How To Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan

You most likely know Michael Pollan from his best-seller The Omnivore’s Dilemma or one of the other books on food and food production he’s done over the last few years – that’s how I came upon him. So, hearing he was going to put out a book about psychedelics (the complete subhead is “What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence”) I was intrigued, if a little skeptical. Turns out, it’s a very enlightening and engaging read that covers everything from history to the controversies to what it’s like to take mushrooms and wander around your farmhouse. 

We’ve been engaged in drone and air strikes for so long that Hollywood has offered us countless on-screen darkened situation rooms where decisions to launch missiles are made. This except from Nick McDonell’s book The Bodies In Person: An account of civilian casualties in American wars is full of details that get lost in media representations – the specific drudgery in poring over visual data for hours, the shorthand slang developed to communicate among a team

Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell

Book/Audiobook/serialized podcast

My friend, Mark, turned me onto this a decade ago when it was being released as a serialized podcast audio book (I refuse to use the word “podiobook”!!). It’s science fiction in that it takes place hundreds of years from now on board freighters that use massive generated sails that allow them to ride the solar wind for propulsion. Okay, set that premise aside for a moment. It’s about a man – an ordinary guy starting out at the bottom – and how he adjusts to life in “The Deep Dark”. There aren’t space battles, there aren’t exotic aliens, there’s no deep political intrigue, and that’s a huge part of the charm of Lowell’s stories. There are six books in this main series – Quarter Share is book 1 – and it’s wonderful comfort food for the soul. I’ve listened to the books all the way through at least three times over the years, and I introduced Fern to them recently – we’re rapidly coming to the end of Owner’s Share right now, and she’s hooked. Check them out!

The Other Years by The Other Years

A newsletter I didn’t know I was subscribed to suggested this self-titled debut album by a band I’ve never heard of. *shrug* Can’t hurt to check it out on Spotify, right? So glad I did! Anna Louise and Heather Summers intertwine harmonies with fiddle, guitar, and banjo. They describe the genre as “Creek Rock,” but you could call it “Americana” or “Folk”. Whatever proverbial shelf you want to set it on, the music is haunting and mesmerizing, and this morning with a cup of coffee as the fog drifted through the trees with this album on, life was pretty goddamned good.

Amazon | iTunes | YouTube 

Remember back in February when I recommended “The Good Place”? We’re a few episodes into season 3 and it’s still amazing. Holy forking shirtballs, what are you waiting for? I’d argue this is the best comedy on TV. First two seasons are on Netflix. Go catch up! Do it! Thank me later!

Remember Michael Moore? He has a new movie coming out, and we’d better damn well pay attention. As mentioned early in this article, he was one of the few left-leaning pundits who called the election for Trump ahead of the voting. I didn’t believe it was possible at the time, but, well, things have changed. You may not like him, but he’s well worth listening to.

How did the dinosaurs go extinct? Asteroid impact, right? Maybe. But maybe not… And therein lies an acrimonious disagreement filled with academic badmouthing, backstabbing, and name-calling. It’s a serious scientific brawl that you probably had no idea was even going on (which is largely because the “Impactors” camp doesn’t want you to!).

As I write this the Mendocino Complex fire – now the largest wildfire in California history – is approaching 100% containment. As we approach the heart of fire season it’s with the understanding that realization that the threat of wildfire is only getting worse and more year-round – six of the ten largest fires in California history have occurred within the last ten years. This story takes place up in Oregon, but provides a very good example of what happens when the geography that draws tourists to admire it catches fire at the worst time.

Unless you’ve been under a rock, you’re no doubt aware of the poisoning of a former Russian spy in the UK last year – there have been international sanctions imposed on Russia by most of the world (even as Trump says Putin is a great guy). But what went down with the poisoning? What was the poison itself? And what’s the aftermath? This article examines all of that and puts it forward in a rather terrifying narrative.

“Pantsuit Sasquatch” by Molly Lewis

None other than Aimee Mann tweeted, “It’s rare that I hear a song I wish I’d written. This is a beautiful and heartbreaking song about a woman who just wants to take a walk in the woods, goddamn it.”

I admit, I was drawn in initially for the ghost aspect – but it’s not real ghosts here. She discusses the phenomenon of seeing the face of her dead brother in strangers. Like literally seeing his face. She discovers it’s not an uncommon thing and traces the psychology of the experience as well as the social aspects of grief. I can commiserate; I remember once when I worked at Orchard Supply Hardware (now being liquidated! Sad!) in the mid-90’s, only a few years after my dad died, and a man came through my line who bore a striking likeness to my dad, to the point where I made a double take. On the second look, I saw the differences, but for a split second… All these years later, I still vividly remember that moment and the aftermath where my brain tried to regain focus. 

A second article from Longreads (you, too, can sign up for their weekly newsletter because you know you want to) – this is a fascinating memoir of a woman revisiting the unlikely place she called home: China Lake missile range as a tourist. 

385 Feet of Crazy: The Most Audacious Flying Machine Ever – Wired

Paul Allen built the world’s biggest plane. Does anyone need it? – Quartz

I came across the Quartz article first. I’ve been following the Stratolaunch since the announcement way back when. I was positive it would never be built. I’m glad I’m wrong.

Start with the Wired article. That does a lovely job of giving the context and history of the project in a way not wholly dissimilar to the article Last week I linked to about Virgin Galactic’s efforts to launch a vehicle into space from an enormous plane. Where that article focused on a pilot, this article focuses on the creators – Paul Allen, the billionaire who believed it into viability, and Burt Rutan, the genius designer who has been tinkering with the concept for decades.

While the Wired article does a nice job of casting doubt on the viability of the proposed mission of this leviathan, the Quartz piece goes a step further… It gets going in the second half of the article when it suggests it may be a “secret” government project being built in plain sight and compares it to the Glomar Explorer ship that was ostensibly built for manganese mining, but in fact was intended to (and almost did!) raise a wrecked Russian submarine, K-129. That in itself is an awesome story, so could the Stratolaunch be a similar military project? I don’t care! It’s so bonkers and I’m so excited this behemoth is going to actually fly that I really don’t care about the rationale. But that’s just me… Also, if you want to see this thing actually move? Check out the successful taxi testing. 

Yes, the Toto song, but covered by Weezer. This is a link to the YouTube video of them playing it live, but they also released a studio version that (Spotify willing) I’ll embed below. It’s as straightforward, loyal-to-the-original cover you’re going to find, and that’s just fabulous. Granted, Weezer isn’t exactly cutting-edge and first on the playlist of Kids These Days™ but their version did actually chart at number 1 on the alternative-rock Billboard chart. The inter-webs are mixed, with music pundits decrying it as “the worst thing ever,” or heralding the arrival of pop culture’s reboots into pop music. Really? Who cares. It’s fun. And, it’s helping Toto, too – they’re still around and touring (though of course a 40-year-old band has had numerous line-up changes over the years). Founding member Steve Lukather told the Wall Street Journal, “I never thought I’d live to see a resurgence in a positive way. All of a sudden people are being nice to us. It’s new to me! This has been the most surreal summer of my life.”

Hey, that’s pretty cool!