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It’s time for the last link list of the year!
Links!!
1 - Andrew Van Damm wrote a good data analysis piece for WaPo on American emigrants. It’s been passed around with the takeaway “Americans are more likely to move to Mexico than Canada.” This is technically true. But Van Damm notes that a stark number of U.S.-to-Mexico emigrants are young children. Why? Because, as Van Damm points out, many kids are born in the States to Mexican parents (which automatically grants them U.S. citizenship), and then return to Mexico when they’re young, making them technically emigrants from the U.S. to Mexico. A good data analysis piece overall and a reminder to be cautious before taking away bold claims from data.
2 - All over Europe you can get these 4-in-1 combo tests that test for COVID, Influenza A and B, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Not in the U.S. because it hasn’t been approved by the FDA yet. Would have been incredibly useful to have a few weeks ago, when I wasn’t sure if I was sick with COVID or RSV (it was COVID).
3 - An explanation of StarForce, the mid-2000s anti-piracy software that broke your computer.
4 - Interesting take on ChatGPT. There’s something powerful about the idea that writing is living through your own words while editing is living through someone else’s words.
5 - The Mathematics Genealogy Project published a small analysis of their data.
7 - Yesterday, Andrew Callaghan of All Gas No Brakes and Channel 5 fame released his first full-length film This Place Rules, a documentary on the events leading up to the January 6th riots, through HBO. Haven’t watched it yet, but Callaghan’s work is very much worth watching. For some personal favorites, here’s Callaghan doing his thing in Minneapolis, Huntington Beach, Birmingham, and Oakland.
8 - Since it’s the end of the year, I checked my own stats on the most popular posts I made in 2022. The most popular Medium post was “Why is Germany so bad at Eurovision?”, which didn’t surprise me (it’s also easily one of my favorite posts I made this year). What did surprise me was that the most popular Double Torus post was “An Update on BeReal (and a BeReal Reading List).” I’m flattered, I think, that so many people were interested in hearing my take on the economic viability of a burgeoning French social media app. Second-most-popular was “Hexagon Boards vs. Square Boards Explained,” which made me happy. It made Quackerton happy too.
9 - Since it’s almost the new year, I can finally share this letter from John Steinbeck, written on new year’s day, 1941. An excerpt:
Not that I have lost any hope. All the goodness and the heroisms will rise up again, then be cut down again and rise up. It isn’t that the evil thing wins — it never will — but that it doesn’t die. I don’t know why we should expect it to.
Best Books I Read in 2022
Usually, this would be its own separate post (that’s what I did in 2021 and 2020). But truthfully, 2022 kicked my ass and I only read like 7 books this whole year. Still, 4 of them were really good:
AMORALMAN - Derek Del Gaudio - It’s non-fiction, but it’s a complete thrill to read. Absolutely enthralled me from the first page to the last. Nearly broke my brain and made me think deeply about misdirection and magic.
How to be Perfect - Michael Schur - Michael Schur is the creator of The Good Place, and How to be Perfect is a synthesis of a bunch of moral philosophy Schur read before creating the show. It hits that sweet spot for me between funny and enlightening.
Making a Scene - Constance Wu - Series of essays. One of the essays is on bread, which automatically makes it a recommendation. The other essays get heart-wrenching, and I think it’s one of those rare celebrity books that actually feels touching and vulnerable.
Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World - Barry Lopez - Another series of essays, primarily on nature. The way Lopez writes about nature is meditative and made me feel weirdly calmed. Also, “Sliver of Sky” is an incredible essay. It’s one of the most painful essays I’ve ever read (don’t read it if you’re uncomfortable with themes of sexual assault and violence), and it’s probably the only essay I’ve read that made me physically nauseous.