Odessa’s Oddities & Curiosities | Week of 1/29/2024

Dear friends,

This past week was pretty brutal for me. I am hoping that this is just second-week madness and that I will learn to corral all my obligations of this new semester. But the good news is that my tightly, tightly packed calendar is mainly filled with things that bring me joy — so things could be far worse.

Two major highlights of the week were two Tu Bishvat seders. One which had joyous readings of poetry paired with kabbalah, breath work, wordless songs, delicious fruit, and even more wonderful company — the ultimate rejuvenation that I needed mid-week. And a deeply thoughtful seder focusing on questions of settler-colonialism in Israel/Palestine — organized by Danya for her indigenous food sovereignty class last semester. The seder led to many fascinating discussions of the "people without a land/land without a people” narrative.

I’ve started in a new lab in these past few weeks. Some of you may know but the theme of my cognitive science major (which is pretty much design-your-own) is awe. Coincidentally, one of the postdocs in my lab specifically studies awe and how it affects interpersonal dynamics! I didn’t even know when applying to the lab…now how’s that for awe-inducing coincidence?! I’m enjoying my new lab’s focus on the methods of psychophysiology with the theme of embodiment. This past week, I’ve been learning the protocol for the two studies we’re launching in a few weeks. I’ve been learning how to hook our participants up to all the physiological sensors like the blood impedance tapes, ECG, PPG, GSR, SKT, BP…in summary, many many acronyms. I’m looking forward to get to build out our recruitment protocol and learn how to analyze the physiological data.

Yesterday, Sophie and I hosted the first (Jewish) Community Meeting at Slifka since February 2020. We first put out a survey to assess the feelings/opinions of the community. Most interestingly, we noted a multitude of both similar and diametrically opposed responses…as is the Jewish way. Some wanted Slifka to be more Zionist. Some wanted Slifka to be less Zionist. More religious. More culturally Jewish. Jewish community is hard. College Jewish community is even harder as everyone comes from their own Jewish communities with their own traditions, expectations, and desires, and yet we all have to share the same space together. But I was deeply revitalized by the focused listening and thoughtful suggestions that emerged yesterday. I am even more excited about the possibilities for our community moving forward.

In other news, Elon Musk, in an attempt to revive his image, called himself “Aspirationally Jewish”…aren’t we all?

I have a new book to my TBR (to-be-read list for my non-bookworms): Filterworld by Kyle Chayka. I first read the great review in the NYT, but then listened to his interview with Ezra Klein on the Ezra Klein Show. I listened at 2x speed, which I find makes podcasts more amenable to listening while running. The podcast focused how we develop our own taste in the age of algorithms. Chayka does cite newsletters as one of the last places where you can find the weirdest ideas. Well, I hope to provide you all with weird ideas, at the very least courtesy of my own algorithm.

My poem of the week is “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver, in the spirit of subverting the algorithm: “the world offers itself to your imagination”.

Roman Mars of 99% Invisible has a new series where he visits different American cities and gives deeply thoughtful audio design tours. He explains that the impetus for his podcast 99% Invisible was that his main interest in design came from stories, not aesthetics — which is why a podcast still serves a fantastic form for exploring design. Roman starts in Chicago (home of Ava!) — highly recommend! (I have this theory that Roman’s alter ego should be called Grecian Ares)

Also on 99% Invisible, a new series/book club where they read & discuss The Power Broker by Robert Caro. If you are also unfamiliar with Robert Caro, he’s this incredible biographer who engages in intense & rigorous research. The subject of the book is Robert Moses who basically designed New York City without being elected a single time. The book is an epic examination of city politics, class, and power in New York City. Without reading along, I love listening to Roman & Elliot Kaplan break down each chunk of the book.

I also listened to this superb Radiolab episode called Zoozve, which explores how a curiosity regarding Latif’s son’s astronomy poster launched a new realization about the universe and how the universe may operate more like a night club than a clock. Deeply interesting and you’ll learn some interesting facts about the nomenclature of moons.

One of my guilty pleasure podcasts is Giggly Squad, which I hesitate to recommend whole-sale because I can only think of a few subscribers that might enjoy as much as I do. To me, the vibe of the conversation is very much a FaceTime between me and Athena.

From The Daily, I was tickled by this reporter’s deep dive into how the atomic bomb was financed and whether Congress would be able to finance the same kind of secret project today…a great tale of following your curiosity.

Some class highlights…

In The Social Body, we read about a study where patients with coronary heart disease were assigned to one of two different conditions: a rehabilitation program with counseling for Type A behavior patterns and a rehabilitation program without this counseling. Patients who underwent the counseling showed declines in both Type A behavior and follow-up recurrent myocardial infarction. My initial reading, which I shared in class, was oh shit! I need to work on my Type A behaviors, but my professor corrected me and noted that the hostility aspect of Type A behavior had the biggest impact on heart disease — you don’t seem like a hostile person, she noted. Additionally, Miriam brought me cookies for class on Wed! ❤️ ❤️ These cookies are a new dining hall staple: Tate’s GF cookies, which I believe are far superior to the Tate’s non-GF cookies. I hope the gluten-free folks don’t mind how many I’ve been gobbling down.

In Modern Jewish Poets, we dove deep into Gertrude Stein. I was fascinated by the way in which her poetry scrambled my ability to read in my head. Only when I read aloud could I fully enjoy her work — I won’t pretend that I fully understood. Professor Cole selected Stein’s quote: “There have only been three originating Jews: Jesus, Spinoza, and Gertrude Stein”…I’ve been delighting in her confidence all week — not often I read about a woman with such self-surety. (Speaking of confident woman, Nikki Haley decided that her husband’s name should be Michael, not Bill???). We also had a discussion spurred by Stein’s question: “can a jew be wild?” Most of the class gave an immediate no. They responded that a Jew cannot be wild under the weight of history and religious obligation. But my first thought was of course! Shabbat is wild! Monotheism is wild! Of course, first, we must define wild, but I submit the question to all of you: can a jew be wild?

From Wendover Productions, I recommend a video on the insidious nature of sports-betting companies and how they’ve transformed the country over the last few years. I was also logistically ticked by this podcast on how niche brands get into supermarkets — totally transformed how I examine the shelves. I watched another video on how a small company makes hot-air balloons. And for a laugh, I recommend this Bad Lip Reading of a scene from Star Wars.

Other curiosities, in Jewish-Christian Bible Study, I learned most other people have incredibly violent and creative (?) dreams…I am moved partially to start a dream journal — is there any app for such a thing?

There is a review of a new Cindy Sherman exhibition in the NYT — I want to plan a trip to NYC to see the photographs in person: “The various directions in which features point, and particularly the misaligned eyes, invoke a very specific kind of human desire: It seems we quite insistently want to know where to direct our attention when looking at another person. The hunt can feel almost embarrassingly intense.”

Also 49ers to the Super Bowl!! and Taylor Swift will be there! I don’t know about which I’m more excited!

Can you believe I ended with a sports update!?!? I can’t believe it either.

With love & curiosity,

Odessa