Links on anarchism, social media, and other joys

Hello!

Outside, when not actively battered by the rain, is feeling lush. The plants sturdy with water, the tomatoes turning red at a steady pace, and the birds chirping through it all. You can feel and smell the humidity in earth and air alike, the on-again-off-again downpours waking up all the goodness in the soil. Much as I may think I’ll melt at the slightest touch of rain, it’s good to be out there, reminded of my insignificant little self in the face of big ol’ nature.

Of course I’m currently not out there, but in here, tapping away at a keyboard I’d rather keep dry and entertaining myself with a few data rabbit holes (versus rabbit rabbit holes).

Yesterday I finished a quick cutting board, as I slowly use scrap wood to replace our chewed up plastic boards. (The algorithms have delivered a steady stream of “zomg plastic boards noooo” which has no doubt hastened these efforts.) It was an opportune time to read a study published in 2023 on the effects of common cutting board finishes on bacterial survival (mineral oil and linseed oil being the two tested here, compared to an unfinished board): turns out, finishes likely interfere with wood’s natural ability to suck in bacteria and neutralize them. This of course is why I’ve opted not to finish this latest board, not from any laziness on my part.

On to the links?

• Right after sending last week’s newsletter, I opened my feed reader only to learn, through Dave Guarino, that James C. Scott had died. Dave shares a few good obituaries and thoughts of his own. I’ve danced around Seeing Like a State for years, whether in studies or in work, but never taken it head-on; feels a fitting time to do so. One work of Scott’s I have read more recently was Two Cheers for Anarchism, an accessible critique of hierarchy that draws from Scott’s extensive studies and experience.
• If “anarchism” sends shivers down your spine, another good writer on it has been Alan Jacobs. In 2022, he wrote an essay on anarchism and some of his personal connections to it; earlier this week, he contrasted the anarchist approach to that of conventional politics (winning power through institutional means) and libertarianism (power expressed instead through the market). Both are good windows into an anarchist way of thinking, one that hopefully calms those shivers.
• Nadia Asparouhova takes on the elephant in the room: the negative psychological effects of smartphones and social media, and why the tech industry won’t engage the question. On her personal blog, she explained her motivation for writing the piece, namely the defensiveness of those in the tech industry to Jonathan Haidt’s recent book, The Anxious Generation. All good reads.
• Hugh Rundle summarizes some of the VALA2024 conference, with what seemed an awesome lineup on libraries and technology.
• I’ve read Anne Trubek’s Notes from a Small Press for years, and through it learned much about the trials and tribulations (mostly trials!) of the publishing industry. Ken Whyte’s been on a similar, Canadian version of the same experiment, and recently shared his experiences from five years of running Sutherland House.
• Finally, in case your weekend was going well, enjoy this database and visualization of the global surveillance industry.

All the best for the week ahead!

Lucas