When I was a boy, I lived, as James Joyce famously said, “a short distance from my body.” I had a body, of course, I just didn’t live in it much. Mostly, I lived in my mind, and (through books) in the minds of other people. I lived in Middle Earth and Narnia. I lived …
Electrons orbit the nucleus. All you need is love. The no outlet sign on Town Farm Road. To say it simple is to lie. The road does go on if you have a disregard for convention and the right wheels. There are rocks, sure. But what way worth going lacks them. Mountain bikers in their …
Intro One Sunday, my nine-year-old daughter, Wren, was waiting for her friend to come over for an afternoon playdate. Now, when I say she was waiting for this friend, I don’t mean that she was, like, lounging around reading or jumping on the trampoline or sorting her Pokemon cards. No. In her typical hardcore style. …
Rationale People actually do think that humans are shit. Students in my class. It was the end of spring semester 2022, and my sophomore class had circled through all the major topics of high school biology … which meant it was time for my favorite part of the course, a whirlwind tour of the extravagant …
Episode #17: Humankind Does not Suck: A Defense of my Favorite Species Read More »
Introduction: A Capella Science Some years ago, a student emailed me a YouTube link. “Hey Mr. Lord, Have you seen this yet? It looks like the type of thing that you would like.” The video was a parody performance of Ed Sheeren’s song, “Shape of You,” except the title of the parody was “The Molecular …
The Apocalypse (Set up the Question) Uncertainty After years of thought and much study, I have come to a definitive and disappointing conclusion … I have no idea what’s going on. I must have missed something when I arrived here on Earth. Maybe I was just late. After all, by the time I got here …
Episode # 15: Risk Delight: A Guide to Finding Joy in the Apocalypse Read More »
Family Gatherings When I was a kid, I loved holiday gatherings. My mom and dad were each one of five siblings, and once you added in all the spouses and children and guests and roommates and visiting foreign exchange students and grandparents …well … both sides of my family could throw a pretty big fiesta. …
Episode #14: Talking Politics: “Can We Change the Subject?” Read More »
Introduction My grandmother grew up during the Great Depression in a rural town outside of Worcester, Massachusetts. Her family did the wash by hand. Milk was delivered to the doorstep every day. And the baker showed up at their house with a cart. While her mother would buy their bread, gram would swoon over the …
Episode #13: Bread: A Story of Alien Sex and Lost Civilizations Read More »
Thanksgiving: An “I Heart This Manifesto” Introduction In October of 2022, I decided to start a podcast about things that I loved. At the time, this seemed like a not-terrible idea. It turns out that I am the world’s foremost authority on things that I love, so I was actually somewhat qualified to speak on …
Episode #12: Thanksgiving–An I Heart This Manifesto Read More »
IHT Ep 011 Field Guides and Dichotomous Keys The Wall of Green When I was in high school, I was part of this program called Project Discover. The basic idea was to connect students with a mentor in a field that interested them. My most passionate interest at the time was the wild and natural …
Episode #11: Field Guides: Voices of the Ancestors Read More »
