Thoughty Thursday: Popping your mental corn, July 10-16, 2022

July 21, 2022July 17, 2022 / Melanie Marttila

How has your week been, my writerly friends? Good news: it’s thoughty Thursday and that means tomorrow is Friday 🙂 It’s time to get your mental corn popping in time for the weekend.

Where did the blind and Black musician trope come from? Historian’s Take | PBS Origins

Tamara Dean reveals the truth about the history of abortion in America. The Guardian

Matthew Wills relates the history of policing abortion. JSTOR Daily

Pro-life vs. pro-choice: Roe vs. Wade overturned. Uncomfortable Conversations with Emmanuel Acho

Mary Yamaguchi reports that Japan’s ruling party wins big in polls in wake of Abe’s death. Associated Press

Hannah Ellis-Petersen: Sri Lankans revel in overrun presidential palace. The Guardian

Len Gillis interviews Kim Fahner about her experience with long covid. Sudbury.com

Nihilism, absurdity, and hope … online and off. Khadija Mbowe

Savanah Walsh: Constance Wu says she attempted suicide after Fresh Off the Boat tweets stoked ire. Vanity Fair

Monica Torres lists five work personality traits that are actually forms of anxiety. The Huffington Post

Clark Quinn: emotion, motivation, or … Learnlets

Harold Jarche considers intentionality in personal knowledge management (PKM).

Melissa Angell: a good night’s sleep is vital for heart health. Inc.

The Webb’s forst four (actually seven) images explained. SciShow Space

The first images of the hidden universe from the James Webb Space Telescope. NASA

Marie-Louise Gumuchian reports that primatologist Jane Goodall gets a Barbie. Reuters

Catherine Bush wants us to become Earth’s aunties. “What if … we cared for the world’s future inhabitants like aunts? As if the people-to-be and the more-than-human are not ours — because they are not.” Noema

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you took away something to inspire a future creative project.

Until next tipsday, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, April 25-May 1, 2021

May 6, 2021May 2, 2021 / Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

Let’s get your mental corn popping, shall we?

Alanna Durkin Richer and Lindsay Whitehurst: 1 verdict, and then 6 police killing s across America in 24 hours. Associated Press

Ibram X. Kendi: compliance will not save me. The Atlantic

Judas and the Black Messiah, Explained – Self-Preservation Won’t Save You. The Take

Chi Luu: how being polite with the police can backfire. JSTOR Daily

Mimi Fox Melton and Karla Monterosso: if you want a truly equitable workplace, get over your fear of conflict. Fast Company

Michael Luo relates the forgotten history of the purging of Chinese from America. The New Yorker

Ryan Lenora Brown: Séverine Autesserre has seen peacekeeping fail. Here’s her advice on getting it right. Christian Science Monitor

I Kissed a Girl: the messy legacy of a queerbait hit. Melina Pendulum

Matthew Wills: eighteenth-century spies in the European silk industry. JSTOR Daily

Rachael Stephen shares some tools for soothing and survival.

Oliver Burkeman explores the idea of the clockwork universe: is free will an illusion? The Guardian

Gordon Johnston highlights the pink supermoon April 26 and celestial events over the next month. NASA Solar System Exploration

April’s “pink” supermoon around the world—in pictures. The Guardian

Calla Cofield: astronomers release new all-sky map of the Milky Way. NASA

Nina Munteanu wants you to watch Borealis.

Kate Kellaway interviews tree whisperer, Suzanne Simard: “They get along, they listen—they’re attuned.” The Guardian

Guy Kawasaki has a conversation about conservation with Dr. Jane Goodall. Remarkable People Podcast

Sophia Quaglia reports that scientists find a way to remove polluting micro-plastics with bacteria. The Guardian

Royce Kurmelov explains how solar power continues to shock the world. The Guardian

Communication while dreaming. SciShow Psych

Tessa Vikander: beavers chew through a 4.5-inch-thick tube, disrupting power to 900 BC customers. CTV

Thank you for taking the time to visit, and I hope you took away something to inspire a future creative project.

