RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 12/10/2026I’m thinking more and more about this classic novel from 1965 🤔 000
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 04/10/2026www.washingtonpost.com/home/2026/09... “Asmus believes that within the next few decades, a robust market for acorns will emerge as farmers and landowners embrace agroforestry as part of a climate-change-driven shift toward more sustainable food systems.” 🤞washingtonpost.comThe case for America’s original superfood — the acornThe nut is popping up on menus and in cookbooks, and experts are working to breed a sweeter variety, which could lead to a new era of acorn eating. 020
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Paris seen as three churches and a mural—Saint Sulpice; Notre Dame; Saint Germain des Pres; and Monet’s Water Lilies at Musee de l’Orangerie. Briefly escaping the madness! 000
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 05/09/2026www.newyorker.com/culture/the-... “Likely for the first time in French history, the tapestry was travelling to England. Or, as the English said, it was coming home.”newyorker.comThe Bayeux Tapestry’s Long Journey HomeIt’s perhaps the most famous textile in the world. But getting it to England required years of diplomacy, a horde of engineers, and a touch of kindness from the French. 001
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 16/08/2026www.newyorker.com/magazine/202... “Today, while the U.S. tries to govern Venezuela and hobble Iran and Cuba, “China is focussed on winning the technologies of the future,” [professor at Georgetown and a China specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations Rush] Doshi said.” 🤔newyorker.comThe Future, Made in ChinaBeijing is competing with the U.S. for tech supremacy. Who wins will have huge political implications. 000
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 23/07/2026A floating art piece also captures Iowa nitrates www.axios.com/local/des-mo...axios.comA floating art piece also captures Iowa nitratesThe artwork aims to highlight Iowa's water quality concerns while combining art and science to provide a solution. 000
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 12/07/2026NPR’s Tom Huizenga recently recommended this as one of the best releases in 2026– “Every time I hear it, this 50-year-old piece of Dutch minimalism, composed by Simeon ten Holt, sweeps me off my feet with its meditative, swirling eddies of sound.” Escape the madness🎶 000
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 08/07/2026www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202... “The paradox is that although video contains more information than text—not just language but sounds and moving images—it does not stimulate deeper thinking…[V]ideo thrusts so much information at the viewer at once that it’s difficult to focus on any one piece…”theatlantic.comThe Age of Reading Is OverCan civilization survive the postliterate era? 010
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 06/06/2026www.theatlantic.com/national-sec... “The beauty of that whole war was the fact that everybody in this country seemed to be behind it,” he told me. It’s a feeling, he suspects, that will be unimaginable to future generations of Americans.theatlantic.comThe Last of the D-Day VeteransJoe Picard is one of the few left with a personal memory of the 20th century’s greatest military operation. 011
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 28/05/2026www.newyorker.com/news/the-led... “What is to be done? The Pope diagnoses the greatest ill in the world to be a “culture of power” in which those with the greatest resources determine the course of events with regard for nothing but for their own self-interest.” 🤔newyorker.comWhat the Pope Said About A.I.Leo XIV’s new encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” presents a remarkable case for placing moral concerns, and not profit, or competitive advantage, or efficiency, at the center of any discussion of arti... 020
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 25/05/2026spectrumlocalnews.com/hi/hawaii/ne... Hawaii Act 011: “It simply defines the powers that the State grants to artificial entities [e.g., corporations] and makes clear that participation in election activity and ballot-issue activity is not among them.” How interesting!spectrumlocalnews.comGreen signs bill to restrict corporate political spendingGreen signs bill to restrict corporate political spending 020
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 15/05/2026www.glenstone.org If you haven’t visited Glenstone, in Potomac, Maryland, it’s a *Bucket List* destination 🎨 (Psst, it’s free!)glenstone.orgGlenstone MuseumDiscover the transformative power of Glenstone's experience, where art, architecture, and nature converge. 030
