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Aside from a small circle of students and admirers, Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag was an unknown figure at his death in 1954. Today, religious schools and New Age “educational centers” around the world are actively spreading his ideas, and his writings are being analyzed by professors and graduate students. After spending an hour in the rabbi’s stone mausoleum, the pop-diva Madonna emerged with tears in her eyes. Who was this person to whom scores of pious (and impious) Jews and non-Jews are turning for inspiration?--Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag: Scholar of Kabbalah and progenitor of the Kabbalah [more inside]
posted by No Robots at 6:04 PM PST - 22 comments

Stay? is an interactive fiction game where you always get a second chance. From the description: "Welcome to Elaia, a magical city nestled in a high valley. It's the end of your first year at university & time to choose your major." It's a choose your own fantasy adventure that's part dating sim/part avert the apocalypse(s). [more inside]
posted by Wretch729 at 5:36 PM PST - 57 comments

Do you remember the 1987 animated movie The Chipmunk Adventure? More specifically, do you remember The Girls of Rock and Roll? Of course you remember, it’s been in your head off and on for over thirty years. Then perhaps you would like to see what it looks like when performed by humans?
posted by supercrayon at 2:42 PM PST - 30 comments

Rachel Sugar explores the history of washing clothes (Vox) and recent attempts to outsource it (again) or “luxify” the process.
posted by adrianhon at 1:32 PM PST - 63 comments

The Distinguished Medieval Penis Investigators In fourteenth-century England, one of the only ways a woman could get a divorce was if her husband was impotent. But first, she had to prove it in court.
posted by Gilgongo at 12:18 PM PST - 35 comments

The traditional Polynesian outrigger, Hōkūleʻa, and revitalizer of traditional Polynesian wayfinding, Nainoa Thompson, are no stranger to the blue (1) (2) . Until the end of November, the new documentary from the Polynesian Voyager Society, He Wa’a, He Hōnua - The Earth is Our Canoe, along with 4 previous documentaries spanning 5 decades, is available for free (requires registration) from the 40th Hawai’i International Film Festival.
posted by rubatan at 10:25 AM PST - 3 comments

After hearing that Dolly Parton donated $1MM to help fund Moderna's research into a COVID-19 vaccine, WIRED magazine's resident linguist Gretchen McCulloch wrote the lyrics to Vaccine Jolene, and Ryan Corell performed them late last night, with the family sleeping.
posted by jenkinsEar at 10:20 AM PST - 38 comments

Dehd is a 3 person band from Chicago Illinois. They make minimilast post-punk pop music with hints of surf rock, dream pop, and Roy Orbison. Here they are performing songs from their 2020 album Flower of Devotion on KEXP Live at Home. They also make music videos: Loner - Haha - Letter - Flood
posted by ericost at 8:41 AM PST - 7 comments

Lots of plans, no coordination or authority "To summarize, the acronyms of those agencies that are supposed to organize a response to a communicable disease crisis include, but are not limited to, the ASPR, CDC, DGMQ, NCEZID, USSG, HHS, FEMA, FDA, NIAID, DOD, DHS, NSC, CTF, and associated sub-agencies and divisions and offices. Inside these agencies, there are dozens of intelligent and accomplished individuals, often from bipartisan or civil service backgrounds, who are supposed to lead in a crisis. The problem is that those people have no clear lines of authority about who is supposed to coordinate them or be in charge, and no clear plan to follow even if such authority were provided."
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 6:20 AM PST - 24 comments