What I’ve Read this Week
It occurred to me a few seconds ago (from writing this, not from publishing), it might be interesting to capture (some of) the various media I’m consuming throughout the weeks—both for myself to see the scope (and to be able to find the content again), and potentially for other people to discover some of these super interesting articles and documents. This won’t include all the random personal things I read or watch, like news articles (jk I don’t read the news because I’m in grad school and can use that as an excuse to remain temporarily ignorant of current events), but things I’ve read/watched for various class projects, or things I read/watched because of other things that had to do with a class but which might be several steps away.
*Top recommendations are marked thusly.
So, starting about one week in May, and ordered under the class I’m taking that they most closely relate to:
Social Lab
An article about negative emission power plants and turning carbon dioxide into stone.
*This amazing amazing thesis paper about sex education in deaf high schools, comparing between Providence, RI and Nairobi, Kenya. I haven’t at all gotten through the whole thing yet, but basically it keeps blowing my mind over and over (and led me to the following topics of able-bodiness and the social model of disability).
This essay I read some of, to try and better understand the concept of compulsory heterosexuality and compulsory able-bodiness. What are these things, you may ask? Well…I still don’t think I fully understand, so you should read this essay as well! But the idea is, maybe, that in normalizing heterosexuality and able-bodiness, we are saying that it’s not okay to not be these things, and then we teach to the normalization and attempt to force people into those categories by not creating a society where a greater range of [sexuality][ability] is “normal” or acceptable.
*The really cool thing related to compulsory able-bodiness is actually what I learned about the social model of disability which is something I had never heard of and was totally mindblowing for me.
**This very important and relevant and powerful TedTalk that will explain some of the true costs of using natural resources, which of course we don’t pay for.
*This article talking a bit about the sex education model in The Netherlands, which might make you jealous and also frustrated, if you grew up and live in the US.
(If you’re wondering why several/many of these are related to sex education, it’s because I chose to spend two whole semesters researching and designing in this field! Always happy to talk more about this.)
Theater of the Future
**This interview you MUST WATCH from Wired magazine about how our data is used to manipulate or “hack” us and maaaaybe how we can fight it on a personal level, plus some very interesting ideas about possible ways to oppose the harm caused by them.
I haven’t played it yet, but here’s a game to help you understand CRISPR, the gene-editing technology that’s currently rocking the medical world!
An interesting and brief study about the gender bias quickly learned by AI.
Prototyping
This presentation from 2ish years ago about moving outside of computer screens to use physical spaces (museums and the like) to design tangible interactions that focus on creating memorable and even custom experiences.
This isn’t an article, but it’s a fun way to do some very visual programming, using a language called Processing. If you get really good at it, maybe you can do stuff like this!
This somewhat disturbing video about fatbergs, a thing I had never heard of and which are truly a horrific view into the western lifestyle, and something you should definitely learn about!
Systems
This article about how cities are lattices, not trees, by a somewhat famous architect whose personality and also work my mom (an architect herself) dislikes. (That is relevant, but maybe still interesting. She dropped his class when she was at Berkeley because he was so pedantic and she thinks his disciples’ buildings are boring). A quote from this text also prompted me to write this whole other post that you should read because I said so!
This longish and hardish to read but potentially interesting paper about how architecture=cybernetics?
*The Library of Babel, by Borges (This is a short fiction story. Or is it?) (Sorry there’s no link, you’ll have to find it yourself!)
Let me know if you read any of these, what you thought of them, and if they lead you to anything awesome and worth sharing!
