Weekend Links 8-21-20

This week doesn't feature quite as many links as past weeks. I attribute that mostly to lack of time to search out interesting stuff. Be sure to follow me on Twitter as I am often tweeting other articles that I don't feature in these posts. Also you can send me a tip if you see something that you think should be included in a future post. Finally, don't forget to subscribe to the blog (see the sidebar) so you will be notified of future posts. Here are this week's links:

This article about the lawyer who tracks typos at The New York Times is a fascinating look at the modern state of journalism and its current lack of editorial oversight. By the way, I don't think the Times is alone in struggling with typos and grammatical errors. I have seen the same issue crop up at other media outlets too. It's just interesting to me that someone makes a pastime out of catching these errors. 

Followers of this blog probably know I am a big fan of Agatha Christie's novels. This year marks the 100th anniversary of her debut novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Here's a look at the novelist's lasting legacy.  Related: mystery novelists with upcoming new releases talk about Christie's influence on their own works. 

This year also marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Negro Baseball Leagues. At a time when racial discrimination was institutionalized in many places the Negro Leagues flourished. Major League Baseball commemorated the anniversary last weekend and is starting to discuss officially recognize the Negro Leagues as official major leagues which is a designation that is long overdue. The Negro Leagues are also responsible for the rise of the popularity of baseball outside the United States. Finally, take time to listen to this conversation with Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.  

Strange snacks: the curious history of Astronaut Ice Cream. 

It's the time of year when kids are normally thinking about going back to school. But in the midst of a continuing pandemic, many kids are having to shift to online learning. For families that are considering homeschooling textbooks might seem like a good investment. But as this writer argues, instead of textbooks, parents should be relying more on primary sources. 

Longread of the week: twenty five years and the theft of millions of dollars worth of rare books. 

Daily Links 1-9-14

Good morning! In today's roundup: celebrating the great year of film that was 1939, don't feed the trolls, considering alternative education, why you can't believe everything you hear, and more.

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This marks the 75th anniversary of what is arguably the best year for movies in the history of Hollywood: 1939. Breakpoint is marking the occasion by highlighting a different film from that year each month. The first installment deals with the classic western Stagecoach.

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Revealed:: the reason why you can't believe everything you hear.

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At Acculturated, Mark Tapson encourages us to not feed the trolls:

Recently an anonymous commenter responded to an Acculturated article I had written back in February entitled “Why Have Kids? They Make Life Meaningful.” The commenter stated, among other mean-spirited things, that “I hate kids. Always have. See humanity as a disease.” He (or she, but statistically speaking, it was most likely “he”) finished by saying that “women who birth children are dumb farm animals without exception.” 

I always try to respond to Acculturated comments, which are almost invariably well-considered and -intended, but I didn’t waste time on this one. It was the very definition of trolling: irrational, hateful, and designed only to provoke and/or bully, not to contribute to a meaningful online conversation. Trolls don’t respond to reason; they seek to agitate, not debate. Responding would have served no purpose except to feed the troll’s perverse need to suck me into a time-wasting, enervating black hole from which even the light of reason cannot escape. 

Such a comment may be rare on Acculturated, but the internet at large is hip-deep in trolls waging such (usually) anonymous, virtual guerrilla warfare. Political websites are particularly infested with them. I spend a great deal of time – too much – reading articles online, and have resolved recently not only to be more discriminating about that, but also to liberate myself from the negativity of reading article comments too, partly due to the high concentration of trolls spreading hate and ugliness for the pathetic satisfaction it gives them.

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Glenn Reynolds has some advice for parents: consider alternative schooling. After all, why should parents settle for the one-size-fits-all public school? As a parent of two homeschooled girls, I can attest that choosing to educate our children at home was the best decision we ever made.

No one is more in tune with the deterioration of our public schools than Professor Reynolds. His new book just hit the shelves this week.

Related links: A review of the book. Also an interview with Professor Reynolds.

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Decoding the byzantine system of Netflix's 76,000+ microgenres. Fascinating stuff. (Hat tip: Mental Floss)

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In praise of breakfast. To me, it's still the best meal of the day. Unfortunately, technology has done little to improve it. In fact, the author has it right that breakfast is not what it used to be.