#79: Welcoming the Stranger

Welcome to Extras #79! The theme this week is, “We know so much; we know so little.” The first article, a series of six profiles about refugees living in Houston, is an example of how we prefer ignorance and fear over understanding and empathy. The second piece, which explains how Donald Trump used the data we fill out on Facebook to win the presidency, reveals how nonchalantly we abdicate our privacy because of our self-absorption.

Then, after an inspirational quotation about reading, there’s an article that may explain why so many Americans distrust science (though I still believe in it!). Maybe it’s easier to believe in raw, emotional videos, which Facebook Live provides, over cold hard facts. (Live is not just for Chewbacca Mom.) Please enjoy!

Welcoming the Stranger: Faces of the Refugee Crisis

There are 65 million refugees in the world, and 1 in 200 children on Earth is a refugee, according to UNICEF. These six profiles of refugees now living in Houston reminded me how ignorant Americans (including me) are about the basics of the Middle East, Islam, and what’s happening in Syria. My favorite story is the last one, about Coach Lorenzo Barajas and his soccer team; it’s as American as you’re going to get.

The Data That Turned the World Upside Down

This article about how Big Data may have influenced the presidential election is a page-scroller. It may not be the most elegantly written piece out there, and it does rely a bit on conspiratorial thinking, but it did get me thinking that I should probably like fewer things on Facebook. In short, Cambridge Analytica, a company that uses psychometrics and focuses on personality types, used the data we volunteer on Facebook in order to win Donald Trump the presidency. Does this bother us?

Alan Jacobs is the author of The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction, which I read last week.

Cancer Studies Are Fatally Flawed. Meet the Young Billionaire Who's Exposing the Truth About Bad Science

As we venture into a post-fact world, filled with grandiose false claims and unsubstantiated blather, many of us still want to believe in science. But what if scientists are like the rest of us — sharing evidence that matches our claims, while ignoring contrary data? This article follows John Arnold, a billionaire philanthropist and retired hedge fund manager, who is trying to keep scientists in check by focusing on the integrity of their data. But to what end is he doing this? Please enjoy this article about science!

Facebook Live Is the Right Wing’s New Fox News

I like reading articles about journalism and technology, and this one is smart. It tells the story about how conservatives used to have few choices for their news besides Fox, so they went to talk radio. Remember Rush Limbaugh? Now we have Facebook Live, and there is something appealing to regular everyday conservatives about not being scripted or fancy, like the established mainstream liberal media is.

That’s the end of #79! Before you venture off into the rest of your Thursday, please welcome 5 new subscribers: Jamie, Byron, Jennifer, JMed, and Monica. Then, please thank loyal subscribers Beth and Angelina for their insightful comments on last week’s featured article. Finally, choose your favorite article from this week and share it with a friend via email, along with a smart and witty note about how you read it in Iserotope Extras, and yes, maybe your friend should subscribe. Have a great week, and I’ll see you next Thursday at 9:10 am for Extras #80!

#78: School is for healing

Welcome to Extras #78! Thank you for voting last week to rename Extras. Here are the finalists: Bookmarks, Things That Matter, Remarkables, Highlighter, The Gist, and The Longform Shortlist. My favorite write-in candidate was We Are What We Read. I’ll be thinking about these names and let you know the winner soon!

Today’s Extras is about education, lying, and staying healthy. The first article is featured as a must-read (and please discuss!). Travel to Alaska to learn how an Iñupiat community reclaims its culture and traditions through revamping its curriculum. Then come a pair of articles about lying, followed by a pair of articles about staying healthy, where issues of race and class are prominent. Thank you for reading this edition — please enjoy!

Featured article of the week: “Our School”

This article by Lauren Markham is the best article on education that I have read in a very long time. (I’m recommending that my colleagues read it next August at their back-to-school professional learning.) Ms. Markham reports on the new curriculum in Alaska’s North Slope Borough School District, home of the Iñupiat people. It is a story of how a community can rebuild its schools in order to decolonize, resuscitate, and heal. If you are an educator, or if you care about education, there are many connections here. It will push you to think again about the big questions, like: What is education for? and Why do I teach? In fact, I encourage you to respond to a prompt on this article by clicking here or on the talk bubble below. (Ms. Markham was previously featured in Extras #63 for her excellent profile on the mayor of San Salvador.)

