Content I Like

2022-02-14

This is like a personal bookmarks page focusing on web content. I have a lot to add, but for now here's just a bit.

Reading

  • Do Elephants Have Souls? — a loving philosophical take on elephants. Magnificent.

  • The Pevearsion of Russian Literature — trenchant criticism of the most dominant team in the Russian literature translation game.

  • Can You Say...Hero? — A profile of Fred Rogers, one of the most compassionate and gentle men of the past century.

  • Scott and Scurvy — The story of how the cure for scurvy was "found," lost, and found again.

    • The rest of the blog is wry and charming. I recommend all of the Greatest Hits on the right column, as well as the transcripts of the author's past talks on tech, democracy, and the internet.

  • The Second Story of Echo and Narcissus — A meditation on ancient myths and self-perception.

    • The rest of the blog is incisive on advertising, narcissim, identity, and pop culture, which are all interrelated. Note: the author's style is intentionally boorish, and the occasional image is not safe for work.

Videos

  • In My Language (8 minutes) — an autistic woman eloquently explains her perspective on the world and on stereotypes held by the neurotypical. A beautiful revelation on how we perceive others. The English translation starts at the 3:15 mark. (Only when the many shapes of personhood are recognized will justice and human rights be possible.)

  • Korean Bird talks about his Brother's death in VRChat (11 minutes) — a small but endearing example of how people connect online. As one commenter noted: [Y]ou realize most of these people are on VRchat because they’re trying to escape the pain of their real lives, and are going into their perfect world in order to escape that pain. And another where a drunk man opens up about his existential fears.

  • Crip Mac (11 minutes, crude language) — a short feature from Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan. The channel generally focuses on subcultures and the American underclass. The host is nonjudgmental, so the conversation becomes open, vulnerable, and at times surreal. I also recommend The Hoff Twins from the same channel.

  • Living with Schizoaffective Disorder (22 minutes) — a candid and heartfelt interview with someone who suffers from schizoaffective disorder. The goal of the channel is to enlarge our understanding of disabilities and help the viewer understand that although we have profound differences, we are fundamentally the same.

  • Professional Wrestling is Stupid and Beautiful and I Love it (30 minutes) — passionately argues that pro wrestling is a legitimate form of long-form storytelling and theater that intentionally plays with the boundary between "fake" and "real" events. I found this gripping even though I have no interest in pro wrestling.