You have to go and you have to file as many open records requests as possible in advance about the contract and all the terms of the game. And yes, I know BYU is a private school. But you should do what you can as a matter of principle.

Forests stabilize climate better than any tech we’ve invented.
Protecting existing forests is 8–12× more effective at carbon storage than planting new ones.
The cheapest carbon capture device already exists — it’s called a tree. 🌲

Seems like I remember from the Apollo history that you’ve got to use the top speed to push through the Earth’s gravity, but it would burn far too much fuel to do that for the whole trip. It’s like the takeoff acceleration and cruising speed.

We cannibalized the rural economy, stripped it for parts, forcibly removed its young people to the cities, and sold the carcass to “investors,” but at least you have cheap fuel on your commute.

The great alternative country band BR5-49 did a bang-up cover on their live album back in the 90s. It was the first version I ever heard as a kid and I might like it better.

Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”

She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary!”

I literally fist pumped when you rolled out the Akron schedule game and said to myself “you have to pay money to get discussions like this, free podcasts would never.”

(Not an Akron fan and only been to Ohio once, for about 45 minutes)

"all writers use AI" nope, get the entire fuck out of here with that

It’s ever apparent that Wendell Berry and Edward Abbey were correct about the world over the last 50 years. Wallace Stegner too, who taught and influenced both with his wisdom & ideas. They warned our forefathers. They didn’t listen. We better listen if we want to leave anything decent to our heirs.

The wilderness once offered men a plausible way of life. Now it functions as a psychiatric refuge. Soon there will be no wilderness. Soon there will be no place to go. Then the madness becomes universal. And the universe goes mad.

Edward Abbey
“The Monkey Wrench Gang”

Perfect

“American farmers feed the world” was an ideal invented by Cold War strategists to give patriotic backing to cheap food policies that ultimately bankrupted rural America.

“We’re know your communities were gutted, & most of you went out of business, but look what you did for the good of the world!”

A NYT piece lamenting that young farmers can’t afford land somehow never mentions some of the largest drivers of inflated land prices: RFS and ethanol, crop insurance socialization, or the tax treatment that makes farmland a passive income vehicle for non-farming heirs.

A tiny selection of a vast set of absolutely beautiful and delicately executed watercolors of flowering plants of North America, "made from nature by Miss Helen Sharp [fl. c 1890], and have been used in part in the botanical classes of the Lowell Free Courses of the Teachers' School of Science":

Thank God these tech CEOs have a pathological need to be public philosophers.

If we can get Sam Altman to make a big statement about AI and humanity every day, we’ll have all the data center projects canceled by March.

I opened Bluesky specifically to see if you had thoughts. I told myself “there’s no way Alex is excited right now.”

Remember that big feature on McCarthy when he took the Dallas job, about how he had spent a year in his barn studying NFL trends so he’d be at the top of the curve? And then…wasn’t.

An announcement:

@celebrityhottub.bsky.social @homefield.bsky.social Watching UConn-Army with in-laws. M-I-L said rooting for Army bc her father was in Army. My 7 y/o daughter shouted “no, we have to go for UConn! My dad has doggers!” and led her cousins chanting “Jonathan! Jonathan!” @shutdownfullcast.bsky.social

Returned to the posting life with a flourish!

When you know what you want, you know what you want. He had the good sense to get it instead of chasing something else.

What a quality career. Spend a dozen years running Joe Tiller’s D, then get yourself an FCS job making $300K (per Wikipedia). Have a few really good years and a lot of decent ones and they let you stay for 15 years. There’s a lot of coaches in FBS who haven’t found that quality of life.

I made my wife listen to the Antioch origin episode and she was intrigued by the Chuck E. Cheese/ShowBiz Pizza lore but @celebrityhottub.bsky.social’s discussion of Brian Ferentz’s sex life caused…questions.

Essays From West of 98: Reading Wendell, Part 1 Exploring West of 98's influences with a Wendell Berry reading list

It shares what brought me to Wendell Berry and my top 3 reads:

Jayber Crow
The Unsettling of America
The Work of Local Culture

Read and subscribe here: westof98.substack.com/p/essays-fro...

Periodically, folks ask me for Wendell Berry reading recommendations. Today at #WestOf98, I’m offering just that.

I’m launching a recurring series on the influences that have shaped my perspective on the world.

Essays From West of 98: A Restatement 2025 Affirming the principles of West of 98 and the reasons for its existence

It’s a tale involving yes, Wendell Berry, but there’s more: Aldo Leopold, Allan Savory, John Graves, Larry McMurtry, Wallace Stegner, Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, and Paul Kingsnorth.

Read it here: westof98.substack.com/p/essays-fro...

Essays From West of 98: A Restatement 2025 Affirming the principles of West of 98 and the reasons for its existence

This essay explores my developing view of the world shaped by the 98th Meridian, the Gospel of Luke, and my dissatisfaction with toxic politics that took me on a different path for improving rural places.

This time last year, I asked myself “why are you the way that you are?” and I wrote about it at #Westof98.

I haven’t had this problem, but I’ve had problems with Venmo in the past and their customer service could not be less helpful.

You practically have to scam their automated phone system to get to a life person, and then the outcome is almost guaranteed to be <shrugs>