Posters on the wall in Shannon’s 9th grade English classroom, San Francisco.

The Woman Who Said Emmett Till Grabbed Her Was Lying

Carolyn Bryant testified that Emmett Till in 1955 grabbed her and verbally threatened her, in addition to whistling at her. It turns out that Carolyn was lying about the grabbing and the threatening, according to The Blood of Emmitt Till, by Timothy B. Tyson, which came out on Tuesday. This is reprehensible. It is possible that Ms. Bryant’s lie led to the murder of 14-year-old Emmett and to the acquittal of his murderers.

The Perils of Calling Trump a Liar

Even though President Donald Trump is lying to us all the time, I’ve been feeling uncomfortable that the press (most notably, the New York Times) is beginning to use the term “lie” more often. This piece perfectly explains my sentiments, with a history lesson about President Richard Nixon. Do you agree — that if we call everything a lie, then the word will lose its meaning — or do you think journalists should keep using the term?

Once again, here are beautiful books, every which way but loose, facing the peril of disorder, in public school bookshelves across America. #KCPforever

Why Succeeding Against the Odds Can Make You Sick

Last week, I introduced you to Dr. James Hamblin, who writes for The Atlantic. This week, he’s in the New York Times SundayReview, where he argues that grit and hard work may actually make you sick — and much more so if you are African American. The difference, of course, is racism and the trauma brought on by discrimination.

The Heroism of Incremental Care

Wow, Dr. Atul Gawande knows how to write. In this piece, in which he argues that we should put more resources into primary care physicians (i.e., incremental care), Dr. Gawande brings up his own decision to become a surgeon, his son’s chronic heart condition, and how humans shouldn’t be like bridges. (If you haven’t read his 2014 book, Being Mortal, please do.)

You made it! Here are three things you can do: (1) Please welcome new subscribers Sonya and Jennifer! (2) If you were moved by the first article, as I was, please consider writing a response. The Extras community (91 subscribers and counting!) is a thoughtful one, and we grow through conversation. (3) Feel free to forward this issue to a friend and coax them to subscribe. Have a great week, and I’ll see you back here next Thursday at 9:10 am!

#77: We Choose School Segregation

Thank you for opening Extras #77! It has been quite a week: the inauguration, the marches, the lies, the fear, the resistance. My first draft of this issue was titled “Alternative Facts.” Instead of publishing those pieces today, I’m going to sit on them for a week or two until better writing surfaces. It just didn’t feel right. It’s my way, I suppose.

That said, I’m excited about my four selections this week. The first piece is a Terry Gross interview of Nikole Hannah-Jones, who claims that white people could end school segregation but do not want to. The second piece offers a different way of thinking about how we should respond to homegrown American terrorists. After a photo break, I’ve included a video by Bill Moyers, who explores why we allowed Donald Trump to grow his repugnant birther lie. And last up is my first-ever article about art. You see, Extras is expanding its range! Please enjoy.

The Systemic Segregation Of Schools Is Maintained By ‘Individual Choices’

Nikole Hannah-Jones is my favorite journalist and my second-favorite famous person (after Bryan Stevenson). Here she is interviewed by Terry Gross on Fresh Air (~45 mins) about school segregation and her article, “Choosing a School for My Daughter in a Segregated City” (Extras #46). Ms. Hannah-Jones argues that segregation will continue in our country “as long as individual parents continue to make choices that only benefit their own children.” (There is more segregation in the North than in the South.) (Want more NHJ? Check out Extras #47, Extras #65, and Extras #4 — her gut-wrenching This American Life piece from July 2015.)

Inside Minnesota’s Risky Plan to Deradicalize Young ISIS Recruits

More than 100 Americans — mostly young men — have been charged with pledging allegiance to the Islamic State. The sentence is 10 to 15 years in prison. In Minneapolis, one judge is trying a different approach to the problem. He believes that these young men can and should be rehabilitated, deradicalized. Based on programs in Germany focusing on neo-Nazis, the controversial project puts counseling and mentorship at the center. Do you think this is a good idea?

Loyal subscriber Heidi and I got to meet Dr. James Hamblin, author of If Our Bodies Could Talk. Dr. Hamblin is a stand-up guy.

