J. Brian Houston
@jbrianhouston.bsky.social
Higher ed, disasters, communication, public health. Recovering Okie.
Reposted by J. Brian Houston
"We live in a world where there is more and more information and less and less meaning."
-Jean Baudrillard
-Jean Baudrillard
November 11, 2025 at 12:49 PM
"We live in a world where there is more and more information and less and less meaning."
-Jean Baudrillard
-Jean Baudrillard
REM is forever my thanksgiving band, cuz this record came out around that time in 1988.
November 7, 2025 at 12:42 PM
REM is forever my thanksgiving band, cuz this record came out around that time in 1988.
“Vagueness has long been seen as a clear divide between democracies run by laws and autocracies run by strongmen” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/m...
In the Trump Presidency, the Rules Are Vague. That Might Be the Point.
www.nytimes.com
October 30, 2025 at 12:31 PM
“Vagueness has long been seen as a clear divide between democracies run by laws and autocracies run by strongmen” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/m...
Go to a show! It will make you feel better! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
October 24, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Go to a show! It will make you feel better! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
Motorolla’s emergency radio network provided spotty coverage and was overwhelmed following the Kerr County floods. (Also it was more expensive than another public utility option that offered better coverage.) www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/u...
A Costly Radio System Faltered When Texas Needed It Most
www.nytimes.com
October 23, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Motorolla’s emergency radio network provided spotty coverage and was overwhelmed following the Kerr County floods. (Also it was more expensive than another public utility option that offered better coverage.) www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/u...
Reposted by J. Brian Houston
Months before catastrophic floods swept through an Alaska Native village on Sunday, the Trump administration canceled a $20 million grant meant to protect the community from extreme flooding. At the time, the EPA administrator said he was eliminating "wasteful DEI and Environmental Justice grants."
E.P.A. Canceled $20 Million Flood Protection Grant to Alaska, Parts of Which Just Flooded
The remote village of Kipnuk planned to use the money to protect against flooding. On Sunday, it was inundated.
nyti.ms
October 15, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Months before catastrophic floods swept through an Alaska Native village on Sunday, the Trump administration canceled a $20 million grant meant to protect the community from extreme flooding. At the time, the EPA administrator said he was eliminating "wasteful DEI and Environmental Justice grants."
“if democracies learn to articulate a more ambivalent narrative — one that acknowledges loss, confronts vulnerability, redefines progress and pursues resilience — they may paradoxically renew themselves.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/05/o...
Opinion | The West Is Lost
www.nytimes.com
October 5, 2025 at 12:16 PM
“if democracies learn to articulate a more ambivalent narrative — one that acknowledges loss, confronts vulnerability, redefines progress and pursues resilience — they may paradoxically renew themselves.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/05/o...
Reposted by J. Brian Houston
Beautiful essay on consciousness, existence, and attention. bigthink.com/business/bra...
What brain surgery taught me about the fragile gift of consciousness
After the trauma of brain surgery, Big Think writer Eric Markowitz discovered a kind of consciousness that lives in presence.
bigthink.com
August 27, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Beautiful essay on consciousness, existence, and attention. bigthink.com/business/bra...
"Contrary to much popular opinion, college is not in the information transfer business; we are in the identity formation business." www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/o...
Opinion | Students Hate Them. Universities Need Them. The Only Real Solution to the A.I. Cheating Crisis.
www.nytimes.com
August 27, 2025 at 2:41 PM
"Contrary to much popular opinion, college is not in the information transfer business; we are in the identity formation business." www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/o...
