43. Alice never married and lived with her parents until their deaths. She is known mainly for the diary she kept in her final years.”

    Recommended reading / viewing / listening

    Math gender gap / Herringbone sportcoats / Artistic genius / Stopping college suicide / Why balloons?

    Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

    1. ID errors put hundreds in L.A. County jails
    By Robert Faturechi and Jack Leonard | Los Angeles Times | Dec. 25
    “Wrongful incarcerations totaled 1,480 in the last five years, a Times inquiry finds.”

    2. Martin Sheen, Family (Filmmaking) Man
    By Melena Ryzik | Carpetbagger :: The New York Times | Dec. 20
    “I’m not a student of politics. I played a politician. I have no interest in politics.”

    3. Anything Boys Can Do…
    By Sharon Begley | The New Republic | Dec. 26
    “Biology may play only a minor role in the math gender gap”

    4. The Casual Herringbone Sportcoat
    By Grant Harris | The Primer | November 2011
    “Herringbone is one of the safest ways to go for guys who are wary of getting too busy with patterns.”

    5. Why Mozart Rocks So Hard. Artistic Genius Explained
    By Megan Erickson | Big Think | Dec. 20
    “Why is ‘The Magic Flute’ so enduring, while other classical compositions have been forgotten?”

    6. Colleges and suicide threats: when to call home?
    By Justin Pope | Associated Press | Dec. 26
    “The issue of when colleges should notify parents their adult children may be suicidal remains fraught with legal, medical and ethical dilemmas. College policies, state laws and professional codes of conduct vary widely – and occasionally conflict.”

    7. Birds of a Feather
    By C. Claiborne Ray | Q&A :: The New York Times | June 2009
    “How do birds know which species they are? That is, how do they recognize one another so they can flock together?”

    8. Pakistan: The New Radicals
    By Oliver Englehart | Activate :: Al Jazeera | October 2011
    “Ali Abbas travels around Pakistan tackling fanaticism, but can he make a difference?”

    9. This Party’s Blowin’ Up
    By Forrest Wickman | Explainer :: Slate | Dec. 13
    “Why do we celebrate with balloons?”

    10. Chanel No. 5
    Witness :: BBC News | May 24
    “In 1921 the most famous perfume ever, was launched in France.”

    **************

    TUNES

    Tonight I’m spending some time with the blues, specifically with the Texas Blues Café. Check out the line-up and then listen here.

    1. Rob Paparozzi — She’s Too Good For Me
    2. WSNB — True Love
    3. Mr. TBA — Dirty Dog
    4. Pat Green — Somewhere Between Texas & Mexico
    5. Daddy Long Legs — Use Me
    6. Gary Moore — Still Got The Blues For You
    7. Bob Segar — Come to Papa
    8. Tinsley Ellis — Grow a Pair
    9. Kevin Ball — On the Streets of Mexico
    10. Coco Montoya — Same Dog
    11. Stevie Ray Vaughan — Superstition
    12. The Homemade Jamz Blues Band — Hard Headed Woman
    13. Rick Fowler — Walk Softly

    Recommended reading / viewing / listening

    Less marriage / Buttercups’ secret / Facebook targets suicidal intent / Ongoing Iran war / Social media myths

    Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

    1. Married couples at a record low
    By Carol Morello | The Washington Post | Dec. 13
    “Just 51 percent of all adults who are 18 and older are married, placing them on the brink of becoming a minority, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of census statistics. …”

    2. The Buck Stops Here: $1 Coins to Be Curtailed
    By Jefrey Sparshott | The Wall Street Journal | Dec. 13
    “More than 40% of the coins that are minted are returned to the government unwanted, the Treasury said. The rest apparently sit in vending machines — one of the few places they are widely used — or in the drawers of coin collectors.”

    3. Secret to Buttercups’ Yellow Spotlight Revealed
    By Wynne Parry | LiveScience | Dec. 13
    “Children have long known that if you hold a little buttercup flower under your chin on a sunny day, the underside of your chin will be bathed in a yellow light.”

    4. Hope in a Sea of Dictatorship
    By Ahmed Rashid | NYR Blog :: The New York Review of Books | Dec. 13
    “One of the uncomfortable results of Pakistan’s late November decision to close down US and NATO supply routes to Afghanistan is that it has forced Washington to rely more on the Central Asian countries that border Afghanistan to the north.”

    5. Facebook offers counselling to suicidal users
    By Emma Barnett | The Telegraph | Dec. 13
    “Facebook has launched a new initiative which will allow those users with suicidal thoughts instant access to crisis counsellors via its instant messenger service.”

    6. Iran war: Has it already begun?
    By Noga Tarnopoisky | GlobalPost | Dec. 12
    “Analysts say the war with Iran began years ago, and is now reaching its apex.”

    7. Rives: A story of mixed emoticons
    TED Talks | Feb. 2008
    “Rives tells a typographical fairy tale that’s short and bittersweet ;)”

    8. Five myths about social media
    By Ramesh Srinivasan | Five Myths :: The Washington Post | Sept. 15
    Myth 1: “Social media gives power to the people”

    9. Civil War women: Anna Surratt
    Civil War Women Blog | Sept. 4
    “Anna Surratt is remembered chiefly for her heartbreaking efforts to save her mother from being hanged by the U.S. government. After the guilty verdict, a tearful Anna tried to see President Andrew Johnson at the White House to plead for her mother’s life, but she was prevented from doing so.”

    10. Waco siege
    Witness :: BBC News | April 19
    “In 1993, around 80 people died in the fire that ended the siege at the headquarters of a Christian cult in Waco, Texas.”

    Behind The Wall

    Tabletop Games

    Rebecca Aguilar

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

    Anna Fonte's Paper Planes

    Words, images & collages tossed from a window.

    Postcards from Barton Springs

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

    The Flask Half Full

    Irreverent travelogues, good drinks, and the cultural stories they tell.

    Government Book Talk

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

    Fighting Irish Wire

    Cadillac Society

    Cadillac News, Forums, Rumors, Reviews

    Ob360media

    Real News That Matters

    Talking Pictures Audio Description

    Pintar Discover

    Space Navy

    Mealtime Joy

    bringing joy to family meals

    Øl, Mad og Folk

    Bloggen Øl, Mad og Folk

    a joyous kitchen

    fun, delicious food for everyone

    A Perfect Feast

    Modern Comfort Food

    donnablackwrites

    Art is a gift we give ourselves

    Fridgelore

    low waste living drawn from food lore through the ages

    BeckiesKitchen.com

    MUSINGS : CRITICISM : HISTORY : NEWS

    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.