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#1 Outrage Newt: Surprising This American Life episode (I've linked to the portion worth listening to) about how Newt Gingrich tried to reinvent politics by using CSPAN to speak to the public and teaming up with Rusch Limbaugh and others to turn politics into the outrage-filled sport it is today.
#2 Beliefs & Views: Research on how core beliefs are aligned with political stances ("Forty-seven percent of devoted conservatives strongly believed that the world was becoming an increasingly dangerous place. By contrast, only 19 percent of progressive activists held this view.").
For more on this, check out the Three Languages Of Politics (EconTalk Podcast).
#3 Getting Lost: I'm captivated by Rebecca Solnit's Field Guide To Getting Lost:
That thing the nature of which is totally unknown to you is usually what you need to find, and finding it is a matter of getting lost. The word “lost” comes from the Old Norse los, meaning the disbanding of an army, and this origin suggests soldiers falling out of formation to go home, a truce with the wide world. I worry now that many people never disband their armies, never go beyond what they know. Advertising, alarmist news, technology, incessant busyness, and the design of public and private space conspire to make it so. A recent article about the return of wildlife to suburbia described snow-covered yards in which the footprints of animals are abundant and those of children are entirely absent.
#4 On Shit: A Suggestion from BoundlessReader Khuyen, "The Surprising Nobility of Shit" was an entertaining read. It starts:
For if Nigeria is the biggest shithole in the world, and is projected to surpass the US as the world’s third most populous country by 2050, then we are talking about a shitstorm of epic proportions. Shit spills into and through things, you know. Borders and walls too. Nothing is really impervious to its radioactive charms.
#5 Living In The Gift: I just started taking Charles Eisenstein's online course, Living In The Gift which has been great so far for reflecting on my embrace of the gift economy over the last year. Join a WhatsApp group I set up if you want to take the course and share reflections.
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