The One Thing We Should Always Remember About Donald Trump

I don’t get angry too often, even when I meet someone with opposing views. But when I encounter a birther, I get unhinged. This 23-minute video by Bill Moyers explores the birther lie promulgated by President Donald Trump. It includes various viewpoints about how we appeased Mr. Trump (believing he was a buffoon) instead of attacking him head-on.

The Reviled Museum Show That Forever Changed Art

If you appreciate art, you’ll love this detailed history of our current art movement, which began with the transformative and controversial 1993 Whitney Biennial. Gone was a focus on “white, Western, straight, and male,” and emerging was an emphasis on the inclusion of the marginalized through the exploration of identity and the self — “the art of the first person.” Thank you to loyal subscriber Heidi for submitting this excellent piece.

Thank you for reading Extras #77! Two things before you go: (1) Please welcome new subscribers Steven, Nancy, and Ag! (2) It’s time for you to vote on what should be the new name of Iserotope Extras. Do it today! You get to vote for up to 5 potential names. Here’s the secret ballot. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am. (Sorry for the delay this week!)

#76: The Dreams of Readers

Well hello there, and welcome to Issue #76! Please welcome new subscribers Karolina, Sarah, Eric, Alicia, Lynn, S, and Pwh. (Extras is blowing up!) This issue is about reading and resistance. Hope that’s OK with you! In this time of upheaval and uncertainty, where things don’t make sense, reading is making a comeback. The first three articles offer various perspectives on the role of reading — and may encourage you to read an additional article or book or two!

Then, after a journalism break, enjoy two excellent pieces about resistance. The first chronicles the life and imprisonment of Albert Woodfox, an original member of the Black Panther Party. The second introduces us to new activists in San Francisco.

This time that we’re in requires more reading, and more reflection, and more community, and more collaboration. Thank you, loyal subscribers, for making Extras part of your life!

The Dreams of Readers

Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows and “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” writes this ode to reading. Mr. Carr suggests that reading is not just for appreciation (like Michel de Montaigne argues), and it’s not just for transformation (like Ralph Waldo Emerson argues). When it comes to fiction in particular, reading is for dreaming — that we enact in our mind what we see on the page. That dreaming, Mr. Carr suggests, is what builds empathy as well as a new course for our own lives. (Also: Mr. Carr doesn’t like e-readers.)

Transcript: President Obama on What Books Mean to Him

Many of you have seen this interview of President Barack Obama on books — it was in the New York Times, plus it was shared around and around — but it’s still important to include it in Extras this week, the day before inauguration. If more of us read, our president suggests, we would be better. (Check out the comments, too, where readers criticize Mr. Obama for buying e-books on the Kindle instead of physical books.)

What book has been most meaningful to you?

Right now I’m reading Will Schwalbe’s latest book, Books for Living, and it’s pretty good. Mr. Schwalbe is entirely energetic and enthusiastic about books — as in, way more than I am! Here he is talking (for about 9 minutes) about the role of books in his life. Mr. Schwalbe is the author of “The Need to Read” (from Extras #70), which you need to read. He likes asking questions like “What are you reading?” and “What are books for?” And he likes Stuart Little, by E.B. White.

Hard-hitting journalism. From Mark Isero and Robbie Greene’s Chronicle, 1982.

How Albert Woodfox, Original Member of the Black Panther Party, Survived Solitary for More Than 40 Years

Albert Woodfox is an original Black Panther Party member who spent more than 40 years in solitary confinement before his recent release from prison. This brilliant article by Rachel Aviv details how Mr. Woodfox joined the BPP, how he got arrested, and how he spent his time in prison. It is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and a solid history of the Party. (If you live in the Bay Area, please check out “All Power to the People,” an excellent exhibition at the Oakland Museum of California, which runs through February.)

These San Francisco Students From Leadership High School Are Recruiting Teachers To Resist Trump

Too many schools prepare young people for their futures, rather than engaging them immediately in the important work that needs to be done. This article profiles the activist work of students at Leadership High School in San Francisco, where I taught for 12 years. It is heartwarming to know that the school, its staff, and its students are leading the charge and taking leadership for that which matters most (and receiving criticism from conservative media).

Thank you for reading Extras #76! Possible thing #1 to do right now: Reply to this email (it’s very easy!) and tell me which article you liked the best, and why. (Or, as an alternative, reply to this email telling me why you just want to read Extras and care not to reply.) Possible thing #2 to do right now: Help me rename Iserotope Extras to something fancier. Email me a few ideas! Possible thing #3 to do right now: Share this issue with a friend and say how much they should subscribe. Have a wonderful week, and see you next Thursday at 9:10 am!

