Iserotope Extras - Issue #42

Another great issue this week for YOU, Loyal Iserotope Extras Subscribers! The first article is for all you parents out there — so you can become even better parents! The second two articles focus on how we have retreated from desegregation and the promise of Brown v. Board of Education. Last up is a more hopeful story about the unflagging spirit of top-rate journalism. Enjoy!

“We Will Literally Predict Their Life Outcomes”

Neuroscientist Vivienne Ming believes that the decisions parents make shape their children for better or worse. Good thing she has an app that supports parents to raise their children right! “The potential problem,” the author writes, “is that businesses — unlike government and nonprofit institutions — are built to put profits first, not social good.”

How Segregation Has Persisted in Little Rock

I’ve walked up the steps of Central High in Little Rock, where nine brave students, along with 1,000 army paratroopers, courageously desegregated their school in 1957. Too bad our country has reversed its course. Nearly 60 years later, the schools in Little Rock — like most across the country — have resegregated. Why? A local judge says, “Down deep, many whites don’t want their kids sitting next to blacks.”

My colleague Marni Spitz (center) with her student Arvaughn and Bryan Stevenson.

Class Notes: The Closure of a Queens High School

Jelani Cobb graduated from Jamaica High School in Queens in the 1980s at the height of the school’s successful desegregation efforts. Once a beacon of the neighborhood, now the school is closed. (Yes, the last article and this one seem linked. Side note: Both blame charter schools for resegregation.)

Why people pay to read The New York Times

Yes, I’m a proud subscriber of The New York Times, and yes, this article is sort of a (very well-written) commercial. But this piece also gives me hope that maybe journalism isn’t dead after all, and perhaps we should go back to a time where we asked people to pay for high-quality goods and services. (Extras is free.)

That’s it for this issue! OK, I have homework this week for you. Think of someone who might enjoy reading Extras. Press “f” to forward this email to them, and add a quick two-sentence witty message that convinces them to subscribe. Thank you! The winner gets a prize.

Iserotope Extras - Issue #41

Hi! It’s Mark from Iserotope Extras. Have you enjoyed your week? I hope so. The topics are serious this week: miscarriage, sexual abuse, the achievement gap, and book eradication. But all the articles are well-written and worthy of your time. Please check out at least one of the pieces and let me know what you think! (We still need a subscribers’ forum.)

What I Gained from Having a Miscarriage

The author writes, “When it comes to pregnancy loss, there is no script to follow. To help a woman navigate it, you don’t need to offer advice or perspective. It is enough to show up, however awkwardly, and be there. To listen.”

Sexual abuse at New England boarding schools

The Spotlight Team at the Boston Globe (not the Mark Ruffalo movie version) is back at it again with another well-researched, disturbing special report. This time, the team focuses on sexual abuse by educators at New English private boarding schools. The investigation includes 200 victims and more than 90 legal claims. It’s terrible.

Giants mascot Lou Seal pays my mom and me a visit at the game.

Money, Race and Success: How Your School District Compares

This one came out last week, and no doubt many of you have seen it, but it’s still a punch in the gut. Educators everywhere are not surprised by this data — that 6th graders in the richest school districts are four grade levels ahead of children in the poorest districts — but it still hurts. Nevertheless, rather than giving up and calling the problem hopeless and intractable, teachers wake up every day and stay close to students and the work.

Weeding the Worst Library Books

A little-known secret is that it’s typical practice for librarians everywhere to get rid of books. It happens all the time. Libraries can’t thrive with old, crusty books taking up space on the shelves. This article recounts the recent Berkeley brouhaha the led to the library director’s resignation, plus it includes excerpts from the blog Awful Library Books, which calls attention to old texts of questionable value.

And that’s it for this edition! Thank you again for opening Iserotope Extras, for reading the blurbs, and for reading one or more of the articles. If you have an article that you’d like to see here, please let me know! See you next Thursday!

