@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

Zeb_Larson

@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us

Hello! I'm a former #academic who still considers himself a #historian. While I've left #academia behind, I still work as a #writer, mostly of essays and history pieces. Some of my pieces can be found in Jacobin, Teen Vogue, Smithsonian, and Belt. My PhD is in #history, and I studied the anti-apartheid movement in the United States. Today, I write about a variety of topics. When I can, I listen to #music and play #games.

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Zeb_Larson, to random
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

I’ve taken on a writing gig here in Columbus covering older or historic restaurants — and it’s really eye-opening how few old restaurants there are here. Everything is so new that twenty-five years is considered old. Even in Portland (hardy an old city) I can think of multiple restaurants over a century old. There’s very little like that here, and a lot of what’s been documented tends to privilege stuff the campus area and German Village.

Zeb_Larson, to random
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

I die a little inside whenever I find a leftist online talking about how much better Palestine was doing when Trump was president, and it’s happened several times now. By all means, criticize and castigate Biden — he’s failed on this issue. But Trump would absolutely be doing more damage.

Zeb_Larson, to random
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

I don't think I can really go back to Bluesky at this point because so much of the discourse boils down to "what are we fighting about today?" and it's boring. Mastodon went through a phase of this last spring and it was obnoxious, but it was mostly fighting about Mastodon.

Maybe where I'm going with this is that I'd love for online discourse to be more than a contest to take something down and find the people who are secretly problematic.

Zeb_Larson,
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

@tkinias @snarkysteff There was always such a weird rush to get in on a joke's first ten minutes because after that you knew it would be dead. And Bluesky has a version of that, but because the community is smaller and the discourse is smaller it REALLY gets rubbed in your face.

Zeb_Larson, to random
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

For all of Pitchfork's flaws, I was still a loyal reader and relied on it to help find new music. It was a great publication, and nothing will push me away from broader culture than the idea of algorithmically discovering new artists. When something like Spotify puts on something I like, odds are I already know the artist, and when I don't, the recommendation is usually dogshit. Reading this is painful.

https://www.semafor.com/article/02/04/2024/inside-conde-nasts-breakup-with-pitchfork

Zeb_Larson, to random
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

"I'm a stranger, but I'm going to wander into your post, pretend that you disagree with me so that we can have an argument about it, and bloviate so that I can feel smart. I'm very well-adjusted. Also, put a content warning on everything."

Zeb_Larson, to random
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

In a high lonesome sound kind of mood, and I love Nick Shoulders. Almost got to see him here last November but he got sick and had to bail. (Not a total loss — even masked, I haven’t seen music at an indoor venue since before Covid). https://youtu.be/3I7ME1oacMA?si=g0TdEY3m-YFvOsqH

Zeb_Larson,
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

@seachanger I have a feeling you’re hep to his jive, but in case you’re not

Zeb_Larson,
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

@seachanger I wanted to write a piece about him once and the politics of country music — but he already wrote it better than I could! https://inthesetimes.com/article/country-music-southern-accent-conservatism-confederacy-ken-burns-blues

Zeb_Larson, to random
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

I find it personally inspiring that Daniel Radcliffe got a bunch of money off of Harry Potter and then just doubled down on doing cool, weird shit for the rest of his career.

Zeb_Larson, to Futurology
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

I wrote this with David Annarelli, who's currently incarcerated in Virginia. The state of care for those with TBIs in prison is horrifying.

https://prismreports.org/2024/01/31/traumatic-brain-injuries-care-not-criminalization/

exchgr, to random
@exchgr@mastodon.world avatar

i think after twin peaks i’m gonna have to watch the x-files all the way through for the first time. so much crossover

Zeb_Larson,
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

@exchgr I have this absurd head canon where Garland Briggs on Twin Peaks and General Hammond on SG-1 are the same character and exist entirely in the same universe. It's not such a dramatic stretch.

Zeb_Larson,
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

@exchgr They're very much the same character, which is fine because I instinctually crave compassionate, respectful authority figures and he does a good job.