#75: The Obama Speeches

Hi there, and welcome to Iserotope Extras #75! Please welcome new subscribers Melissa, Jonathan, Chris, James, and Trevor! This week, we begin with comparing the discourse of President Obama with President-elect Trump. Then we move to two pieces about freedom, imprisonment, and mercy. We end the issue with two role models who do good things in the world. In between, please enjoy photos of books and muffins. Happy reading!

The Obama Speeches

President Obama gave his farewell address on Tuesday, and in many ways, it followed the classic structure of a typical Obama speech. Read more about Obama’s speeches in George Blaustein’s detailed textual analysis. Not only does Mr. Blaustein look back at the best of Obama’s speeches, but he also considers Obama’s point of view, motifs, and rhetorical devices. If you’re an English teacher, social studies teacher, or lover of language, I highly recommend this article.

The Putin Paradigm

Donald Trump may or may not be like Adolf Hitler, but he is definitely like Vladimir Putin, according to Russian and American journalist Masha Gessen (who wrote this fantastic piece in Extras #67). You’ve probably read tons of articles on the similarities between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin, but this one is the most lucid (and most frightening). Really scary is Ms. Gessen’s explanation for why they both lie: It is to build power, to eradicate facts, “to assert power over truth itself.”

The Last Bookstore, Los Angeles.

Is There Room For Mercy?

More than 25 years ago, 12-year-old Edwin Debrow murdered a taxi driver. He remains behind bars. Should a child criminal be given a second chance, and if so, when? This is not an easy article to read, but I recommend it, because it’s not your typical of-course-he-should-be-freed story. (If you’re moved, let me know what you think!)

“I Don’t Think We’re Free in America” An Interview with Bryan Stevenson

We should keep listening to Bryan Stevenson (one of my favorite people), executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of Just Mercy (my review). In this interview, he says, “I don’t think we’re free in America. I think we’re all burdened by this history of racial injustice, which has created a narrative of racial difference, which has infected us, corrupted us, and allowed us to see the world through this lens. So it becomes necessary to talk about that history if we want to get free.”

Here are some delicious muffins I made all by myself.

Tim Gunn on How To Be Amazing

You don’t have to like Tim Gunn or Project Runway to love this episode of the How to Be Amazing podcast. Mr. Gunn is delightful, and host Michael Ian Black asks excellent probing questions. This interview deserves 65 minutes of your listening ears. Thank you to loyal subscriber Peter for his recommendation.

Sidewalk bookseller in South Africa believes in the power to change lives

Sandile Mavimbela sells books on the streets of Johannesburg, South Africa. When he was 9, Mr. Mavimbela became an orphan after his father died of AIDS and his mother left the family. Reading and selling books saved him from alcohol and the drug trade. “Buying a book is an act of hope,” Mr. Mavimbela says, and selling books helps him connect with people, engaging their curiosity and connecting them to knowledge.

I think 75 is a pretty good number, don’t you think? Whether you have been with Extras since Issue #1 (we’ve come a long way), or if you just subscribed this week, it doesn’t matter — I value and appreciate you all! Reply if you want to share your thoughts, or share this issue (or the archives) with someone you care about. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am!

#74: Nameplate Necklaces

Happy 2017, everyone! Start the new year off right by reading an excellent article about nameplate necklaces. Then consider the role of storytelling and listening in building empathy and the possibility of change. After a science break, two memoirs — one a book, one an article — take on the important subject of mortality and urge us to stay steadfast in our purpose this year. Please enjoy!

White girls: Stop wearing nameplate necklaces

This article is more than a call for white women to stop appropriating African American culture. It also explains the importance of nameplate necklaces as a rite of passage for African American and Latina women, how nameplates are “an unequivocal and proud proclamation of our individuality, as well as a salute to those who gave us our names.”

Can Gun Victims and Gun Advocates Change Each Other’s Minds?

Is there hope for change if we start listening to each other? The nonprofit Narrative 4 thinks so. In this article, 8 gun victims and 8 gun advocates pair up and tell their stories to one another. Then, the next day, each person tells their partner’s story to the group, using the first person. These “story exchanges” are the only way to build empathy, Narrative 4 argues, and therefore the only way to make lasting change. (Want another feel-good piece about empathy? Here’s one.)

