Books editor at Mockingbird (store.mbird.com) and contributing editor to the site
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Another Week Ends: Unconscious Sin, the NBA Bubble, the Religion of Politics, Millennial Burnout, Scary Halloween Costumes, Sally Rooney, and Eddie Van Halen
1. First up, Peter Ormerod contributed a fantastic op-ed to the Guardian defending “unconscious bias training.” For those unfamiliar, many major institutions have begun programs aimed at combatting bias against race, sexuality, gender, etc., under the assumption that “some of our beliefs may be held so deeply that we are unaware of them.” As Ormerod […]
Jamie Quatro Envisions Unconditional Love in New York City
“And You, With Your Wayward Thoughts, in the Agony of Temptation: I Would Have You No Other Way”
Another Week Ends: Operation Ceasefire, Idiot Prayer, Racism and Sin, Troublesome Empathy, Martin Luther, and Immortality
1. A pretty obvious place to look for the dynamics of law and grace is, well, the law. In a recent story from Mother Jones, Samantha Michaels describes a program designed to curb gun violence in cities with high murder rates. Operation Ceasefire identifies people who are at risk of shooting someone or being shot; rather […]
Shame in the Time of Choosing Your Zoom Background Precisely
On “the Brittle Aesthetic Rules of Authority”
Love, Compassion, and the Relative Suffering of Christ on the Cross: Intimations by Zadie Smith
On Letting Yourself Acknowledge Pain
Another Week Ends: UK Football, Mental Health, Passionate Rituals, Fundamentalist Politics, the Pure History Myth, and Jesus Working from Home
1. This week’s first link comes from the Athletic. As a young player, UK footballer Michael Johnson was a natural talent who appeared to be “in supreme control of his destiny.” He played professionally for only a few years before announcing his retirement in January 2013, when he was just 24, saying “he wished to […]
How to Save a Life: William James’ Tips for Surviving Depression
The Will to Believe in the Vibrancy of Life
Another Week Ends: Hospital Housekeepers, the Resurrection, Systemic Racism, “Amazing Grace,” David Hume, and Ramy’s Performance of Religion (and Ours)
1. We’ll begin this weekend’s round-up with a truly lovely story of grace. Reported by Daniel Burke at CNN, it’s about a hospital housekeeper, Rosaura Quinteros, whose job was to mop floors, pull trash, and clean surfaces in the rooms of COVID-19 patients. In one particular room, the patient’s last rites had been administered; via […]