Links for Later 10-29-15

1. Maggie Stiefvater reflects on creativity as a form of dream thievery.
2. The Turkish elections are shaping up to be quite a mess. Wishing the Turkish people all the best.
3. Ukrainian elections are shaping up to be just weird. People dressed up as Star Wars characters are winning some elections, getting arrested in others. 
4. The Republican Party's strategy "continues to assume that the government is too mean to rich people and too nice to poor people."
5. A social history of the Salem witches.
6. The soundtrack to Hamilton is on repeat at my house.
7. When Beyonce met Jonathan Groff, as told by Lin-Manuel Miranda: "Groff got embarrassed. But he said I could tell you. Next three tweets.
1.  Beyonce: Did you play the King? Groffsauce: Yes. Beyonce: I'm stealing your walk. I love your walk. Groffsauce: *inarticulate sounds*
2. Beyonce: When you turned away still facing the audience? *BEYONCE DEMONSTRATES FLAWLESSLY* Beyonce: You were your OWN turntable. Love it. 
3. And then, in Groffsauce's own words "Then the ground swallowed me up and I died happy." Thus endeth the meeting of Beyonce & Groffsauce.
4. There is no straight-male equivalent for the ecstasy of Beyonce telling you "I love your walk." ESPECIALLY for Groffsauce, walk enthusiast.
5. Bruce Lee: "Can you teach me that cool kick?" That's the closest I can approximate to what happened to Groffsauce.

Links for Later 10-20-15

1. Kevin Kelly and Mark Frauenfelder list the Top 50 factual podcasts. We are not on this list. Yet.
2. A very good, foul mouthed rant about the status of brain simulation.
3. The frenzy over the puzzle book Masquerade.
4.  Mr. Robot gets introduced to the UK.

Startup Geometry Podcast EP 013: Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson wants help you relax. He's an online hypnotherapist and designer of a wildly popular series of hypnotherapy apps and mp3s.

Today, we talk about how to use relaxation techniques, including hypnosis and guided meditation, to change habits and improve quality of life.

We also contrast the mental state of relaxation produced by hypnosis or guided meditation from that of simple mindfulness techniques and the memory palace technique I discussed with Anthony Metivier in the previous episode, which I'm using while I'm interviewing Anthony, as I mention during our conversation ("the beach in Greece"). Anthony is a "non-visualizer", while I'm at the other end of the spectrum.

Anthony also takes us through a simple "aliveness" meditation inspired by Eckhart Tolle, which you can use to help you focus, relax and feel more at home in your body.

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Show Notes and Links

Startup Geometry Podcast EP 012: Anthony Metivier

Anthony Metivier, proprietor of MagneticMemoryMethod.com, has taught fifty thousand people how to improve their memory using the memory palace technique. He is a one man content factory, producing books, podcasts, online videos and courses to teach foreign languages, meditation and relaxation, and memory improvement.



Today, we talk about how you can improve your memory, what makes for a good online course, and why friendship can be  monstrous.

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Show links and notes

Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal reached

Trade representatives reached a deal on the Trans Pacific Partnership this morning. Here's the live press conference:

Links for Later 9-4-15

1. If we regulated firearms like abortions.
2. Why the world is getting weirder.
3. Moog stopping production of the Voyager.
4. Shakespeare's father appears to have been a wealthy wool merchant & tax evader with dodgy connections. Shakespeare himself may have been the family's representative in London who did theatrical producing gigs on the side.
5. Anne Sexton, "The Truth the Dead Know".
6. Paul Romer's article "Endogenous Technological Change" introduced the concept of nonrival and excludable goods 25 years ago. Joshua Gans has a review of its impact. Paul Romer looks back.

The Mysteries of Planned Parenthood

I do not understand how or why a Planned Parenthood counselor would or could advise Sarah Jones to get an abortion when that counselor presumably knew that Sarah Jones was not pregnant.