Extras subscriber Phoebe patiently taught me why ocean water off the West coast is colder than ocean water off the East coast. The answer involves the sun and the rotating Earth. Thank you, Phoebe!

Book Recommendation: When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi

After a student in Oakland requested this book over Winter Break, I decided to read it again. It’s the memoir of a young Stanford neurosurgeon who learns that he has Stage IV lung cancer. Dr. Kalanithi writes honestly and beautifully about life and death: “I began to realize that coming face to face with my own mortality, in a sense, had changed both nothing and everything. Before my cancer was diagnosed, I knew that someday I would die, but I didn’t know when. After the diagnosis, I knew that someday I would die, but I didn’t know when. But now I knew it acutely.”

The Widowhood Effect: What it’s like to lose a loved one so young

Christina Frangou lost her husband Spencer to cancer when he was 36 years old. This is her account of his death, their relationship before the diagnosis, and her life as a widow. She writes about grieving, losing her friends, shunning Christmas decorations, and trying to date again. It is easy and convenient to assume we’re all going to live for a long time. For Ms. Frangou, her partner’s death was just 42 days after his cancer diagnosis.

Last week, I shared my favorite six articles of the year. Want to know your favorite articles of the year? Here they are, your Top 10! (It’s good to know that we agree on Q-Tips.) Have a great week, and see you next Thursday at 9:10 am! Until then, feel free to reply to this email or forward this newsletter to a friend.

#73: My Favorite Extras of the Year

The end of the year is a good time for gratitude and reflection. Thank you, loyal subscribers, for being part of the Iserotope Extras community, for reading the digest, and for sharing your thoughts. There are 85 of you; I appreciate each one of you!

Several of you have asked what the point is of this digest. That’s where the reflection comes in, particularly because 2016 was a traumatic year, and particularly since the election, we’ve scoured our hearts to figure out what we can do to make the world a little bit better. After weeks of thinking, I still don’t have a definite mission for Extras, except that I really like doing it, and I like that you enjoy reading it. There’s probably something deeper that’s going on, and perhaps we’ll figure it out together in 2017, but until then, I’ll just be curating and sharing articles that grab me.

For this last issue of 2016, I’ve decided to publish my favorite six articles of the year. They’re all wonderfully written, plus they have an extra edge — whether of import, or delight, or prescience. Here they are, in no particular order. If you’ve read some of them, I invite you to read them again. If there’s one that passed you by, here’s your chance. Please enjoy!

Death by gentrification in San Francisco: The killing of Alejandro Nieto

Two years ago, a man named Alejandro Nieto was killed by police in San Francisco. In this article, Rebecca Solnit (who introduced the term “mansplaining”) draws connections between Mr. Nieto’s death and gentrification. Though Ms. Solnit’s writing relies on anecdotal correlations, this article is a must-read. It brings up big questions, like, What is public space? and Who gets to live here? It also reminds us that if we call 911, we’d better have a good reason. Update: Yesterday I read that SF rents have mostly stagnated — except in Bayview.

All the Greedy Young Abigail Fishers and Me

Abigail Fisher lost her anti-affirmative action case last month at the Supreme Court. This essay is by a woman who regrets helping white high school students like Ms. Fisher on their personal essays so that they can get admitted into the University of Texas at the expense of similarly qualified students of color. I’m particularly frustrated that our conversation on affirmative action has not moved one bit for 20+ years. Conservatives, like Chief Justice John Roberts, continue to believe in a “color-blind Constitution” and incorrectly invoke the 14th Amendment as basis for their claim. I tend to agree with Justice Warren Burger when he wrote in 1971: “In order to get beyond racism, we must first take account of race. There is no other way.” Update: Author Jia Tolentino now writes for the New Yorker.

America is a Breeding Ground for Tyranny

Wow, from Andrew Sullivan — this article is about Plato, how tyranny follows democracy, Eric Hoffer’s ingredients for mass movements, and exactly how scary Donald Trump is. He writes, “Trump is not just a wacky politician of the far right, or a riveting television spectacle, or a Twitter phenom and bizarre working-class hero. He is not just another candidate to be parsed and analyzed by TV pundits in the same breath as all the others. In terms of our liberal democracy and constitutional order, Trump is an extinction-level event.” Update: It’s chilling that this article came out in May.

