‘Hello, Gabby. It’s Raffi.’ →

Gabrielle Canon:

Four little words and I was instantly transported. Raffi might very well be the first person outside my family whom I truly adored. Now he was talking to me on the phone. A real phone! Not a banana phone.

I was part of a generation who grew up with Raffi songs. Because of Raffi we wonder what we might see down by the bay where the watermelon grows. We know the solution to sillies is to shake them out. We found out we liked to ate, ite, ute, and eat eeples and baneenees. And, of course, we learned all about our favorite whale, Baby Beluga. There are a lot of us.

"You are one of millions of what I call Beluga Grads," he told me. "There are apparently between 20 and 50 million, depending on how you count it."

Right now, “Baby Beluga” is #1 on the charts in our house. And just to show you what my life’s like these days, I read this article and thought: Oh, wow—a new Raffi album!

Now That Every Human Owns a Pair of Nike Free Sneakers… →

Andrew Cushing:

I told you from the start that the humans’ absurd fashion obsessions would be their undoing. You asked, “But what about those who do not exercise? What about those who do not go running?” And I assured you, in my infinite divine wisdom, that even those who do not run would still wear the running sneaker. I told you that whether or not they use the sneaker for its intended purpose does not matter to the humans.

Still, you questioned me.

I own three pairs.

The Problem With Blindly Protesting Genetically Modified Crops →

Michael Specter:

Americans demand labels, at least in part, because they are afraid. And they are afraid because of the kinds of assertions made by people like Vandana Shiva, an Indian activist whom I profiled this week in the magazine. Shiva and her allies talk constantly about dangers of G.M.O.s that are not supported by facts.

G.M.O. labels may be a political necessity, but they make no scientific sense. Most of the legislation that has been proposed would require a label that says something like “produced with genetic engineering.” Almost none of the labels would identify any specific G.M.O. ingredient in any particular food. In fact, the laws now proposed are so vague that many of the foods in a grocery store would have to carry a label. They would tell you how your food is put together, but not what it contains. How could that help anyone make a sound decision about his health?

As someone who has sneered about G.M.O.s in the past, the little piece I’ve linked to here, as well as the profile of Vandana Shiva that Specter mentions (which I cannot recommend enough), made for eye-opening reading. I’ll think twice before sneering so easily (and fact-lessly) again.

Ferguson’s Freedom Summer →

Jay Caspian Kang:

The suggestion that the protesters in Ferguson would be better off with what would amount to white human shields is disturbing (and not without a paternalistic tinge), in part because Smith may be right. It is a sad and cynical compromise, but perhaps a pragmatic one.

Careful—there’s a truth bomb with a sputtering fuse in this one.

Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy—Along With Son, Spencer—Releases His First Solo Project →

Steven Hyden:

“As a parent sometimes you feel like you’re supposed to always be a fount of wisdom, and doing something meaningful and enriching with your children,” Tweedy said. “My mom, she never slept for very long. She took naps at like different hours of the day. I never had bedtimes, so I spent a lot of time watching old movies with my mom on the couch while she fell asleep with a lit cigarette. Is that good parenting? I don’t know, but it’s meaningful to me. It’s a scene in my life that evokes warm feeling toward my mom. In spite of it being this thing where you’d go, ‘Well, that’s terrible. You know, the little boy should have been in bed and not around cigarette smoke and not in danger of being burned alive.’”

I was torn about including the fact that Tweedy’s son is the drummer for this project in the title of this link. That shouldn’t be why it gets attention or praise. But, as a long-time fan of Wilco, and a father in the making, I find the story of the little boy drumming on his Dad’s lap at the end of I Am Trying to Break Your Heart now making music on stage with him just crushingly sweet and beautiful.

Luckily, the album’s pretty good too.

Celebrity Portraits by Chris Buck →

View fullsize

The Chris Farley one is really great.

/via this isn’t happiness

View fullsize

The Importance of a Book’s Margins →

Craig Mod:

Thoughtful decisions concerned with details marginal or marginalized conspire to affect greatness. (Hairline spacing after em dashes in online editing software — for example.) The creative process around these decisions being equal parts humility and diligence. The humility to try again and again, and the diligence to suffer your folly enough times to find the right solution.

A physical book is difficult. If you haven’t made one, it’s tough to imagine just how difficult it is. Every detail requires deliberation. There are many details. I will spare you an enumeration. But believe me when I say, if you think about them all before you start, you will never start. The rabbit hole is deep. The truth of any craft.

If George Nakashima were standing here (which would be amazing because he is dead), I’m sure he’d be more than happy to discuss ad nauseam the nuanced complexities in shaping a piece of wood just so. We’d say, 'OK OK Mr. Nakashima, got it.’ And he’d say, 'Listen, kids, in order to produce a fine piece of furniture, the spirit of the tree must live on. You give it a second life … You can make an object that lives forever, if used properly.

Forever.’

This piece is about so much more than putting careful thought into the layout of a physical book. The lesson reminds me of this story Steve Jobs used to tell about a design lesson he learned from his father.

How Becky Hammon Became N.B.A.’s First Full-Time Female Assistant Coach →

Jeré Longman:

On her flight home from the 2012 London Olympics, Becky Hammon had a familiar seatmate — Gregg Popovich, coach of the San Antonio Spurs.

They talked about a number of Popovich’s interests: politics, wine and the history and culture of Russia, where Hammon played professionally during the W.N.B.A. off-season and for which she had won an Olympic bronze medal in 2008.

What they did not talk about much was basketball. Except, Hammon recalled recently, this brief conversation:

“So if you were an assistant for me and I asked you something, you’d tell me the truth?”

“I don’t know why else you’d ask if you didn’t want me to tell the truth.”

“Good, I don’t want a bunch of yes men.”

I feel like more people should be talking about this story.

The Sound of Sports →

Roman Mars:

Way back in October 2011 (see episode #38, true believers!), we broadcast a short excerpt of a radio documentary produced by Peregrine Andrews about faking the sounds of sports on TV broadcasts. It was one of our most popular and provocative programs ever, primarily because people were shocked that any aspect of a sporting event might be faked. Since then, I’ve received several requests from the audience asking where they can hear the full-length documentary. Well today, my friends, you are in luck.

All sports fans—and I mean any and all sports (the niche sports ((curling, archery, etc.)) that they get into here have the more interesting sound design stories)—should take a listen to this, preferably on decent speakers or headphones. It’ll change the way you hear sports. And if you’re not already listening to 99% Invisible, well what the hell are you waiting for?

Amy Hempel, “Today Will Be a Quiet Day” →

Amy Hempel:

That morning, before waking his children, the father had canceled their music lessons and decided to make a day of it. He wanted to know how they were, is all. Just—how were they. He thought his kids were as self-contained as one of those dogs you sometimes see carrying home its own leash. But you could read things wrong.

Could you ever.

It’s a beautiful, unseasonably cool, breezy August day here on the East Coast. Sometimes, I just need to sit outside on days like this and read this story.