Here’s a quick look at how nervous the press is when they have to talk about labor movements. Search Google for the history/origins of May Day. One of top results will be the Industrial Workers of the World’s excellent (and obviously-politicized) write-up on the Chicago Haymarket affair. Lots of good context there: the working conditions of the time, the labor movements and politics at play, and a decent summary of the legal aftermath. Wikipedia has you covered too, under both International Worker’s Day and the Haymarket affair. It’s a wild story and the details matter.
Now turn to Time and Reader’s Digest. Both of those are structured as explainers for easy SEO traffic from people like me searching for some clear information. Both also skip over 90% of the story to broadly outline that a riot happened and people were killed. “Some bad things happened, let’s avoid the particulars, and May Day commemorates that.” It’s embarrassing! They are doing a disservice to us all.
This is the kind of thing that annoys me. Get the story straight! It’s hard out there for labor and companies like Amazon are making it worse. The battle for basic human rights and equality is forever being fought and this nonsense only makes it harder. Memory matters.
Automation Transformed How Pilots Fly Planes. Now the Same Must Happen With Cars (Jalopnik)
“In talking with several researchers who have studied so-called ‘human factor’ issues extensively, as well as pilots about their experience in the aviation industry, the word I heard most often about the auto industry’s approach is ‘concerning.’” On how automated driving features are changing driver behavior, and how we’ll have to retrain drivers to prevent serious accidents.When Did Pop Culture Become Homework? (Longreads)
“There is only art—increasingly ubiquitous—and there is only you, and what happens between both of you is not for me to assign.” I hope this dumb newsletter never feels like homework."Today, we revisit the banal ennui of vaporwave with its pioneering document from 2011." (Pitchfork)
God I love a good microgenre. Some would say Floral Shoppe “slaps.” I’m too old and out-of-touch to say that with a straight face. It’s also the wrong era of language to use to describe something this knowingly retro. So let me say: Floral Shoppe is rad. It’s bangin’ and righteous and tubular. I dig it, man.22 Comedy Bang! Bang! Guests Reveal Their Favorite Moments From the Podcast (Vulture)
John Mulaney and Patton Oswalt both pick specific Andy Daly episodes, which somehow warms my heart.Next-Level Food Processing Machines (YouTube, 10min)
I don’t do drugs, I do episodes of How It’s Made.Your Environment Is Cleaner. Your Immune System Has Never Been So Unprepared. (NYT)
An excerpt from the forthcoming book An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System. Living like a scumbag hermit finally pays off!A Study Says High Family Income Significantly Increases Likelihood of Becoming an Artist (Hyperallergic)
File under “This Was Obvious But It’s Good To Confirm With Data”Teen girls are now poisoning themselves at alarming rates. There are ways to help. (Vox)
“Teen suicide is still rare in America. But it is increasing.” What are we doing to ourselves and to children? Why here? Why in the last ten years?Very thicc floof (Reddit)
xoxo