In Blue Apron’s Chaotic Warehouses, Making Dinner Easy Is Hard Work

For just $10 a meal, Blue Apron sends you all you need to make home cooking easy as pie. But behind all the tiny containers with two tablespoons of EVOO are the people who prep the food and pack the boxes. This Buzzfeed exposé uncovers the working conditions at the Richmond, CA plant — and management’s meager response, with racism thinly veiled. Update: An easy epiphany I’ve reached this year is that when something is convenient for me, it’s usually horrible for somebody else.

The strange life of Q-tips, the most bizarre thing we buy

This is exactly what I’ve been looking for: a Washington Post article about Q-tips. I’ve never used them (because I heed warnings), but many people I know do, and so for all of us, this article is a crucial read. Update: This was the most popular (by replies) article this year among Extras subscribers.

My Son, The Prince Of Fashion

Read this delightful piece by author Michael Chabon (Telegraph Avenue, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay), who takes his son, Abe, to Paris Fashion Week. Abe, 13, cares deeply about fashion, but unfortunately, his father is indifferent. Read all the way until the end of this article and you realize this is a double coming-of-age tale. Update: This was my favorite article of the year.

There you have it — 2016 is done! Thank you for reading Extras #73. Also, did anyone notice the new look? And that the articles in last week’s issue were out of order? (Sorry about that.) I wish you all the best in these last few days of 2016, and I’ll see you in your inbox next Thursday at 9:10 am!

Iserotope Extras #72: The Making of an American Terrorist

Happy Thursday, everyone! Please welcome new subscribers Howe and Kay. Lately, I’m doing a better job pairing articles. This week, the first two — about a white American terrorist, and then a peaceful Syrian refugee girl — are meant to be read together. Then there’s a break, after which there are two more related articles focusing on economics, the gap between rich and poor, and how San Francisco needs to do better. Please enjoy!

Wonder and Worry, as a Syrian Child Transforms

While white Americans worry about the specter of radical Islam, thousands of Syrian refugees are peacefully building productive lives in Canada. The New York Times has done an excellent job reporting on how Canadians are welcoming Syrian refugees with open arms. What happens, though, when all your 10-year-old daughter wants to do is attend overnight science camp, go trick-or-treating, and choose not to wear a head scarf?

Promote reading! Donate to the Kindle Classroom Project: iserotope.com/contribute

The Tent Cities of San Francisco

This article captures what’s wrong with San Francisco. We think we’re good people, but really, we’re not. “California liberalism,” author Daniel Duane argues, has focused on environmentalism, gay rights, and tolerance from afar, rather than “caring for the least among us.” Instead of working closely with and for homeless people, poor people, and people of color, most (white) San Franciscans stay safely away, while simultaneously passing judgment on those who aren’t progressive enough.

Why so many teachers need a second job to make ends meet

My former colleague Nínive Calegari, who founded The Teacher Salary Project, argues that teachers should be paid more, that they shouldn’t feel like they need to take second jobs in order to make ends meet, and that our society should have more respect for teachers. It’s nothing new, but it’s essential nonetheless. To see what’s changed, read some of the comments, where you’ll hear people say, If you want higher salaries, let’s get rid of your pension, just like other professions.

Thank you for reading Extras #72! It was heavy on the NYT and the WaPo this week, but that’s because they’re great publications doing great things. If you disagree with my choices, let me know! (I can take light criticism.) As always, if you like Extras, pester your friends and family, carry on incessantly about how great it is, and goad them to subscribe. In the meantime, enjoy your week, and I’ll see you next Thursday at 9:10 am.

The Making of an American Terrorist | New Republic

Robert Dear shot up a Planned Parenthood clinic and killed three people in Colorado Springs in November 2015. Dear is white, poor, middle-aged, Christian, and mentally ill. He lived in an RV in a rural part of Colorado. And he watched a lot of right-wing TV and read a lot of right-wing websites. There are a lot of Robert Dears in America. That’s what makes this article so scary. (This article was also featured in Iserotope.)

Iserotope Extras #71: My President Was Black

Sorry that Extras #71 is a day late. But it is here, and it is good! Let’s please welcome new subscribers Tony and S. Active! This week, the first two articles contrast President Obama’s departure with President-elect Trump’s arrival. Then, after the photo break, there are two excellent articles about identity, about being stuck. Please enjoy!

