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Adventures in Claire's Brain

Welcome to Another Thrilling Edition of

[Insert Pigs in Space Voice here]

~Adventures in Claire's Brain~

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Today's episode, Claire in enjoying a podcast she had subscribed to a while back but only started checking out this weekend. As in, each episode is about an hour and I first started listening Friday afternoon. It is now Sunday evening and I have consumed 26 episodes.

I am enjoying this podcast and have already recommended it to 3 out of my 12 total friends. But, I am absolutely wracking my brain to remember how I found it in the first place.

[Podcast in Question: The Uncover Up Conspiracy Cast — it's really good! Check it out! 🍎 🟢 ▶️ ❤️]

It's towards the end of my list, which I have not organized because it's mostly aspirational "maybe I'll check out someday" queue, so I know I subscribed to it *after* I subscribed to Ghosted by Roz Hernandez. I remember generally when I subscribed to Ghosted, it wasn't *that* long ago. Like within the last year. I remember when I subscribed to the stuff after it in the list—about three months ago. HOW DID THIS ONE GET IN THE LIST?

It's not the kind of podcast I would have dug up searching, mostly because I had years ago given up on ever finding one like this (an academic perspective on conspiracies and cults, etc). And my primary podcast-recommending friend says it wasn't her. HOW THEN?

So, in a commendable display of Personal Growth™, I do not go full completionist and actually just listen to the first 3 episode and then jump around to titles that I find particularly appealing. This is only the second time I have ever been able to do this and the first doesn't count because it was 1) getting back into a podcast I had already completionisted but then let go fallow and also I ended up re-completionisting it again by accident.

This is HUGE for me. My FOMO takes a very non-standard shape. It has zero concept of opportunity cost. I MUST UNDERSTAND ALL THE SUBTLE REFERENCES AND INSIDE JOKES. DO YOU HEAR ME? ALL OF THEM.

I inevitably become that weirdo who is more familiar with a podcast's back catalog than the actual hosts. So, forcing myself to jump to the third most recent episode after the first three is GROWTH, I tell you. SUBSTANTIVE GROWTH.

This podcast has been out 8 years. There are 157 episodes. I listen to 1–3, 155, then go back through downloading episodes with particularly intriguing titles (the fact that I happen to queue these up in chronological order does not need to be observed).

Here I am, 24 episodes of jumping around and I hit one with a guest who whets my interest. Oh! And they're on social, I should follow them. Bioethicists on social are a precious resource to be treasured. 

Oh, she looks familiar. Click her linked tree. MYSTERY SOLVED.

About six months ago I came upon this tiktok creator and opened every single link in her linktree (like the good little completionist I am) and *subscribed* to a podcast that did an interview with her, completely forgot ALL OF THAT, and just *happened* to randomly select that episode in my investigation of said podcast.

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I am trying *desperately* to finish my current rabbit holes (Pellagra | Women in 1880s Journalism) before getting lured into any fresh rabbit holes. And @jstor is *not helping.* I go to check if a particular journal is included and I get this tempting morsel dangled in front of me:

Then I decide to search by the author's name and I am presented with:

How am I supposed to resist such enticements, I ask you!

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Book Recommendation for the Tumblrati

I just finished listening to a book that I believe would be well received by the Tumblr community:

God's Monsters: Vengeful Spirits, Deadly Angels, Hybrid Creatures, and Divine Hitmen of the Bible, by Esther J. Hamori.

Reasons Tumblr would appreciate this book:

Monsters

Plentiful references to Tumblr-approved pop-culture touchstones, particularly Supernatural and many horror movies

Snark

Here is a sample:

“Television angels show more of a range. Here, we’ve mostly moved beyond the pure as snow and sweet as saccharine Roma Downey on Touched by an Angel. A recent pinnacle of angelic portrayal is Supernatural, which includes Castiel, complex and flawed but noble at his core. But, also countless angels whose sadistic violence is far closer to biblical portrayals than Downey’s role ever was”

Here’s the review I left on Goodreads:

Come for the bestiary, stay for the incisive examination of the nature of God. Hamori manages to be accessible, playful, informative, and profound at once. The Bart Ehrman quote on the cover sums God’s Monsters up perfectly: “For those of us who believe in brutal honesty and in fighting horror with humor, this book is a godsend.”

I have since come across an extended version of the Bart Ehrman quote:

“God’s Monsters is a hilarious treatment of a horrifying topic. With deep intelligence, literary flair, and wicked wit, Esther Hamori pulls no punches in exposing the terrors of the Bible and the multitudinous divine creatures that inhabit it—including the Almighty himself. For those of us who believe in brutal honesty and in fighting horror with humor, this book is a godsend.”

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Addendum* that acclaimed Stanford neuroscientist Ben Barres, MD, PhD, wrote a moving piece about this phenomenon in the July 2006 issue of Nature, titled "Does Gender Matter?"

After his death in 2017, Nature had made the piece open access, but it appears to have gone back behind a paywall.

