The Breads Roundup No. 99

Happiness, Media Scams and Spanish Irrigation

Feb 24, 2022

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Hello Carpoolers,

Fancy seeing you here.

One edition away from the big 100. If anybody has any thoughts on what I should do to celebrate a century of Breads I’m all ears.

Saving up a big motivational essay for the next one. Keep it real.

Ok time for the usual linkies. Enjoy.

Yale’s Happiness Professor Says Anxiety Is Destroying Her Students

Just Give Me A Synopsis:
Laurie Santos is the professor of Yale's famed happiness course and this is one of my favorite interviews I've read in a while. It's a great balance of data, insights and wisdom.

And A Quote From The Article Please:

But a lot of those intuitions, the science shows are not exactly right — or are deeply misguided. That’s why we get it wrong. I know this stuff, but my instincts are totally wrong. After a busy day, I want to sit and watch crappy Netflix TV shows, even though I know the data suggests that if I worked out or called a friend I’d be happier. But to do that I have to fight my intuition. We need help with that, and you don’t get it naturally, especially in the modern day. There’s an enormous culture around us of capitalism that’s telling us to buy things and a hustle-achievement culture that destroys my students in terms of anxiety. We’re also fighting cultural forces that are telling us, “You’re not happy enough; happiness could just be around the corner.” Part of it’s all the information out there about happiness, which can be hard to sift through, but a lot of it is a deeper thing in our culture that seems to be leading us astray.

And Tell Me Why I should Care:
This interview gives some great perspective on the rat race to happiness we've found ourselves in, delving in and out of the deep knowledge that Professor Santos has cultivated over the years. We're constantly told we need to be happy and we need more and we need to be advancing in our careers and all of that shit adds up mentally to take a toll. She breaks down ways to think about a lot of those things in a very smart way in this interview. Great read. Highly recommend.

An Incomplete History Of Forbes As A Platform For Scams, Grift, And Bad Journalism

Just Give Me A Synopsis:
Forbes, with its prestigious name, has a certain association with luxury and success. However, they have a thing called a contributor network where basically anyone can publish content, unedited and unverified and it has lead to all sorts of problems. This article looks at the dangers of something like this, made all the more worrisome by the fact that Forbes isn't the only place that does something like this.

And A Quote From The Article Please:

Forbes’ staff of journalists could produce great work, sure. But there were only so many of them, and they cost a lot of money. Why not open the doors to Forbes.com to a swarm of outside “contributors” — barely vetted, unedited, expected to produce at quantity, and only occasionally paid? (Some contributors received a monthly flat fee — a few hundred bucks — if they wrote a minimum number of pieces per month, with money above that possible for exceeding traffic targets. Others received nothing but the glory.)

And Tell Me Why I should Care:
I once went on a press trip (yes I know there are issues with that too) with another journalist who also worked as a Forbes contributor who told me they paid her $250 a month for five articles. That's $50/article aka a number you cannot pay and get quality journalism out of. Others aren't even paid. She also told me no one edited the pieces. She was someone who seemed to have integrity and morals when it came to this stuff but for every one of her there are countless others using Forbes, and other similar contributor networks, to write whatever they want. Sometimes that's just shit that benefits them but sometimes it is things that hurt other people. And if someone like me, who is pretty entrenched in the world of digital media, didn't realize this for a while, how can your aunt from Omaha who sees a Forbes article on facebook about some new miracle cure to Covid be expected to know? Nowhere on the internet is safe unfortunately.

Spain's Ingenious Water Maze

Just Give Me A Synopsis:
I don't know shit about farming or how it's done around the world, but I do know that water is always a huge issue and is only going to be more of an issue in the future. Water Wars of 2070 here we come! I like this read because it satisfies a bit of wanderlust while also outlining a historic way things are done sustainably.

And A Quote From The Article Please:

Eight main irrigation channels, or acequías, funnel water from the River Turia, which is then carried – by gravity – along a series of smaller branches, which distribute the water to thousands of tiny plots across the fields. The amount of water each plot receives isn't measured in terms of volume but rather on how well the river is flowing. The unit, known as a fila (from the Arabic word meaning "thread"), represents an individual's right to a proportion of the water over a period of time; the irrigation cycle usually lasts a week, but when the river's level is low, the cycle is extended.

And Tell Me Why I should Care:
Do I think this is the solution to global water issues? Probably not. Do I think it can be a good way to think about water distribution? For sure. It's also a cry for more local agriculture and the de-mass industrialization of farming. Mass farming is bad mkay. Plus this council has been going for over a millennium and the old men running the council meet once a week to yell at each, so that sounds awesome.

Other Interesting Things You May Or May Not Care About

The Ugly Truth Of How Movie Scores Are Made
Just like everything else, the person taking the credit doesn't actually do all of the work, except in film scoring it can be even more intense than that where the composer may not actually compose any music at all. I swear if the score from Hitch isn't real I'm gonna go off!
A Search Begins For The Wreck Behind An Epic Tale Of Survival
Researchers are heading down to Antarctica to search for the wreck of Ernest Shackleton's ship which sank in 1915. He was attempting to be the first person to cross Antarctica, which frankly, just sounds like a really shitty time. Cue Mark Wahlberg booking the role of head researcher when they inevitably make a movie about this crew of people searching for the ship. There will probably be unnecessary explosions.
Nowa Huta: The City That Went From Communism To Capitalism
Cool little travel piece about an industrial center that was built when Poland was under Soviet control that has now become a bustling commercial center. It's the Williamsburg of Poland! Which no doubt means finance broskis are soon going to be moving in to way overpriced apartments in order to consider themselves edgy.
The Last Oyster Tongers Of Apalachicola
I never really thought of good oysters coming from the Florida Gulf, but according to this article they have a storied tradition that has been disappearing due to all sorts of over harvesting and water rights issues. Also some great photography and a mini doc in this piece.
Inside The School Training Kids To Be MMA Champions
In Cameroon child labor is still legal, so often time these children are going to school and working in sand mines while still finding time to get punched in the head a bunch at MMA training. Amazing photography in this one too.

Let’s Just Looks At Art Because Reading Sucks

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