While walking two evenings ago, my wife and I spotted these guys under an oak tree. They told us they're not a band, but that they get together to pick bluegrass a few times a month. #Burlington #Vermont
Kolya
@kolyavt.bsky.social
Living in Vermont. Former longshoreman, sheepherder, field biologist, infantryman, farmer, etc. BS, JD. Neither master, nor jack-of-all-trades.
Beech in a Vermont forest in late May—the leaves still have that baby-green color of spring.
The return of Dzerzhinsky into any form of respectability is disturbing, disgusting, and depressing.
Anton Barbashin@abarbashin.bsky.social · 3mo ago"The return of Felix Dzerzhinsky statues should be seen less as an act of re-communization and more as part of the security services’ strategy to consolidate their power and eliminate any possibility of a repeat of the events of August 1991" @aivengo96.bsky.social ridl.io/the-iron-man...
Parasite, the 2019 Korean film, received huge acclaim among cinephiles. I finally watched it a few days ago. Because of all the enthusiastic praise, I expected to like it. I didn’t. I found it unpleasant. I don’t think I’m a total philistine, but I’m genuinely puzzled by its accolades.
Just heard this one: Two men sitting at the bar. "I'm writing a novel," says one. The other says: "And neither am I." (Attributed to Peter Cook.)
While walking along a river yesterday, we stumbled upon some fresh beaver work. Here is a nice example. #Vermont
@minczifra.bsky.social Andras, how I hope that Monday will be a happy day for you and so many of your compatriots!
A ten minute walk from my home. From Vermont looking at the sunset over Lake Champlain.
An excellent short short story by Nick Arvin! open.substack.com/pub/nickarvi...
A Device for Feeling Feelings
#12 of 52 Fictions: A Story a Week for 2026
open.substack.com
Sad to hear that Tracy Kidder died a few days ago. His 2003 book Mountains Beyond Mountains, about the indefatigable Dr. Paul Farmer, left a very deep impression on me.
Quico Toro's optimistic fable about how, in the not-too-distant future, American democracy avoided destruction by instituting drastic changes — replacing today's electoral system with rounds of sortition and intense deliberation. open.substack.com/pub/francisc...
The Venetian Option
A speculative history of post-Trump democracy
open.substack.com
Flight disruptions reveal something simple: when the trip is for work, delays are par for the course; when it’s personal, they feel like theft.
@rprose.bsky.social are you still living somewhere in the Gulf area?
@adamgurri.liberalcurrents.com Adam, I enjoyed your conversation with Sean Carroll. I know there are more urgent issues to address, but I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on introducing some form of sortition into a liberal democracy--even one like the US.
Aleksei Navalny died two years ago today in a prison beyond the Arctic Circle in Siberia.
@roberttalisse.bsky.social Bummer! Just found out you are not hosting New Books in Philosophy anymore. That was a surprise. You were an excellent host and I learned a lot from you and your questions.
@caraocobock.bsky.social Hey Cara! My wife & I are new grandparents so, a week or so ago, we started watching Babies on Netflix. Then, while watching yesterday, a familiar face appeared. It was you! An episode about walking. I don't know you in person, but I got excited as a baby!
@sambreazeale.bsky.social Kudos for excellent questions to Seva and Kennedy. Informative episode.
Last night my wife and I watched "The Salt of the Earth." Wow! About the late photographer Sebastiao Salgado: his life, and his great work all over the world. Strong stuff. Powerful and sublimely beautiful. A documentary by Wim Wenders and Salgado's son.
@davidbatherwoods.bsky.social Enjoyed your Schopenhauer book! I would've preferred for it to be about a third longer to concentrate a bit more on the philosophy itself. But I enjoyed it a lot and found the LRB snide piece by Eagleton irritating. Happy about the Zaretsky review!
How many monkeys died for the polio vaccine? One million. Excellent reporting and solid analysis by Ava Kofman. It’s genuinely shocking to learn just how much contemporary scientific research depends on animal suffering on a massive scale
The New Yorker@newyorker.com · 9mo agoLast November, 43 rhesus macaques escaped from Alpha Genesis, one of the country’s biggest breeders of primates used in scientific experiments. Ava Kofman writes about the fraught circumstances and politics surrounding the monkey jailbreak.
Earlier this morning. Hours later it's still snowing in Burlington (within the so-called Vermont's banana belt.) Two squirrels and a junco are visible. (Cardinals, goldfinches & chickadees also loving the feeders today.)
This was excellent. No-nonsense and illuminating.
The Dissenter@thedissenteryt.bsky.social · 10mo agoNew episode (1166), with Dr. Alexander Rosenberg. We talk about his great new book, Blunt Instrument: Why Economic Theory Can't Get Any Better...Why We Need It Anyway. #Economics #Philosophy YouTube: youtu.be/tCwAaO6zSrs Podcast: bit.ly/4oD0wCY