Journalist – Historian – Speaker
We all make our choices about where we draw our ethical lines, but we shouldn’t fool ourselves: Watching the NFL is an unethical activity. #SuperBowl52https://t.co/2JzR0QTBn3 — David M. Perry (@Lollardfish) February 2, 2018 The best thing about the superbowl, as someone who drives by downtown every day, is that traffic is very low. The worst …
Having a pill track whether you take it sounds helpful, unless you care about privacy, freedom, or disability rights. @PacificStandhttps://t.co/9pm2FtgP6D — David M. Perry (@Lollardfish) February 1, 2018 This is the latest frontier of the Internet of Things. It’s pretty bad. Please read and share.
When Turning Points USA launched its Professors Watchlist, I raised the alarm. A lot of folks did. But others mocked, saying that it was just some website and not worth fussing about. I wrote for The Establishment about it, saying that it was a sign of worse attacks to come. Those attacks have, indeed, come. Read …
Steve Bannon is coming to University of Chicago to perform “reasoned debate.” John Warner writes: Zingales says, “Hate cannot be defeated by hate, but only by reason.”Huh? Perhaps hate cannot defeat hate, but does this mean our only alternative is “reason?”I’m trying to think of a single instance in recorded history where hate was defeated …
Two pieces: – Murder in Australia, with the killer treated sympathetically because the victims were disabled children. – A Jewish disabled person writes about Aktion T4, when the Nazis killed disabled people before they got around to killing others. This struck me especially hard: A reading of Hoche and Binding’s “Permitting the Destruction of Unworthy …
Two good pieces criticizing The Shape of Water from disability perspectives. From Kim Sauder: Her character—like all of the characters in the film—is one-dimensional. She is a mishmash of disability stereotypes. She is a social outsider who is largely perceived to be “other”. She clearly longs for more inclusion but is unable to get it. She …
My latest for Pacific Standard: As a concept, IQ is terrible. The idea that we can reduce intelligence to a simple number, quantifiable in a test, exacerbates inequality in numerous racist, classist, sexist, and ableist ways. Not only do people have worth beyond their measurable cognitive ability, but IQ also routinely awards higher numbers to …
The things we criminalize reveal a lot about risk and value much more than actual dangers. Here’s a fascinating piece from The Baffler on “distracted walking.” The issue isn’t safety but enforcement of car culture. “Distracted pedestrian” laws aren’t really about the evidence, though. They are about maintaining the privileges of car culture as that culture …
Sexism Isn’t New Guest Post by Kelly J. Baker Editor’s Note: I am honored to host the cover reveal for Sexism Ed, coming out this April from Raven Books. Check here for pre-order status. I met Baker through Facebook when she was looking for older academic women to interview about sexism in the academy, and …
I interviewed Anita Cameron for Pacific Standard about the WORK that goes into ADAPT actions. ———– So you stage mock actions to practice? What are those like? It can be anything! It’s usually taking over something: An office, a bathroom, whatever, to simulate, as close as possible, what you do [in a real protest]—the adrenaline, the chaos, …