PicoBlog

This week’s Peak Notions column was originally written in 2021. Luckily it’s still relevant because things seem more or less just as unfair now as they did back then, so that’s good, right? Even if fairness might be more complex than how we feel, which is what this column explores. It’s an evergreen topic that way, so I’m sharing it here on Substack for… ncG1vNJzZmikm5q7r7HDsmWsrZKowaKvymeaqKVfpXy1tMCtqmamn6l6p63Iq2StoJVivbTFwqGmpaeXrnqwsoyeb5w%3D

If there’s one thing the last 72 hours have taught us, it’s how hard it is to be a woman and a Republican these days. Take the woman who has dominated the news over the weekend, Alabama Senator Katie Britt. She appeared on national TV to give the Republican rebuttal to Joe Biden’s State of the Union Thursday and for her efforts was famously lampooned by Scarlett Johansen on Saturday Night Live.

Disclaimer: James Lindsay is a friend of mine, but Logan Lancing is not. That friendship got me early access to this book, but that’s all—he hasn’t asked for this review, nor has he read it. I do not think our friendship influenced my review, because if I didn’t think the book was valuable and important, I would simply have elected not to review it. If you want me to review your book, the guidelines for my book reviews are here.

Socialism, defined simply, is class politics. Where defenders of the current system see a mass of free agents in mutually beneficial employment contracts, the socialist left sees an ownership class dominating and exploiting an underclass of people whose circumstances give them no realistic choice except submission. Socialists have different ideas about what an alternative system might look like, but to be a socialist is to think this system has to change.

These menus are from various times - wish I had the dates.  But The Quilted Giraffe was a game changer - Barry Wine's wonderful, and utterly idiosyncratic restaurant. You never quite knew what to expect. (Barry was self-taught, but chefs who worked at Quilted Giraffe include David Kinch, Katy Sparks, Wayne Nish, Noel Comess and Tom Colicchio.)  I imagine, from the little drawings, that these menus all date from after the move from the modest digs on Second Avenue to the very fancy midtown restaurant in the Sony building with its cutting edge design.

Speaker Mike Johnson has not been shy about letting us know just how religious he is.   In the very first speech he gave after being elected Speaker, he made it clear he felt he had been chosen by God: “I believe that scripture, the Bible is very clear that God is the one that raises up those in authority. He raised up each of you, all of us, and I believe that God has ordained and allowed each one of us to be brought here for this specific moment in this time.

Last week I announced, with some fanfare, that I’m launching an experiment in book-newsletter cross-fertilization. As I research and write a book about cognitive empathy, I’m going to be sharing some of the results with NZN readers—and the feedback I get will help shape future research and writing on the book. Let’s get started. Below is a draft of the book’s introductory chapter—a draft that was part of the proposal I submitted to my publisher this summer.

In case you missed it: Gadabout Maine is now a 3x a month newsletter. You’ll receive newsletters on the 1st & 15th - plus a bonus one (like this one!) thrown in each month! The bonus newsletter won’t host a paywalled section (featuring additional adventures + promos for paid subscribers) as the newsletters on the 1st & 15th do. The bonus newsletters will feature one adventure + the comment thread will be open to ALL subscribers - so, let’s chat together!

Two days before last summer’s trade deadline, The Athletic’s Jim Bowden, a former MLB GM, ranked the best starting pitchers believed to be available in trade. Bowden slotted Jordan Montgomery ninth — one spot behind Michael Lorenzen. It wasn’t a consensus opinion. And it certainly wasn’t the opinion of the Rangers, or the rest of the league. Hours after Bowden’s story dropped, Texas sent frontline prospects Thomas Saggese and Tekoah Roby to the Cardinals for Montgomery (and swapped middle relievers John King and Chris Stratton in the process).