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 11/05/2026www.newyorker.com/magazine/202... In case you don’t have time to read “London Falling,” here is a lengthy excerpt published in 2024. It is a fascinating story, featuring typically outstanding writing from The New Yorker✏️newyorker.comA Teen’s Fatal Plunge Into the London UnderworldAfter Zac Brettler mysteriously plummeted into the Thames, his grieving parents discovered that he’d been posing as an oligarch’s son. Would the police help them solve the puzzle of his death? 020
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 30/04/2026apnews.com/article/king... Charles III said that the U.S. and the U.K. should “rededicate ourselves to each other in the selfless service of our peoples and of all the peoples of the world.” Quite a speech!apnews.comRead the complete transcript of King Charles III's speech to Congress“Mr. Vice President, Mr. 100
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 28/04/2026Revisiting a classic, which includes this comment: “It is the hallmark of the age—the less you exist the more important it is to make a clear impression.” 000
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 11/04/2026Fascinating on several levels. A key takeaway for me is this quotation: “Happiness is so hard to come by. I don’t understand why anyone would begrudge anyone else for managing to find some of it.” TJR is a wonderful writer ✏️ 010
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 05/04/2026www.newyorker.com/news/annals-... In the past fifty years, he said, North American waters have seen three catastrophic spills: Ixtoc I, in 1979; Exxon Valdez, in 1989; and Deepwater Horizon, in 2010….We’re just about due for another.” Aren’t wind & solar safer bets for future generations?newyorker.comDonald Trump Wants to “Drill, Baby, Drill.” History Shows the Devastation That Would WreakDonald Trump promised to usher in a new era of offshore oil drilling. Scientists know all too well how that story ends. 000
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 01/04/2026www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026... Sharon seems to harbor real affection for the texts he’s reinterpreting. “I’m not tearing down a statue—I am using the same clay,” he told me before an early rehearsal of Tristan last month. “The greatest form of critical engagement is an act of love.”theatlantic.comRichard Wagner in the Present TenseA bold restaging of Tristan und Isolde arrives at a moment of intense concern about the cultural inheritance of Western civilization. 000
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 24/03/2026www.newyorker.com/news/the-led... “As the Columbia scholars Erica Downs and Jason Bordoff wrote in Foreign Policy, recently, China has been preparing…’by electrifying its economy, securing domestic sources of energy, amassing stockpiles, and dominating clean technology supply chains.’” Bill McKibbennewyorker.comThe Iran War Is Another Reason to Quit OilWhat if the drone is to warfare as the solar panel is to energy? 020
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 07/03/2026www.newyorker.com/magazine/202... “‘I’m not some tree-hugging fucking hippie,’ an activist named Erik Hayward, who had campaigned to save native forests in Tasmania, told me. ‘It’s not necessarily about the individual trees. It’s about a culture change.’”newyorker.comThe Tree House and the Oil PipelineIn the fight against climate change, sometimes you have to go out on a limb. 020
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 06/03/2026Caught in the Net of Lauren Groff's "Brawler" chireviewofbooks.com/2026/02/24/_...chireviewofbooks.comCaught in the Net of Lauren Groff's "Brawler" - Chicago Review of BooksThe themes of Brawler by Lauren Groff are difficult at first to connect; the overall mood of the stories is what brings them all together, a wiggly feeling difficult to pin down in words. What unites ... 010
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 18/02/2026www.ox.ac.uk/news/2026-01... “Published in Nature Sustainability, the findings have grave implications for humanity. The Central African Republic, Nigeria, South Sudan, Laos, and Brazil are predicted to see the most significant increases in dangerously hot temperatures…”ox.ac.ukGlobal population living with extreme heat to double by 2050 |A new University of Oxford study finds that almost half of the global population (3.79 billion) will be living with extreme heat by 2050 if the world reaches 2.0°C of global warming above 020
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 15/02/2026Beautifully performed by Virginia Opera and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. The music + libretto = an intense evening at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts. 010
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 14/02/2026“The ethos was one of self-defense.” “In every interview, I asked two questions: (1) why did the radical environmental movement collapse in the early 2000s, and (2) what does the future of radical actions look like?” 010
