Love this so much, and not because I’m a lefty myself. (TIL that left spiral snails can only mate with other left spiral snails, though!) If you’re in NZ, can you help find Ned a mate? If you’re elsewhere, pls read this piece anyhow because it’s profoundly adorable: www.nzgeo.com/stories/lets...

Curious About Everything 54 is out, with the best things I read in August: jodiettenberg.substack.com/p/fifty-four This month's featured artist is Christian Ruiz-Berman, whose work draws from histories of adaptation & migration, addressing the surreal nature of being stuck between 2 worlds:

Too close to the world they want, I guess? Handmaid's Tale to be pulled from Edmonton schools, proving yet again that Canada is just as susceptible to fascism as anywhere else. And yet another example of the that group screeches about 'free speech' engaging in censorship.

Our immune systems are different than pre-2019 — and it’s not because of “immunity debt” during lockdowns years ago. It’s because of Covid itself. People have got more fungal & other infections, more inflammation, more comorbidities. And it’s only likely to worsen as reinfections stack up.

Curious About Everything # 53 is out, with the best things I read in July: jodiettenberg.substack.com/p/fifty-three Feat. artist is Benjamin Barakat, with the stunning composite of dragon tree star trails in Yemen, below. The photo comprises 300 different exposures, all superimposed into one image.

My grandfather would have been 107 this week, and I miss him terribly. When he passed away, I wrote this piece — half eulogy, half a love story about how he & my grandmother got engaged the day they met. He was a remarkable man, with a remarkable story: www.legalnomads.com/grandpa/

SPACE HURRICANES EXIST?! Apparently so! They have similar spiral 'arms' & an eye like earth hurricanes, but the eye has aurora glowing within. A recent study confirmed they also are active electrodynamic storms: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

This story is W I L D, truly wild. nymag.com/intelligence... (Archive link for those who need it: archive.is/77OpD )

Thanks for the shoutout, Jodi!

CAE 52 is out, with the best things I read in June including: - @rachelplotnick.bsky.social on electronics in the bathroom - @cestmoilanglois.bsky.social on wild animals within Rome's ruins - @meerasub.bsky.social on the beautiful adaptability of fungi jodiettenberg.substack.com/p/fifty-two

Good overview of mast cells, cells that contributed to derailing my life as it did to those interviewed: “I would describe myself as a person who had tremendous potential in this world, [...] and that potential has been hijacked by the mental, physical, and psychological impacts of this condition.”

"Journavx is the product of 27 years, billions of dollars, millions of molecules screened, dozens of monkeys and rats and data from over 2,400 surgical patients, all distilled into a single 50-mg blue tablet." How we finally got a non-opioid painkiller, by @worksinprogress.bsky.social:

Danielle Smith had a whole conversation with a naturopath about the importance of prevention, but her govt is going to charge Albertans $100+ to prevent COVID. FYI - cost of a hospital admission is $1000/day. Anti-vax right wing govts are going to make everyone sick and bankrupt health care.

CAE 51 is out, with the best things I read in May including fantastic reads about AI in education, a perplexing James Patterson x MrBeast collab, Japanese Braille, floristry's pitfalls, the history of the tomato — and much more. jodiettenberg.substack.com/p/fifty-one

Great article on fruit over history. Thanks to @legalnomads.com for posting archaeology.org/collection/a...

Higher than I expected! And only likely to grow. Bookmarking.

As someone allergic to bee stings, this is 😱😱😱

Can you imagine?! www.bbc.com/news/article...

Enjoyed this @edzitron.com piece, as depressing as it is: the Business Idiots don't know or care what the customer wants, & "generative AI feels magical, because it does an impression of somebody doing a job, which is an accurate way of describing how most executives & middle managers operate."

Curious About Everything # 50 is out with the best things I read last month, featuring long pieces about science, tech, fonts, tariffs, animals, and so much more — plus IT’S FISH DOORBELL SEASON! jodiettenberg.substack.com/p/fifty

Cartoonist @theomoudakis.bsky.social’s latest on the many fine lines PM Carney has to walk in trying to navigate negotiations with an administration that has no desire for allies anymore.

Measles in the US is slowing — but the TOTAL cases there is still lower than my province of Ontario. We have over 1200 cases. yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/the-dose-m... Contrary to rumour of immigrant involvement, per Ontario govt the outbreak started at a Mennonite gathering last fall.

Wow this piece is WILD

"Pure, uncut populism in the Year of Our Lord 2025 is based on the notion that all gatekeepers are bad, even the ones who could be ideological allies, & listening to anyone saying that perhaps this random influencer has a bad idea [...] would be a definitionally anti-populist move."

