An irregular hodgepodge of links gathered together … Omnium Gatherum for September 13, 2020

Here’s a variety of notable things I’ve recently found that you may also be interested in checking out:

• 2020 Aramaic Enoch Conference—”From the Books of Enoch to Genesis Apocryphon: Aramaic Manuscripts of 1 Enoch and Related Aramaic Traditions from Qumran. October 20-22, 2020.”
• “The Strange World Of… William S Burroughs. Ahead of the UK edition of his book, William S. Burroughs And The Cult of Rock ‘n’ Roll, author Casey Rae selects ten sonic artifacts featuring literature’s most iconic outlaw.” I guess this is a new release in the UK, but it’s been out in the US since 2019: William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock ‘n’ Roll by Casey Rae, from University of Texas Press. But William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock ‘n’ Roll by Casey Rae, in the UK from White Rabbit Press. Also.
• “A truth that works. Making sense of the world with William James.” About Sick Souls, Healthy Minds: How William James Can Save Your Life by John Kaag—”From the celebrated author of American Philosophy: A Love Story and Hiking with Nietzsche, a compelling introduction to the life-affirming philosophy of William James.”
• Major Arcana: Portraits of Witches in America by Frances Denny, due November. “A photo-based exploration of modern-day witches from all over America, beautifully capturing the various ways “witch-ness” belongs to those who claim it. Based on her critically acclaimed exhibition, Major Arcana collects the work of photographer Frances F. Denny, who traveled around the U.S. photographing and interviewing a diverse group of people who identify as witches. This book is an exploration of contemporary witchery told through striking photographs and short, inspiring essays written by the ‘Terry Gross of witches,’ Pam Grossman, and the subjects themselves. From occultists and Neo-pagans, to herbalists and Wiccan High Priestesses, Denny’s portraits capture the face of modern American witchcraft and challenge our assumptions about who and what a witch really is.”
• “Jewish magician tells (nearly) all in no-holds-barred memoir. Wasserman is a rare memoirist in the sense that he doesn’t explain; he shows. His book is hard to put down as it is, essentially, one thing happening after the other, as life actually is.” About, released a while go, but the review is new: In the Center of the Fire: A Memoir of the Occult 1966-1989 by James Wasserman.
• Herbalist’s Primer, coming first ½ 2021. “A guide to real-world magical plants. A mix of ethnobotany, folklore, green witchcraft, occult, and science. A fully-illustrated, thoroughly-researched resource for writers and world-builders. An all-in-one book for druids, healers, alchemists, and poisoners—perfect as an in-world item and applicable in all fantasy (and most modern) settings. A system-agnostic toolkit for game masters everywhere, complete with tips on including the plants in your campaigns—and creating new, exciting pieces of flora.”
• “Going Postal. A psychoanalytic reading of social media and the death drive.” About The Twittering Machine by Richard Seymour, due out this month—”A brilliant probe into the political and psychological effects of our changing relationship with social media”
• “Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music by Alex Ross – review. This account of Wagner’s influence on the great and ghastly is passionate and encyclopedic, if unfocused.” About Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music by Alex Ross, due out in a few days.
• That One Should Disdain Hardships: The Teachings of a Roman Stoic by Musonius Rufus, edited by Cora E Lutz, introduction by Gretchen Reydams-Schils—”Perennial wisdom from one of history’s most important Stoic teachers.”
• A Field Guide to a Happy Life: 53 Brief Lessons for Living by Massimo Pigliucci, due in a few days—”A brilliant philosopher reimagines Stoicism for our modern age in this thought-provoking guide to a better life.”
• Tweet—”Here’s the tldr: Attack Surface – AKA Little Brother 3- is coming out in 5 weeks. I retained audio rights and produced an AMAZING edition that Audible refuses to carry. You can pre-order the audiobook, ebook (and previous volumes), DRM- and EULA-free.” Support the crowdfunding effort.
• Newest book in the Dresden Files series is due in a few days: Battle Ground by Jim Butcher
• Bauman: A Biography by Izabela Wagner—”Global thinker, public intellectual and world-famous theorist of ‘liquid modernity’, Zygmunt Bauman (1925-2017) was a scholar who, despite forced migration, built a very successful academic career and, after retirement, became a prolific and popular writer and an intellectual talisman for young people everywhere. He was one of those rare scholars who, grey-haired and in his eighties, had his finger on the pulse of the youth.”
