Hi all,
It's been a while since the last Cloud Bites; things have been a little busy! November included a trip to Boston for a good friend's wedding and then to Zion National Park for hiking and general fun (photos below!). I'm feeling grateful for the coziness of cold weather and tasty food :D Hope y'all are enjoying the fall too!
Let's start with a recommendation that seems pertinent to the moment: Zeynep Tufekci on Omicron. Zeynep is a sociologist who has earned a huge amount of respect throughout the pandemic for being unafraid to speak truth to power. She was among the first (to be published widely) criticizing the US government and the WHO for discouraging individuals from wearing masks in March 2020. It's still mind-boggling and infuriating to me that both these organizations trusted with being the source-of-truth for the general public would spread outright falsehoods about whether wearing masks is beneficial in a pandemic of a respiratory virus! Disgusting.
Anyways, Zeynep does a really good job outlining exactly what we don't know about Omicron and how this should impact our lives going forward.
On a lighter note, here is a floor lamp that I desperately wish one of you would buy:
It's just so great!
I'd also like to recommend Ezra Klein's Podcast, which you can find for free on any podcast app. He interviews people critical of society in one way or another and engages them in meaningful and productive discussions. I've found the show extremely edifying, each episode a gem in its own right. Thinkers on the show include:
Some topics discussed:
Again, I cannot recommend this podcast highly enough. I don't usually enjoy the podcast medium as it tends to be fairly information-sparse, but each of these is chock full of insights, facts, and valuable intuition.
Lastly, I want to recommend Capsule. Capsule is a US-based pharmacy/app that delivers your medication for free to your home. You ask your doctor to write the prescription to Capsule's address, just like you would a different pharmacy. Then Capsule will notify you to select a delivery time. It was painless and fast, though someone has to be around to receive the delivery. Way better than going to CVS.
Here are the photos of Zion I promised:
Again, hope you are all well and having a good time in the places you're in!
All the best,
Charles