Until next tipsday, be well and stay safe, be kind, and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, July 12-18, 2020

July 23, 2020July 19, 2020 / Melanie Marttila

Happy Friday eve! Without further delay, it’s time to get your mental corn popping 🙂

An example of how white supremacy privileges things over humans. Black Lives Matter Toronto holds a press conference after three protestors are arrested for “defacing” statues. Don’t even look at the comments on this one if you’re not prepared to be triggered. CTV

Mary Hynes interviews Ijeoma Oluo on Tapestry. CBC

Ashawnta Jackson explains what the first Black-owned bookstore had to do with the underground railroad. JSTOR Daily

Sarah Gilbert: civil rights activist and politician, John Lewis—a life in pictures. The Guardian

Sonia Saraiya interviews Viola Davis: my entire life has been a protest. Vanity Fair

Paul McGuinness reveals the power of protest songs. uDiscover Music

Amy Greer, Nisha Thampi and Ashleigh Tuite: we can get children back to school full time, if we put the right strategy in place. The problem is, no one can agree on what that strategy is … The Globe and Mail

North Bay OPP charge Florida couple with failing to self-isolate. CBC

What happened when we all stopped, narrated by Jane Goodall. TED.Ed

Adam Mann: the universe’s clock might have bigger ticks than we imagine. Scientific American

Mary Robinette Kowal does a dramatic reading of her “peeing in space” Twitter thread for Uncanny Magazine. It is hilarious.

David Szondy: 75 years ago, the Trinity atomic bomb test changed the world forever. New Atlas

Mark Wilson says knock codes were supposed to be more secure than passwords or PINs, but they’re surprisingly easy to hack. Fast Company

Catie Keck shares everything we know about the 2020 Twitter hack (so far). Gizmodo

Nathanael Johnson: the population bomb didn’t detonate, but it turns out there’s a new problem. Grist

Feargus O’Sullivan goes behind the accidentally resilient design of Athens apartments. CityLab

Sophia Smith Galer reveals the accidental invention of the Illuminati conspiracy. BBC

SciShow busts the “alpha dog” theory.

Jimmy Thomson says, one solution to the world’s climate woes is Canada’s natural landscapes. The Narwhal

Alexandra Witze: how humans are altering the tides of the oceans. BBC

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you took away something to inspire a future creative project.

Until next tipsday, be well and stay safe, by kind, and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Sept 8-14, 2019

September 19, 2019September 15, 2019 / Melanie Marttila

And now … it’s time to get your mental corn popping.

Erika W. Smith reveals the spiritual reason Friday the thirteenth is considered unlucky. Refinery29

Cassie Shortsleeves explains why being near water really does make us happier. Conde Nast Traveler Magazine

Rod McCullom reveals how bullying may shape adolescent brains. UnDark

SciShow Psych looks at the varieties of bipolar disorder.

Sophia Chen: Sean Carroll thinks we all exist on multiple worlds. Nabbed his book, Something Deeply Hidden, on the strength of this article. A little mind-blowing 🙂 Wired

Gabriel Popkin explores soil’s microbial market and the ruthless side of forests. Ties the “wood wide web” to the Gaia hypothesis—awesome stuff. Quanta Magazine

David Gelles: Jane Goodall keeps going, with a lot of hope (and a bit of whiskey). The New York Times

Physics girl looks at the surprising ways Mars is hostile to life.

Dr. Becky answers the question, if the universe is expanding, why do galaxies collide?

Andrew Lasane introduces us to the “Universe of Words” installation by Emmanuelle Moureaux. This is Colossal

Jessica Stewart shares 15 powerful finalists for the 2019 wildlife photograph of the year contest. Warning: though compelling, several of these photos are uncomfortable, if not outright disturbing. My Modern Met

Thanks for visiting. I hope you found something to inspire your current or next creative project.

Until next tipsday, be will, be kind, and stay strong. The world needs your stories.

ThoughtyThursday2019

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, March 15-21, 2015

March 26, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

There’s a whole lot of thoughty going on!

What kind of geek is Delilah S. Dawson? The kind that has to defend herself far too often.

The part of bravery people struggle with most. Michael Hyatt.

Things that introverts would never tell you. Higher Perspective.

Gideon Lichfield of The Atlantic explores the science of near-death experiences (NDEs).

I’ve been curious about trying absinthe since I was that the liquor store was selling it. I checked it out this weekend, though and it’s a little expensive for my taste. Maybe for a special occasion. This article on The Daily Beast on the resurgence of absinthe piques my curiosity, though.

Four reasons you should invest in a standing desk. Michael Hyatt.

Six things you should know about how you learn. The Next Web.

Neil deGrasse Tyson’s new late night television show will premiere April 20! The Verge.

This new Tesla battery has the power to take you off the grid 🙂 Inhabitat.

Since I live in the city, I didn’t get to see these, but apparently it’s been a very good week for aurorae 🙂 CBC.

What colour is the universe? It’s okay to be smart.