• I mean, there’s Medusa on the cover. Play like a Feminist by Shira Chess, part of the Playful Thinking series—”Why video games need feminism and feminism needs video games. ‘You play like a girl’: it’s meant to be an insult, accusing a player of subpar, un-fun playing. If you’re a girl, and you grow up, do you ‘play like a woman’—whatever that means? In this provocative and enlightening book, Shira Chess urges us to play like feminists. Furthermore, she urges us to play video games like feminists. Playing like a feminist is empowering and disruptive; it exceeds the boundaries of gender yet still advocates for gender equality. Playing like a feminist offers a new way to think about how humans play —and also a new way to think about how feminists do their feministing. Chess argues that feminism need video games as much as video games need feminism.” “Chess’s goal is for all of us—regardless of gender orientation, ethnicity, ability, social class, or stance toward feminism—to spend more time playing as a tool of radical disruption.”
• The Seeker’s Guide to The Secret Teachings of All Ages: The Authorized Companion to Manly P. Hall’s Esoteric Landmark by Mitch Horowitz, due October—”Now, Mitch provides a compelling and illuminating twelve-chapter guidebook to Hall’s encyclopedia arcana. Mitch surveys, clarifies, and updates a wide range of topics in Hall’s epic volume, including Pythagorean mathematics, Egyptian symbolism, the nature and origin of Tarot cards, the meaning and mystery of strange beasts, the role of Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism, and the foresight of much of Hall’s esoteric scholarship. This is a guidebook to treasure alongside the Great Book. This volume is authorized by the school Hall founded, The Philosophical Research Society, where Mitch is lecturer-in-residence.”
• “Hate the Sin, Not the Book. Reading works from the past can offer perspective—even when they say things we don’t want to hear.”
• “Monsters, men and magic: why feminists turned to witchcraft to oppose Trump. Whether it’s hexing the president, chatting in WhatsApp covens or featuring in TV reboots, radicalised women have been finding strength in the ancient pagan arts.”
• “Growing more radical, Mexican feminists seize control of a federal building.”
• Our Times—”So savage and hostile to virtue are our times. ”
• Opinion | ‘A Hidden Life’ examines the cost, and value, of resisting the totalitarian impulse
• “Philosophy for a Time of Crisis. From Socrates to Camus, thinkers have asked how to respond when adversity turns our lives upside down.”
• Why the Bauhaus Still Matters in an Era of Neo-Nationalism
• “How to Dismantle White Supremacy. To end systemic racism, the country needs a comprehensive racial justice program even more sweeping than the Marshall Plan.”
• “A Comprehensive History of ‘Loose Change’—and the Seeds It Planted in Our Politics. Fifteen years ago, three young men created a 9/11-conspiracy-theory film that laid the groundwork for our culture of outrageous misinformation.” Also “Defying crackdowns, QAnon continues its relentless global spread. Persistent online conspiracy theory repurposes itself for new audiences around the world.” Also “Mothers for QAnon.” Watch “QAnon’s Conspiracy Cult Has Infiltrated The White House” Also “QAnon is a Nazi Cult, Rebranded.” Also “How Conspiracy Theories Are Shaping the 2020 Election—and Shaking the Foundation of American Democracy.” Also “The Death (And Life) Of Conspiracy Culture’.”
• “Why Are Conservatives Obsessed with Pedophilia Right Now?“—”It’s because it won’t be long before every community standard is violated.” And, yet “Ironically, under this metric I would categorize Joe Biden as a conservative” That’s where this breaks down. Maybe in a normal era, but not now. It’s not ironic about Biden. The Democrats have been chasing the center of the Overton window for so long, Biden is a center-right Republican. Obama wasn’t a progressive either, when you really come down to it. And, Trump is the poster child of “it won’t be long before every community standard is violated.” So the rubric on offer here is completely topsy-turvy in this $current_year.
• We Talked to the Host Accused of Doing ‘Satanic Rituals’ In His Airbnb. A prominent guest blasted Airbnb and a host after finding what he described as ‘seemingly satanic items’ in his Airbnb. The host calls the accusations ‘unsettling and weird.'” Also “How Airbnb Got Mixed Up In A Modern-Day Satanic Panic.” Also “An AirBnB User Created a Modern-Day ‘Satanic Panic’ After an Uncomfortable Trip.” Also “Airbnb for Satan.”