There's an old PDF here. And if you have any half-way decent library, you should have access to legacy Nature articles, look for:

Barres, B. Does gender matter?. Nature 442, 133–136 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/442133a

I highly recommend it to anyone interested in STEM education or science policy.

At the time, Barres' article garnered coverage in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post.

*because I am realizing it is 20 years old, and thus probably not as well known to the Internet as it had been

things that happened to me when i was a woman in STEM:

an advisor humiliated me in front of an entire lab group because of a call I made in his place when he wouldn't reply to my e-mails for months

he later delegated part of my master's thesis work to a 19-year old male undergrad without my approval

a male scientist at a NASA conference looked me up and down and asked when i was graduating and if i was open to a job at his company. right before inquiring what my ethnicity was because i "looked exotic"

a random male member of the public began talking over me and my female advisor, an oceanographer with a pHD and decades of experience, saying he knew more about oceanography than us

things that have happened to me since becoming a man in STEM:

being asked consistently for advice on projects despite being completely new to a position

male colleagues approaching me to drop candid information regarding our partners / higher ups that I was not privy to before

lenience toward my work in a way I haven't experienced before. incredible understanding when I need to take time off to care for my family.

conference rooms go silent when I start talking. no side chatter. I get a baseline level of attention and focus from people that's very unfamiliar and genuinely difficult for me to wrap my head around.

like. yes some PI's will still be assholes regardless of the gender of their subordinates but, I've lived this transition. misogyny in STEM is killing women's careers, and trans men can and do experience male privilege.

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The preservation of transgender history is essential to ensuring that the stories and experiences of trans people are not forgotten. The Digital Transgender Archive (DTA) has taken on the vital task of gathering and protecting this history, bringing together documents, images, and materials that reflect the rich and diverse experiences of transgender people across time and place.

By making these resources accessible, the DTA facilitates explorations of the often-hidden or erased narratives of trans communities. From personal stories to institutional records, these materials provide a window into the challenges and triumphs faced by trans individuals, while also celebrating the resilience and diversity of these communities.

Preserving this history is also about ensuring that future generations can learn, understand, and be inspired by the stories of those who came before them.

Explore more about how these efforts are safeguarding trans history, and why it matters, on JSTOR Daily.

Image: A man in drag and a man in male clothes looking into each other’s eyes, via Digital Transgender Archive.

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Of the many excellent phlebotomists I've had, the one who stands out the most told me his kid calls him "Dad the Impaler"

My doctor referred me to a weird ass dermatologist dude, their intake forms were so shoddily designed it ended up being like 70 pages long bc they were like "LIST ALL MEDICAL CONDITIONS" but instead of having multiple forms they had multiple pages that were like "LEAVE BLANK IF NONE"

Also I couldn't find the damn place so I called them and was like "Hi I can't find the clinic, I went to the address and I only see like, an opera training... thing?" And they were like "Yeah we're inside the opera school" like what the hell

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ok im going to #seriouspost for a second here. I don't think Harry Potter is a manifesto. I think it was a flawed passion project that millennials latched onto because of the fantasy of sticking it to their mean teachers and arbitrarily categorizing themselves (hogwarts houses; it's the thinking millennial's astrology). I think the fact that the series got popular when and how it did was very much a product of its time.

I don't think Harry Potter is the biggest symbol of JKR's bigotry. I think the most flagrant sign of that was how she responded to critics. I watched her become radicalized in real time. I watched how she doubled down on her racism when she was called out for the ways she promoted her tragically mid fantastic beasts movies. I watched her chase marginalized teenagers with a double digit follower count off of twitter for daring to criticize her thought process, and no one with any kind of power standing against her because she was the one who was paying them. This isn't to say Harry Potter is without flaws. This is to say she really didn't give a shit about that. Getting rich and powerful is a hell of a drug, and she had enough sycophants that she had no reason to care about what her critics were saying.

She was convinced that she was a martyr; a voice for the unheard; a leader for the ages, so of course her detractors were the bad guys. And I think we should take this to heart. We should see this as an example of how easy it is to get radicalized; if you think of yourself as a paragon of virtue, you are going to think that whatever you see as good and right is an objective fact. Most people don't know this, but the majority of terfs start out as trans allies. You are not immune to propaganda! You are not immune to falling into dangerous ideologies!!!

This is why the most important thing you can do as an activist is to listen. Do NOT think you're above being wrong; do NOT develop a god complex; do NOT form an identity out of being right all the time. Involve yourselves in the groups you claim to speak for. Listen to trans women; share resources that help trans women; familiarize yourself with the diversity of experiences that trans people have and the struggles they face.

No, none of you are as bad as JKR because you don't have her money or her power. You will likely never have the capacity for harm she does. But check yourselves. Do not affirm yourselves into thinking you always have the moral high ground. Watch yourselves; humble yourselves; check yourselves for signs of cult behavior and internalized prejudice. You are always learning. You will always be learning. Do not allow yourselves to get a power trip from brushing off marginalized voices.

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For visual folks, I find this guide by @birdandmoon very helpful:

Can be found on Tumblr and off Tumblr

Baby bird season is incoming and I’d like to remind everyone that birds do not have a significant sense of smell. Bird parents will not reject birdlets because you have handled them.

