Episode 20: Our hometown, Buffalo
In this week’s episode, recorded in San Francisco, we lament the mass shooting by a white supremacist in our beloved hometown, Buffalo. We discuss the heinous shooting in Buffalo, and how it’s a bit different when you’re reacting to the place you grew up.
Then, Michael discusses political homelessness, a topic he’s spoken on and written about for years, and rebuts a common critique.
The Top 5 articles for your week:
“The Monthly Salon: May” (Abbey of Misrule - Substack)
Because “‘Changing the world’ is of course a modern notion, and it has gone into hyperdrive since the 1960s, as religion, with its promise of perfected kingdom beyond this life, has been replaced by materialism, which requires us to try and achieve it in this one. But the prevalance of the ‘changing the world’ narrative has also become ubiquitous for another, more everyday reason: the world is getting worse. And the worse it gets, the more we are desperate to change it - or to believe that we can. With God gone, after all, what else is left to us?”
“Is a Better World Possible Without American Power? A Debate With Daniel Bessner” (Wisdom of Crowds)
Because we listened to this podcast episode this weekend and thought it was a super interesting distillation of Leftist frameworks and approaches to how the world works. (warning: explicit language)
“The Multiverse Swallows Everything — Including Politics” (Politico)
Because “…how could it possibly be surprising that the multiverse reigns supreme in our cultural imagination, when the core concept is one that treats aspiration as outright fantasy? The solutions offered by the loudest politicians today that might bridge that gap are frequently themselves little better than science fiction.”
“We’ve Never Been Good at Feeding Babies” (The Atlantic)
Because the formula shortage is a national conversation, but one that could be prevented, possibly. “‘There are only a few manufacturing plants in the country, and there are four infant-formula companies that control about 90 percent of the supply in the United States,’ Dittmeier told me. ‘It’s a highly concentrated market with a highly concentrated production capacity, so that when one plant is taken offline for just a period of weeks, you see these ripple effects throughout the entire sector.’”
“Whatever Happened to Identity Politics?” (NYT)
Because we enjoyed this conversation with philosopher Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò. “There was one event in particular, where a group of people had come to visit campus from an alternative high school for kids who had been railroaded out of other school systems. Working-class, Black and brown kids. And they had come to campus to see what we were doing. And this person from the medical school comes up to speak and gives this impassioned description of how racially insensitive the med school practices are, and it’s just one of those “read the room” moments — this is the furthest thing from what your audience on this particular day rightfully cares about. That was a clear moment where I realized, “Oh, it’s not just that people talk this way when it’s just us academics around.” I think some people hav --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support
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