{"id":6698,"date":"2021-08-27T15:17:04","date_gmt":"2021-08-27T23:17:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=6698"},"modified":"2021-08-27T15:17:04","modified_gmt":"2021-08-27T23:17:04","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-315","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2021\/08\/27\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-315","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 315"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/a> On Fridays I share articles\/resources about broad cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom. I welcome your suggestions. If you read something fascinating please pass it my way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s number is 315, which is northwest when measured on a compass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things Glen Found Interesting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
  1. OnlyFans and the Sexual Revolution<\/a> (Samuel D. James, First Things): \u201cIf you look carefully, you can see how sobriquets such as \u2018sex worker\u2019 give away the game. The contemporary liberated social order is an order of workers<\/em>: naked bodies laboring round the clock, sacrificing dignity and reputation for the opportunity to nibble the crumbs that fall from Big Tech\u2019s table. Our civilization\u2019s efforts to commodify sexuality cannot deliver what they promise. It is impossible to make sex a product or subscription; the closest thing is human trafficking, which, as it turns out, is a feature and not a bug of the adult content industry.\u201d Straight fire.<\/li>
  2. <\/a>The World Is Catechizing Us Whether We Realize It or Not<\/a> (Kevin DeYoung, Gospel Coalition): \u201cIt is worth remembering David Well\u2019s famous definition: worldliness is whatever makes righteousness look strange and sin look normal. Here\u2019s the reality facing every Christian in the West: the money, power, and prestige of the mainstream media, big time sports, big business, big tech, and almost all the institutions of education and entertainment are invested in making sin look normal.\u201d<\/li>
  3. Nike\u2019s End of Men<\/a> (Ethan Strauss, Substack): \u201cFor all the talk of a racial reckoning within major industries, Nike\u2019s main problem is this: It\u2019s a company built on masculinity, most specifically Michael Jordan\u2019s alpha dog brand of it. Now, due to its own ambitions, scandals, and intellectual trends, Nike finds masculinity problematic enough to loudly reject.\u201d This is WAY more interesting than I anticipated.<\/li>
  4. Tetlock and the Taliban<\/a> (Richard Hanania, Substack): \u201cI have a PhD in political science with a focus on international relations. Most people in my position would tell you that you should give my opinions on my topic of expertise more weight because of my credentials. I believe if anything, you should hold my degree against me, as getting a PhD is probably the most inefficient way to understand a topic, and a person seeking that credential has shown that they don\u2019t understand that. I think I\u2019ve been right on Afghanistan and other American interventions because of good intellectual habits, including a genuine concern with what is true. But that has little to do with any training I got from political science.\u201d This piece is quite good. I feel like I should add a disclaimer like, \u201cWarning: academic heresy ahead.\u201d<\/li>
  5. \u2018When My Satire Becomes Popular, I Must Ask, What Is the Problem?\u2019<\/a> (Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic): \u201c[Popular satirists] can\u2019t say, \u2018I\u2019m calling out power.\u2019 No, you are power. Satirists must interrogate their own positionality. I try to say, \u2018How am I implicated in this thing personally?\u2019 Because satire never used to be popular.\u2026 So when my satire becomes popular, I must ask, What is the problem? Why are there so many people that are comfortable with my work?<\/em>\u201d A very perceptive interview with Elnathan John. Emphasis in original.<\/li>
  6. Hospitals and Insurers Didn\u2019t Want You to See These Prices. Here\u2019s Why<\/a>. (Sarah Kliff & Josh Katz, New York Times): \u201cThis year, the federal government ordered hospitals to begin publishing a prized secret: a complete list of the prices they negotiate with private insurers.\u2026 data from the hospitals that have complied hints at why the powerful industries wanted this information to remain hidden.\u201d This is revealing and irritating.<\/li>
  7. About Afghanistan: