The big news professionally is that the Financial Health Network's annual tentpole research report is out! Every year, the US Financial Health Pulse takes the temperature of household finances across the country. finhealthnetwork.org/research/fin... In 2025, we find ...

The Argument launched what, yesterday, and the first thing they publish is a hit piece on basic income/cash transfers research?! A little perspective, people, good gracious.

Really loving the textile art of Leah Evans www.etsy.com/shop/LeahEva...

Corn is coming along. Pumpkins are getting out of control.

I've been very quiet on here and may remain so. But I have a new gig leading research for the Financial Health Network, an independent, national nonprofit think tank focused on people's financial well-being. I wrote brief reflections on the future of thinking about financial health. The takeaway?

If I had the time, I'd write something about this: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/04/b... Maybe @jcultecon.bsky.social can help ...

Very important to remember that almost all bosses manage via Freudian projection.

Everybody's heard of *My Teacher Is an Alien* but did you know there are count em three sequels in a series that becomes an increasingly sophisticated secular theodicy? Bruce Coville man, underrated hero.

Somehow not sure we've made enough of the fact that the "government efficiency" initiative looking for spare change by shutting down the fight against cancer is being let by the richest human being in modern history.

Poirot/Batman crossover WHEN

Kids are going to be SO prepared for a life of orangutan hunting.

"We mistake each other. Our whole social arrangement a series of mistakes and compromises. Shorthand for a mystery too large to be seen. ..."

Chavis Mármol, untitled destruction project (Neo-Tameme series) hyperallergic.com/878913/artis...

Showing photos of magnapinna squid: "And this one is next to an oil rig." The 4yo: "Can I see a picture of an oil rig?" Shows him. "Can I see a picture of an oil rig on FIRE?"

18(1) is OUT and it is a monster www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjce20/1... Featuring contribs from @jessaloomis.bsky.social & @dcockayne.bsky.social; @stevethreadgold.bsky.social et al; many more we can't tag

Know what's amazing though? It's freaking COLD but the sun is shining. There's not a cloud in the sky. Makes all the difference in the world. Wisconsin is underrated when it comes to sunshine.

-13, feels like -33 ... pretty chilly out there

Nose hair freezing season is back.

Pet theory of mine that has no empirical backing afaik: the car dealership is the most powerful reactionary political force in the country.

This is one of the funniest things I've seen Times do. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

I get the point and agree. I love art museums, and there is SO MUCH good art outside the big ones in the coastal centers. But the idea that the Cleveland Museum of Art might be some podunk local collection is hilarious. One of the best art museums in the country! defector.com/the-wonder-o...

I've been thinking about this constantly since I saw it. It's *extremely* true and honestly is a good reason why the decline of reading sucks so much.

What are the ways forward for climate action under Trump? National policy is foreclosed. But a lot can happen at the state and local level. @aldasky.bsky.social and I argue that we must embrace green economic populism, tackling the cost-of-living crisis and the climate crisis together 🧵

You know why I love reading? These days it’s one of the few respites from being constantly advertised to.

"Can God speak through AI?" Theologians and AI critics will say no, and fair, but I think realistically, anthropologically, for many, the answer is going to be yes.

Really appreciate this thread!

My idiosyncratic list of my favorite reads from 2024 ... -Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar -Ruth Asawa: Through Line (exhibition catalogue) -Semiosis by Sue Burke -Where We Come From by Oscar Cásares -Being Dead by Jim Crace -Trust by Hernan Diaz -Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez ...

Pretty excited about my reading to kick off 2025.

I feel pretty proud about having read 70 books this year, including some chunky novels. But my mom just texted to update me that she's read north of 400. 😳

4yo currently marching around the house saying, "I'm the Grinch, I'm cancelling Christmas."

I took a math class with Brian Rotman, a philosopher of math who wrote about the concept of zero (among other things), and it rewired my brain.

This is the good stuff. Fernando Ortega's Levitación Asistida youtu.be/6g8Oia_Wo70?...

And of course I'm ending up doing loads more in person shopping. Around Madison, a few of my faves: –Orange Tree Imports –Good Day Shop –Hatch + Hazel –Mystery to Me, Leopold, Kismet, A Room of One's Own (Madison does bookstores really well!) –Landmark Creamery & all the shops in Paoli

I'm also now doing more shopping at boutique publishers & presses. Some that I check out regularly: –50 Watts Books –And Other Stories –Belt Publishing –Coffee House –Graywolf –Milkweed –Two Dollar Radio –Wakefield –X Artists' Books

Doing holiday shopping this year, it's clearer than ever the Internet is broken. Can't find ANYTHING bc the search engines & marketplaces are all completely inundated with trash and scams. Impossible to trust that what you're looking at online is what you're actually at. Esp for anything not ...

Wanna see the most Wisconsin thing ever?

About to spend a whole day teaching, talking, and facilitating strategy with a credit union ... and thinking about how I want to write a history of ideas for "strategy" in business contexts ...

This looks super interesting!

Just finished Valeria Luiselli's The Story of My Teeth, which is fantastic and should be ready by all @jcultecon.bsky.social folks. Our protagonist Gustavo Sánchez Sánchez aka Highway, inveterate collector and self-proclaimed best auctioneer in the world, is such a character.

Fed my list of favorite books into Chatgpt and asked for a recommendation and it told me House of Leaves 😭😭😭

I'm in favor of the Golden At Bat rule. The sport has never been time-bound and unchanging. What makes the traditions of baseball worth preserving is that they make the sport fun, and the Golden AB would be *super* fun.

Happy belated Thanksgiving, here's a reflection on the urban turkeys we've unwittingly created in the Upper Midwest. www.startribune.com/the-triumph-...

Do folks have good mystery/detective fiction recommendations? Would also take mystery-adjacent genre fiction, like spy novels, but am less interested in the straight-forward crime or courtroom novel.

So the Art Basel banana art is good actually? www.nytimes.com/2024/11/28/n...

Trying to decide to post first about anthropology, credit unions, baseball, or my kids like choosing my AOL keywords

Should probably post something here so people know I'm a real person