Leah Libresco's Blog, page 36
January 23, 2015
7QT: Terrifying Fish, Lightning-Quick Archers (and some cussin’)
Two housekeeping notes: you can still vote for me in the “Smartest Blog” category in the Sheenazing Awards, and my weekly radio show will be streaming tomorrow at 5pm and again on Sunday at 1pm, — 1 — Folks, this archery video (found via Deadspin) has made my day. Based on nerdy examination of historical [Read More...]
January 22, 2015
When Discerning, Fewer Relationships are “Failed” Ones
Ilana Yurkiewicz explained, as a doctor, how she has to make an active effort to avoid learning callousness from the occasional deceptions of her patients. Meanwhile, in the Federalist, Teresa Mull is tackling a similar problem in modern dating. She’s worried about the danger of being emotionally overextended, and would like to see folks engage in [Read More...]
January 20, 2015
Holy Fools Against the Mini-Maxers
My friend Ilana Yurkiewicz is an excellent doctoring blogger, and I particularly appreciated one of her recent essays, “What’s so healthy about skepticism?” Her post about being deceived by a patient and deciding what lessons to learn from the encounter is excellent. I’ll blockquote a small bit here, but you should pop over and read the whole thing: [Read More...]
January 19, 2015
Using Abortion Debates to Explain Bayesian Statistics
I’m never one to pass up a chance to leverage people’s interest in a hot-button social issue to talk about probability theory. I’m over at Ethika Politika today, talking about how base-rate neglect can skew people’s understanding of the significance of screening test (specifically, those for fetal abnormalities) A New Danger to Expecting Mothers: Statistical [Read More...]
January 18, 2015
I’m coming to the Bay Area and the Bayou, invite me to speak!
I’ll be travelling for work in the next few months, so, if you were hoping I would come to speak in your neighborhood without having to cover my travel costs, this is your lucky day… provided you live in New Orleans or the Bay Area. I have conventions for work that will put me in: San [Read More...]
January 17, 2015
MLK and Making Invisible Violence Visible [Radio Readings]
You’ll be able to catch my weekly radio program, “Fights in Good Faith” streaming today at 5pm ET and tomorrow (Sun) at 1pm. And the archived audio is already up on the show page! Every week, I put up a “Radio Readings” post, so you can track down the books, articles, songs, (and, this week, [Read More...]
January 15, 2015
7QT: Math Puns, Set Tricks, and Artificial Worlds
Just a reminder, my new radio show (“Fights in Good Faith”) began last week (and the first episode is now up for streaming). Tune in live this week at 5p Saturday or 1p on Sunday. I’ll be talking about my visit to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. — 1 — It’s hard to [Read More...]
What it Means for me to be a *Catholic* Writer
Yesterday, I wrote in praise of Dominicans, and today I have an interview to share with you that I did with a Jesuit. Sean Salai, S.J. sent me eleven questions about my conversion and my current spiritual life, and you can read my answers in America. Here’s a preview: How does Catholicism influence your approach to [Read More...]
January 14, 2015
Settling Into Our Sociable Third Places
I’ve been reading (and loving!) sociologist’s Ray Oldenburg’s The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community, and, today, I’m over at Ethika Politika talking about how to rebuild some of the “Third Places” that Oldenburg praises–places outside of work or home where we come to [Read More...]
January 13, 2015
How Small a Promise Can a Vocation Be?
I’m looking forward to hearing Eve Tushnet speak about her book, Gay and Catholic: Accepting My Sexuality, Finding Community, Living My Faith, tonight at the Catholic Information Center in DC. And that means it seems like a good time to blog about her book one more time. In November, I hosted a book club for [Read More...]
