My latest blog is a cultural exploration of the culture of the rural manufacturing town, an increasingly endangered species on the American map

I'm scheming so much they're calling my house the Hatchery

Croatia is free of the scourge of landmines

As Suzanne Simard brings out a new book, and a film inspired by her "Mother Tree"/ "Wood Wide Web" hypothesis is in development, please be aware that - to use the technical jargon - it's mostly bollocks. A huge media phenomenon, running miles ahead of the science. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Consumers are increasingly being asked to either deal with corporate enshittification or swear off technology entirely. What if instead we demanded a system that delivered functional, customizable, secure, and durable goods?

It is the anniversary of the My Lai massacre today. I'd say that even more than most years, it's important to remember what happened. And the role Hugh Thompson, an active serviceman, played in both stopping and publicising it. Despite enormous military, political and public pressure to stay quiet.

Perennial Farm Gathering haul! Elderberry juice and heritage grain flour milled less than 2 weeks ago!

My favorite entries at yesterday's agroforestry business pitch competition were: -A tattoo aftercare product made from hazelnut oil -A compost made from spent mushroom logs -A gummy made from honeyberries

When I say “hell yeah,” this is what I’m referring to

What I don't get about MAHA is when was America ever a paragon of health? When infant mortality rates were in the double digits? When nutritional deficiencies abounded? When rotten meat graced the supermarket shelves? What tradition are we returning to?

Agroecology is simultaneously described as an academic discipline, a social movement, and a set of farming practices. In today's post, I explore the history leading to this unique situation

I was experimenting with taking pictures through my friends binocs at the same time this flock of seagulls decided to take off

Some interesting new evidence in the conversation about how domestication affects soil carbon accumulation under perennials In breadfruit, it appears that SOC decreases in early stages of domestication, but eventually rebounds in later stages. Fascinating implications for tropical agroforestry.

Quite a day to have the last name Monaghan. I have an ancestral right to those coffee makers!

the new upside down food pyramid:

An understudied effect of climate change is how it's pushing communities to the edges of their ecologies. Mountain herders are moving higher in search of grass; fire practitioners are taking on larger burns because there are fewer days when it's moist enough to burn.

Everyone remembers where they were when they first noticed the arrow in the FedEx logo

There's a certain tranche of commentators that myopically conflate progressive concerns about AI safety (cybersecurity, inequality implications, misinformation, privacy) with wackadoodle concerns (the singularity, Roko's Basilisk) and it's just so annoying

both iowans and chinese share a fondness for pork and soybeans

Woke up thinking about the brave new world of vibe science: Tell the latest version of sciClaude about burning questions in your field. Go get coffee, spend some time doomscrolling. Come back and find three groundbreaking papers based on other people's hard-won datasets.

Brazil’s Amazon deforestation continues to decline into early 2026, with August–January clearing at its lowest for the period since 2014. Annual detected loss also fell to a 2014 low, with the Cerrado seeing declines too. Officials credit stronger enforcement, but long-term risks remain.

Excited to host the public launch of this book at our upcoming Perennial Farm Gathering, #PFG2026! www.savannainstitute.org/pfg2026/

We do not have to fall over ourselves saying that we love technological progress. The onus is on them to explain to us why we should be excited about new technology while there are microplastics in every mother's breast milk and our rivers are drying up

The Farm Bill is dead. Now is the time to envision new futures for food.

The winter olympics really are DEI for Europe

Most genres have "separating the art from the artist" dramas but us country fans also have to deal with "separating the art from the audience" discourse

After 4 years I finally got the pasta machine out of its box

I'm tired of writers who insist on framing any scientific disagreement as conflict and subterfuge. This book I'm reading insists on describing the fields mainstream as "balking" at a new model, when in reality they just wanted to further develop the idea before completely rewriting a core paradigm.

As the culture war stands, it seems like woke traded the anti-vaxxers for the NFL. 4d chess moves over here

Bad Bunny, Green Day, and now Brandi Carlisle? Is the NFL the last bastion of woke in this country?

How would daily life be lived if every institution of public life — including housing, employment, and government — were run by the people they serve? In this essay, I explore the cultural implications of such a ‘deep democracy’.

This is who runs this account 😷

I need an option on Spotify to block Christmas or children's albums when I'm shuffling through an artists catalog

-bee biology and beekeeping -American food culture -soil formation and landscape dynamics -vegetable crop production -educating youth through horticulture

Distributed batteries in homes and small businesses -- attached to appliances and other devices -- will become an increasingly important component in our grid and for energy consumers

Here's my idea. Design data centers to be cooled by salt water (hey, it works for the engine in my boat), situate the data centers near the coast. Capture the resulting water vapor. Data center doubles as a desalination plant. www.eesi.org/articles/vie...

Subisidizing Big Food is a centuries-long habit that I'm keen for governments to kick. But sanctioning and policing the food of working class people to do it is pure class prejudice. More proof via Errol Schweizer and NIQ: 954ef859-12e3-4f54-beaa-1a7f0a6f0e39.usrfiles.com/ugd/954ef8_c...

3 ideas to vitalize our community gardens

the level of absolutely bonkers disinfo around food reaching millions of people is absolutely galling. netflix pushing straight up nonsense. otherwise progressive and smart people amplifying it.

In retrospect, its really funny that redirecting asteroids potentially hurtling towards our planet proved to be one of the easier problems to solve

The "alcohol as a social lubricant actually has health benefits" line seems to be diffusing though the discourse as a part of the broad health advice revisionism that's propagating Health messaging should emphasize moderation and responsibility only. Any straying is inherently suspicious to me

The fact that @bylinetimes.bsky.social published something so poorly argued that rests entirely on doomer speculations is highly irresponsible and suggests poor editorial judgement. This isn't skilled analysis. It's voter suppression, particularly in the face of wins LAST YEAR in VA, GA, NJ etc.

I wonder how much of the financial calculus of reboots relies on compelling people to rewatch the original. Especially (from the actors perspective) since residuals on older shows pay better

Does anyone have any recommended readings on how different classes of farmers responded (politically or otherwise) to the 'get big or get out' era of farming policy?

NEW: A mega snow storm - SNOWPOCALYPSE - recently hit residents of Juneau, Alaska. I spoke to heat pump owners there to find out how they coped. Their heat pumps did great, apparently! www.thereengineer.pro/p/my-heat-pu...

I think it was @hels.bsky.social who spoke recently about how all the protein/fiber snacks are to give consumers permission to eat "badly" by making it plausibly deniable they're eating "good." Anyway I just got emailed about a company making protein ranch dressing.

Chestnut flour dumplings with Bolognese

Add Spotify to the list of apps pushing right wing slop (in this case, Ann Coulters podcast)

The annual awards for the worst products unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show. I especially hated the single-use lollipop that vibrates to different songs as you eat