1- Interesting Podcast #1: How bots are overtaking humans on the internet. Super interesting! (Also, is anyone else bad at those visual Captchas? And anyone else feeling like the current AI tools could probably solve them pretty easily? Hmmm.)
(This is one of the reasons I looooove blogs so much. It’s SUCH A HUMAN SPACE!!! And I hope it will remain a bastion of humanity for the long haul . . .)
2- Interesting Podcast #2: (along similar lines): Why does everything in music feel fake?
For years I have been annoyed at the algorithms seemingly deciding who is popular; this is one reason I prefer listening to full albums, though I fully recognized I am also influenced by The Zeitgeist. (But at least since I’m getting most of my picks from NPR music, my lead influencers are actual music critics?)
3- Speaking of music, I’m still loooooving my current practice of selecting albums from the New Music Friday episodes and listening to them all week on my commute. This means I am almost never driving with podcasts anymore — a huge shift, but I have plenty of other podcast-listening opportunities and the music feels so much more relaxing.
I also find that the second or third time through an album is when I really ‘get it’ and can decide if it’s a favorite or not. This past week I enjoyed Fenne Lily, Fine, and Third Coast Percussion/Jlin. Playlist link here (Apple music) for those interested!
4- My friend Elizabeth Morphis (I’ve gotten to know her over the years through guesting on HER podcast and other things!) is running free webinars in November and December for parents and teachers who are looking for resources to support kids with reading. If you’re working to prioritize reading in your household or classroom but finding it a struggle, you should definitely check out Elizabeth’s work!
5- A reminder to VOTE for all US-based readers! I am going tomorrow for one of the last days of early voting (Florida readers, early voting is still taking place today, tomorrow, and Sunday at various locations from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m!). I’m reading David Sedaris’s The Land and Its People and he mused that if every eligible voter had to clear trash off of 0.5 miles of roadway if they didn’t cast a ballot, we’d have everyone at the polls. I suspect he is right . . .
1 Comment
Good PSA! I’m actually going to vote on election day since I have that day off of work. Thanks to all the people who do early voting, election day really isn’t that crowded. With all the easy options for voting now, it’s astonishing that everyone doesn’t do it.