Taught my last class of the semester today! Tradeoff for a jam-packed year with only a short winter break built in. I’ll take it. Let long-summer commence.
My husband’s Peabody nominations grow: “From filmmakers Martin Smith, Marcela Gaviria and Brian Funck, China, the U.S. & the Rise of Xi Jinping investigates China’s emergence as one of the world’s wealthiest — and most repressive — countries, and the role of its longtime president, Xi Jinping…
This report on how a couple revived “stoop coffee” and sparked a whole series of neighborhood events is the best thing I’ve read all month.
I’m excited to follow along with Boston College’s Department of Formative Education programs.
Tickets go on sale tomorrow (Apr 9) for the Independent Film Festival Boston! Simple Machine screens on Saturday Apr 26 at 8 pm, Somerville Theater, and again on Tuesday Apr 29, also at 8 pm at Somerville Theater. Brian and I will be there for both; we’d love to see you. More festivals to come.
I met a student today doing more human-scale tech: Matte Lim’s Tobe, a YouTube interface where the only feed is your subscriptions.
Can’t decide if the further enshittification of Substack by means of video is a bad or good thing. On one hand: I’ve enjoyed it for aggregated Complete Thoughts. On the other: maybe just as well — shunts more hours toward offline life.
I purchased Paul Scherz’s book so fast after reading the latest from Matt Crawford.
I put Wendell Berry’s “agrarian values” in front of architecture students this week. Good conversation ensued.
Boston Independent Film Festival lineup is out! Simple Machine screens on the evenings of April 26 and 29 at 8 pm, Somerville.
It’s always a good day when you get to introduce another generation of students to Wendell Berry.
So glad to finally see proper reporting in The New Republic on Amy Coney Barrett’s actual record, which is not in the pocket of the far right.
“In their critique of medicalization, Illich and Zola might both be characterized as “against health,” to borrow a provocative phrase…The “health” they stand against is not any state of genuine wellbeing but a particular… sarahendren.com/2025/03/3…
So glad to know about the Little Sisters of the Disciples of the Lamb.
What a beautiful sermon by Matthew Milliner: art, typologies of Mary, Alan Watts, consuming fire. I bet that guy’s a top notch teacher.
Looking forward to listening to Motherhood versus the Machine.
From designer and critic Maggie Gram’s forthcoming book The Invention of Design.
Ted Gioia is reaching national treasure status with his regular championing of musicians just doing their thing.
it just takes one
A while ago I wrote a reported essay for Harper’s about a distinctive partnership between professional artists and adults with intellectual disabilities outside Edinburgh. (Trust me — it’s not the kind you’re thinking of.) I heard from exactly one reader about that piece, but it only takes one. She’s just piloted a replica program in Omaha this year, and they’ve named it Risky Disco, after the piece. My heart sings. It’s the only thing I wanted.
Ok, camera people — if you were going to recommend a camera that’s 1) lightweight enough to hang around my neck a lot of the time and 2) best value for quickly taking high quality digital shots, what would it be?