Intro / Preface / Extra Words
Hoooboy hey there! Glad you could make it to this link-a-falafel where our only goal is to present you with something that expands your horizons or otherwise helps you keep your brain well-oxygenated and rust-free. If we can sometimes cover touchy topics in a well-rounded and honest way, that's just bonus bucks. Drop us a line and tell us how we did this week.
Enjoy.
Heavy Rotation
Let It Go - Betraying The Martyrs
First link out of the box? A screamo-punk version of the classic Frozen ballad. I know that sounds weird but I promise you this will enrich your life. -Brian
Random Things
‘The Art of the Steal,’ Documentary on the Barnes Foundation
A few years ago I watched this documentary on Netflix about a dead rich guy's art collection. I immediately watched it again with my wife (hi Katie!). The next day we booked tickets to Philadelphia to go see the collection for ourselves. If you don't want to read anything and want to just jump right to the documentary, it is available (at least for now) on Youtube. -Brian
Food
Exploring a 'Treasure Trove' of Medieval Egyptian Recipes
A food writer who also happens to know a lot about Middle Eastern cuisine AND speak Arabic as a first language translated a 14th-century Egyptian cookbook. Pigeon omelets, anyone? -Calvin
On Manly Drinking
My favorite Medium food blogger (some of you have met him too I believe) is back again to teach us about manly drinking. My only disagreement with his advice is limiting yourself to just one cocktail...like, what? -Brian
You Fancy, Huh
Bellerby and Co Globemakers
I turn 40 in a few years (errr weeks). Why aren't birthday registries a thing? And if they were I would definitely have a $40,000 globe on my registry. How does one acquire obscenely rich friends by the way? -Brian
Follytics
I Can Tolerate Anything Except The Outgroup
I believe this is the first time I've brought the same link back out for a second run in this newsletter. But I honestly believe this is the most enlightening article I've ever read when it comes to understanding the politics of America.
There are two major tribes in America and each has different markers of identity and inclusion. They each "virtue signal" (which is really just letting others around you know which tribe you are in) in different ways. One tribe, for example, might say something critical of white people (especially if the speaker is white) because the main identifier of that tribe is the concept of radical inclusion and the lifting up of the disadvantaged. The other tribe identifies very strongly with America and often publicly shows commitment to the tribe through public acts of Patriotism. The two tribes hate each other and will go out of their way to denigrate and ridicule the identity markers of the other group.
So let's take the application of these concepts to the Colin Kaepernick discussion. One side doesn't see why kneeling for the anthem is a big deal at all, and in fact thinks it's awesome because what Kaep is really doing is identifying and promoting a cause at the heart of one of the tribal identities (injustice against a minority). But the method of that protest is directly attacking the main tribal signifier of the other tribe. And so the other tribe responds quickly, emotionally, and with great vigor to this perceived slam on their tribe. Both tribes look at the same act and through the lens of their tribal markers; both find good reason to further hate the other tribe. And so the tribal separation and identities are reinforced, etc, etc, etc... -Brian
Why Robots Helped Donald Trump Win
Stupid title. I mean I've heard basically every possible culprit or cause brought forth as the reason Donald Trump won in 2016. Russians, robots, emails, Comeys, etc...but honestly this is a nice deep-dive into the town in America with the most manufacturing robots per capita, and the effect that has had on the community (mostly positive). -Brian
I love technology (and science)
How Overdrives Work, And Why They're Not A Thing Anymore
I recently purchased a car, and when one of my buddies was looking at it he asked about the sixth gear and whether or not it was an overdrive gear. I realized that I wasn't cool enough to know how to answer this question. So I googled it, and found this article. If you like knowing how stuff works (or, in this case, used to work) then check this out. - Calvin
Further Reading
The Value of a College Degree
There seems to be this growing idea among the younger crowd that college isn't worth the cost, time, effort, etc. And I could see some argument that taking out huge loans to get a degree that doesn't make you marketable in the economy is probably a bad idea. And certainly the cost of college is out of control. But the benefit of a college degree (as measured by the median income multiplier of getting a degree) has done nothing but increase over time. -Brian
Outro
Brian had a killer collection of links queued up for this issue, so I mainly just tried to stay out of the way on this one. If you see Brian around, give him a high five for his excellent words this week.
Brian and I are considering doing a podcast where we discuss a couple of the links with our voices. It would be a short podcast, 15 minutes or so. Would you listen? If so, reply back to this email and let us know. -Calvin