My President Was Black

Ta-Nehisi Coates writes this beautiful tribute to Barack Obama. Take your time with it, savor it, reflect on it. As usual, Mr. Coates understands American history, and as a result, helps us appreciate the magic of the past eight years. At the same time, Mr. Coates reminds us, “The idea that America would follow its first black president with Donald Trump accorded with its history.” I highly encourage you to read this article.

Donald Trump Is Gaslighting America

During the campaign, the popular words were “surrogate” and “traffic,” as in, Donald Trump had his surrogate go on CNN to dispute that he traffics in conspiracy theories. The new word is “gaslighting.” Lauren Duca writes this brilliant op-ed in Teen Vogue to challenge us to remain alert in this new and dark world.

Say hi to Lulu, aka Dorby, the wonderful dog of Extras subscriber L.

What happens when you transition genders and then decide you want to go back?

This is the story of Crash, who transitioned from living as a woman to living as a man, and then reconsidered the decision and chose to detransition. About 2.2% of people who transition experience transition regret. Author Rachel Monroe writes, “When detransition is mentioned at all, it’s often by someone arguing that people shouldn’t be allowed to transition, or even that trans people don’t really exist. And so when detransitioned people talk about how they regret their transitions, some worry that they’re giving ammunition to the enemy.”

The Last Unknown Man

In our surveillance state, where our birth and death — and everything in between — is recorded and cataloged, is it possible to remain anonymous? For Benjaman Kyle, the answer is yes. Perhaps as a result of mental illness, Mr. Kyle remembers almost nothing, and despite a nationwide search for his identity, he remained unknown for more than 20 years.

Great work — you have successfully read Extras #71! New subscriptions are picking up, no doubt because of your tireless outreach. Pretty soon this community will be huge and even more powerful. If you know someone who would enjoy Extras, please let them know! See you next Thursday at 9:10 am!

Iserotope Extras #70: Geek Love

Hi everyone, and welcome to Extras #70! Please welcome new subscribers Bonnie and B. Shark! The first two articles this week are meant to be read together; they both challenge us to find our people, to build our identities rather than conforming to others. Then comes a photographic interlude. After the break, there’s a Spotlight exposé on prisons’ woeful failure to address mental health issues, followed by an ode to reading. Please enjoy!

Geek Love

Kevin Patterson writes this beautiful profile of his twin brother Tom, who grew up as a nerd in Canada in the late-1970s, before “nerditry helped liberate the world.” There are references to Dungeons & Dragons, and Tom’s coming out, and how learning Fortran, programming on an Apple IIe, and researching nuclear fusion and entanglement theory protected Tom from “brutes we knew who bragged of f– bashing.”

Filter bubbles and echo chambers: You are your bubble. Stop worrying and learn to love it.

Since the election, there has been talk about how we’re caught in our own filter bubbles, exacerbated by Facebook, and as a result, we don’t seek out opposing viewpoints, and democracy is weakened. This piece suggests a totally different thesis: that calls for the common good are propaganda, that filter bubbles help us build our identities, and that we shouldn’t kowtow to others on a false goal of trying to get along.

This time my Honda Fit brought 458 Kindles home, the largest donation in the Kindle Classroom Project’s 5-year history. Thank you very much, Worldreader, for your generous gift!

Mental health and prisons, the new asylums

Prisons do not rehabilitate. This means that incarcerated people with addiction or mental health issues never heal. As a result, if they ever get out of prison, they most likely return. This article, by the Spotlight team at the Boston Globe, is nothing new, but it is disheartening nonetheless, particularly in how prisons tend not to serve those with the greatest needs. Maybe that’s because we don’t really care very much about the least fortunate.

The Need to Read

“Books remain one of the strongest bulwarks we have against tyranny—but only as long as people are free to read all different kinds of books, and only as long as they actually do so. The right to read whatever you want whenever you want is one of the fundamental rights that helps preserve all the other rights. It’s a right we need to guard with unwavering diligence. But it’s also a right we can guard with pleasure. Reading isn’t just a strike against narrowness, mind control and domination: It’s one of the world’s great joys.” (Note: If the article gets cut off, do a Google search for it, and you’ll be able to read the whole thing.)

You totally just completed another issue of Extras! Good work. If you are moved, share this issue with a friend or family member, and say to them, Look at what you’re missing! See you next Thursday at 9:10 am.