• TikTok witches are fighting for the online future of witchcraft
• “World of Warcraft’s new soul information is a philosophical nightmare. Evil souls, double dying, and other theological issues.”
• The Problem of God and Robots in Raised by Wolves and Battlestar Galactica
• Where the Concept of Mana Came From (& Why It’s Not Just Magic Fuel)
• Why Narcissists Suck the Life Out of You
• We Don’t Need This Right Now—”The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities recently announced the discovery of 13 completely sealed coffins dating back 2,500 years. The Egyptians are being urged, by me, to put them back where they came from and not make 2020 any worse than it already is.” Also “Egyptian Authorities Have Discovered 13 Completely Sealed 2,500-Year-Old Coffins.”
• “Archaeologists with drones discover pre-Columbian earthworks in Kansas. The ditched enclosure is one of just a handful ever found.”
• First ever preserved grown up cave bear – even its nose is intact – unearthed on the Arctic island
• “Ancient boardgames: Experts find the missing piece (but can’t figure out how to play). ‘Dogs and Pigs’, a set of 5,000-year-old figurines found in Turkey’s southeast, is nominated as one of the world’s oldest and most crowded games but its rules remain a mystery.”
• Citizen Scientists Discover Dozens of Failed Stars Lurking in Our Cosmic Neighborhood
• How Do I Know I’m Not the Only Conscious Being in the Universe?
• Math Shows How Famed Indus Valley Civilization May Have Been Toppled by Climate Change
• The Fate of Schrödinger’s Cat Probably Isn’t in The Hands of Gravity, Experiment Finds
• Could there be a form of life inside stars?
• Sir David Attenborough makes stark warning about species extinction
• “Mathematicians Open a New Front on an Ancient Number Problem. For millennia, mathematicians have wondered whether odd perfect numbers exist, establishing an extraordinary list of restrictions for the hypothetical objects in the process. Insight on this question could come from studying the next best things.”
• “This tiny reproduction of Girl With a Pearl Earring is “painted” with light. Scientists used millions of nanopillars to control color, density of incident light.”
• “AI Ruined Chess. Now, It’s Making the Game Beautiful Again. A former world champion teams up with the makers of AlphaZero to test variants on the age-old game that can jolt players into creative patterns.”
• Quirky response to magnetism presents quantum physics mystery
• Is There a Black Hole in Our Backyard?
• Stirring biopic of the first woman to win top maths prize
• Portable MRI can detect brain abnormalities at bedside
• “The web of death. New method to fight cancer with molecular fibers.”
• UK mathematician wins richest prize in academia
• ‘Moon Power’–Subsurface Tides on Jupiter’s Ocean Worlds Create Hotspots for Life
• Space scientists use 3.2 billion-pixel camera to take largest photo ever
• Black Hole Plasma Conditions Created on Earth – Laser Briefly Uses 1,000 Times the Electric Consumption of the Entire Globe
• Dozens of scientific journals have vanished from the internet, and no one preserved them
• The weird space that lies outside our Solar System
• Kermit?! “Lost frogs rediscovered with environmental DNA.”
• Watch “Mysterious animal keeps carbon out of atmosphere, slowing climate change.”
• The remarkable ways animals understand numbers
• A New Cosmic Tension: The Universe Might Be Too Thin
• How to debate a flat-Earther
• NASA releases dazzling new images of galaxies, stars and supernova remnants
• Watch “2020’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year.”
• New Observations Show Planet-forming Disc Torn Apart by its Three Central Stars
• Stress, sleep, and immunity
• How we sleep today may forecast when Alzheimer’s disease begins
• Sex dolls and teledildonics in 3 … 2 … “New electronic skin can react to pain like human skin. Researchers have developed electronic artificial skin that reacts to pain just like real skin, opening the way to better prosthetics, smarter robotics and non-invasive alternatives to skin grafts.”
• “JabberMask The Mask that Smiles :)”
• “New gravitational-lensing study hints at problems for dark matter models. On a fine scale, the Universe seems lumpier than it should be.” Also “Hubble Observations Suggest Missing Ingredient in Dark Matter Theories.” Also “A New Dark Force?” Also “New Theory About the Nature of Dark Matter Explains Mysterious Deficiency in Galaxy Pair.” Also “Physicists explain mysterious dark matter deficiency in galaxy pair. UC Riverside-led study found self-interacting dark matter theory explains why two galaxies have less dark matter than others.”