Zeb_Larson,
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

@exchgr Yeah, that's a great scene. Have you watched The Return at all?

Zeb_Larson,
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@exchgr Only wish I could experience it again for the first time.

mayaisloading, to random
@mayaisloading@beige.party avatar

Honestly, the majority of advice I've ever gotten from elder relatives have been wrong. Especially (but not only) financial ones. If I have listen to even 10% of them I would be in much worse position then I am right now.

Let's stop with the "elders are wiser" thingy once and for all. They are wiser about their lifes because they now know the things they would have done differently. But everyone's life is different. We only have our full life experience. Yeah, we could technically learn from others but we can only see the top of the iceberg of anyone else's experience. So we only get wiser in regards to our own lifes and nothing else.

That's not to say no advice is ever useful. But no advice is useful to everybody.

Zeb_Larson,
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

@mayaisloading @qkslvrwolf I’ve become pessimistic about the whole idea of advice. Because I navigated a weird transition out of humanities academia and into software dev, I get hit up for informational interviews and advice from my peers…and the more that time goes on, the more I doubt that I have any advice to give at all.

SrRochardBunson, to random

A "2nd civil war" wouldn't be Meal Team Six lining up against the army.

It would be JimBob taking out that immigrant couple on their street or family with the trans kid, that they've been pissed at for years. All it takes is some sign or assurance that they might get away with it.

Zeb_Larson,
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

@SrRochardBunson People tend to underestimate just how much violence in a civil war is people settling scores and getting even (as they see it).

Zeb_Larson, to random
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

Some issues really just hit you in the solar plexus, and for me this is one of them. I really can't fathom the logic of punishing UNRWA (and millions of Palestinians) because a handful of staff members are alleged to have been involved in 10/7 except as a way to collectively punish a whole group of people. It's monstrous. I feel ill.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/28/which-countries-have-cut-funding-to-unrwa-and-why

Zeb_Larson, to random
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

I find I like Mastodon a lot more when 40%+ of the posts aren't about Mastodon: how much better it is than the alternatives, how to use it, why you shouldn't use anything else, etc.

exchgr, to random
@exchgr@mastodon.world avatar

move fast and break things makes the whole world broken

Zeb_Larson,
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

@exchgr "Move determinedly and clean up your messes as you go" just doesn't rev up project managers and stakeholders.

Zeb_Larson, to random
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

I have a very simple protocol for dealing with people online. If you're annoying in somebody else's thread or mentions, I mute you. If you're annoying in mine, I block you. And if you're a racist or a bigot, I just skip step one.

LALegault, to random
@LALegault@newsie.social avatar

How people are reacting to Palestine is exactly predicting to how they would have behaved watching the Holocaust.

Zeb_Larson,
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

@LALegault If anything, the pressure campaign to silence critics and human rights advocates feels more intense. Our government was shockingly callous towards Jewish refugees and of course anti-Semitism was rife in the United States, but I've never heard of members of the support committees in the '30s and early '40s losing their jobs or being hounded out of public life.

seachanger, to random
@seachanger@alaskan.social avatar

I’ve had two nights in a row of solid sleep so obviously my lifelong struggle with insomnia is over

Zeb_Larson,
@Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

@seachanger Every time, I hope I've somehow rounded the corner.

seachanger, to random
@seachanger@alaskan.social avatar

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    Zeb_Larson,
    @Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

    @toddo @seachanger Don't think the full album is out yet, but the new track is amazing.

    rvawonk, to politics

    I wrote about the rise in political violence in America, and how our fractured reality is making it hard to see the perilous path we’re heading down.

    https://weaponizedspaces.substack.com/p/americas-fractured-reality-paves

    Zeb_Larson,
    @Zeb_Larson@zirk.us avatar

    @rvawonk @seachanger I talked about this a bit in something I wrote last year, that a good model for what a civil war really looks like in the 21st century is The Troubles in Northern Ireland. People think it will look like 1860 and men in blue or gray uniforms lining up to fight, but I think in reality it’s stochastic violence and acts of terrorism and state security services that really should not be trusted.

    It’s scary because we’re very close to that.

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