Blog

We need to talk about the Heritage Foundation ‘enchilada’
If you’re trans, lesbian, gay, bi, or a woman, you’re not safe from these people. The version of the USA that the Heritage Foundation wants is governed by whiteness and by Christian authority. Don’t let them do this to people of any age.

Beast, in or out of a net
Art by Tucker Lieberman. Everything moves in the twilight: the beast, the net, the Moon, the Earth it orbits, you. Nothing dances in the same place twice.

Political meaning is not only ‘what happened’ but how we’ll change it
It’s bad, but we can’t lose hope, which means we must aspire. A binary allows us to say ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ even as we seek to dissolve the questions. Asking new questions is part of envisioning a radically new future.

10 ways trans people are told we shouldn’t exist
Here’s why transphobia sounds like an eradication campaign. If someone were denying your gender, would you understand them as literally telling you to stop having your gender? Comply, and everything will be OK?

Do we shine a light into the dark ages…
…or does it illuminate what we know of ourselves? Gabriele and Perry’s ‘Bright Ages’. We might see a time that isn’t “isolated, savage, primitive,” but “messy and human.” Studying medieval Europe can teach us more about ourselves.

What do we talk about when we talk about vaccines?
The 2014 book ‘On Immunity’ by Eula Biss. ‘On Immunity’ reflects on the human immune system and on vaccination. There are broad philosophical implications: balance, safety, interdependence.

3 things I learned from ‘The Disordered Cosmos’
Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein’s 2021 book on physics and identity. Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein shares meta-insights about how science and society can prevent us from asking questions and obtaining insights. Who’s included?

Does Moll Flanders know whether her mother is cheerful?
The Gettier problem in Daniel Defoe’s novel. Moll’s justified true belief (“My mother was a mighty cheerful, good-humoured old woman”) wasn’t knowledge. The novelist put an irony there.

Toward a better epistemology: Why do we care about what we know?
A reaction to the ‘Gettier problem’. Maybe there isn’t just one definition of knowledge. Maybe every type of knowledge is related in a “family resemblance.” Some are propositions. Some aren’t.