The Trouble With Passion
Tyler Burgese & Erin Cech | Culture Study | 21st April 2024 | U
Why “follow your passion” is flawed advice: it prioritises self-expression at the cost of job security or salary in career decisions. Without safety nets or social capital, “working-class and first-generation college graduates are more likely to end up in low-paying jobs when they pursue their passion”. Employers too prefer “passionate applicants”, as they seem more willing to do uncompensated work (3,300 words)
From Hippyish Protesters To Hardcore Anarchists
Dorian Lynskey | Guardian | 20th April 2024 | U
The UK Criminal Justice Bill, passed in 1993, criminalised “collective trespass”, “nuisance on land”, and “repetitive beats”, targeting a motley crew of ravers, squatters, Travellers — who had “little in common, except music, parties, perhaps drugs, and a willingness to defy authority”. Ironically, it galvanised these groups into dissent strategies that would inform Reclaim the Streets, Occupy, Just Stop Oil (5,000 words)
The Woman Behind The Windows
Aliide Naylor | Meduza | 19th April 2024 | U
The career of Estonian stained glass artist Dolores Hoffmann tracks the evolving reputation of her medium. Self-taught via smuggled books — religious art not being popular under Soviet rule — she created robust secular works that even Soviet troops couldn't smash. Then stained glass was rehabilitated as an art form; now she receives commissions from Russian oil giants (2,600 words)
It’s Okay To Throw Away A Book
Michelle Cyca | Walrus | 19th April 2024 | U
Getting rid of books is a fraught activity. Donation feels best, but there are just too many books out there — the can't all find a new and loving home. "Other books might be destined for the recycling bin, if I can finally work up the nerve. At the end of the day, a book is just paper and ink and glue. Its soul is something else entirely, less tangible but more enduring than an object on a shelf" (1,600 words)
No Unmoved Movers
Matthew von Hippel | 4 Gravitons | 19th April 2024 | U
Academics are supposed to be free of incentives, commercial or otherwise, when selecting subjects for research. That's why there is a complex system of grants and oversight committees. There is no need to make a profit or please shareholders. And yet scientists still pursue "faddish" topics that attract easy funding, naively believing they can keep doing the "important" work on the side (1,200 words)
Podcast: Two Thumbs Out | Stuff You Should Know. History of hitchhiking, including theories about the term’s origins — with varying degrees of plausibility and humour. For example, there is an old joke that “the definition of hitching is to move with jerks”, which has an element of truth: “hitch to hitch” means to move in short, sudden movements — essentially, in jerks (51m 18s)
Video: Largest Handmade Model Of Rome | YouTube | Ancient Rome Live | 9m 19s
Likely treat for Rome enthusiasts — a walkthrough of “Il Plastico”, a 20 x 20 metre model of Imperial Rome, created by archaeologist Italo Gismondi. The Museo della Civiltà Romana, which houses the model, is set to reopen for visitors in 2025.
Afterthought:
“There's nothing I like less than bad arguments for a view I hold dear”
— Daniel Dennett
Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams both answer the question "what is love?", put to them by David Frost. "Real friendship inevitably leads to love, there can't be any friendship unless there is love. One doesn't have that many friends in a lifetime," Capote says.
Afterthought:
"Every choice is a loss. The past is not where you left it"
―Ruth Padel