not all of us can live in fantasy 100% the time like i see some people on here do and it's refreshing to learn something new. its been philosophy, essays, and history for me and i feel much more at home on planet Earth for it knowing that people have been struggling and wishing similarly for millenia.
its not that fiction doesnt have its place, its important and healthy to exercise the imagination, but non-fiction can do so much to boost and supplement that. if not for yourself, for your art or for the people you're around
this version of the post doesnt seem to be getting much traction but this is arguably the most important reason why we should be reading nonfiction in addition to fiction
So, I usually like to have a fiction book and a non-fiction book going at the same time so I can switch back and forth between whether the emotional harrowing I'm receiving has real-world consequences. But I also am suffering a lot from empathy fatigue, so I've really been digging into popsci and niche history. Here's my recs (from my goodreads) from what I've read in the last few awful years.
Topics include: disasters, survival stories, parasites, epidemiology, medical history, historical true crime, pop science, linguistics, the satanic panic, human exploitation...
I listened to all of these via audiobook with the Libby or Hoopla apps that connect with my local libraries (you can collect library cards from the counties around you usually, and there are open libraries like the Queer Liberation Library! [making fun of my nerd ass in my own head getting all enthused about collecting libraries like pokemon...]). The audiobooks are all less than 10 hours for the most part, so even the heavy ones don't get too bogged down.
First off, for the Animorphs fans:
Parasites/Diseases
The Woman with a Worm in Her Head: And Other True Stories of Infectious Disease by Pamela Nagami
Deadly Companions: How Microbes Shaped Our History by Dorothy H. Crawford
Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasick
Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Nature's Most Dangerous Creatures by Carl Zimmer
Parasites: The Inside Story by Scott Lyell Gardner
The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time by John Kelly
The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History by John M. Barry
Human Errors: A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes by Nathan H. Lents
Gory Details: Adventures from the Dark Side of Science by Erika Engelhaupt
The Family that Couldn't Sleep by D.T. Max
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers and everything else by Mary Roach
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory and From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty
Survival Stories
Into Thin Air and Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest by Anatoli Boukreev
High: Stories of Survival from Everest and K2 by Clint Willis
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read
Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North by Blair Braverman
The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride by Daniel James Brown
Trapped!: The Story of Floyd Collins by Robert K. Murray
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
Disasters and Human Exploitation
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of Americaâs Shining Women by Kate Moore
Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs by Jamie Loftus
Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter by Kate Clifford Larson
Triangle: The Fire That Changed America David von Drehle
Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham
Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 by Stephen Puleo
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan
Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters by Joan Ryan
True Crime-ish/Satanic Panic
All the Sinners Bow and Death in the Air: The True Story of a Serial Killer, the Great London Smog, and the Strangling of a City by Kate Winkler Dawson
Sybil Exposed: The Extraordinary Story Behind the Famous Multiple Personality Case by Debbie Nathan
Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World's Most Notorious Diaries by Rick Emerson
I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara
Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi
Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three by Mara Leveritt
Misc. Lighter Fare
The Immortal Game: A History of Chess, or How 32 Carved Pieces on a Board Illuminated Our Understanding of War, Art, Science and the Human Brain by David Shenk
The Chess Revolution: From the Ancient World to the Digital Age by Peter Doggers
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan
Flim-Flam!: Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions by James Randi
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism and Wordslut and The Age of Magical Overthinking by Amanda Montell
Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts by Andrew Robinson (not that one)
bringing this back because i think this video helped a lot of people to realise that spiders arenât all that scary. after posting this I got so many messages saying they love pepper and that he showed them that spiders are actually pretty cute, so hopefully this will help any new people who happen to come to this blog now. âĄ
This is a long read, but worth it. Some takeaways:
-Donât use âbuy now pay later.â The fine print isnât what it seems.
-The fine print on medical financing, store credit cards, and contactless payment is also not what it seems.