• Dark matter hunter who found unexpected, giant ‘Fermi bubbles’ wins $100,000 physics prize
• Strongest magnetic field in universe directly detected by X-ray space observatory
• “Where was your hometown 750 million years ago? Map reveals.”
• Brother, can you spare a moon rock for a governmental agency down on its luck? “NASA wants to buy moon dirt from private companies. The agency will pay $15,000 to $25,000 for each sample cache.”
• “Commodity of Doom. Elegies for the cigarette.”
• Kinda good things to think about in any creative effort, maybe. “9 behaviors of great photographers that you should embrace.”
• “The surprising traits of good remote leaders. Strong in-person leadership skills don’t necessarily translate to being a good virtual leader. Instead, organisation and competency reign supreme.”—”‘It’s kind of exciting, if you think about it,’ says Larson. ‘Suddenly it’s not just about who talks the most, but rather, who is actually getting stuff done.'”
• In other news, Walking Dead is finally going to die. But, true to form and genre, it will continue to shamble on: “‘The Walking Dead’ Is Finally Coming To An End. AMC announced the zombie show will end with an expanded Season 11.”
• Who is the dreamer? Watch “Twin Peaks ACTUALLY EXPLAINED (No, Really)”
• Watch The Philosophy of Kreia: A Critical Examination of Star Wars
• The sleeper must awaken. Watch “Dune Official Trailer“—”Beyond fear, destiny awaits.” Also Beware of sandworms: Dune trailer gives us our first look at an epic world. Director Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation provokes mixed reactions among Ars staffers.” And, if you weren’t keeping up, there’s the recently re-released Dune boardgame. An upcoming tabletop roleplaying game. A female-focused streaming tv show. And at least one new video game, which is probably years away still. And, if, somehow, you’re not familiar with the Dune franchise and story, “The Dune guide. Exploring the characters, story, and world of Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel.” Also, don’t forget the books, movie, two miniseries, and documentary. Also, The Road to Dune—”Including never-before-published chapters from Dune and Dune Messiah, original stories, and a new short novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.”
• Tweet — “Dune (2020) vs. Dune (1984) Movie camera #ShotForShot #DuneMovie”
• Also, I appreciate the commitment to viral advertising, but I don’t think the entire west coast needed to look like Arrakis this early before the movie is released: “The Western U.S. Is Not OK.” Also “The Sky Is on Fire in San Francisco, and We Flew a Drone Through It. Millions of acres are burning across the West Coast.”
• Or, maybe this is Blade Runner? Watch “SF drone footage during the #BayAreaFires on 9/9/20, set to Blade Runner 2049 music.”
• How apocalyptic this fire season is — in 1 flaming chart
• “The future has arrived. These explosive fires are our climate change wakeup call.”
• “It’s the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, and the tropics are bonkers. It is quite zany, but if these storms remain out to sea then, hey, go crazy, 2020.”
• “Wildlife in ‘catastrophic decline’ due to human destruction, scientists warn. Wildlife populations have fallen by more than two-thirds in less than 50 years, according to a major report by the conservation group WWF.”
• “A Climate Reckoning in Wildfire-Stricken California. If climate change was a somewhat abstract notion a decade ago, today it is all too real for Californians fleeing wildfires and smothered in a blanket of smoke, the worst year of fires on record.”
• “Earth barreling toward ‘Hothouse’ state not seen in 50 million years, epic new climate record shows. Record goes back to the dinosaur extinction.”
• “‘Wrong-Way’ Migrations Stop Shellfish From Escaping Ocean Warming.” Also “As waters warm, these species are stuck going the wrong way. Earlier spring warmth puts young in stronger southward currents.”
• Antarctica’s colossal Thwaites Glacier is melting fast — and scientists may have discovered why
• It’s like the mosquitoes in Allegro Non Troppo! “Huge swarms of mosquitoes kill hundreds of horses and cows by draining blood. Tiny insects have exploded in number as eggs hatch after flooding.”