Iserotope Extras - Issue #40

Too much good stuff in this 40th edition of Extras! In this issue: Andrew Sullivan explains how our country is close to tyranny, Merel Kindt cures our bad memories, Melissa Harris-Perry celebrates African American women, Geri Taylor lets us experience with her the first years of Alzheimer’s, Kevin Hall uncovers why it’s hard to lose weight, and Angelenos like writing notes on your car. Please enjoy!

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.”

The Cure For Fear

Bad memories — particularly traumatic ones — can be “neutralized” by re-experiencing them and then taking some propranolol, a drug used for heart disease. Prof. Merel Kindt believes that our brain “reconsolidates” memories every time they’re retrieved. This means if we think differently about what’s happened to us (and take a pill), we can cure our fears.

Pizza (here uncooked) is a very great thing.

Fraying at the Edges: Her Fight to Live With Alzheimer’s

Geri Taylor, a 72-year-old woman who has Alzheimer’s disease, says, “If you continue to think of who you were right up until the time you got Alzheimer’s, you will experience frustration, decline, failure, a lesser self.” Ms. Taylor courageously lets us into her world, how she copes day to day.

Black Girl Magic

Now editor-at-large for Elle magazine, Melissa Harris-Perry writes convincingly about how despite the challenges that African American women have faced over generations, “black girl magic” is always more powerful than oppression.

Lake Merced (as usual), all the time.

After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight

“The Biggest Loser” is a great show, until you find out that contestants gain all their weight back (and more). A study helps explain why so many people fail to keep off the weight they lose. (Our bodies fight back.)

The Parking Letters

People in Los Angeles like their cars. They also like writing notes on other people’s cars. Check out these “parking letters” — you’ll enjoy the humor, passive-aggressiveness, and outright snark.

How many articles did you click on? If you like, email me with your number. (Don’t feel bad if you’re just a blurb-reader. :) ) Thank you for reading Iserotope Extras, and I’ll see you next week!

Iserotope Extras - Issue #39

Hi there, and welcome to Issue #39 of Iserotope Extras. If you want inspiration, check out the first article; Ida Keeling will rid you of all your excuses. Then read two disturbing articles about the state of our current economy. (Enjoy the KenKen in between.) Finally, there are many types of anxiety, and library anxiety is one of them. Have a great week, and thank you for reading!

At 100, Still Running for Her Life

The other day, I was tired and didn’t want to go running. Poor Mark. Then I read this article about 100-year-old Ida Keeling, who has been running every day since she turned 67. (I made it around the lake. Thanks, Ida!)

Many Middle-Class Americans Are Living Paycheck to Paycheck

What would you do if you had to pay for a $400 emergency? According to a recent survey, 47 percent of Americans could not foot the bill. This is disturbing. Neal Gabler investigates why many middle-class people have financial problems (over-consumption, credit cards, financial illiteracy, wage stagnation, and more). Though I agree with this author’s argument, I don’t have empathy for him: a college-educated professional whose challenges seem self-imposed. Mr. Gabler comes across as entitled and annoying.

KenKen is the best. (The check mark means success.)

More cable and internet installers are independent contractors, and the hours and wages are brutal.

This article is going to make you hate Comcast (and other media providers) even more than you currently do. But it will also explain four-hour windows and why technicians never seem to come to your house.

Do You Suffer from Library Anxiety?

A couple years ago, I got in trouble with a few public librarians when I suggested that young people of color may not feel welcome in libraries. This piece suggests that many people find that entering a library provokes anxiety, even when librarians think they’re being welcoming.

Thank you very much for subscribing to Iserotope Extras. It’s something I really like doing, and it’s great that you open the digest every week to take a look at the articles. Feel free, as always, to share these articles and to get the word out about Extras. See you next week!

Iserotope Extras - Issue #38

I can’t help myself: There are 6 articles this week. (I promise they’re all good.) Read about having children (or not), speed reading (or not), how NPR is out of touch, how baseball is out of touch, how poor people keep the internet clean, and how poor people live longer lives in rich communities. Please enjoy!

The Answer Is Never

This 42-year-old woman doesn’t want to have children — and doesn’t have any regrets about her decision. She wonders why childless men don’t have to answer questions about their choices. To women who call her narcissistic, she writes, “You don’t know what’s right for me, and I don’t know what’s right for you.”