-Payday loans are still predatory, even when offered by your employer
-Rewards programs are an income stream for the companies that run them. The points systems are manipulated so that the house always wins. They depend on people leaving money in rewards accounts and not in interest-bearing traditional bank accounts.
-Electronic payment apps like VenMo are not banks. You donât earn interest. Your money is not protected.
-Your financial information is not private if your money is not kept in a regulated bank.
-None of this is regulated by the FDIC. Your money is not protected if it is held by a non-bank doing banking business. Our economy is not protected from the collapse of financial institutions that are not banks.
-The Biden administration was making progress in increasing accountability for non-banks operating as predatory financial services providers. The current administration is reversing those protections to favor corporations.
 A third of younger Americans hold their savings on nonbank tech platforms like Venmo
PEOPLE! DO NOT LEAVE YOUR MONEY IN VENMO OR APPLE PAY OR ANY OF THIS SHIT. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GO FIND A REAL BANK OR A CREDIT UNION.
If Venmo were to close tomorrow all your money would vanish. There's no insurance or guarantee on any of these things. I know banks aren't great but legit banks will have the "FDIC insured" logo on their doors and websites, which means if my bank goes under tomorrow I still get my money back. Also I guarantee you there is a credit union somewhere in your town, go find it.
You can leave some money in Venmo or Apple pay or whatever, but NOT ALL OF IT for the love of God.
No, it's misleading. Go to Green Dot's T&Cs, search for "FDIC," and you'll come across this:
your funds are insured up to $250,000 by the FDIC in the event Green Dot Bank fails
In the event Green Dot Bank fails. Meaning the only time your money is protected is if Green Dot goes under. Not if Apple goes under (unlikely, granted). Or if Apple changes its terms (entirely possible). Or if you got scammed. Or if Apple freezes your account because they think you're the one scamming. Or any of the other countless mishaps your money could suffer. Green Dot is insured, but Apple Cash is not.
This is the disclaimer (highlighted) you see before you set up Apple Cash:
As someone who's worked in the industry for a decade now, here's a quick rundown (US specific,) of what your schools and parents didn't teach you:
For the love of god get an account at a federally insured institution. Look for FDIC (banks) or NCUA (credit unions) insured and regulated financial institution. They are legally required to have this status publicly available and accessible so it's not hard to find.
The FDIC and/or NCUA will insure your accounts up to $250,000 PER AUTHORIZED SIGNER and per account type. These are factors to max your coverage to even higher than $250k but the key point is that if something happens to your bank or accounts there, that first $250k of your money is secured anyway.
Banks are for profit. Credit Unions are exactly what it sounds like: unions. They are not for profit and member owned.
Bigger institutions have more money and resources at their disposal; they have the fancier apps, 24/7 phone banking and more locations. But watch out! They are no different than any other large corporation you've heard of when it comes to ethics. Smaller institutions have more limitations, and lesser size is not an indicator of morality, but it's something to consider when choosing where to keep your money.
These institutions, regardless of what kind you choose, will offer interest bearing accounts. Money Market Savings and Time Accounts (also called Certificates of Deposit,) are popular choices to put the money you already have to work for you. You can earn money just for having your money in an interest bearing account type.
All financial institutions charge fees of one sort or another. They are offering products and services, after all. Nothing is free! They will also disclose options to avoid paying those fees, usually based around meeting specific criteria such as minimum balances or direct deposits.
Take this information and do your own research so that you can make an informed decision. Now you know what to look for! Don't be taken advantage of!
jkr is literally posting upskirt photos to her social media. when will it finally get through to harry potter fans that their support makes her feel confident and correct enough to do things like this
If the holocaust denialism SOMEHOW wasn't enough for you to shut up about your favourite kids book as an adult; JK Rowling just committed a sex crime IRL against a transgender woman.
you're not allowed to bring wireless devices into classified areas and a security guy noticed a square phone-ish shape in my pocket so he asked me to show him what it was and i had to show him my can of pocket herring :/
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