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Poetry in our modern world

An MIT professor discovered their students meeting to create poetry. The essay explores what poetry does and how it can function in our modern world.

In work like this, musicians, writers, and engineers all share space. They collaborate in service of human life and the preservation of all we adore. They remind us that poetry has always been a technology of memory and human connection: a way to remind ourselves of who and what we are to one another. Which is something infinitely more than we can say with words, although we must try—and in that striving, be made more lovely, and alive.

PJH Studios artwork, Portrait of a sun

PJH Studios

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  • Poetry in our modern world

    An MIT professor discovered their students meeting to create poetry. The essay explores what poetry does and how it can function in our modern world. In work like this, musicians, writers, and engineers all share space. They collaborate in service of human life and the preservation of all we adore. They remind us that poetry…

  • Americans drinking less

    Alcohol consumption in the United States trending downward. A record high percentage of U.S. adults, 53%, now say moderate drinking is bad for their health, up from 28% in 2015. The uptick in doubt about alcohol’s benefits is largely driven by young adults — the age group that is most likely to believe drinking “one…

  • The best college football TV guide listing

    College football start this weekend. One of the more annoying first world problems is finding out what game is at what time and on what channel. Enter https://cfb.guide/ It does just that. If you create an account, you can set your time zone and your favorite teams. During game day, it even tracks the scores.

  • Facial Stimulation Clears Brain Waste and Boosts Aging Minds

    An interesting therapy possibility: clear brain waste with facial stimulation. Researchers have discovered a safe, non-invasive way to enhance the brain’s waste clearance system by mechanically stimulating lymphatic vessels just beneath the facial skin. This gentle technique significantly improves cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drainage—a critical function that declines with age and contributes to cognitive disorders like…

  • Middle class restaurants disappearing

    Those casual dining restaurants where you could walk in with out a reservation are slowly disappearing. Once rapidly growing commercial marvels, casual dining chains — sit-down restaurants where middle-class families can walk in without a reservation, order from another human and share a meal — have been in decline for most of the 21st century.…

  • American state capitalism

    Not sure if Reagan envisioned American state capitalism. We wouldn’t be dabbling with state capitalism if not for the public’s and both parties’ belief that free-market capitalism wasn’t working. That system encouraged profit-maximizing CEOs to move production abroad. The result was a shrunken manufacturing workforce, dependence on China for vital products such as critical minerals,…

  • Texting the number on the sign

    In every city, there are painted signs on telephone poles. In Portland, Kate Bingaman-Burt texted one of the numbers and conversed with them about the craft of sign making.

  • What does a coxswain do?

    A friend of mine has a daughter who will be on a collegiate, Division I rowing team as a coxswain. It’s been interesting hearing about the recruiting process and what they do on a boat–they’re the brains. “They’re pretty much in charge of the whole race,” says Tom Sanford, the Director of Rowing at Marist.…

  • Automobile polo

    There was a time in the early event of the automobile, polo matches were held. Cars. A ball. A person with a mallet hitting said ball.

  • The case for memes as a new form of comics

    There is an argument to be made that memes, the visual kind, are a new form of comics. Communicating an idea or argument in an unexpected way. In a 21st century context, “meme” refers to a piece of online content that spikes in popularity and gets passed from user to user, i.e., going viral. These…