• United in Science report: Climate Change has not stopped for COVID19
• “The Opioid Crisis, Already Serious, Has Intensified During Coronavirus Pandemic. Overdose deaths rise as job losses and stress from Covid-19 destabilize people struggling with addiction.”
• “America Is Trapped in a Pandemic Spiral. As the U.S. heads toward the winter, the country is going round in circles, making the same conceptual errors that have plagued it since spring.”
• Inside the Summer of the Sorority Quarantine
• “Billionaires won corona. A new report reveals how the plutes exploited the pandemic.”
• Why masks are a religious issue
• From the Where is Your God Now dept. “A Growing Number of Catholic Schools Are Shutting Down Forever. About 150 Catholic schools have closed nationwide citing insurmountable financial pressures from the coronavirus pandemic.”
• Human activity has wiped out two-thirds of world’s wildlife since 1970, landmark report says
• From the My Life as a Dog dept. “Laika and her crew: ‘Space Dogs’ documentary explores Moscow through a stray’s eyes.” Also “Laika and her crew: ‘Space Dogs’ documentary explores Moscow through a stray’s eyes. The film features never-before-seen footage of Laika and other Soviet canine explorers.” Watch SPACE DOGS Trailer English
• Wolfwalkers — Official Teaser—”In a time of superstition and magic, a young apprentice hunter, Robyn Goodfellowe, journeys to Ireland with her father to wipe out the last wolf pack. While exploring the forbidden lands outside the city walls, Robyn befriends a free-spirited girl, Mebh, a member of a mysterious tribe rumored to have the ability to transform into wolves by night. As they search for Mebh’s missing mother, Robyn uncovers a secret that draws her further into the enchanted world of the Wolfwalkers and risks turning into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy.” Also “WATCH: Trailer released for new animated Irish folklore film ‘Wolfwalkers’. ‘Wolfwalkers’ comes from the Oscar-nominated Irish animation studio behind ‘Song of the Sea’ and ‘Book of Kells.'”
• Watch “The Stratford Heist.” This caught my eye because Alan Green, who is selling something, to be sure, mentions Shakespeare, but I’m putting it here because it includes a cryptographic puzzle from John Dee’s Enochian tablets and the cypher in Malvolio’s baiting letter from Twelfth Night (I played Festé in high school), and the rhyming couplets from so many modern neopaganisms. And, this guy staged a musical in a church so he could scan an altar with penetrating radar, which is hilarious.
• The Show directed by Mitch Jenkins, written by Alan Moore, will be premiered in October at Sitges Film Festival, in Spain. Also “‘The Show’: Tom Burke Leads ‘Watchmen’ Creator Alan Moore’s Gothic Fantasy; First Look, Protagonist Boards.”
• Star Trek Tarot, both TOS and Animated Series decks, in regular and deluxe editions. Also.
• Monks Are Making (and Inspiring) Your Whisky, Wine, Coffee, and …
• “A Deep Dive Into the ‘Gentrification Font’. According to a popular Twitter meme, sleek sans serif numbers are now the official look of neighborhood change.”—”But in response to an inquiry for this story, Crisman immediately identified Neutraface, a typeface based on the work of modernist architect Richard Neutra. This, he said, ‘is a great irony, because Neutra’s whole philosophy was about low-cost, affordable housing with a high quality of modern living!'”
• Tweet—”I offer some mystical beauty from the ancient Pharaoh’s this evening, as I cast my restorative powers over the Daughter of Osiris. This anonymous autochrome of a dancer dates from about 1913 – 9 years before discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. It is original colour (not colourised).”
• Tweet—”‘A honeybee colony is a superorganism because the survival of the entire colony depends on the coordinated actions of individuals.’ Could we be more like bees than we’ve ever been allowed to discover #BeMoreBee”
• Why can’t you be more like your sister? “The daring nun who hid and saved 83 Jewish children.”
• What is remembered lives. “Dame Diana Rigg: Avengers, Bond and Game of Thrones actress dies at 82.”
• Watch “Lewis Black | Thanks For Risking Your Life | Trailer”
• Watch “We Visited a Bruderhof Commune, This is What We Saw.”
• “A man flying a jetpack was reported by pilots above Los Angeles.” Don’t know anything that connects them, but I thought of these people: Disaster Support!
• “The pandemic reminded me life is short and the best thing to do is live it. This year has said no over and over, so I’m saying yes as often as I can.”

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