friday thread: link-fest!
I am a lot less widely-internet-read than many, but the internet is chock full of good writing - if you can find it. I *love* when the substack writers I subscribe to share a list of links to good things they’ve read lately, especially when those lists arrive at the beginning of a weekend, when I can sit with a cup of coffee and read the internet for hours on end. So, I’m sharing a list of links this morning; please share the best things you’ve read on the internet lately in the comments!
The Lenten study on climate+faith that I’ve been leading on Thursday evenings has been an opportunity to dive deep into science and reflection on stuff I know very little about, which is one of my favorite ways to read. Last night, I shared an article by the theologian Ched Myers, proposing the possibility that the plagues in Exodus were a) an example of nature allying herself with a movement for justice and b) the cascading result of climate change. I mean. Go read Exodus chapters 6-10 (THEY ARE WILD!), and then read this article (Nature Against Empire: Exodus Plagues, Climate Change and Hardheartedness). Your mind will be blown.
On the theme of climate and resistance, I’ve been totally awed by the persistent, joyful, tenacious and ongoing movement against the Mountain Valley Pipeline here in SW Virginia. It is humbling to witness. This article came out last week and offers both a good history of the pipeline itself and the heightened pressure on those who are working to stop its destruction.
I’ve been writing a bit about AI for one of my freelance clients, and I think that work got me noticed and recruited for a gig *training* AI itself. I am ethically ambiguous about all of it, at the moment, but also extremely curious about how it all works. This column from the WaPo’s AI guy was fascinating, informative, and FUNNY.
And, finally, I refused to watch the State of the Union in favor of going to bed to read a novel about how an Elizabeth-Warren-like character becomes president and successfully pushes a national reparations bill through Congress. But commentary about the Republican response from Senator Katie Britt was everywhere in the days afterward, and this reflection hit closest to home for me. If you thought her performance was bizarre, you are both correct and also far enough away from the fundie baby voice, trad wife, evangelical helpmeet trope of how women are trained to be, behave and appear that you’re missing the plot.
BONUS: The local newspaper, The Roanoke Times, is completely and utterly abysmal, but there are occasional gems, like very unexpectedly well-written obituaries and the regular “about-town” columnist who tells stories like this one about a guy whose brother colluded with local law enforcement to have him arrested for legally possessing home-grown marijuana and the years’ long odyssey that ensued. I think it might be behind a paywall, but if you can get your hands on Dan Casey’s March 3 column, you will definitely be entertained. It’s a wild ride.
Share your own recommendations for internet reading in today’s Link Fest comments!