the mellow tigger's musings

During the last month, I've developed the habit of listening to two USA historians during my lunch break on Saturday. On Saturday morning, they have an always-interesting discussion about the week's events. If you have a lunch hour (the videos are usually 30-45 minutes) where you'd like an educational distraction, then I recommend their talks to fill the time.

I came to these discussions because I would occasionally watch videos from the YouTube host on other historical topics. There's also a series of interviews with government figures, called "American Conversations". The most recent video in that series is with Elizabeth Warren. That interview is good, and I would have gladly voted for Warren for President in 2020 if she was the nominee. I wish there was a convenient url to link just to the duo weekend chats that I'm recommending now, but you'll have to look for the titles "What the Heck Just Happened?" from the Live broadcast list.

The host, Heather Cox Richardson, previously taught history at MIT. Near as I can tell, however, she chooses never to use an honorary title like "Dr.", because I could only ever find her referenced as a professor. She did get her Ph.D from Harvard in 1992, according to this broken MIT page. I like her videos because of the stoic rationality on display. I think that's why the duo on Saturday morning is so effective. In contrast, Joanne Freeman, history professor at Yale is an emotionally-expressive burst of laughter at absurd history unfolding before us. More than once, it occurred to me that "She's a hoot!"

The pair works really well together. I recommend watching their Saturday duo, if you can spare the time.

In case anyone is interested in the topic of plastic, there's a free-to-the-public talk hosted next week on Monday afternoon that you can join online. I arranged it with my supervisor, and I'm shifting my hours that day so I can attend.

Award-winning author and journalist Susan Freinkel will give the virtual talk “How Did We Get Hooked on Plastic?” at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, April 14. It will be streamed in Foster Auditorium of Paterno Library and available on Zoom. The talk is free and open to the public.

- https://www.psu.edu/news/earth-and-mineral-sciences/story/susan-freinkel-talk-how-did-we-get-hooked-plastic-april-14

I have more to write soon about some things I've tried at home, trying to de-plastic my life slightly. Hopefully this talk will finally motivate me to write down my experiences.

In fictional Star Trek history, the Bell riots began on Earth on 2024 September 01. It is such an important date in Star Trek history that even Space.com offered this timely story of the fictional event. For those who are less familiar with Star Trek, this 50-second clip from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Past Tense" (aired 1995) introduces the topic:

If you have 11 minutes to spare, then this YouTube piece does a better job explaining the context and significance of the Bell riots. The main takeaway, however, is this:

• A key doom-and-gloom low point of Star Trek history, where the unemployed and homeless are kept housed in separate Sanctuary Districts for poor people, is still a better utopian vision than our current USA reality.

The disconnect here reminds of me of that famous JFK quote from 1962, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."