Links and reading, listening and viewing recommendations for February 2025
The light is returning to the northern hemisphere and we’ve had clear skies for the last 10 days. This is a photo of the twilight with Venus seen from my house looking southwest over Apodaca Ridge. Cloud has since rolled in and a little blast of coastal winter is coming.
Republished. The post I sent out last week had broken links.
My monthly round up of interesting links. These are posted nearly daily at my Mastodon feed.
Democracy & Politics
It has been a full month of politics here in Canada and in the US that has shaken a lot of things up.
- What Could Citizens’ Assemblies Do for American Politics? | The New Yorker
Participation and democratic deliberation require time, attention, and intention. It doesn’t solve all problems, but this kind of work is essential. - Job One for 2025: Protecting Canada from US Oligarchs | The Tyee
A benchmark of the current state of US cultural and economic involvement in Canada, against which we can measure the increasingly imperialist tone of leadership in both our countries. - Danielle Smith is Undermining Canada: Former Chief Trade Negotiator | Rabble
Another piece of evidence to support my long-running contention that populists are dangerous in a crisis because they simply don’t know how to govern. - A Decent Dive into the United States’ Geopolitical Interest in Greenland and the Arctic | Channel News Asia
Trump signaling an intent to expand the US’ territory could set off a massive contest for Arctic resources. For the first time in my life, I’m worried that our neighbor to the south will actually invade this country. - Please Advise! How Dire and Disgusting Was Trump’s Day One? | The Tyee
Just bookmarking this one because it kind of captures the spirit of the day.
Climate & Environment
- We Saved the Planet Once. Can We Do It Again? | The Tyee
Charlie Angus and I are about the same age and we lived in Toronto at the same time (I remember that hot summer of 1988!). This memoir charts my own recollections too. It’s been a ride. - What Are the 2024 Salmon Returns Telling Us? | Alexandra Morton
Well, they appear to be telling us that closing salmon farms has a positive effect on returns and salmon health. Read the numbers for yourself.
Economics & Social Systems
- Milton Friedman Blaming Governments for Inflation is One of the Most Pernicious Lies of the Last Half-Century | Dougald Lamont
Lamont’s writing is new to me and absolutely compelling. A former provincial Liberal leader in Manitoba, he has a strong grasp of economics and governance. - How Communism Is Outcompeting Capitalism
It’s nice to have something to compare the grift of North Atlantic capitalism to. An article not without flaws and blind spots, but a really energetic critique.
Arts & Culture
- The Secret History of Risotto | The New Yorker
I love risotto. I love making it and eating it and learning about it, and I love a love letter written to it. - Folk Music Legend Got Short Shrift in ‘A Complete Unknown,’ But His Songs Will Live On | PennLive
A great piece that tries to rescue Pete Seeger’s legacy. Something about his portrayal in the movie didn’t sit well with me. Dylan was an artist who wrote anthems for activists. Pete was an activist who sang. Different. And we need both. - Close Reading Bad Poetry | 3 Quarks Daily
I really enjoyed this article. Learning from the worst possible outcome is a time-honored tradition.
Technology & Innovation
- I Love a Bushfix. But What’s the Future of ‘Right to Repair’?
I don’t know much about farming, so this was an interesting article that also made me realize that some of the reasons why food is expensive might have to do with farmers being bilked by their equipment manufacturers. - How to Remember Everything You Read | Justin Sung
As a person with ADHD, these kinds of videos are interesting. I’m currently actively learning two languages (Italian and jazz guitar), continuing to develop my understanding of complexity, and learning how to best teach and share it.
Indigenous Leadership & Legacy
- Bill Wilson Has Died | He was an incredible voice of leadership from the Central Coast of BC. A history maker, a guy who always spoke his mind with absolute certainty and wasn’t afraid to trigger reactions in the service of blowing a conversation about justice wide open.
- Listen to My Friend Kameron Perez-Verdia Tell the Story of His First Whale.