If you see smol birbs with few or no feathers on the ground, you can safely put them back into their nest, bird parents will still care for them.

If you see smol birbs with some or most feathers on the ground, please leave them there, as bird parents are probably nearby watching and feeding.

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Our beloved mushrooms are so much more than just forest decorations, motifs in Gothic literature, or images we associate with Hozier's debut album.

Fungi act as "carbon conduits" and enable over 90% of plants to sustain themselves. In "The Fungi in the Carbon Jigsaw" from JSTOR Daily, ecologist and photographer Timo Mendez reveals how fungi helped early plants colonize land, and how their hidden carbon-trading systems today might be the key to fighting climate change.

And he took these beautiful photos to boot! Read the article and view some more photos on JSTOR Daily.

Photos: Amanita muscaria, russula, and ectomycorrhizal fungi. All taken by Timo Mendez.

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It's very important to me to know that @tkingfisher sees this image.

The willow woman.

Photo taken by The Henge Shop, Avebury.

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Meal prep variation:

Slow cooker meal prep chicken:

However many chicken breasts fit in one layer in your slow cooker

Half a cup of water for every pound of chicken

A big gloop of bouillon/soup base

Optional: a tablespoon of soy sauce*

2 to 2.5 hours on high

Remove chicken, let rest 5 minutes

Dice or pull chicken and portion it into meal-sized units (I do 12oz since I'm usually cooking for 2 people). Freeze.

When you need a meal:

1. Unit of chicken

2. Frozen veg of choice

3. Jar of sauce of choice

4. Carb of choice

Boom. Food.

My go-tos lately have been green beans/ pesto/pasta and korma/peas/rice.

* not sure this actually does anything beyond make me feel like I have agency but I tell myself it adds umami

Do any of u have decent recipes that are like 5 ingredients (not including spices) and take 45 mins or less to prepare i gotta stop eating sandwiches for dinner

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The fact that this only has 46 notes is proof that the world is unaware of how awesome JSTOR is. As general search engines lean harder into enshittification, searchable databases of reliable, peer reviewed information becomes all the more precious. Check out JSTOR for all your humanities and social science needs! (And you might have access through your local library, I do!)

I just wanted to stop by and say THANK YOU JSTOR!!!!! The advanced search function is single-handedly saving my end of semester project. Whoever decided to set up one of the best advanced search functions for academic works deserves a raise and a care package of whatever treats they prefer forever.

Thank YOU! We hope you find all the perfect sources for all your projects ahead.

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Well fucks? Get to it!

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This is by @birdandmoon who is also on Tumblr

It was. A little sobering to read that you had never seen a cardinal in person before, ngl. Those things are everywhere where I live, and I see them all the damn time. I barely pay attention to them.

It was a good reminder to appreciate the wildlife I consider to be super common. Because cardinals are very striking birds for sure. I hope you get to see more of your wish list birds!

Someone made a comic about this with cardinals even!

(Sauce)

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Could you maybe reblog this post if you think respecting trans peoples' names and identities is a basic right and not a political opinion?

No pressure. Just seeking some validation of my sentiment. Due to some. people

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Also, also, also!

You probably qualify for *more than one* library card! A lot of municipalities have reciprocity agreements with neighboring systems. I'm up to seven myself and it makes using Libby ~awesome~

Not to mention one has free access to LinkedIn Learning, another has access to @jstor and another online access to ALL the O'Reilly books (you know, the tech tomes with an different animal on each one, ALL OF THEM), another has Acorn TV (hello British Procedural Heaven!)

For real!

1) check the "get a card" page on your library's website and see what districts they list as eligible and then go to all those places and see if your district is listed

2) check big cities in your state (or province, etc) eg everyone in California can access the Los Angeles Public Library and everyone in New York state can access the NYCPL

3) look for pages on their websites named something like "Research" or "Education & Research" and check out all the glorious digital resources you can access without even leaving home

For real, I *go* to my library maybe twice a year. I *use* multiple libraries every single day.

YOOOOOO I JUST GOT MY FIRST LIBRARY CARD SINCE LIKE 2007 IT WAS SO EASY???

Like they literally just needed any photo ID with an address, I thought they needed like unopened mail and paperwork and crap, it took 5 goddamn minutes, I did it on my way home from work

And was NOBODY gonna tell me libraries have websites now with ebooks and audiobooks and documentaries and British TV and shit???

Why the FUCK have I been paying Netflix

GO GET A LIBRARY CARD

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I just put four bottles of rock solid honey into a water bath in my slow cooker and they're all pourable again!

Part of me is aware of how tiny a success this is and that the Internet is likely filled with life hacks recommending just this that I have yet to encounter, the rest of me has been dealing with either shrivelled microwave fails or splashy counter messes that get cold and end up re-solidifying and just trying to scrap the honey out with a long spoon for ~years~.

In 2025 regaining access to low viscosity honey is a grand triumph over the odds.

🎉🍯🐝🐻🎉