Sorry, You Can’t Speed Read

I tend to agree with this article — that claims of “speed reading” really mean “how to skim better.” But I do think that we can train ourselves (and students) to become more focused as we read, and to take in several words at a time, instead of subvocalizing.

My once-a-year day at the races netted $21.50 in profits! (I always win.)

The fight for the future of NPR: Can public radio survive the podcast revolution?

If you listen to NPR, you should read this article. NPR’s average listener is aging (54 years old), and younger listeners don’t like NPR’s bread-and-butter “Morning Edition,” which focuses on authoritative and short news briefs. In this middle of this piece, note how NPR editors and writers get defensive and self-righteous as they talk about covering Syria and Iraq.

The Unbearable Whiteness of Baseball

I like my Giants. (It’s an even year.) But this article — which argues that baseball is a conservative white sport — is compelling. Teams have become less racially diverse, and even though the number of Latino players has risen, baseball is not doing a good job to welcome them. There’s a code in baseball (don’t flip your bat, don’t express emotion) that might translate as, “act white.”

The new Kindle Oasis is $289. Despite the price, I'll be getting one!

The secret rules of the internet

Tech companies like Facebook and Google employ more than 100,000 people worldwide (many in the Philippines) to scrub the internet of violent, distasteful, and illegal content. In fact, it’s a miracle that most of what we see on the web isn’t horrific. This article explains that users — rather than tech companies, rather than the government — do the most to keep online communities safe.

Where living poor means dying young

Iserotope Extras subscriber Nick knows the kind of articles I like, and he submitted this one — thank you, Nick! From the article: “A poor person living in the San Francisco area can expect to live about three years longer than someone making the same income in Detroit. That difference is equivalent to how much national life expectancies would rise if we eliminated cancer.”

That’s it for this week. Hope you enjoyed some (if not all) of the articles. If you know someone who might like Iserotope Extras, invite them to subscribe! See you next Thursday!

Iserotope Extras - Issue #37

Hi there! Extras is back — hope that makes you happy! This issue, check out two articles about health, both of which focus on how our good intentions may be backfiring. Then, read about the worst way to promote reading, plus how it might be possible to change people’s deep-seated beliefs just by talking with them. Enjoy your week!

In San Jose, Poor Find Doors to Library Closed

The San Jose Public Library doesn’t let you borrow books if you owe more than $10 in overdue fines. This is not the best way to be welcoming and not the best way to promote reading, particularly among poor families of color. One Latina woman told her daughter, “Don’t take books out. It’s so expensive.”

The Sugar Conspiracy

Sugar — not fat, not cholesterol — is bad for us. It turns out, we should have known this 40 years ago. This article explains how nutrition scientists and the U.S. government focused on saturated fat rather than fructose, and how this error promoted obesity and health problems for millions of people.

It's Spring in Portland. (These are tulips, right?)

The Youngest Casualties in the War on Obesity

The best time to combat obesity and diabetes is early, and many schools now send report cards home with students’ Body Mass Index (BMI) scores. This article suggests that this move to promote health often leads to shame, body issues, and eating disorders.

How Do You Change Voters’ Minds? Have a Conversation

What if you could change someone’s mind about a controversial issue (e.g., gay marriage, abortion) with a simple 20-minute conversation? Going door to door, a Los Angeles-based activist group reduces prejudice by engaging people in their homes. Except there’s an extra layer: a researcher who likes to make things up.

Have a great week! If you like, email me back with your thoughts on this week’s issue, plus keep getting the word out!

Iserotope Extras - Issue #36

Hi there! What’s the best way to mentor young people, reduce violence, and build a community? The first two articles this week offer two different approaches — both of which are working. Then, after a beautiful vista, enjoy a brilliant profile on Aretha Franklin and a piece about the hotel industry that will leave you really upset. Thank you for reading Iserotope Extras!