Books and music
Links are to publisher or artist sites where you can buy this art directly.
- The Sentence by Louise Erdrich. A beautiful novel set in 2019-2020 about a haunted book store in Minneapolis during the first year of COVID and the events following George Floyd’s murder. The book is a deep story of identity, history, language and relationship.
- The Keeper by Kelly Ervick. A graphic memoir about women’s soccer told through the eyes of a woman who comes of age in the 1980s, just as American women’s soccer bursts on to the scene.
- Benjamin Britten’s Choral Works. Nearly all of Britten’s non-carol choral music collected and performed beautifully. The choir I sing in, Carmena Bowena, is currently adding Hymn to The Virgin to our repertoire.
- Cassandra Wilson – New Moon Daughter. Her 1995 release explores multiple genres with cover songs and originals and is backed by musicians who have a wide range of fluency across multiple styles. Her voice sounds so much like Joni Mitchell’s voice from the same time. Deep and smokey and full in timbre.
- Herbie Hancock – The Piano. An album of solo piano music from 1979 recorded direct-to-disc. Showcases Hancock’s improvisational chops and his curiosity about harmony.
- Peter Hertmens Trio – Akasha. Every month I like to look for a new-to-me jazz guitarist and explore their material. This month I stumbled on the work of Belgian Peter Hertmens. Akasha is a 2018 release with organ and bass that is just a lovely collection of Hertmens’ original compositions.
Interesting links that crossed my path this month. You can find these in real time at my Mastodon site, which is also mirrored on Bluesky.
- One of the most significant pieces of work I am currently doing is helping the Squamish Nation develop their Constitution by supporting large in-person and online community gatherings. It’s hard work and important work for the Nation, and I’m really happy to be a part of it. I get to work with the inimitable Amanda Fenton who supports the online work and Squamish Nation member Tyler Baker, who is my in person partner when we work at two different sites simultaneously.
- BC Child Poverty Rate Climbs as Income Inequality Grows: Policy Note. Child poverty is unacceptable, especially as we learned it can be nearly eliminated by a small universal basic income. The pandemic supports helped us to see something I will never be able to unsee: this challenge is possible to address, and quickly.
- The science and natural history of the fault zones of the west coast of North America. We live in a very active landscape.
- If you want to understand the complexities and nuances of life in British Columbia in 2024, this collection of books from The Tyee is a grand place to start.
- I met Lightning Bill Austin selling his art in the Pybus Market in Wenatchee, Washington this month. An absolute legend. Here’s his story.
- Contemporary Poets Respond (in Verse) to Taylor Swift: Perhaps the most inventive way to celebrate and honour Taylor Swift’s work and her impact on the world.
- This is the year-end summary of the highlights from EV Nautilus, a research vessel that explores and studies the geology and fauna of deep-water sea mounts. I love this channel because it is populated with scientists who show nothing but utter delight in seeing the creatures that they love. I’ve shared this link on my out of office responder this month.
- There’s No Place Like Home: Humanity and the Housing Crisis from CBC Ideas. Calling for housing to be a human right should not feel like the Quixotic quest that it appears to be. This is a fantastic lecture even if it leaves me deflated by the challenge.
- The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The whole thing. Online and searchable.
- Dave Pollard writes a great piece on “What We Don’t Know.” The undermining of expertise by folks who think they can hold their weight with people who have devoted their lives to fields of study and practice is ridiculous and dangerous.
- The Cosmos Teems with Complex Organic Molecules.Reading Stuart Kauffman’s work (especially Reinventing the Sacred) will also make it clear how inevitable organic chemistry is and how easy it is for the processes of life to get started.
- Narrative jailbreaking for fun and profit! Matt Webb and a chatbot hallucinate together. (And I suspect the chatbot has discovered Matt’s blog!)
- Tangerine is my new favourite Christmas movie.