Reposted by J. Brian Houston
For 60 years, TRIO has helped millions of people along the path to a degree, but the administration says it is no longer needed. n.pr/4mWcQgK
These programs help poor students with college. Trump wants to pull the funding
For 60 years, TRIO has helped millions of people along the path to a degree, but the administration says it is no longer needed.
n.pr
August 22, 2025 at 11:46 AM
For 60 years, TRIO has helped millions of people along the path to a degree, but the administration says it is no longer needed. n.pr/4mWcQgK
China is well on its way to becoming the world’s first electrostate. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
How China Went From Clean Energy Copycat to Global Innovator (Gift Article)
A surge in high quality research and patent applications has cemented China’s dominance in the industry.
www.nytimes.com
August 14, 2025 at 11:00 AM
China is well on its way to becoming the world’s first electrostate. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
‘Complete nightmare’: Student veterans, advisers say VA cuts are derailing their educations hechingerreport.org/complete-nig...
Student veterans, advisers say VA cuts are derailing their educations
Already slow, the process of getting GI Bill benefits has gotten even slower since cuts to government staffing, veterans and their advocates say. Some student veterans are dropping out.
hechingerreport.org
August 13, 2025 at 3:20 PM
‘Complete nightmare’: Student veterans, advisers say VA cuts are derailing their educations hechingerreport.org/complete-nig...
How short-term thinking is destroying America www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/o...
Opinion | How Short-Term Thinking Is Destroying America
www.nytimes.com
August 11, 2025 at 11:24 AM
How short-term thinking is destroying America www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/o...
This is an excellent article on the state of the US economy (and culture) kyla.substack.com/p/how-ai-hea...?
How AI, Healthcare, and Labubu Became the US Economy
The Three Americas and aspirational displacement
kyla.substack.com
August 11, 2025 at 2:33 AM
This is an excellent article on the state of the US economy (and culture) kyla.substack.com/p/how-ai-hea...?
As I get older I think about all the physicality we miss these days a lot. Not just ciagarettes but casettes, newspapers, videotapes, etc. Many things are gained in our digital world but certainly some sort of rooting in the moment and environment is lost. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/o...
Opinion | Cigarettes and Our Quest for Embodied Pleasures
www.nytimes.com
August 5, 2025 at 11:22 AM
As I get older I think about all the physicality we miss these days a lot. Not just ciagarettes but casettes, newspapers, videotapes, etc. Many things are gained in our digital world but certainly some sort of rooting in the moment and environment is lost. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/o...
College isn’t in the plans for many rural students despite stepped-up recruiting efforts apnews.com/article/rura...
College isn't in the plans for many rural students despite stepped-up recruiting efforts
America’s rural high school students are less likely to go to college than their urban and suburban peers.
apnews.com
August 4, 2025 at 2:12 PM
College isn’t in the plans for many rural students despite stepped-up recruiting efforts apnews.com/article/rura...
Reposted by J. Brian Houston
No one is ever truly ready for a disaster, but the stories here — told in the survivors’ own words — show that any preparation is better than none.
Extreme Weather Survivors Share the Tools That Helped Them Get Through Disaster
There’s no formula for recovering from a natural disaster, but some items help more than others. Nine disaster survivors share what got them through the storm.
nyti.ms
July 30, 2025 at 1:26 PM
No one is ever truly ready for a disaster, but the stories here — told in the survivors’ own words — show that any preparation is better than none.
The Secret to Reindustrializing America Is Not Tax Cuts and Tariffs. It’s Regulated Competition. washingtonmonthly.com/2025/06/01/t...
The Secret to Reindustrializing America Is Not Tax Cuts and Tariffs. It’s Regulated Competition. | Washington Monthly
From airlines to energy, America became a capitalist superpower in the 20th century based on careful market rules. It can do so again.
washingtonmonthly.com
July 28, 2025 at 4:41 PM
The Secret to Reindustrializing America Is Not Tax Cuts and Tariffs. It’s Regulated Competition. washingtonmonthly.com/2025/06/01/t...
Reposted by J. Brian Houston
NEW: Over the years, Texas legislators have declined to pass at least three bills that would create siren or alert systems, a tool that Kerr County officials tried to secure for years before the July 4 flooding.
