Author Archives: Cedar Riener
5 bites of politics: Feb 6
Understand Great historically informed look at the ideology of government held by many in Trump’s administration (including Bannon, but also Sessions and others) by Jamelle Bouie. Defenders of pluralism have a tremendous struggle ahead of them. But as they mobilize … Continue reading
5 bites of politics: Feb 4
To understand: This interview and article from Robinson Meyer is super interesting, with the director of Snopes (the online myth-busting site) about the rise of fake news targeted to people on the left. I think a good reminder is that … Continue reading
5 Bites of Politics: Feb 3
To understand: I thought this piece in The Intercept an interesting investigation on how many white supremacists have infiltrated police departments and the military. The FBI in the past has tried to monitor and prevent white supremacist terrorism but that … Continue reading
A New Feature: Cedar’s Digest – 5 bites of politics
I went to a local organizing group meeting today, a bunch of people in my local community who are mostly new to politics and feel angry, upset and overwhelmed but motivated to do what they can to change this situation … Continue reading
On the Truth and Importance of “I Told You So”
As millions more become politically engaged in these dark times, there has been a fair amount of Columbusing (discovering what was already there). “This is the beginning of a movement” or “first they came for the immigrants and we said … Continue reading
Free Speech and Fighting Fascism
Three events which presage the world to come and require us to choose which conflicting values we prioritize. Up to now there has been a building uncomfortable stalemate on some of our social tensions, the Trump/Bannon era will escalate these … Continue reading
Colorblindness is Racism
I started with a provocative headline, but I have come to believe that this is a necessary approach if we want to design policies and systems that bend the arc of our moral universe towards justice. Let me start with … Continue reading
Learning the Wrong Lessons from Newtown
It is four years since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, and we’ve had the benefit of extensive investigation and reflection. Many of the open questions in those horrible moments and days after the shooting have been answered, but we … Continue reading
Professor, Heal thyself! On unprofessionalism and lack of empathy in (complaints about) student emails
A recent op-ed in the Guardian, entitled “I’m not LMAO at ridiculous student emails” lodges a familiar complaint: students don’t know how to communicate with professors in a professional manner, flaunting reasonable social codes and ignoring professors busy lives outside … Continue reading
Teaching #TheDress : Resources for Teachers on the Psychology behind the Dress
Here is the original post, 27 million views and counting. Here is Virginia Hughes with an explanation based in part on my contributions. Here are some general resources on perception and illusions Michael Bach has a great website with many … Continue reading