All right, just hear me out. Yes, we're a little behind when it comes to addressing our climate challenges. But what if we could slow the problem down a bit? Here's the idea: An umbrella. Wait, before you start throwing shade, you should know it's gonna be a really big umbrella and it's gonna be really far away. NYT (Gift Article): Could a Giant Parasol in Outer Space Help Solve the Climate Crisis? This is a rare climate-related win win. If it works, the scientists behind the project will have saved the world. If not, the rest of can enjoy the shade-nfreud associated with watching them fail. 2You Don't Know How Good You Have ItOnce again, the jobs report numbers exceeded even the more optimistic projections. It's pretty clear we've avoid the dreaded recession many thought was unavoidable. US economy adds 353,000 jobs, blowing past Wall Street expectations. The weird thing is that even with a series of great job reports, many Americans are convinced they're living through the economic equivalent of the story of Job. "A 55% majority of Americans overall say they feel Biden’s policies have worsened economic conditions in the country, while just 26% believe his policies have improved conditions and another 19% say they’ve had no effect – numbers that are nearly unchanged from last summer. A near-universal 91% of Republicans say that Biden’s policies have worsened the economy." Even if you take Biden out of the question, 71% of Republicans say the economy is getting worse. 3Check Mates"Each player, we're all unique in our own skill sets, just like each chess piece on the board. Knowing what each piece does and how to use them to their best ability, that’s similar to basketball." That's the Warrior's sharpshooting philosopher Klay Thompson on a trend that's taking over the NBA (and a lot of other people). GQ Sports: Why Be a Point Guard When You Can Be a Grandmaster? Inside the NBA's Chess Club. 4Weekend WhatsWhat to Book: Benjamin Herold follows five families in very different places to track the unraveling of America's suburbs. The excellent Alex Kotlowitz described the book as "astonishingly important." Herold's prose is smooth and he's created a very detailed, rich ethnography. Check out Disillusioned. 5Extra, ExtraDon't Stop Believing: "Excessive concern about deepfakes could become a problem of its own. If the first-order worry is that people will get duped, the second-order worry is that the fear of deepfakes will lead people to distrust everything. Researchers call this effect 'the liar’s dividend,' and politicians have already tried to cast off unfavorable clips as AI-generated." The Atlantic (Gift Article): AI in Politics Is So Much Bigger Than Deepfakes. (The big risk of all the faking and lies is that people don't know what to believe so they throw their hands up and stop believing anything.) 6Feel Good Friday"Large breeds and breeds with flattened faces had shorter average life spans than smaller dogs and those with elongated snouts, the researchers found." The Dogs That Live Longest, by a Nose. (This one is for my beagles.) Read my 📕, Please Scream Inside Your Heart, or grab a 👕 in the Store.
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