TIL that Australia has democracy sausage, served everywhere that Australians vote — even at overseas polling stations like embassies, and this year at a research station in Antarctica. Many polling stations also have cake. And there’s a website tracking them all: democracysausage.org

Ottawa has its first cases of measles. Ontario’s outbreak is larger than Texas — but we have 1/2 the population of Texas. Over 1000 cases so far. If you visited the following locations on the dates & times below, Ottawa Public health says you may have been exposed to measles:

Yet again @thebeaverton.com is pitch perfect. I am sure we’re all shocked that the Conservatives frothing at the mouth about Carney not being formally elected by the full country but still being elected party leader are silent right meow.

My apologies, that link was NOT ungated (thank you for the messages). The correct link to view this post is here: www.patreon.com/posts/canadi...

Not the Onion (or the Beaverton): “The Canadian military has issued a warning to staff about geese at its Carling Avenue headquarters, advising those who encounter the sometimes aggressive birds to remain calm and don’t panic.” (They nest here every spring)

I got many questions about our 🇨🇦 elections today from readers, so I put this primer together. Including how we don’t have exit polls, gerrymandering, and don’t allow any corporate donations to federal election campaigns. Hope it’s informative! www.patreon.com/posts/canadi... (post is ungated)

You know what to do Canada.

We’ve moved into the arresting judges level of dictatorship, I see. Speed-running it, really.

The Internet was made for days like these.

2 mil votes on the 1st day of advance polls! People can vote in any Elections Canada office throughout the voting window, but most people go to advance polls or vote on election day. Glad to see so many civically engaged — democracy is a privilege not to be wasted. 🇨🇦

Wow, TIL! By @amandaruggeri.bsky.social "Thunderstorm asthma” occurs when certain types of storms break up pollen particles in the air, releasing proteins & showering them down below, triggering allergic reactions in some people – even among those who weren't previously asthmatic.

Mucho bad. Make America Hackable Again?

"This is the miracle that connects me to the bees, the thread that connects all of us wild creatures who are still breathing—it’s not the inevitability of loss & grief, but the astonishing revelation that somehow we’ve managed to survive in the face of it." Beautiful read.

RFK Jr's always going on about "healthy" and what he means is a mixture of nihilism and eugenics, that public health and medicine are pointless because "unhealthy" people are going to (and deserve to) die anyway. Never mind the kid's death was easily preventable. Call them "unhealthy" and move on.

"The vow—which echoes rhetoric used by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to justify canceling research grants and shutting down government programs—has alarmed many researchers." (Unsurprisingly, PP hasn't managed to define what "woke science" is, but he's ready to defund it anyhow!)

As someone who has had a spinal CSF leak pursuant to a lumbar puncture for 7+ years where repairs have failed, I am VERY glad to see less invasive tests being pioneered for Alzheimer’s. The article notes spinal taps are “painful”, but that’s not the only concern.

“If you don’t know where to go, go where you’re needed.” My newsletter this week is about my 2 favorite Canadians. One of them is a fictional amateur hockey player. The other is @legalnomads.com If you’re struggling after a loss or life change, this could help: stevekamb.com/dont-know-wh...

Uh.. what.

A primer on tariffs from @kyla.bsky.social. There’s such a preponderance of bad rationalizations (from the top down, clearly) and this piece does a great job of breaking down all the questions about what’s going on and how it’ll affect people.

Thanks to @stevekamb.com for MAKING ME CRY with this beautiful tribute to going where you’re most needed, even if where you’re at is that life took a lot of what you love away from you. I’m honoured to be your favourite non-fake Canadian.

CAE 49 is out! Great reads including: - @timkmak.bsky.social on sushi in Ukraine - @tedgioia.bsky.social on the 'great flattening' in culture - @maxtani.bsky.social on the conservative womanosphere - @interspecies.agency on building a 1000 yo tree - @themarginalian.org.web.brid.gy on Teotihuacán

The newest from @deadder.bsky.social sums this mess up well

@erictopol.bsky.social looks like your Twitter account got hacked 😭 Hopefully you can get access back — x.com/erictopol/st...

This guy has a long history of ugliness. While the reporting in this piece is sadly not a surprise, that ANYONE still thinks a party willingly associating with people like this is good for Canada is insane. (And of course the document was 88 pages)

Truly cult behaviour. No attention paid to actual facts, and if their dear leader says something is bad they just go ‘ok’ Yet they say anyone in the centre or on the left are sheep?! Come on.

I got some emails accusing me of deferring treatment because “it gives you something to write about”, & that I should fight harder to get better. In frustration, I wrote this piece about my story, w/ quotes and artwork from other complex spinal CSF leak patients. jodiettenberg.com/pausing-trea...