1.14.2021
The 33 Project
Yesterday, I walked across the city, from the west village to tompkins square park. Prior to the pandemic, I did this daily. I’d walk from west to east every morning to an office space I was using for SUP. Walking yesterday felt…mostly good. People were out (every single person I saw wearing a mask) being active and living in New York. It’s different, of course. So many vacant spaces lining the streets, no real clusters of people or activity. One person shooting hoops where it used to be a full court 5x5 game. But, it felt nice to stroll past people moving, living, and just being outside. I felt grateful. Grateful that the silence is fading and the bustle returning.
On to this week’s recs:
1/ There’s been many great reads published since Jan. 6th and the attack on the Capitol. One that really stuck with me, though, is this piece from n+1.
I like Lost Lost Causes because it makes the interesting point that America is the land of lost causes. When it comes to progress in this country there isn’t simply a winner and a loser and then forward movement. Instead of accepting defeat, reconciling and moving forward, that “loss” lingers and festers and grows into a new beast eventually. This is most clear in America’s response to the Civil War.
Highly recommend reading and reflecting on how we progress in this country.
2/ I kind of loved reading this piece about country music and Taylor Swift. Country music is all about telling stories and in that vein, Taylor Swift is rekindling her country roots with her most recent albums. Taylor Swift and the Cowboys Like Her does a great job outlining where Swift is at in the current moment and, more importantly, where women in the genre stand. Country has never been an easy music space for women to have control within and the piece does a nice job reiterating this point.
3/ Finally, COVID fatigue is real. Ed Yong’s been covering the pandemic since March and says a lot in this interview that resonates. Yong was recently on the longform podcast again diving into the relentlessness of covering covid.
Asked if there’s anything positive that’s come out of his reporting:
The single most important thing we have learned about COVID-19 is that it can be controlled. It is not an unstoppable super-pathogen. We know how to deal with it—masks, physical-distancing, avoiding prolonged indoor contact, testing, contact-tracing, options for safe quarantines, better ventilation, social interventions like paid sick leave. It should be possible to control it.
Let’s hope this progress continues. ‘Till next week.