By Lexi Churchill & @lomikriel.bsky.social, w/ @texastribune.org
By Lexi Churchill & @lomikriel.bsky.social, w/ @texastribune.org
Texas Lawmakers Largely Ignored Recommendations Aimed at Helping Rural Areas Like Kerr County Prepare for Flooding
Texas lawmakers’ inaction on flood prevention often hits rural and economically disadvantaged communities the hardest, experts said.
www.propublica.org
July 21, 2025 at 6:04 PM
NEW: Over the years, Texas legislators have declined to pass at least three bills that would create siren or alert systems, a tool that Kerr County officials tried to secure for years before the July 4 flooding.
By Lexi Churchill & @lomikriel.bsky.social, w/ @texastribune.org
By Lexi Churchill & @lomikriel.bsky.social, w/ @texastribune.org
“One reason the U.S. economy had such a good Cold War was that the American university had an ever better one” www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/o...
Opinion | Trump Is Winning the Race to the Bottom
www.nytimes.com
July 19, 2025 at 2:38 PM
“One reason the U.S. economy had such a good Cold War was that the American university had an ever better one” www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/o...
Reposted by J. Brian Houston
The National Weather Service sent urgent alerts about potentially life-threatening danger hours in advance of the flash floods, leaving time to try to evacuate those in harm’s way.
In Texas, some local officials did just that. But others did not.
Read @jenniferberryhawes.bsky.social's story:
In Texas, some local officials did just that. But others did not.
Read @jenniferberryhawes.bsky.social's story:
Some Texas Officials Didn’t Respond to Flood Alerts, Echoing the Tragedies of Hurricane Helene
Weather warnings predicted devastation from both the Texas floods and Hurricane Helene. But in both disasters, people were left in harm’s way.
www.propublica.org
July 17, 2025 at 11:31 PM
The National Weather Service sent urgent alerts about potentially life-threatening danger hours in advance of the flash floods, leaving time to try to evacuate those in harm’s way.
In Texas, some local officials did just that. But others did not.
Read @jenniferberryhawes.bsky.social's story:
In Texas, some local officials did just that. But others did not.
Read @jenniferberryhawes.bsky.social's story:
Reposted by J. Brian Houston
Over the last decade, an array of Texas state and local agencies missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system intended to avert a disaster like the one that killed dozens of young campers and scores of others in Kerr County on the Fourth of July.
A decade of missed opportunities: Texas couldn't find $1M for flood warning system near camps
Over the last decade, an array of local and state agencies have missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system intended to avert the type of disaster that swept away dozens of youth campers and others in Kerr County, Texas.
bit.ly
July 13, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Over the last decade, an array of Texas state and local agencies missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system intended to avert a disaster like the one that killed dozens of young campers and scores of others in Kerr County on the Fourth of July.
Reposted by J. Brian Houston
An Oklahoma City TV station says it's weather radar was damaged by an individual and that an anti-government militia took responsibility, claiming that radar is used to control the weather. (via @kosuradio.bsky.social)
News 9 radar damaged in apparent attack by anti-government militia group
Oklahoma City television station News 9 is reporting an anti-government militia group targeted its weather radar system.
n.pr
July 10, 2025 at 5:41 PM
An Oklahoma City TV station says it's weather radar was damaged by an individual and that an anti-government militia took responsibility, claiming that radar is used to control the weather. (via @kosuradio.bsky.social)
Reposted by J. Brian Houston
Powerful story from Kate Zernike from the NYT
Covers the diversity of young scientists targeted by the anti-DEI BS. Definitely worth a read and a share.
[Gift link]
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...
Covers the diversity of young scientists targeted by the anti-DEI BS. Definitely worth a read and a share.
[Gift link]
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...
The Surprising Scientists Hit by Trump’s D.E.I. Cuts
www.nytimes.com
July 10, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Powerful story from Kate Zernike from the NYT
Covers the diversity of young scientists targeted by the anti-DEI BS. Definitely worth a read and a share.
[Gift link]
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...
Covers the diversity of young scientists targeted by the anti-DEI BS. Definitely worth a read and a share.
[Gift link]
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...