

A wonderland for the curious
“It’s easy to go somewhere and win a championship with somebody else … this is the hard way to do it and we did it.”
~Giannis Antetokounmpo
A huge part of the larger discourse of late has been the rise of social media, and the influence it has on the populace. There is no shortage of analysis and/or hot takes on the massive scale of Facebook (or the calls to #DeleteFacebook), the often arbitrary moderation of Twitter, and whateverthehell Parler was.
The latter was effectively erased from existence, but not before a lot of people made sure we all knew they thought their freedom of speech was being infringed on.
And of course, since nature abhors a vacuum, now we have Gettr. So that’s fun.
We also have Facebook back in the news again (do they ever really leave?), after President Biden was quoted as saying “they’re killing people.”
Are they? Maybe, maybe not. Obviously, no one from Menlo Park is pulling a literal trigger, but it’s hard to ignore the platform’s reach, and how well it works as an accelerator for misinformation. One can fairly easily draw a line between bad info on social media, resistance to receiving vaccines, and an increase in COVID-related deaths.
And when just 12 people are responsible for the majority of bad info? That’s a very real problem we need to (collectively) address.
Regardless of where you stand on Facebook (or Parler’s extinction), I hope we can all agree on 2 truths:
1. Civics needs to make a return to our school’s curriculum, post haste. Critical Thinking too.
2. For all intents and purposes, social media IStoday’s Town Square. It’s where we go to share ideas, get on our (cyber) soapbox, and debate. The discourse isn’t happening down the street- it’s on your screen.
The First Amendment doesn’t apply to private companies, and everyone has to consent to a platform’s Terms of Service as a condition of participation. The easy answer here is to point to that, and say “if you don’t like it, leave.” I know, I’ve done it. But maybe the better solution is to model Terms of Service after the First Amendment.
It’s pretty clear that online is where people are now assembling, and as broad as it is, 1A still has defined guardrails. I don’t think you could legislate (read: force) companies to do this, but it’s certainly a model worth looking into going forward, even if it’s hard—especially if it means saving lives.
Don’t @ me*.
*Actually, you should totally @ me! I’d love to hear your thoughts.
“Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.”
— Marie Curie
When I was a kid, my dad traveled often for business. He’d come home with the usual souvenirs he probably grabbed at the airport (my dresser was full of “Visit New Hampshire” type shirts) and would tell us about the cool places he had visited in between appointments.
If we were lucky, there’d be a trip to the Fotomat, and in a few days, we could look at some grainy pictures of wherever he’d been. But no matter where he went, when pressed for a favorite part of the trip, he’d always give the same answer: the flight.
It was the one place no one could reach him. It gave him time to read, think, whatever. Sometimes he’d spend the entire flight looking out the window and daydreaming, with only his thoughts and imagination keeping him company.
We like being distracted. Since the earliest days of aviation, airlines have been happy to help us with that. Food, playing cards, In-Flight Entertainment; the list goes on.
If you’re of a certain (ahem) age, you may remember the introduction of the Airphone on airplanes. They were bulky, cost a fortune, and were mainly used to tell people… you were calling them from an airplane. Movies were played on monitors that dropped down from the ceiling.
Today there are screens at every seat and 100’s of hours of content to pass the time. The advance in technology is nothing short of amazing, really. Airphones are long gone, but who needs that when you can iMessage everyone?
Put another way, you can spend an entire trip not ever thinking about the miracle of flight, or having to notice the view unfolding 30, 000 ft. below you. You can be as busy in the air as you are on the ground. Or not.
Yesterday I took my first post-pandemic flight. I had all kinds of plans to get things done; a pile of things to read, a decent-sized to-do list, phone stuffed with podcasts, etc.
About 15 minutes in, I decided not to do any of it.
Instead, I read a little, looked out the window, and let my mind wander.
It’s still the best IFE there is.
When I first moved to the Midwest I found an apartment that had one of those wall-mounted heater/AC units you see in hotels. I thought I was getting a steal. Growing up in Portland, a lot of people didn’t have A/C. It rarely really gotthat hot, so it never occurred to me that this was standard issue in other parts of the country.
In her latest edition of The Profile, Polina Marinova Pompliano is writing from the road. She talks about how her grandfather marvels at things most of us never notice like the way tile is laid out in the buildings they visit.
It’s an engrossing story, with an expected arc about how travel changes us, realigns our priorities, etc. But she really got my attention when discussing perceptions and how traveling shatters any illusion of what normal is.
Here she is talking about travel expert Rick Steves:
“Steves once said that people who don’t travel often think their way of life is the norm (ie: Americans say the British drive on the “wrong” side of the road. No, they just drive on the other side of the road). “
This past week, Oregonians (at the west coast in general) had their illusion of “normal” shattered when temps soared over 110. Those are numbers seen in other places. In Phoenix…in Death Valley…in Riyadh.
