Criticizing Presidents on Presidents Day
Also Wordle, Fake Birds, and How To Defeat QAnon
A pretty sunset I spotted in LA recently
Hi, and Happy Presidents Day!
I forgot it was a holiday so felt like I got a bonus day off. I spent it in Palm Springs learning about the history of Black folks there and hanging with friends and family while criticizing various American presidents. Very patriotic. Very appropriate.
Last week we dropped a bonus episode of the How To Citizen podcast, and we directly addressed homelessness with a conversation focused on how we can end it! Thanks to the folks at Community Solutions for their incredible work to prove that homelessness is solvable. Here is the episode on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
Now for some links…
A Movement To Fight Misinformation With Misinformation (The Daily)
A great episode of The Daily podcast as technology reporter Taylor Lorenz shares everything I love about the power of satire to bring sense to the world. Birds aren’t real, y’all!
Good As Gold (On The Media podcast)
So much talk about crypto/web3/NFTs is either over-the-top positive propaganda trying to get you to buy into something you don’t understand, or it’s over-the-top dismissal by people almost violently critical of something they don’t understand. The first two reports here strike a healthy balance for anyone actually curious, open-minded, and also skeptical.
The Bluest Eye: A Virtual Public Reading (Online Feb 23 and 24)
Gotta thank my sister Belinda for telling me about this. At 7pm ET Feb 23 and 24, 11 Black women (including Jacqueline Woodson, Angela Davis, Mahogany Browne, Jesmyn Ward, and more) conduct a live reading of one of Toni Morrison’s greatest works.
What in the world is happening to our beloved Wordle? (The Guardian)
I was late to the Wordle craze and have been playing for just over one week. If you care about this game or never heard of it, read this.
If Joe Biden Doesn’t Change Course, This Will Be His Worst Failure (NY Times)
We can’t seem to do anything right with Afghanistan, and Biden’s abrupt pullout and the administration’s actions since have made a bad situation worse. This is so sad.
The Town That QAnon Nearly Swallowed (The Nation)
The basics: Right-wing demagogues tried to take over a small town in the Pacific Northwest. Here’s how concerned citizens stopped them. This is a good news story.
And finally, a video…
Homeless YouTuber in New York City: ThePandaPhotographer
This channel tells beautiful stories of our unhoused neighbors. Check out this recent episode.
✌🏾