Another two-week recap because I wound up doing some stuff last weekend that got me out of the house early, and thus didn’t blog in the mornings. Also, there were only two posts to report, which didn’t seem enough to really demand a recap…
Me on Substack:
— My History with Cold Atoms: A top candidate for “Next Book Project” is a book about the physics and history of laser cooling, which led to me reflecting on getting into the field in the early 1990s.
— Stranger and Strangerer: I finished the fourth season of Stranger Things on Netflix, and had Thoughts.
— The Three Definitions of “Science”: Most of the intractable arguments people have about the nature of science are frustrating because they mix together three related but different meanings of the word.
— Coaching, Teaching, and Motivation: Unpacking my viscerally negative response to Timothy Burke’s post comparing and contrasting teaching and coaching.
— 1113 Days: I’m officially department chair again.
Me Elsewhere:
Nothing this week, though there was some lively discussion in the comments and on social media about the science and coaching posts, so you might look at that.
Links Dump:
— One woman dominated a local fair’s food contest. The internet went looking for her. by Sydney Page: This week in Wholesome Americana.
— False Flag by Alec Nevala-Lee: Also quintessentially American, considerably less wholesome.
— The Left's Obsession With Labels: Nazi Edition by Ben Dreyfuss: Really, it’s a question of poor reading comprehension.
— Education Doesn’t Work 2.0 by Freddie de Boer: This week in “Well, that’s depressing…”
— Is the January 6 Committee Really Saving Democracy? by Sam Adler-Bell: This is very good in some ways, and in others strikes me as entirely too high-minded.
— The Fall of History as a Major— And as a Part of the Humanities by Tanner Greer: This is interesting as a provocation, but very slanted.
— A Few of My Favorite Things About Hanoi by Chris Arnade: This week in Restoring My Faith in Humanity.
Pseudo-Random Photo of the Week:
The Pip is now tall enough to drive his own go-kart at the go-kart/mini-golf/batting cage place over near the airport, so we went there for a bit earlier today. The Pip took a hundred-odd swings in the batting cages, then he raced me head-to-head while SteelyKid ate ice cream, and then the two of them joined a race with a bunch of other families. These are snapshots from my phone, and reflect their basic approaches: The Pip grimly determined, SteelyKid laughing maniacally.
Pseudo-Random Song of the Week:
This one always makes me happy.
And that’s the semi-regular collection of stuff. If you like any of it, here’s a button to click:
And the comments will be open should you feel so moved:
Three definitions of Science was another home run.