Temps like that test the limits of human endurance anywhere. But in a place whose average temps are 40 degrees cooler? Where for many people having A/C really means an underpowered window unit and an intricate maze of box fans?
Next week, I’ll return home to Oregon for the first time in over 3 years. I won’t be there long—it’s never enough, really— but it’ll be good to see my family, Mt. Hood, and smell the Pacific Northwest air.
I’ll be staying with mom, a proud owner of one of these Rube Goldberg HVAC contraptions. So far, she says she’s managed. I hope so.
I also hope this isn’t a new normal for them.
On to the good stuff:
Thanks for being here,
Kevin—
What caught your attention this week? Got a rant or rave? Let me know in the comments or send me an email. I read all the responses. You can also read more of my work on Medium, and connect with me on Twitter.
Michigan’s Porcupine Mountains. Photo by author.
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is a quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’”
— Mary Anne Radmacher
I assure you I’m not turning this into a “tales from the office” sort of newsletter. But if you’ll indulge me in one more story from my workplace, I want to share the story of my friend Richard Hulsizer.
The airlines were a second career for Richard. He joined us after having just retired from the United States Post Office. He and his husband dreamt of seeing the world; joining us at (then) Northwest was their way to do it.
If you’ve ever been a manager/supervisor/whatever you learn to quickly assess whether or not someone will be a good fit on your team. In a line station like mine, those good and bad qualities can be magnified— in case of conflict, there’s simply nowhere else to go.
He fit right in from the start and was the kind of person you are happy to see show up on your gate. Hardworking, sure, but also friendly, and frankly funny as hell. I should also note that he was a great baker and would bring cookies in often.
I should also note that I ate more than my share.
I’d like to have ended this story with another retirement party, replete with balloons, cake, and hugs. This isn’t that story, though. For Richard, there was no second retirement or years spent on exploring the Greek Isles. Instead, I am writing this on the 11th anniversary of his death due to a workplace accident. This was not a “good death” (whateverthehell that means), and it wasn’t quick, either.
I mention this to share a few points:
First, every action has a consequence. Sometimes they’re good, and sometimes not, but nothing happens in a vacuum.
Next, it’s easy to become complacent at work, and at home. Many of you may be going back to the office for the first time in a while. Even if you’ve been going in through the whole pandemic, please—if even just for today— make a concerted effort to move through your shift with intention. That extra second or two could make all the difference.
Third; dreams deferred are dreams unrealized. People re-prioritizing their life in the wake of COVID is a popular topic these days, and there are no shortage of think pieces and/or hot takes plastered all over the ‘net. It’s easy to let real life get in the way—I’m as guilty of it as anyone— but no one’s promised tomorrow.
Also: If someone in your office brings cookies in, make sure to thank them, even if you don’t eat them.
My weekly series is now a teenager. Who’d have thought?!
Here are 5 things of value I wanted to share with you this week:
What caught your attention this week? Let me know in the comments!
406 days.
A little over 13 months after I tore my knee up, I finally stepped back onto the same soccer field. It’s weird to finally do something you’ve spent so much time & energy working toward.
I’d also be lying if I said I wasn’t just a little apprehensive on the drive over. The truth is there are 7 exits between my house and the field, and I thought about taking every one of them.
But I’d made it this far, and decided to push through — and I’m glad I did. The game was good (spoiler alert: I’m still a terrible player), but seeing everyone again was amazing. It’s easy to forget how important community can be in one’s life.
Maybe that’s the bigger lesson here? I had a whole story written about perseverance and sticking to one’s goals. At the end of the day, the bigger reward was the sheer joy of seeing my friends again.
On to the good stuff:
1. Scott Galloway made a compelling case for Twitter switching to a (tiered) subscription model. I have to say I agree with him. I think it would go a long way toward making the platform a more engaging — and pleasant — place to be.
2. Ear candy: My playlist for this week.
3. The overarching narrative has been that America narrowly averted disaster on January 6th and that our Republic is somehow infallible. This excellent piece by John Ellis deconstructs that and walks us through the much more alarming “truth” that also exists.
4. Former Montreal Canadien Ken Dryden on how goalies are changing hockey — and not necessarily for the better.
What milestones did you hit this week? What grabbed your attention? Let me know in the comments!
We’re in a brutal cold snap here in the upper Midwest, but the sun is out and visibility is clear-and-a-million. It’s all a matter of perspective, I guess.
Here are 5 things that grabbed my attention this past week. Wherever this finds you, I hope you’re safe and warm… Or that it’s at least sunny.
What caught your eye this past week? Let me know! I read every response.
Onward!
Kevin —
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