Blog

‘Do I want it? Life, that is.’
‘On Not Knowing‘ by Emily Ogden. What is there to hope for? Should we hope? We can work in the field, making bales of hay, but the work of the soul “never will be cut and dried.”

‘Agnotology’: The study of ignorance
Our ways of knowing can be corrupted. “We’re going to have to rethink our metaphors,” Proctor said, on persuading people away from science-denial. “We’ve got to think much more creatively.”

We knew it before we were quizzed
That truth remains valuable. We existed. We went to school and forgot ourselves for a while. Then we remembered who we are. We had this knowledge with us the whole time.

Why a homophobe displays a rainbow flag
They’re lying to themselves and others. The homophobe continues to share an occasional smirking rainbow and meanwhile gets away with spreading hate, disinformation, and physically violent imagery.

MAGA’s ‘not conservative’?
Well, is Trumpism conservative, or isn’t it? It doesn’t feel like natural order. It feels like state power. Some parts will be dismantled, and yet more monstrous heads will regrow.

The complicated joy of ‘Will & Harper’
Why did I wait so long to see it? The mood alternates between lighthearted and profound. Ferrell and Steele’s joy is complicated, but the film shines all the brighter for it.

How we appear, quivering
On the book ‘Deviant Matter: Ferment, Intoxicants, Jelly, Rot’ by Kyla Wazana Tompkins. We have ‘a wish to look directly at what is facing us,’ the oncoming blob, the mess we travel with and against.

GOP seeks to cut funding to U.S. hospitals supporting gender transition
Reporting by Jael Holzman asks if Democrats will allow it. If Democrats infight (‘bullying’ each other re: ‘cultural’ issues) and stop talking about the economy, they may lose even harder next time, says a pollster.

The anti-trans movement protested outside the U.S. Supreme Court
The Telegraph reports on a 17-year-old’s identity without asking them. Someday they may be ready to talk to sympathetic people who care about them, maybe including responsible journalists. It’s fine if they’re trans.