This is the Week to Start Listening to WTF
If you've been on the fence about diving into Marc Maron's WTF podcast, this would be an ideal week to begin. Three A+ episodes. Dan Vitale, Jason Isbell, and Patterson Hood.
What If Everything You Knew About Poverty Was Wrong? →
Stephanie Mencimer:
A sociologist at Johns Hopkins University, Edin is one of the nation's preeminent poverty researchers. She has spent much of the past several decades studying some of the country's most dangerous, impoverished neighborhoods. But unlike academics who draw conclusions about poverty from the ivory tower, Edin has gotten up close and personal with the people she studies—and in the process has shattered many myths about the poor, rocking sociology and public-policy circles.
Be wary of any “facts” or “evidence” that neatly and succinctly sum up a messy, multi-armed issue like poverty. The truth is always complicated and tough to digest. Edin’s approach is refreshing. Hopefully what she has learned doesn’t fall on deaf ears.
10 Poverty Myths, Busted →
No, single moms aren't the problem. And neither are absentee dads.
Demand that our politicians tell the truth.
Marco & Tiff Arment’s Toddler Stuff Review →
Adam is now almost 2 years old, and these are some of our favorite and most useful products that we recommend for toddlers and their parents.
Worth looking at if you’ve got a toddler toddling your way. We were very happy with many of the items from their Baby Stuff Review.
Don’t Help Your Kids With Their Homework →
One of the central tenets of raising kids in America is that parents should be actively involved in their children’s education: meeting with teachers, volunteering at school, helping with homework, and doing a hundred other things that few working parents have time for. These obligations are so baked into American values that few parents stop to ask whether they’re worth the effort.
Until this January, few researchers did, either. In the largest-ever study of how parental involvement affects academic achievement, Keith Robinson, a sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and Angel L. Harris, a sociology professor at Duke, mostly found that it doesn’t.
The article title is misleading, though. It’s not that you shouldn’t help your kids with their homework; you shouldn’t expect it to be the thing that separates them from their peers.
Going Blind in Space
And in the astronaut business, we have a saying, which is, there is no problem so bad that you can't make it worse.
I wonder how many little kids will be inspired to be an astronaut because of this TED Talk.
Kafka’s Joke Book →
John McNamee:
Why did the chicken cross the road?
It had been crossing so long it could not remember. As it stopped in the middle to look back, a car sped by, spinning it around. Disoriented, the chicken realized it could no longer tell which way it was going. It stands there still.
There are two types of people in the world—those who won’t even crack a smile at this piece and people who will find it fucking hysterical.
First Person POV Shark Attack
Literally one of my worst nightmares. I’m nauseous just thinking about watching this.
/via Devour