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 30/01/2026Once again I ask: Does the American Bar Association still exist? If so, a sign of life might be helpful ⚖️ 010
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 24/01/2026Trying to escape the madness on Hilton Head Island. 000
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 17/01/2026www.newyorker.com/culture/the-... “Yet instruments are also tools, a way of making the marvellous sound from which their value is supposed to derive.” …..and Isserlis is a master craftsman!newyorker.comWhen a Man Loves a CelloFor the concert soloist Steven Isserlis, the perfect instrument is a blessing—and a curse. 020
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 02/01/2026A fascinating and tenacious subject—Claire McCardell + a serious researcher and wonderful writer—Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson = a sensational biography. Totally compelling 💯 071
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 28/12/2025www.yahoo.com/news/article... “In an era of disinformation, polarization and online outrage, democracy depends not on rote recall but on citizens who think critically, collaborate effectively and disagree civilly.”yahoo.comOpinion: Rebooting Civics for the Digital AgeToday’s teenagers can produce a viral video in 60 seconds, yet many struggle to name the three branches of government. That failure is less an indictment of them than us. We’ve treated civics as somet... 020
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 28/12/2025www.fcnp.com/2025/12/23/a... “These small communities also score well in engagement, so residents have plenty of opportunities to socialize together, work together, build community together and effect positive change together.” Government at its best ✔️fcnp.comAARP: Falls Church 2nd Among Small Towns in U.S. for Seniors - Falls Church News-Press OnlineThe City of Falls Church has been ranked No. 2 in the entire U.S. by the highly-respected American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) as an ideal small community for seniors to live, according to t... 000
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 20/11/2025www.newyorker.com/magazine/202... “[Jefferson] Tester told me….that using electricity for heating is not nearly as efficient as using heat for heating. And geothermal wells for heating, which can be relatively shallow, can work in places with no hot springs or volcanoes.” Fascinating!newyorker.comWhy the Time Has Finally Come for Geothermal EnergyIt used to be that drawing heat from deep in the Earth was practical only in geyser-filled places such as Iceland. But new approaches may have us on the cusp of an energy revolution. 020
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 11/11/2025www.classical-music.com/articles/196... What a year 💯; what a list‼️; what music 🫶 My particular favorite is #8—“Between the Buttons,” by The Rolling Stones.classical-music.com1967 was rock's year of revolution. We've ranked its 21 greatest albums1967 wasn’t just psychedelia — these 21 albums reveal brilliance across rock, soul, folk, and avant-garde, redefining music forever 011
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 07/11/2025www.newyorker.com/magazine/202... A great irony hangs over Pärt’s career: the music that insured his later fame in the West wrecked his career in the Soviet Union. His urge to address religious subjects made his work largely unperformable, except in underground contexts such as the Riga discothèque.newyorker.comAt Ninety, Arvo Pärt and Terry Riley Still Sound VitalBoth composers remain intriguing outliers, notable for the stubbornness with which they have held to their youthful convictions. 020
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 29/10/2025www.newyorker.com/magazine/202... “[I]n areas near data centers, wholesale electricity costs have risen by more than two hundred per cent in the past five years. And rates will probably continue to increase—power plants can’t produce nearly enough electricity to meet the demand.” Ready or not‼️newyorker.comInside the Data Centers That Train A.I. and Drain the Electrical GridA data center, which can use as much electricity as Philadelphia, is the new American factory, creating the future and propping up the economy. How long can this last? 030
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 10/10/2025www.newyorker.com/magazine/202... “You have given the gift of laughter to our people. May we never grow so somber or self-important that we fail to appreciate the humor in our lives.” From the archives—Sound and humble advice from LBJ.newyorker.comBefore Kimmel, the Smothers Brothers Ate ItPresident Nixon got the brothers’ variety show cancelled after they wouldn’t let up on Vietnam. In the wake of the new late-night wars, Dick Smothers is having flashbacks. 010
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 30/09/2025“How does one finish the sentence: ‘It is unfortunate that tens of thousands of children are dead, but…’” 010
