Do Aliens exist? Fast car.
Are there aliens? Music: Fast Car bridge divides. Film: Raging Grace screening
Are there aliens?
Music: Fast Car bridge divides
Film: Raging Grace screening
Events: Educating Otherwise: Unconference April 27th; essay prizes
Links: WFH paper remote helping women in work force
You got a fast car
And I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere
Any place is better
Starting from zero, got nothin' to lose
Maybe we'll make something
Me, myself, I got nothin' to prove
And you got a fast car
And I got a plan to get us out of here
Been workin' at the convenience store
Managed to save just a little bit of money
Won't have to drive too far
Just across the border and into the city
And you and I can both get jobs
Finally see what it means to be living…
Tracy Chapman sang with Luke Coombs at the Grammy awards recently (Fast Car, 1988). The YT comments were fascinating. Comments noted the political backgrounds of the people typically drawn to Chapman and Coombs (Coombs has apologized for past use of a confederate flag early in his career). Other commentators have noted the staying power of the song and how it has uplifted them.
I reflected on how works of creativity, works of science transmit
How divides such as race and politics are crossed
The role of fame, reputation and songs as gateway drugs
Scientists can be excited by reading each others papers. They meet and exchange knowledge. Some of this is transmitted on occasion from an older scientist to a younger scientist. There is excitement and innovation in the collaboration. Knowledge and creativity can be transmitted in this way.
Same for arts. Music is listened to. Inspires us, inspires musicians. Luke Coombs recalls being inspired by Fast Car from an early age. Across divides, this work of humanities connects and inspires.
"When I was 5 years old, my dad and I would be in his truck, and he would always play music for me. He had a Tracy Chapman cassette tape, and 'Fast Car' is one of the first songs I remember, I’ve always been a huge fan of it and think of my dad and our time together when I hear it. That song meant a lot to me since then—for my whole life.”
The idea resonates with many. Look at the audiences both Chapman and Coombs play to (or historically for Chapman who no longer tours)
In the song itself the importance of the car motif (especially in America) is highlighted. This symbol of individual freedom. I think this sense of the car as freedom is a cultural symbol for why Americans would not completely transition to public transport even if the infrastructure was there to enable it (hence why a transition to EV cars will likely be the dominant transport transition in the US).
Incidentally, Olivia Rodriguez also sang at the Grammy’s. Her (heart break) song, Drivers Licence echoes the symbol of cars, her opening lyrics are:
I got my driver's license last week
Just like we always talked about
'Cause you were so excited for me
To finally drive up to your house
As an aside…. (And in a strong showing for women (I’m told) Billie Eilish sang What was I made For (cf Barbie); Joni Mitchell sang Both Sides Now (now she is 80 and it resonates differently from when she sang it in 1968; her song has made it into my funeral list in my play on occasion). Jay-Z also had a critical commentary on his perception that the Recording Academy has snubbed black artists and music).
I believe Coombs has rowed back from being associated with politics (and especially controversial flags). Taylor Swift was apolitical in her early years. I found it interesting seeing clips of Taylor Swift “grooving” to Fast Car - these clips were published before the song made it on to the official Grammy channel showing the reputational power of Swift. Taylor Swift herself is a gateway for other music to her fans.
And back to Fast Car…
…And I, I, I had a feeling that I belonged
I, I, I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
You got a fast car
Is it fast enough, so you can fly away?
You still gotta make a decision
Leave tonight, or live and die this way
Do Aliens exist? My chat with Garrett Graff.
Garrett Graff, a writer and historian who specializes in 'near history', discusses his book, 'UFO', about the US government's search for alien life. He touches upon how we often misunderstand UFO sightings, suggesting they could be due to a mix of physical anomalies and governmental or adversary secret flight technologies. Graff also shares his belief in the possibility of alien civilizations, arguing probabilities suggest the existence of life outside Earth. He then relates UFO conspiracies to a societal mistrust in government and institutions, tying it back to events like the Watergate scandal. Graff finally introduces his forthcoming oral history book on D-Day, emphasizing how his work emphasizes explaining and organizing complex events in an understandable and comprehensive way.
"When people ask 'do UFOs exist?'...That's not actually the question that they mean. The question that they really mean is, 'are we alone?' Because the truth of the matter is of course UFOs exist. All a UFO is an unidentified flying object, and there are things out there that we don't know what they are. Whether those are extraterrestrial is a very different question and potentially unrelated to the question of, are there extraterrestrials."
We covered these topics
The Probability of Alien Life
The Government's Role in UFO Research
The Impact of Conspiracy Theories
The Connection Between UFOs and Politics
The Importance of Trust in Government
And I learned a lot at a serious attempt to examine these ideas.
My friend Chi is organising a watch party for award winning Raging Grace.
Join us for a very special Lunar New Year “watch party” online screening of the SXSW award-winning feature and The Standard’s Film of the Month: Raging Grace by writer-director Paris Zarcilla which was heralded as “a modern thriller to rival Hitchock” by The Sunday Times.
This will be no ordinary screening - there will be a live introduction with the director and a post screening Q&A too. We also have a live chat during the film so audiences can interact with each other and the filmmakers who made the film.
Joy is an undocumented Filipina cleaner moving from house to house in London with her impetuous daughter Grace in tow, working cash in hand to get a more stable home for them both. Stuck in a roundabout of precarious employment, deportation fears and constant put-downs by her employers, Joy cannot afford to stand still. A dreamy gig looking after a mansion and its bed-bound owner turns out to be too-good-to-be-true when Joy starts suspecting the owner is being slowly poisoned...
I was on a Civic Future panel recently on UK education policy. The video is here and below. I loosely represented home education ideas. The main one being that home educators don’t want more regulation. My panelists argued that UK school policy has been doing OK, they prefer a more knowledge based curriculum (cf Scotland) vs “skills” - skills develop from knowledge. No comments on GCSEs or school building infrastructure. Some skepticism on current AI and education. Generally positive on direct instruction.
I also made the point about the importance of choice and agency in self-directed learning. Also the work of Peter Gray and some arguments that lower agency impacts child mental health.
Link:
(H/T Nick Bloom) Important paper showing the gains to mothers and society from WFH. A 10% increase in WFH is shown to increase mothers employment by 1%. This is particularly true in professions which are more family unfriendly, like finance and marketing. LI link here.
Other events:
In early march I will be in Boston. Let me know if we should meet. On 25 Feb, I’m going to the nuclear disarmament play, Family Business.