The ‘rona round-up
BBC’s specialist disinformation reporter Marianna Spring wrote about the seven types of people who start and spread viral misinformation. I wish this was a Buzzfeed quiz so I know which kind I am.
Physician Kat Montgomery’s Facebook post debunking the controversial and grossly inaccurate Plandemic (removed on social media platforms) went viral, for good reasons.
Kavanagh et al. published a paper on COVID-19 response, ethics and politics for African countries on The Lancet.
The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer describes how COVID-19 was an emergency until Trump found out who was dying.
The ABS-CBN newsroom was forced off air by the Philippine government amid the global coronavirus pandemic. “Grief-stricken, an applause was the only thing [the staff] could muster – the health crisis still preventing them from hugging each other.”
What’s in a name?
“I’m okay.” by Elena Kravchenko at Collective Individuals 2017.
This short piece hopefully explains the meaning behind the newsletter’s name. I wrote this in June 2017:
Sprinting is one of the most exhilarating sports in terms of its build-up but it ends in literally seconds. And you think about it as a writer: How much can you talk about a sport that is so straightforward, so quick and so well known? Many before you had taken every possible angle: the history of sprinting, the physics and techniques, the sprinters’ physiology, the greatest sprinters of all time, the limit to human speed, the engineering of the shoes or the tracks, the comparison of speed between species; what else is there to talk about it?
The starting block. That’s what. When you’ve done a topic too many times and you struggle with finding that fresh angle with solid legs, think about the starting block!
Often in my work I get pitches such as: “I want to talk about diabetes.” “Have you covered depression yet?” “Could you do something on cycling?” We’ve done this, that, and the other so many times; what is the starting block? Find your footing there. May we all never succumb to writer’s block and may we find our starting blocks to take our stories to the finish line.
Ready, get set, go!
The first edition of this newsletter is a little bit longer so I can explain its format. Every Monday, I compile and share my discoveries from the previous week:
The first section is an audio diary. The transcript to it for those who are unable to listen is in the final section of the newsletter.
The second section is a paragraph about the latest research, news and analysis that I encounter over the week.
The third section, which is this one, is a short essay, maybe accompanied by an image, that I will use either to comment on the subjects of the news that I posted above or something unrelated that has occupied my mind.
The fourth section is a recommendation list of books, films, podcasts, etc.
The fifth section is the chart of the week. (Yes! I like charts!)
The sixth section is a short segment dalam bahasa Melayu, or if I’ve had a few, peut-être en français ou en español, ¿por qué no? (One can wish). English is the dominant language I use for work but I find more pleasure in the use of other languages.
What I read, watch and listen to…
I am re-reading Laura Mulvey’s essay on the male gaze, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.
I am re-watching Celine Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire after reading the aforementioned essay. I also recommend the filmmaker’s brilliant screenwriting lecture (transcript available here).
Maybe related to the gaze theory, maybe not, I am looking at this magnificent shot:
I am listening to this incredible multimedia poetry piece by Sheena Baharudin, a former collaborator for Speak Easy, a radio show on spoken word poetry that I produced and she hosted:
Chart of the week
This week’s chart is from SUTD Data-Driven Innovation Lab. Predictive modelling doesn’t always reflect reality. Discuss.
Penjarakan sosial
Bulan lepas, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, dalam hantaran baharu di Facebook, memperkenalkan istilah bahasa Melayu untuk podcast, iaitu audio siar. Saya masih khuatir dengan penggunaan istilah ini tapi dalam hantaran tersebut DBP, seolah sinis, menulis: “Pilihan di tangan anda, sama ada untuk memartabatkan bahasa Melayu atau memperlekehkannya.”
Memandangkan ramai masih bertengkar tentang ejaan sebenar penjarakan sosial (satu ‘k’ sahaja), mungkin DBP sudah mengalah, dan saya juga terpaksa redha.
Transcript for audio
Frankly, I am new to the ‘newsletter culture.’ Last year, while doing my press fellowship in Cambridge, I met Charles Arthur, whose newsletter The Overspill goes out every day without fail, with some of the most insightful links, observations and writings. His was the first newsletter I ever signed up for, and I constantly wondered how he has the time for it. Recently, I signed up for John Naughton’s daily newsletter, Memex. John was the director of my fellowship programme, he was the one who introduced me to Charles. I have been following John’s blog for quite a while, but his newsletter includes an audio diary, which is what I am trying to emulate right here. I obviously have an interest in podcasting because of my broadcast background, although I still prefer playing producer rather than presenter. This is a one-man-band, however, so I don’t have a choice.
I still don’t know how anyone has the time to do a daily newsletter, so I am sticking to a weekly schedule, much like Maria Popova’s Brainpicking and Ann Friedman’s newsletter, both of which I’m also subscribed to.
I spend most of my time online: reading journal articles, watching and listening to the news, and checking social media because of my research on disinformation. In a single day, I can read up to a hundred articles – on good days, at least. Now, it’s starting to make sense how one can compile a daily list of news snippets. I, however, suffer from bouts of writer’s block despite working on a major writing project so I hope this newsletter becomes my starting block that will take me to the end of the project. So every Monday, I will write to my friends and family, who cheer for me and wait for me at the finish line.
You can expect a weekly collection of notes on science and society, with an emphasis on data, democracy, and disinformation, but not always. Sometimes I will talk about identity politics or film theory, maybe even gardening. There will always be a chart of the week, though. So I hope there will be something for everyone, and I always welcome questions, corrections and suggestions – any feedback at all.
I hope to hit 32 subscribers by May 30 because I’ll turn 32 then!
The 1st Block: What’s in a name?