quercus

My guest is David Wengrow, an archeologist and professor at University College London. He joins me to discuss his best-selling book "The Dawn of Everything", co-authored with the late David Graeber, published in 2021.

David Wengrow takes us on a powerful journey into the deep history of human societies. "The Dawn of Everything" offers a staggering historical survey and philosophical argument that reframes many of today’s assumptions about the origins of inequality.

Like a glittering tide, light pollution—also known as ALAN, or “artificial light at night”—is spreading across the globe, brightening even the planet’s remaining dark corners.

From space, cities resemble iridescent amoebae, their luminous tendrils pushing outward into rural landscapes. On the ground, that expansion is even more dramatic. Data collected by citizen scientists analyzed by German and American researchers suggest that sky glow has increased by roughly 10% annually between 2011 and 2022, doubling in brightness every eight years. That pace is far faster than what satellites alone have typically captured, and it helps explain why more than 80% of the world’s population, and more than 99% of people in the United States and Europe, now live under light-polluted skies, with the Milky Way hidden from more than a third of humanity.

Conservative YouTube content creator Nick Shirley walked into a West Baltimore church on Thursday, selfie stick in hand, during a Narcotics Anonymous meeting.

After Shirley’s request to film the drug addiction recovery meeting was rejected, someone recognized the 23-year-old social media star, perhaps best known for his viral video alleging fraud by businesses run by Somali immigrants in Minnesota.

The man who recognized Shirley demanded that he leave, according to Tiffany Christian, administrator of Simmons Memorial Baptist Church in the city’s Penn North community.

Headlines claim Gen Z is leading a religious revival—but major surveys show something very different. This video breaks down the data, the myths, and why America is experiencing a plateau, not a comeback.

The online Migraine World Summit is free to watch during the live event. Each day four interviews are released and are available for 24 hours before the next day's interviews are released.

Starts March 11, 2026 at 3:00 pm EST (08:00 pm UTC)

“I’m very happy that people enjoy the strip and have become devoted to it,” Watterson said. They certainly have. After little more than a year of syndication, Calvin and Hobbes appears in 250 newspapers. “But it seems that with a lot of the marketing stuff, the incentive is just to cash in. It’s not understanding what makes the strip work.”

So despite dangled millions, Watterson has ended discussions to license Calvin and Hobbes for greeting cards. Proposals to animate the strip for television have been placed on hold. One day, there could be a Calvin doll or a stuffed Hobbes because “they (items) are pretty much advertisements for the strip . . . they’re not trying to do the job of the comic strip, they’re not giving jokes or developing characters.”

Preserving the integrity and fullness of his characters, is cardinal with Watterson.

Similarly, he’s opposing attempts to intrude upon his unassuming life style. Sleeping late, enjoying slow moments, knowing only simple concerns are his pleasures. Maybe as a superstition, he feels that if anything is allowed to change Watterson it also will change Calvin and Hobbes.

A systematic review of medical research published in May of [2024] found a growing trend of more frequent and worse migraine attacks. While the review found that migraines in the U.S. are as common as they were three decades ago, the severity and level of impairment from migraine attacks nearly doubled between 2005 and 2018. And while women tend to be more prone to migraine attacks than men, men are increasingly affected by the neurologic condition.

One of the leading theories behind this mysterious rise is that climate change may be playing a role.

“Climate change appears to be contributing to more frequent and severe migraine flare-ups by amplifying environmental conditions that are already known triggers such as higher temperatures, wider temperature swings, worsening air quality, and changes in barometric pressure,” says Danielle Wilhour, an assistant professor of neurology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

So far, most of the evidence for this link is correlational. It’s difficult to prove climate change is directly causing more migraines partly because “we cannot ethically conduct randomized controlled trials that expose people to environmental risks,” Wilhour says.

But the growing number of correlational studies is adding weight to the theory that climate change is amplifying migraine triggers.

In this week’s episode of The Nature Of, Willow sits down with Robin Wall Kimmerer, beloved scientist, author of Braiding Sweetgrass, and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. They explore the shift from learning about to learning from nature, understanding that the land loves us back, and her new initiative Plant Baby Plant. Robin invites us to step back into belonging, and to see the natural world not as something separate from us, but as a generous teacher offering guidance every single day. This conversation is full of wonder and clarity, and it just might change the way you walk outside.

Transcript available on the website. Video version is on YouTube.

California nearly triggered a seismic shift in American kitchens this fall.

A bill phasing out the sale of nonstick pans made with polytetrafluoroethylene—a type of PFAS “forever chemical”—cleared the state legislature in September with overwhelming support. Given the well-documented health risks associated with production of PTFE, commonly known as Teflon, advocates fully expected Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign SB 682 into law.

But then the celebrity chefs showed up.

Days before Newsom was set to rule on the bill, a wave of similarly worded letters to the California State Legislature appeared. Celebrity chefs Rachael Ray, David Chang, Thomas Keller, and Marcus Samuelsson all insisted that Teflon was safe when used correctly. Their letters warned that the bill was alarmist, unnecessary, and unfair to home cooks and professional chefs alike. Their message was polished, unified, and amplified across national media.

In the end, Newsom echoed their concerns. “I am deeply concerned about the impact this bill would have on the availability of affordable options in cooking products,” he wrote in his veto message.

But the chefs weren’t acting alone. They were working on behalf of The Cookware Sustainability Alliance, a newly created lobbying group representing some of the world’s largest pan manufacturers, which argued the bill would drive up consumer prices and needlessly restrict a “safe” product.

The reason the chefs’ letters aligned so cleanly with the CSA’s talking points is, in retrospect, unsurprising: They all have financial relationships with companies that produce and sell PTFE-coated pans—the same companies that fund the CSA, a joint investigation by Atmos and Heated found.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/31112565

Miriam talks with Gabe and Kato from the Astoria Food Pantry, a radical food pantry that has food, books, and RPGs, about how the project works, how giving away shit for free is cool, how awesome mutual aid distros are, and how we could sure use more of them, especially ones with RPGs.

Find them at https://www.astoriafoodpantry.com/ or on IG @astoriafoodpantry.

My irl schedule is getting busier so I'm looking to form a team with one or two more mods.

This community is chill. Would be a good opportunity for first timers!

🍴 Must have a slrpnk.net account at least a few months old with a post and/or comment history
🍴 Will enforce instance rules in a cool-headed manner
🍴 Understand that the global food system is a mess
🍴 Bonus if outside the EST (UTC -5) time zone

I'm open to new rules, recurring posts and other ways to bring more life to the community, so be sure to leave a comment if interested. Thanks!

Each week, we’ll share a cooking video on YouTube featuring a complete holiday menu that blends classic, creative, and cultural dishes with a plant-based twist. From gourmet spreads to Caribbean flavors, comforting classics, and clever leftover makeovers — there’s something for every table.

When you register for the free Vegan Holiday Menu Series, you'll automatically receive a complimentary download of our special recipe collection, "The Vegan Holiday Table." This essential PDF guide features 17 beloved recipes plus helpful tips and insights for navigating the holiday season, making your plant-based celebration simple and delicious.