GenderDiversity & NonBinary Inclusion in the Workplace, S Gibson J Fernandez
Voting ended onMay 16
Book summaries below:
Soldiers Don't Go Mad: A True Story of Friendship, Poetry, and Mental Illness During the First World War by Charles Glass
A brilliant and poignant history of the friendship between two great war poets, Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, alongside a narrative investigation of the origins of PTSD and the literary response to World War I
From the moment war broke out across Europe in 1914, the world entered a new, unparalleled era of modern warfare. Soldiers faced relentless machine gun shelling, incredible artillery power, flame throwers, and gas attacks. Within the first four months of the war, the British Army recorded the nervous collapse of ten percent of its officers; the loss of such manpower to mental illness – not to mention death and physical wounds – left the army unable to fill its ranks. Second Lieutenant Wilfred Owen was twenty-four years old when he was admitted to the newly established Craiglockhart War Hospital for treatment of shell shock. A bourgeoning poet, trying to make sense of the terror he had witnessed, he read a collection of poems from a fellow officer, Siegfried Sassoon, and was impressed by his portrayal of the soldier’s plight. One month later, Sassoon himself arrived at Craiglockhart, having refused to return to the front after being wounded during battle.
Though Owen and Sassoon differed in age, class, education, and interests, both were outsiders – as soldiers unfit to fight, as gay men in a homophobic country, and as Britons unwilling to support a war likely to wipe out an entire generation of young men. But more than anything else, they shared a love of the English language, and its highest expression of poetry. As their friendship evolved over their months as patients at Craiglockhart, each encouraged the other in their work, in their personal reckonings with the morality of war, as well as in their treatment. Therapy provided Owen, Sassoon, and fellow patients with insights that allowed them express themselves better, and for the 28 months that Craiglockhart was in operation, it notably incubated the era’s most significant developments in both psychiatry and poetry.
Drawing on rich source materials, as well as Glass’s own deep understanding of trauma and war, SOLDIERS DON’T GO MAD tells for the first time the story of the soldiers and doctors who struggled with the effects of industrial warfare on the human psyche. Writing beyond the battlefields, to the psychiatric couch of Craiglockhart but also the literary salons, halls of power, and country houses, Glass charts the experiences of Owen and Sassoon, and of their fellow soldier-poets, alongside the greater literary response to modern warfare. As he investigates the roots of what we now know as post-traumatic stress disorder, Glass brings historical bearing to how we must consider war’s raving effects on mental health, and the ways in which creative work helps us come to terms with even the darkest of times.
Gender Diversity and Non-Binary Inclusion in the Workplace: The Essential Guide for Employers by Sarah Gibson and J. Fernandez
Helping to create inclusive work environments for non-binary people, this book builds knowledge of non-binary identities and provides practical solutions to many of the basic workplace problems this group face. Working with and including non-binary people in the workplace is beneficial for both employer and employee, as it attracts and retains younger and non-binary workers by helping promote an inclusive brand, as well as satisfying equality obligations. Based on novel research of non-binary inclusion within businesses, it provides a basic overview of non-binary people, a business case for inclusion, a brief description of how non-binary people fit into current equality laws and likely future developments in the area. An ideal introduction for companies wishing to embrace all genders in the workplace.
Spencer Cullum is a British musician transplant from Nashville, Tennessee. He's made two Spencer Cullum's Coin Collection LPs - both released via Full Time Hobby (UK).
This has a California psych pop 1970s sound reminiscent of Hollow Hand, Chris Cohen, J. Fernandez and Jacco Gardner. As you might guess from those bands, this is meticulously made, beautiful and lush.
His backing band - Coin Collection -is made up of many musicians, most notably Caitlin Rose.
This is a reissue of the 1982 “Space Museum” LP by Solid Space. Original cassettes and vinyl of the album can get upwards of $300. So, clearly, there is a cult following here. This has been remastered from the original cassette.
This release has a sound fully rooted in the past, but somehow sounding fresh. I could see current bands like DIIV, and J. Fernandez enjoying this. From the past I would say I can hear echoes of Cleaners From Venus, Martin Newell, as well as The Wake.
This was originally released on In Phaze Records (also released Marine Girls and Legendary Pink Dots)
Like a lot of young people, Justin Fernandez, best known as J. Fernandez relocated to Chicago for a job with Rand McNally during the early 2000s, and during that period he spent a number of years playing in his friends' various musical projects while working on his own material in a very rudimentary home studio including his debut EP, Olympic Village and its follow-up No Luck, which earned comparisons to Stereolab, Robyn Hitchcock and Syd Barrett.
Fernandez's third and latest effort, Memorize Now reportedly extends and refines the self-described retro-futuristic pop ideas of his previous effort while being recorded in his bedroom. Also, much like the previous recordings Fernandez plays the majority of the instruments. And interestingly enough, "Cosmic Was," manage to sound as though it could have been released in 1964 or so, as it accurately captures a very specific sound of that era with a subtle nods to Sy Barrett-era Pink Floyd psychedelia -- and it does so without sounding like a soulless carbon copy.
