Gray Matthews

Okay, just gotta say: I love blue cornflowers.

Correction: The quote is from the author of the review, Kevin Okoth. Thanks to Siddhartha Mitter for sharing Okoth’s review with us. My apologies for my mistake in posting so quickly from delight!

Thanks for the correction! I enjoyed it perhaps too quickly! Thanks for relaying the piece to us.

My favorite essay of Achille Mbembe’s is this one from 2020:
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....
in which he argues the universal right to breathe:

“is an originary right to living on Earth, a right that belongs to the universal community of earthly inhabitants, human and other” (p. S62).

Achille Mbembe "delivers a devastating analysis of the contemporary moment while never losing sight of the possibility for a better future.” —S. Mitter

This is a good, substantial review of Mbembe’s work.

“Not news--there are tides of hatred and violence against other groups that ebb and flow, but violence against women is global and enduring, a constant rather than an event."
—Rebecca Solnit

ImperialAI: the empire strikes back An essential conversation with journalist and author, Karen Hao, about OpenAI and its ambition to dominate and conquer all before it

I interviewed the brilliant @karenhao.bsky.social this week who called out the UK government’s AI deals as misguided & dangerous.

I’m just one woman not a newspaper or think tank but thank you to everyone who’s supporting this work🙏

open.substack.com/pub/broligar...

Must-reads and Why Everything Feels Harder Right Now…

with some heartening advice from @mskellymhayes.bsky.social and @sarahkendzior.bsky.social .

This comes at just the right time for me.

How about you?

I simply want to say that I support the advice here: “focus on what you care about” and encourage others around you to do the same.

Care about goodness. Be kind to what grows. Don't forsake compassion, nor your memories & experiences of gentle intelligence. Regenerate quietly, deeply.

A Christian Nation Endless revelation

i thought this from @jackhanson.bsky.social was terrific substack.com/home/post/p-...

This should be disturbing to all.

Obama on the starvation in Gaza…

We need to preserve public media for public mental health and communal sanity. Please donate--if only to protest against the closing of the public mind, heart and spirit.

The techno-fascist billionaires also believe their technologies will let them live forever.

Silicon Valley’s vision for AI? It’s religion, repackaged. It’s no accident — the intertwining of religion and technology is centuries old.

This is a big reason behind the AI push. AI has morphed into a pseudo-religion for tech billionaires.

Definitely worth following regularly. Here’s a link to this particular “tracker” site: “When the Guardrails Erode."
www.justsecurity.org/117692/when-...

Excellent 20 minute summary of the construction of diversions.

"She's a tree that's fallen; she's a tree that trees have grown out of; she's now part of the past, but also she fed and nourished and loved and guided a possible future, a hopeful and demanding future, demanding in that we would have to change ourselves and our society to make it."
—Solnit on Macy

This was beautiful to read. I so appreciate, too, the photos of trees, the life around them, and then the Rilke poem and return to his own wonderment at the end of this essay as a way of seeing Joanna Macy, circling, wondering.

Obituary for Joanna Macy, penned by her family. She was a voice of wisdom in an age of madness. Fortunately, she wrote many good things down on paper to share mindful practices with us, and for us to share with others. I am grateful for the goodness of her influence.

☀️ This Wednesday join Bill McKibben, Third Act staff, and Sun Day partners as they discuss why we must dramatically accelerate and scale-up solar energy and how Sun Day will help achieve this goal.

Sign up at thirdact.org/events/sun-d...

Martin Luther King's daughter Bernice had this to say about donald releasing her father's files today...

Happy to promote this book that I preordered without shame. Looking forward to its arrival in August, to Sun Day in September, and to any and all signs of a livable future along with any and all odds for re-inhabiting the living world instead of trying to dominate it.

Remember to mark your calendar for Sun Day:

September 21, 2025

What to Know About the Deadly Violence Near Gaza Aid Sites

"Palestinians trying to secure food were shot and killed in the Gaza Strip in two separate episodes over the weekend when Israeli forces opened fire on crowds"
www.nytimes.com/article/isra...

A faux newspaper front page with a space shuttle launching into a blue sky. A burnt paper overlay reads “THE VOYAGER DECLARATION HAS LAUNCHED!” Below, bold text says “NASA JOINS THE RESISTANCE,” and a subhead reads: “NASA scientists join a growing rebellion against Trump’s science cuts.” At the bottom are the words: DISSENT, BRAVERY, RESISTANCE.

🚨BREAKING NEWS! 🚨

🚀 the Voyager Declaration has LAUNCHED.

NASA employees join a growing rebellion against Trump’s anti-science, anti-American agenda.

🧵(1/4)

Joanna Macy has passed away. 💔
What an incredible person!
Time to celebrate and carry on her wisdom.

"The heart that breaks open can contain the whole universe.”

Joanna Macy

Photo of Joanna Macy, an older woman with gray hair and a gentle smile. She is wearing a blue shirt and a dark green jacket and standing in a field of green.

Joanna Macy is an ancestor now. What a gift it has been for us to have her on the planet these past 96 years. May we carry her legacy onward, ever loving the Earth and all her creatures.

#buddhism #deepecology #workthatreconnects

“If the world is to be healed through human efforts, I am convinced it will be by ordinary people, people whose love for this life is even greater than their fear.”

RIP, Joanna R. Macy (May 2, 1929 – July 19, 2025)

This post rattles like crazy.