The NYT Daily is about as good as it gets. The two-part piece they’re running right now on Cancel Culture is awesome.
Monday Walk
Night Watchman
Appreciated and liked this novel a lot.
Final line from acknowledgments:
“Lastly, if you should ever doubt that a series of dry words in a government document can shatter spirits and demolish lives, let this book erase that doubt. Conversely, if you should be of the conviction that we are powerless to change those dry words, let this book give you heart.”
Louise Erdrich, The Night Watchman (New York, NY: Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2020).
Sunday Walk
Peeling the siding
Good Bibliography
From the Nice White Parents Podcast
Used Books
Big Chicken Barn Books and Antiques
Everything it promised to be.
Resource for AJ
We’ll get to Chapter six soon enough and take a look at Andrew Jackson’s legacy then.
Harper’s letter
Teaching Materials
The original letter and signatures.
“A Letter on Justice and Open Debate,” Harper’s Magazine, July 7, 2020, https://harpers.org/a-letter-on-justice-and-open-debate/.
A More specific letter on justice and open debate (07/10/2020?)
The Objective, “A More Specific Letter on Justice and Open Debate,” accessed July 18, 2020, https://theobjective.substack.com/p/a-more-specific-letter-on-justice.
Daily Beast Response (07/07/2020)
Laura Bradley, “J.K. Rowling and Other Assorted Rich Fools Want to Cancel ‘Cancel Culture,’” The Daily Beast, July 7, 2020, sec. entertainment, https://www.thedailybeast.com/jk-rowling-and-other-assorted-rich-fools-want-to-cancel-cancel-culture.
Times coverage (07/10/2020)
Jennifer Schuessler, “An Open Letter on Free Expression Draws a Counterblast,” The New York Times, July 10, 2020, sec. Arts, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/10/arts/open-letter-debate.html.
Slate Coverage (07/10/2020)
Tom Scocca, “The Harper’s Letter Is What Happens When the Discourse Takes Precedence Over Reality,” Slate Magazine, July 10, 2020, https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/07/harpers-letter-reality-debate.html.
The Guardian Coverage (07/12/2020)
“Harper’s Free Speech Letter Has ‘Moved the Needle’, Says Organiser,” the Guardian, July 12, 2020, http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/jul/12/harpers-free-speech-letter-moved-needle-organiser-thomas-chatterton-williams.
The Atlantic (07/13/2020)
Hannah Giorgis, “A Deeply Provincial View of Free Speech,” The Atlantic, July 13, 2020, https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/07/harpers-letter-free-speech/614080/.
Michelle Goldberg Editorial (07/17/2020)
“Opinion | Do Progressives Have a Free Speech Problem? – The New York Times,” accessed July 18, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/opinion/harpers-letter-free-speech.html.
Related
Osita Nwanevu et al., “The Willful Blindness of Reactionary Liberalism,” The New Republic, July 6, 2020, https://newrepublic.com/article/158346/willful-blindness-reactionary-liberalism.
Trouble
The whole family just got tested for COVID-19. The operation at Sayre was thoroughly professional and as efficient as it could be.
I wish I had not read this article before departing. It is that bad.
Without rapid results, it is impossible to isolate new infections quickly enough to douse flare-ups before they grow. Slow diagnosis incapacitates contact tracing, which entails not only isolating those who test positive but also alerting the infected person’s contacts quickly so they can quarantine, too, and avoid exposing others to the virus unwittingly.
Right now, the professionals there indicated a four to eight day wait time.
Update: I read this today. I may read it with students as a way of discussing what the government can and can’t do.
Tuesday Walk
