Humans want to connect
CB radio took off because human beings desperately want to connect with people they know and be heard by people they don’t.
And then it went away because it was noisy, unfiltered and sort of pointless.
From CB radio
Tips for Trying Times
“I have to tell you this: this whole thing is not about heroism. It’s about decency. It may seem a ridiculous idea, but the only way to fight the plague is with decency.”
Albert Camus, The Plague
AI as collaborator
This means two things for you. First, you should be evaluating AI solutions for specific, narrow tasks in your organization and deploying it to fulfill those tasks as rapidly as possible. If, for example, you crank out press releases, AI should be doing all your first drafts now. If you make captions in videos for different language markets, AI should be doing all the translations of those captions. I did a video recently for a friend in French and they said the translation was spot on, helping me be more understandable in their language. For fun, I’ve put Spanish captions into this video as an example. Is the language translation perfect? No. Is it’ usable? Absolutely.
Second, these tools open doors. If you have friends you’ve met online or at in-person events and your language isn’t their native language, you now have a way to communicate with them easily. It won’t be via voice in real-time, but you can absolutely hold a chat conversation in many common languages without needing to speak it and still be understood.
Unthinkable
The title refers to two events: the death by suicide of Jamie Raskin's son and assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6. The two events weave together in Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy by Congressman Jamie Raskin. This book provides an insiders view of grief, the events of January 6 from a Congressperson who was inside, and then the political view of January 6 from the House Impeachment Manger, who also happens to be a Constitutional law professor. And all of whom are one person, Raskin. So the stories swirl together in a way that makes each more real. All heartbreaking. The book opened up my understanding of events and the power of politics, with the different way that power is used, Donald Trump on one side, Nancy Pelosi on the other.
While I was reading the book, I kept asking myself why Congressman Raskin was writing it. Both stories so raw and painful. And in the end, with the epilogue which is the best part of the book, I realized he was writing it for history. He was writing so neither story would be washed away, glazed over, changed. This book has flaws, of course. Even with them, I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Other perspectives:
Logistics: No version of the book was at my local library, so I bought an audio copy from Apple Books. I listened to it while walking Berkeley's early morning streets. Once crying hard enough that another early morning Walker stopped me to ask if I was okay. Book 05 finished 1 February.
The wee little mister
Exercising rights
…Young’s main point here is exactly right: free speech works both ways. It’s correct to argue that Joe Rogan has a right to say whatever he wants on his podcast, and that people who want to listen to his show should be able to. But it’s also correct that Neil Young has a right to make clear that he doesn’t want to be associated with a service that is associated with Rogan, and to publicize his stance. The answer to speech one disagrees with is more speech, and this is more speech.
Pacifica, CA
Pacifica, CA
You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me
Read by the author, Sherman Alexie, You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me is moving, funny, personal. Alexie writes about his family, his community, and himself. He writes about public performance as the place where he can be the most unguarded, the most vulnerable. He writes about rape and the looming presence on native lands, Native American people. He writes about rape culture. All of which started sounding different when I learned midway through the book of his own MeToo history.
Other perspectives:
Logistics: I checked out the audiobook from the library and listened to it via Libby. I walked the dog and took pictures, listening during sunrise and late afternoon. Book 04 finished 18 January.
