Clark:
What if you created a dictionary without the help of lexicographers?
On my reading list, a book by a friend of a friend—Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. Video introduction here.
Anna:
Two interesting reads for anybody who likes to eat food.
First, a new take on women and dieting that implicates corn and soybean oils—namely Omega-6s—which are found in all kinds of processed foods. Get this: “the single best predictor of how much a woman will weigh is how much omega-6 is in her diet.”
This second one I posted on Facebook a while back and due to the overwhelming response there, it seems worth sharing with Sightline readers too. Countless friends—many of whom are already pretty well informed about toxics and other hidden dangers in food—told me that it opened their eyes in a big way. It had the same effect on me—I swear I will never again serve my daughter canned tomatoes or a potato that’s not 100% organic.
And here’s a sobering message for Washington State women: Want equal pay? Move away!
Finally, a truly satisfying rant about why a lot of climate change messaging sucks. The “Nerd Loop” and “Buffing the turd!” Good stuff! Admittedly this hurt a little to read—partly because it lambastes some of the kinds of work I do, but mostly because I was laughing so hard reading it.
Alan:
Will there be Nuremberg trials for the civilian leaders who caused, or allowed, climate holocaust? Are leaders susceptible to legal charges of gross negligence over climate change? Gord Price wonders.
Judging by his words, Bill McKibben has been reading the same thing as me: Lawrence Lessig’s brilliant Republic, Lost (Summarized in this book talk.) If you want to know the gist of Lessig, though, you can just read McKibben’s righteous tirade against cynicism—and crony capitalism—and the brokenness of the US political system.
Is speed the enemy? You’ve heard of slow food. You may have heard of slow money. Now, urbanists including UBC’s Patrick Condon suggest slow transit is better than rapid transit and that, more generally, our urban future could be improved by slackening the pace.
Eric dP:
Amid the blitz of Portlandia-related media this week, I most enjoyed the New Yorker’s profile of Carrie Brownstein.
I was also riveted by the recently unearthed images from an early-1970s project of the EPA to document environmental degradation in the US.
Eric H:
Ordering a healthy side—like a salad—makes us underestimate the rest of the calories on our plate.
The New York Times takes a look at Stephen Colbert—all of them.
Here’s a New Year’s Resolution for you: no pop in 2012. And if you needed more reasons to get on board, here’s another: Mountain Dew says it’s impossible that a man found a mouse in one of their drinks, because Mountain Dew would dissolve a mouse.