Paying criminals not to kill

A few years ago, after suffering one of the highest murder rates in the country, Richmond began a controversial mentoring program for ex-criminals that included paying them up to $1,000 a month if they stayed out of trouble. Critics are vehement: Programs like this send the wrong message. Except it seems to be working: 84 out of 88 of the young men are still alive, with a lower recidivism rate, and my gut says this intervention is cheaper ($70,000 in stipends per year) than many alternatives.

Many gave up on Detroit and its youth — but not Coach Khali

There are a lot of good people out there doing a lot of good things. One is Coach Khali, who runs Downtown Youth Boxing in Detroit. This 8-minute video from Mic features Christal Berry, who you’ll love. “With me being a big girl,” she says, “I was always picked on. I always grew up as that tough girl, always ready to fight. But I know I had to lean out of that personality because it wasn’t taking me nowhere.” Her mom, impressed with her daughter’s boxing skills, has this to say: “Now I had to tell the girl, don’t get beside yourself. Your mama can still knock you down.” Love it.

This is Inspiration Point in Berkeley. My running club and I did a sunrise run last Sunday.

Soul Survivor

This is a extremely well-written profile of Aretha Franklin by David Remnick, the editor of the New Yorker. Mr. Remnick quotes Tavis Smiley: “Aretha gets offended when she thinks you think you’re getting over on her,” ‘Respect’ is not just a song to Aretha. It’s the mantra for her life.“ If you haven’t watched Ms. Franklin’s recent performance of “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” please do.

Spring break in Miami is the worst time to be a hotel maid.

We know that hotel housekeepers have a tough and thankless job. This article won’t make you feel any better. The hospitality industry is abysmal. How about offering low wages, providing terrible working conditions, and exploiting short-term H-2B visas? Not good.

Keep reading, Loyal Extras Subscribers! Here’s a fun fact: Iserotope Extras is opened more than 60 percent of the time. That’s more than double the average. It’s even better than theSkimm newsletter, one of the country’s most popular, which boasts a 40 percent open rate. So there!

Iserotope Extras - Issue #35

Hello, and welcome to Issue #35 of Iserotope Extras! Articles this week are about race, gentrification, books, teaching English, and smoothies. Even if you don’t live in San Francisco, please read the first article. It’s disturbing, but it’s deep. The rest of the articles are solid, too. Hope you enjoy them!

Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Francisco

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.

Moneyball for Book Publishers: A Detailed Look at How We Read

It’s common knowledge that if you read on a Kindle, Amazon knows exactly what you’re doing: which books you’re reading, how much, and how quickly. Now a consulting firm in London is taking similar data and helping publishers market new books. (It turns out that most of us buy books, but few of us finish them.) In addition to raising privacy concerns, this trend may mean that books get shorter. (See what author James Patterson is doing.)

I like physical books, but in most schools, they end up tossed randomly inside cabinets next to tall, handmade ceramic bowls. (This is why I like Kindles.)

We Don’t Mean to Ruin Smoothies, But…

Do you like smoothies? Are you a juicer? Ever since I was 12, I have railed against fruit-as-liquid in all forms. (I like orange juice, though.) Better to eat the fruit than drink it, right? This Mother Jones article offers more evidence why my claim is true. It’s all about the sugar, apparently, and too much fruit sugar too quickly is like eating cookies. (I like cookies.)

Why Podcasts Like 'Serial' Are Helping English Teachers Encourage Literacy

Podcasts are way popular right now, and I’m a big fan. (I subscribe to about 30.) This article, by high school English teacher Michael Godsey, points out that having students listen to a podcast while reading its transcript (aka “same-language subtitling”) increases immersive reading and enhances comprehension. I gotta say, this is intriguing, and I’ll be encouraging my colleagues to try podcasts out with their students.

Thank you for reading this week’s issue, and thank you for being a subscriber. If you have thoughts about any of the articles this week, please reply to this email and let me know!

