JoAnna Haugen

Things you didn't know you needed in your life: A global #labrynth locator.

labyrinthlocator.org

From "woke" to "traumatic": How useful terms become empty buzzwords Useful words lose meaning when they’re applied too broadly — a drift that political theorist Giovanni Sartori called “conceptual stretching.”

"Philosophers have long worried about what can happen when concepts develop leaky boundaries. After all, how we use words shapes how we think — when our language loses clarity, so too do the ideas we try to convey." From @bigthink.com on useful language losing its power. bigthink.com/thinking/fro...

Researching a social enterprise in Kibera and am shocked to discover it is listed as an attraction on TripAdvisor. The 1-star reviews are (rightly) very vocal and critical to its listing as an attraction, and yet it's very jarring to see this community noted as if it's something to do. Shame on TA.

The Healing Power Of Social Friction | NOEMA Could the key to bridging societal divides be found inside your local karaoke bar?

Fab article @noemamag.com abt the importance of social friction: "When we can pick and choose whom we engage with ... we lose the ability to wade through the muddy waters of forgiveness and repair, accountability and justice." www.noemamag.com/the-healing-...

Secret Maps at the British Library reconsiders the lines that shape our world Maps have always both granted power and threatened it, depending on who controls the data, the scale and the narrative.

Wish I was going to be in London while this Secret #Maps exhibit is going on at the @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This exhibit highlights state secrecy and the nuances of social movements via maps. More about the exhibit in this article from @theconversation.com theconversation.com/secret-maps-...

#BookWriting question: I'm working on a NF book that includes examples/case studies of specific companies. It incorporates info found publicly on their websites and/or my specific experiences interacting with the companies. Do I need to inform the companies of their inclusion in the book? #AmWriting

Currently listening to Malcolm Gladwell's "Talking to Strangers" (25% of the way through). I am 100% that person who believes people are inherently good and am trusting to a fault. I appreciate the need to step back and consider situations/people w/out emotion but that so goes against my nature. 😭

Your daily reminder: This project, whatever one you're working on, is WORTH using the nice pen and the good journal. Light the fancy candle and drink the good bottle of wine when you finish.

We faithfully use @thsofficial.bsky.social & have had great experiences finding sitters. But, filling our most recent sit, almost half a dozen withdrew bc they took other sits before we could connect. Three we offered turned down for other sits as well. It's a level of stress I didn't know existed.

Wikipedia visionary Jimmy Wales wants innovators to have fun. Seriously The Wikipedia visionary joins Big Think for a chat about the future of media, the promise of AI, and our need to build a culture on trust.

I admire people who hold steadfastly to optimism. Lift your spirit with this interview with @wikipedia.org's Jimmy Wales: "I think that in order to make progress, in order to innovate, you have to operate with a fundamental “benevolent universe” premise. @bigthink.com
bigthink.com/business/wik...

Low-key deciding to use the energy of #NaNoWriMo to get a messy first draft down of a non-fiction book I've been outlining and making draft notes for. I completed #NaNoWriMo many years ago and immediately shelved that book December 1. This time, I want to run with the energy and stay with the flow.

I have a hereditary condition that requires an annual test that has to be pre-approved by insurance every year. Annually, I upload genetic tests, past scans, etc. for the same insurance company. Annoying but doable, but for some this wld be triggering/traumatizing to justify the every single year.

As a kitten, when he was looking upwards, he'd get so focused on what he was looking at that he'd just tip over backwards.

I wish everyone could get the googly love eyes my just-out-of-kittenhood cat gives me. The world would be a much squishier place.

USE-IT Europe | Free maps, made by locals USE-IT provides maps made by young locals, not commercial, free and up-to-date. We are a European network of young map-makers sharing the best of tips to help you act like a local in our cities.

Just discovered this great initiative called USE-IT, which is a series of European maps created and curated by and for people age 18-30. The team has published more than 250 maps in 100+ cities, all personally vetted and aligned with several sustainable #tourism values.
use-it.travel

Europe’s Rewilding Travel Marketplace Experience a wilder Europe, with returning wildlife, revitalised ecosystems, and local communities thriving from nature’s recovery.

I've just discovered @rewilding-europe.bsky.social's new #tourism booking platform, Wilder Places. Find #accommodations and #experiences aligned with partners committed to #rewilding efforts across #Europe. It's the OTA we actually need and want! www.wilderplaces.com

It's troubling that searching for a company by its name on Google now often turns up articles, booking sites, Reddit threads, and sites curating related content before noting the company itself. It takes more time and effort to get to the root source now and it's not always obvious what the page is.

Today I discovered a Spotify playlist called Crying on the Dance Floor and it has me feeling all kinds of ways. Friday is made for the feelings.

One of my biggest pet peeves is #conferences or #events marketing exclusively in English but (likely) delivering content in another language. The language of delivery (or translation) should be clearly clarified. People expect to be able to access content if they can consume the promo material.

Thank you for this. It's something my sister and I have been trying to communicate w/ our parents. I believe strongly that it's a huge financial, mental, and physical burden to have to deal with physical stuff while trying to go through the emotional burden of the grieving process.

Opinion | Don’t Tell Me to Despair About the Climate: Hope Is a Right We Must Protect There is no point at which we can no longer strive to make the future better than it otherwise would be.

In doing research on the balance of hope and fear, I reread this article published in now-sunset @yesmagazine.org.web.brid.gy by Morgan Florsheim and I'm reminded why we must hold both truths. "Existence can cohabitate with collapse. It is not one or the other."
www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2021...

It’s time to update the language of human-wildlife interactions (commentary) Language shapes the way we view our world. In the field of wildlife conservation, even very subtle word choices drive peoples’ perceptions around individual species or situations. These word choices c...

Excellent article from @mongabay.com about the importance of considering language and narrative choices as it relates to wildlife and human-wildlife interactions. The words we choose are emotionally (and, increasingly, politically) charged.

news.mongabay.com/2025/08/its-...

Couchfish: Less Bad Travel A new way to think about your travel

As ever, @travelfish.bsky.social is intelligent and measured on the topic of responsible and more sustainable travel, and what it means in practice. An excellent read: travelfish.org/couchfish/news/less-bad-travel

I am not a book crier, but I was listening to the audiobook version of The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah while doing the dishes and sobbing into the suds.

This makes my heart happy. The world is filled with good, just, compassionate, and rational people. Sometimes it's easy to forget that.

I'm currently reading Vox by Christina Dalcher, which was published in 2018. I'm just short of 50% of the way through but it absolutely has my skin crawling. How many dystopian novels condemning women need to be written before we realize how close they are to becoming the truth?

This actually makes me feel really hopeful, because I don't like jumping from one thing to the next. There's always a new, shiny, "next big" thing around the corner, and it's good to know that podcasting is still going strong. Perhaps it's just me going through a phase. 🙃

Is it just me, or is anyone else burning out with #podcasts? I've started a couple new episodes over the last few weeks, but I'm just not that into them anymore. Maybe it was a lockdown fad that had its heyday. Where are you on podcast interest?

Yep. As I said, I think this is ridiculous, I'd never do or endorse it, but if there are people for whom this is so important it could potentially ruin a place/experience for more mindful travelers, maybe it's worth it. I think the better question is how (if?) we maximize these spaces for awareness?

I read this this morning and as ridiculous as it sounds, I *think* I'm here for it. If people insist on traveling for their selfies, sacrifice a small corner so people can do this nonsense. It reminds me of US parks where a tiny bit is open to tourists but the rest is protected and can't be visited.