#234: The Concussion Diaries
Loyal readers, thank you for opening today’s issue of The Highlighter! Like usual, this week’s articles come from a variety of publications and cover a range of topics, including the tragic effects of concussions, the dangers of believing in the Internet, the sexual desires of a woman with physical disabilities, and the proliferation of fake honey. If you have time to read just one article this week, I’d recommend “The Concussion Diaries,” the tragic story of a young man with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.
+ HHH was a big success! We had a strong turnout, welcomed six new great people to the community (Ariel, Camille, Mahogney, Keyur, Katherine, and Thai), played some trivia, gave out some prizes, and chatted about the articles. Mark your calendars: HHH #14 is Thursday, June 4, 5:30 pm.
Zac Easter loved hunting, his dad, his girlfriend, and most of all, football. Fearless and confident, Zac was a star linebacker on his high school team, and made sure to hit hard. His dad said, “Zac was a thumper. Of all the boys, he was one who wouldn’t show pain. He’d throw his head into anything.” A few years after high school, Zac began experiencing symptoms of CTE. Then he took his own life, leaving a diary to let the world know what football had done to him. (39 min)
“I Brainwashed Myself With The Internet.” A Freebirth Without Doctors
When she became pregnant, Judith began thinking about how she wanted to give birth. She got hooked on the Free Birth Podcast and joined the Free Birth Society’s Facebook page, whose members decried doctors and warned against hospitals. Given the rise in maternal mortality rates, they had a point, Judith thought, and chose to have her baby at home alongside her husband and a close friend. Even when she reached 44 weeks, Judith remained steadfast and followed the lead of her mentor. “Babies come out,” she said. “Babies always come out.” (20 min)
Living with cerebral palsy all her life has made poet Molly McCully Brown the subject of men’s confident conclusions about her body. “My body was a country of error and pain. It was a doctor’s best attempt, a thing to manage and make up for. It was a place to leave if I was hunting goodness, happiness or release.” In this personal essay, Ms. Brown reveals that her body is much more, full of various desires, sexual and otherwise, as she looks to the future, wanting children and intimacy, not necessarily together. (15 min)
Bees are dying, honey prices are dropping, and it’s all the fault of fancy honey, which has flooded the market and lured consumers with “raw” and “local” and “organic” on their labels. It turns out that the majority of honeys are a total fraud, adulterated with added sugars and blended with small amounts of true honey. What to do? You can’t trust True Source Honey; its certification has been debunked. And you can’t follow the class action lawsuits; there are too many. Even Whole Foods honey is a no-go. Only taking your honey to a lab will do. (30 min)
+ Related: Fruit smoothies are bad for you.
+ Reader Annotations: Last week’s lead article, “Miranda’s Rebellion,” sparked strong opinions. Loyal reader Gena expressed little sympathy for Miranda’s struggle.
As a white woman, I am deeply disappointed in my fellow white women and their complicity in white supremacy. In my opinion, the woman profiled in this article is no different. The time is past to feel bad about racism and not speak up. It is only us white people that have the power to change our own families and communities, and we have to have the courage to do so. We are not literally being murdered in the streets like people of color. So what are we so afraid of? I have little compassion or understanding of this woman who knows what she sees and hears is wrong, and yet sits silently. Until white people have an ounce of courage to feel slightly uncomfortable, then nothing will fundamentally change.
On the other hand, loyal reader Marna felt the lead article and “The Bible That Oozed Oil,” when read as a pair, offered her a window into her brother’s world.
Read both articles, thank you! They were both insightful and amazing. My older brother is a southern Baptist minister and a Republican. Both articles spoke to me about him and the demographic he represents.
Loyal reader Kati also read both articles, found the oil-oozing Bible piece intriguing, but agreed with Gena about Miranda:
I’m a white woman, but seriously, when people who have a lot of advantages in their life complain, it gets a bit irksome. I hope more women realize they have the luxury and privilege to make the decisions that Miranda and Liz have made. We have a long way to go with rights, but I truly believe white women need to do their part to include those with less advantages in their “feminism” crusade. We have a lot of work to do!
Want to weigh in about Miranda or any of the articles from today’s issue? All you have to do is hit reply.
There you have it! Congratulate yourself for getting some good reading done. Let me know what you thought about today’s issue by hitting reply or by clicking on the thumbs below. Also, let’s welcome our community’s three new subscribers, including Katherine and Sehreen. I hope that you find this newsletter a welcome addition to your Thursday email inbox. A big thank-you to loyal reader Crystal for getting the word out!
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