September, you’re finally here

Though it’s been a while since I traded the arbitrary requirements of professors for the arbitrary requirements of checks notes bureaucracy, part of me still relates best to the academic year. (This is no doubt affected by having a parent who works for a university and a sibling still in studies.)

September—with its feelings of possibility and renewal—September, it’s finally here. In classic style, I took my first day of proper vacation in months only to spend it reading academic articles (and, later, pension fund annual reports). I blame it on September’s “back to school” vibes. Goodness, though, learning is fun.

Some links for you!

• Lara Hogan’s excellent Demystifying Public Speaking is now available for free online.
• Another good explainer on air conditioning’s role in the climate crisis—helping people cope while simultaneously increasing the need to cope—and how we might move forward.
• In case, in the midst of a federal election, we needed a reminder of why democracy matters, consider the plight of residents in Wollaston Township, whose town council has been overtaken by a small minority.
• Supply chains are doing some wacky things right now. I like Sawin’s phrase “the critical work of these decades”, partway down the thread.
• There are thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells in southwestern Ontario, risking explosions like one recently seen in Wheatley. This made me think about stewardship—what we leave for future generations to clean up—and the importance of historical research in helping to unearth these old well sites, alongside geophysicists and others.

All the best for the week ahead!

Lucas