Iserotope Extras - Issue #34

Hi there, subscribers! This week’s edition begins with pieces about two hopeful programs in San Francisco and Oakland. I’m extremely impressed with the Five Keys Charter School and the African American Male Achievement program. They’re inspirational and are doing important work. Then, after the break, it’s back to reality, with an article about how an Idaho school is using professional development time for marksmanship. Extras finishes up this week with a disturbing essay that explains how our country’s current pro-Trump sentiment is related to a half-century Republican strategy to encourage white voters to cling to notions of white supremacy. On that note, enjoy!

The San Francisco Jail That Started a School

This is a great story about Five Keys Charter School, which began in San Francisco in 2003 as the first school inside a jail. By prioritizing rehabilitation over retribution, the school has awarded hundreds of diplomas, and graduates of its program have recidivism rates drastically lower than their counterparts. Its current principal, however, admonishes our public school system: “It’s criminal that in certain communities, like Bayview or Visitacion Valley in San Francisco, or Boyle Heights or Compton in L.A., there’s such a disproportionate number of non-high school graduates. That’s the population filling up our jails.”

Changing The Game For Young Black Males In America

Every year, almost as many black males are killed in Oakland, California, as graduate high school ready for college. That’s why this new 8-minute documentary about the African American Male Achievement program is a must-view. This is why people should teach; this is why people should support public education; this is why you should consider learning more about the AAMA. Plus, this short film exudes hope for and love of Oakland.

Evicted, by Matthew Desmond, is my early vote for 2016 Book of the Year.

How A Remote Idaho School Defends Itself

In Garden Valley, Idaho, guns are a way of life, and help is 45 minutes away. That’s why guns are stored in safes, and teachers get three or four days of training each year on how to shoot. Laree Jones, a teacher aide, says, “I can see how other communities wouldn’t be as receptive. But remember there’s pickups all over the place with rifles on the gun rack. That’s just our normal.”

How Donald Trump happened: Racism against Barack Obama.

This well-written piece by Jamelle Bouie suggests that Donald Trump’s popularity stems from a decades-long approach, beginning with the Southern Strategy, to incite white racial frustration in exchange for votes. Mr. Bouie argues convincingly that “the Obama era didn’t herald a post-racial America as much as it did a racialized one, where millions of whites were hyperaware of and newly anxious about their racial status.”

(Did you notice—no articles from the NYT or the New Yorker. I’m branching out.) Thanks for reading, loyal subscribers! You know you have friends and family out there that may enjoy checking out Iserotope Extras. Forward this issue to them and encourage them to subscribe! Have a wonderful week.

Iserotope Extras - Issue #33

Welcome to Issue #33! Race, crosswords, plagiarism, AIDS, and ugly fruit—it’s all here in this week’s Iserotope Extras. Plus there’s a brilliant quotation from James Baldwin that I’d never seen, so that’s a bonus. Please read as many articles as you like, and let me know what you think!

The Matter of Black Lives

Everyone should know about the history of Black Lives Matter—as well as its goals, organization, strategy, and next steps. This New Yorker piece, as usual, takes its time to introduce us to the major players of the movement. Unless you’re already an expert on BLM, you’ll learn a lot.

A Plagiarism Scandal Is Unfolding In The Crossword World

I like trying to do crosswords, though I mostly fail at completing them, and I’m fascinated by plagiarists, especially when they deny, deny, deny. This piece brings crosswords and plagiarists together, and so therefore I am happy.

James Baldwin, who died in 1987, is still sharing with us the truth.

The forgotten survivors of AIDS

This special report by health reporter Erin Allday is probably the best thing I’ve read in the San Francisco Chronicle for the last, well, forever. Ms. Allday tells the story of eight men who survived the AIDS epidemic and who find themselves forgotten as their city has moved on. Great writing, charts and graphs, photographs—this article has it all.

How ‘Ugly’ Fruits and Vegetables Can Help Solve World Hunger

Every year some 2.9 trillion pounds of food—about a third of all that the world produces—never get consumed, mostly because it’s not attractive enough. And 46 percent of fruit never gets from “farm to fork.” (That’s enough to feed two billion people.)

That’s it for this week! Remember to spring forward this weekend, and feel free to share Iserotope Extras with your friends (and invite them to subscribe)! j.mp/iserotopeextras