I finished putting this together and realized it’s a real bummer of a newsletter so HEADS UP: if you want to get mad or sad or feel like the world is bad, start at the top. If you need a pick-me-up, scroll to the end for pandas. —Karl
TIRED: Who watches the watchmen?
WIRED: Who moderates the moderators?
Tumblr Banned Porn Because the Ads and Apps Come First. (Wired)
And the supportive, sex-positive community that doesn’t have another home on the internet only gets to watch as Tumblr nip-slips further into decline.Hidden Away in the Philippines, Meet Facebook’s Secret Workforce of Content Moderators (Fast Company)
The Cleaners, which played around the world and aired on PBS earlier this year, seems to be unavailable in the US for now.How We All Became Russia’s “Useful Idiots” (Douglas Rushkoff/Medium)
The KGB ran a decades-long campaign to destabilize Russia’s enemies with fake news and conspiracy theories… and it worked! It’s like poisoning your enemy’s water supply, one of those old Art of War tactics, except it’s poisoning their whole culture.Facebook and Google Are Great at Helping You Find Content, But Not at Finding Truth. (Mother Jones)
“Facebook et al. became the primary sources of news and the primary destroyers of news. And they refused to deal with it because their business is predicated on the fallacy that technology is neutral—Silicon Valley’s version of ‘guns don’t kill people.’” Journalism is in a tough fucking spot. It’s such a miracle that Gothamist was picked up and revived by public radio (hey, maybe the non-profit model is the way to go).“Capitalism is literally hiding better candy from you.” (Nicole Cliffe)
Nicole’s succinct explanation for why small candy manufacturers can’t gain traction in stores: they can’t afford the stocking fees. Adding Candyfreak to my wish list now because I love good candy and we should talk more about good candy. I have a bag of Kasugai peach gummies in my desk that is my greatest treasure, the most flavorful and aromatic gummy I have ever known. And I’m going downstairs at lunch to buy some dark chocolate Peanut Chews.“The language of capitalism isn’t just annoying, it’s dangerous” (Outline)
“What discussions of ‘grit’ scrupulously avoid, Leary writes, is ‘the obviously central fact of the economy’: poverty. Duckworth and other proponents of grit nod to the limited horizon of opportunity presented to those living in poverty, but insist that grit can help people ‘defy the odds.’ Implicitly, they accept that most will fail to do so: they simply promise elevation to the hard-working, the deserving, the grittiest — that is, to the very few.”From my pal John: So it turns out getting dicked over by previous generations is actually what killed stuff, cool. (The Atlantic)
The next time you read a story about Millennials killing some industry or market, look for context. “Millennials aren’t doing in the economy. It’s the economy that’s doing in Millennials.”Nature Moment: Greenland, Land of Unending Ice (Kottke/Youtube, 9 minutes)
This is a beautiful and relaxing video, aside from the doomsday climate change angle.
Honestly this whole “being alive on Earth” situation is going fucktangular.
Need to de-stress? Here’s yoga you can do in a chair or on a plane. (Quartz)
If yoga isn’t enough, here’s a panda playing in the snow. (Round Animals)
Even more zen: The Art of Making Noodles By Hand. (Tasty/Youtube, 12 minutes)
The happiest I might ever be on a given day is when I’m watching a person make some food. Like jangling some keys in front of a baby, it enthralls me every time.
XOXO stay warm out there