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 23/09/2025Does the American Bar Association still exist? If so, a sign of life might be helpful ⚖️ 000
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 04/09/2025“An unbounded place, a suspended jewel so shockingly bright. Can humans not find peace with one another? With the earth? It’s not a fond wish but a fretful demand.” [p. 108] A very different, but wonderfully written book. 010
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 31/08/2025www.newyorker.com/culture/list... “Riley replied…’I feel it’s my field to create magic in sound. Magic in the sense of transcendence of this ordinary life into another realm. An awakening, you know. To use music to try to awaken ourselves.’”newyorker.comWhen the Man Tried to Sell Minimalism to the CountercultureColumbia Records saw Terry Riley’s “In C,” now rereleased for his ninetieth birthday, as a perfect anthem for the psychedelic Zeitgeist, but the mainstream couldn’t contain the composer’s utopian ener... 191
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 19/08/2025Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania—no words are necessary! 020
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 03/08/2025www.newyorker.com/culture/phot... “What I’m trying to capture,” van Wessel told me, “is a personal emotion, what moves me in the moment—clicking the shutter is not a matter of framing or light but, rather, you could say, a decision of the heart.”newyorker.comAt the Edge of Life and Death in UkraineA new photo book by Eddy van Wessel, with nearly two hundred images taken over the course of three years, offers a visual history of the war’s devastation. 000
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 01/08/2025www.newyorker.com/magazine/tak... “In reporting on the emerging science of pesticides, “Silent Spring” knocked some of the shine off modernity, nailing difficult questions to the door of the Church of Progress. Carson thought that man had grown overlarge and was upsetting a necessary balance.”newyorker.comBill McKibben on Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring”Her reporting was quickly attacked by the industry she called into question, setting the playbook for companies that profited from tobacco, opioids, and fossil fuels. 000
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 21/07/2025www.newyorker.com/culture/pers... “FM classical broadcasting is a shadow of what it once was. CDs are vanishing—vinyl LPs now sell more copies per year. At this point, the major labels are practically giving away disks, throwing them into large boxes…” Raise your hand if you have a CD player🖐️ (😆)newyorker.comCan Dave Hurwitz Save Classical Recording?An unlikely YouTube star surveys the spoils of an overflowing but precarious industry. 010
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 08/07/2025www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a... “Now you’ve got the utter devastation of an education system of children. A little girl said to me, ‘Look at me. I used to be beautiful, but now all I do all day is chase water trucks around.’”newyorker.comThe War on Gaza’s ChildrenWithout safe access to food, water, or medical care, survival has become a daily gamble for the region’s youngest residents. 010
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 30/06/2025www.newyorker.com/sports/sport... “He wasn’t talking about the old guard—it was Sinner against whom he gauged himself. “He and I have already had great battles on all surfaces and in various tournaments, and I believe we will fight together for major titles in the future as well.” Oh, I hope so 🎾newyorker.comThe Sincaraz Era Is Tennis RebornIn Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, the sport has not only its next great rivalry but a moment that highlights everything the sport can be. 010
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 08/06/2025apnews.com/article/stra... “As Michael Luo’s “Strangers in the Land” demonstrates, understanding America’s efforts to keep Chinese laborers out, and the violence enacted against those who stayed in, is essential to understanding the evolution of America’s immigration system as we know it today.”apnews.comBook Review: Michael Luo tells the harrowing story of Chinese exclusion in AmericaMichael Luo’s “Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America” comes at a time when politics and immigration have intertwined once again. 020
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 07/06/2025Fabulous music from Raphael Pichon and Pygmalion 🎶 020
RBEbersole @rbebersole.bsky.social · 06/06/2025www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a... “Rather, it’s the result of government policy—knowingly, evilly, maliciously, irresponsibly dictated. Yes, Israel is committing war crimes.” Strong words from the former prime minister!newyorker.comWhy Ehud Olmert Thinks His Country Is Committing War CrimesThe Former Israeli Prime Minister explains how his view of the conflict in Gaza has shifted. 000
