A Few Tabs

In the interest of not letting the tabs pile up too much, here are a few.

Much of what you've heard about Carter and Reagan is wrong by Noah Smith. As Dave Roberts put it on Twitter, "I wonder if the systematic demonization of Carter and deification of Reagan in US public life has anything to do with the presence of a giant, relentless right-wing propaganda machine in this country?"

About a week ago, education writer Alfie Kohn put together a succinct post called Indoctrination that speaks for me on the "critical race theory" moral panic.

Transition Town founder Rob Hopkins, before attending the just-ending gathering in Glasgow, wrote about COP26 and the Five Stages of Grief. As you can tell from the title, he updated Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's framework to our current global situation. Acceptance, though, is not accepting you will die (as it was for Kubler-Ross), but accepting the scale of what's  needed so we can reimagine the world. Now that COP26 is ending, Hopkins has written Reflections on tsunamis, determination and a week in Glasgow. I highly recommend both posts.

Finally, a podcast about moral panics and bikes. "Has Paris really descended into anarchy because of all the cyclists? Are e-bikes and scooters the biggest threats to pedestrians on the mean streets — and sidewalks — of New York? What happens when reporters misunderstand statistics and rely on anecdotes to paint a picture of an urban transportation landscape that’s spinning out of control?" With Michael Hobbes, who until recently was cohost of You're Wrong About, one of Daughter Number Three-Point-One's favorite podcasts, who tweets at @RotteninDenmark.

Oh, and speaking of Michael Hobbes and moral panics, particularly in journalism — here's his resounding essay on the topic.

See, I said it would be just a few. My browsers are running better these days, thank you very much.