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How a bench and a team of grandmothers can tackle depression. A BBC 'lockdown longread' article by Rachel Nuwer about the Friendship Bench programme in Zimbabwe.
posted by misteraitch at 11:34 PM PST - 17 comments

In response to this rather tasteless NYT piece on 'Southeast Asian' fruits (that among other things, compared the rambutan fruit to resembling the coronavirus), Twitter user @amirulruslan breaks down and documents the history of western media (NYT in particular) trafficking in racist cliche about Southeast Asia through its food coverage. [threadreader link] [more inside]
posted by cendawanita at 10:11 PM PST - 58 comments

On Friday, June 19, 2020, Tennessee's Republican-led House of Representatives passed House Resolution 340, a resolution that congratulates the state's citizens "for clearly seeing that the mainstream media has sensationalized the reporting on COVID-19 in the service of political agendas." (Newsweek). Two days later, the Nashville Tennessean — the largest newspaper in the state — published a full-page ad of an Islamophobic conspiracy (tweet with photos of the print ad) from a fringe post-apocalyptic Christian organization. What Happened in the Tennessean’s Newsroom After That “Indefensible” Anti-Muslim Ad (Slate interview by Aymann Ismail with David Plazas, the opinion and engagement director) [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 9:29 PM PST - 14 comments

Intentional Reading and How to Diversify Your Reading Material is the most recent YouTube video from creator Seji at The Artisan Geek, part of BookTube on YouTube. [more inside]
posted by Glinn at 8:08 PM PST - 3 comments

Let minutephysics tell you about The Astounding Physics of N95 Masks.
posted by zengargoyle at 6:50 PM PST - 17 comments

Alex Kearns, a student at the University of Nebraska, killed himself after mistakenly believing he owed $730,000 on the Robinhood stock-trading app. Robinhood have announced changes to the app's UI and other educational resources, but the app has a long history (WSJ) of making trading feel like gambling or gaming, including the infamous "infinite money" glitch. "Was it the startup’s responsibility to do a better job with design, ethics and friction to better guard against kids like him from going into a fatal tailspin? Yes. Yes. And yes again," says Kara Swisher (NYT). [CW: Discussions of suicide]
posted by adrianhon at 2:52 PM PST - 46 comments

Objects in real life don’t just start and stop instantly, and almost never move at a constant speed. This page helps you choose the right easing function.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 2:37 PM PST - 12 comments

Ex Eye is an experimental metal band consisting of saxophonist Colin Stetson, drummer Greg Fox (of Liturgy), synth player Shahzad Ismaily (Secret Chiefs 3, Ceramic Dog), and guitarist Toby Summerfield. While it's no replacement for an actual concert, this video of their August 18, 2017 performance at Saint Vitus Bar is the next best thing, especially if you've got a great sound system. [more inside]
posted by yasaman at 11:25 AM PST - 17 comments

Only a certain peanut bred for the proper size and the look of its shell makes the cut for the ballpark trade. It’s called the Virginia. [SLNYT]
posted by Chrysostom at 10:23 AM PST - 15 comments

Following fellow country music act Lady A (pka Lady Antebellum), the Dixie Chicks have changed their name to The Chicks. The Dixie Chicks' last single was 'Gaslighter' released in March. This month, The Chicks' first single is 'March March.'
posted by box at 10:06 AM PST - 46 comments

Kassia St. Clair's book The Secret Lives of Colour covers the back stories to 75 fascinating shades such as puce, amaranth, and Baker-Miller Pink. St. Clair has written extensively on colors, including 2020 pieces on a colour inventor and a mauve creator for Elle Decoration UK, Is Colour Subjective (links to pdf) and Before Pantone There Was Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours, a 1814 taxonomy of 108 colors used by Charles Darwin and other 19th century naturalists that featured Orpiment Orange, Gamboge and Gallstone Yellow among others (Architectural Digest, complimentary article before paywall). [more inside]
posted by spamandkimchi at 9:00 AM PST - 15 comments

The Institute for Digital Archaeology is analyzing and attempting to reproduce historical scents. [more inside]
posted by zamboni at 7:49 AM PST - 11 comments

A Wave Of Sexual Abuse Stories Is Causing A Reckoning In The Twitch Streaming World [Kotaku] “Over the weekend, a trickle of sexual harassment stories surrounding influential figures in the streaming world grew into a tidal wave. More than 50 streamers, most of them women, shared dozens of stories that have already produced vast reverberations, including the resignation of the head of one of the biggest management firms in all of streaming and the departure of over 20 streamers in his wake. In response, some streamers are boycotting the platform altogether today and refusing to stream. High-profile streamers have been accused, often by multiple women, of patterns of inappropriate behavior up to and including sexual assault. The flood of stories this weekend has caused Twitch and its CEO to respond, saying that they will work to address the systemic issues that have so far allowed these kind of predatory behaviors to flourish in the streaming world.” [Discussion & descriptions of sexual misconduct that some may find disturbing.] [more inside]
posted by Fizz at 7:42 AM PST - 20 comments

Animal Crossing’s massive popularity has made it less like paradise and more like Wall Street
posted by divabat at 7:40 AM PST - 49 comments

After a week of numerous sexual assault allegations against WWE, AEW, Impact, and independent wrestlers, the industry needs to evolve. [content warning: sexual harassment, violence, abuse] [more inside]
posted by Etrigan at 6:57 AM PST - 19 comments

Scientists working with Facebook to fact-check articles issued a warning last August about an op-ed in a US newspaper that attempted to undermine the climate science consensus by using misleading data. Facebook’s policy is to pass along fact-check warnings to users when they share such articles. But due to the intervention of an as-yet-unidentified employee, the scientists were overruled in this particular instance and Facebook stopped telling users that the article was false. As a result of these actions Facebook has quietly opened a loophole in its policy, allowing disinformation to be shared as ‘opinion' immune to fact-checking. Meanwhile, the group that was behind the op-ed — a well-funded climate science denial advocacy organization with deep ties to conservative activists, policy makers, and US government officials— plans to exploit this exemption to reach a larger audience. One of its primary messages is that additional carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is actually good for the Earth, a message that it has previously targeted to children through cartoons on Facebook. [more inside]
posted by theory at 6:14 AM PST - 94 comments

Don't Be a Sucker is a short film produced by the United States Department of War released in 1943, and adapted as a slightly shorter version in 1947. It has anti-racist and anti-fascist themes, and was made to educate viewers about prejudice and discrimination.
posted by adept256 at 5:50 AM PST - 7 comments