- There is a reason that we don’t do icebreakers in meetings. Check-ins, yes, but disconnected icebreakers? No. McSweeney’s gets it.
Happy New Year to all.
Here is my monthly summary of some interesting finds from around the web from November and posted on my Mastodon page.
- November 1 was All Souls Day. What does that mean now?
- Christine Sinclair, the greatest international goal scorer in world football, played her last regular season game for the Portland Thorns tonight. Needing a win to clinch a playoff spot, she did the deed for her club team, scoring the opening goal. Watch these highlights and listen to the sheer noise with every Thorns entry to the box. The passion and love for these players – for this player – is astounding.
- Cory Doctorow on the inevitable enshittification of Bluesky and why only Mastodon is worthy of social investment.
- Listen to Esperanza Spalding and Robert Glasper: Didn’t Find Nothing in my Blues Song Blues
- My friend Sarah Jane Scouten, a fellow Bowen Islander, has released a new album of her songs called Transmutations.
- A really good analysis of where Conservatism is going in the UK which makes me think about what might happen here if the Conservatives are elected.
- Indigenous tribes engineered British Columbia’s modern hazelnut forests more than 7000 years ago.
- I use a little ritual for closing workshops that comes from the Soweto Mountain of Hope in South Africa. It is a simple set of nine claps that honors ourselves, our communities, and our work in the world.
- Chelsey Vowel has updated her excellent 2016 article on territorial acknowledgements.
- Canada’s first-ever supporter-owned soccer club – my club – TSS Rovers is offering shares again! Join us in investing in the future of Canadian soccer. And read Corey Almond’s terrific piece on our endeavour
- A beautiful podcast that tracks the experience of being hosted by The Circle, a national organization in Canada that is transforming philanthropy.
- A Firsthand Account of What Homelessness in America Is Really Like.
- A Matt Webb contemplation on list songs and endings.
- Why did Swannanoa become Helene’s ‘ground zero’? Deadly combination of topography, development and a tidal wave of water.
Links and short reflections that were posted this month on my Mastodon page and rolled up here for your interest and reflection.
- I remember learning that the annual allowable cut in British Columbia’s forests was effectively a floor, not a ceiling. The level was set to ensure that mills had a sustained amount of fibre to process. The writing was on the wall. BC’s forests are everywhere, but they are essentially wallpaper now. They look good but lack life and usefulness.
- Here is an incredible collection of resources for supporting immigrants, refugees, and newcomers to Canada produced by the Local Immigration Partnerships of Canada.
- Revealed: Canadian government owns Scots property via tax haven. I wonder how many other Canadian Provinces own land and assets in other countries? Certainly, we worry when other foreign governments do the same here.
- The bizarre origins and deeper history of the false pet-eating story that swirled through the Republican Presidential campaign this month.
- Neither Elon Musk Nor Anybody Else Will Ever Colonize Mars from Defector. A fantastic dose of reality that should, by all rights, shock delusional space cowboys back to consciousness so as to redeploy their resources and attention at appreciating and sustaining this planet rather than building coffins for themselves on other worlds. Just read it.
- A really good analysis on how a policy vacuum on climate change has evolved in Canadian politics. It’s unacceptable to me that all the major parties vying for power in this country are delaying action on climate. Even the Liberals are missing targets despite having some ideas. The NDP and Conservatives have shat the bed on this issue, and it is THE number one issue for our collective future.
- Richard Powers brought his deep-seated curiosity and ability to take the facts of nature and turn them into a story and put them together into a new novel about the ocean. And here is some of what he learned along the way.
- My friend and mentor, Christina Baldwin has a new novel in the world. It just arrived in the mail!
- If you want to make a material donation to Indigenous communities and organizations today, check out the One Day’s Pay campaign. If you live in Squamish territory, as I do, consider donating to the Snichim Foundation to help fund the needs of language learners who put their lives on hold and commit to becoming fluent in Squamish.