PicoBlog

Happy midsummer, Caftan readers! I hope you are having a good one despite the bad things that continue to swirl around us in the U.S. and elsewhere. It is so important that Democrats win as many races as possible this November, and here is a recent New York magazine piece on the crucial races to not only watch—but, if you can, to donate to and/or even canvass for if you have the means and the time.

Nadine’s New York Law School website is located here. Nadine mentioned the Electronic Frontier Foundation and their material on what you need to know before you back the TikTok ban. You can find that here and it is a quick read. FIRE The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and their many many many crucial resources in defense of free speech are available here. SERIES The series on free speech that Nadine hosted is available here.

Much of my Irish heritage comes through in the foods I find comfort in. Perhaps most of all is the simple Irish oat. I have such affinity for it - so much so that I have a tattoo on my shoulder featuring a stem of Avena Sativa - Irish Wild Oats complete with hyper detailed spikelets. Some of you may know that the egg, to me, is the perfect food.…

Coming off of a brutal 5-0 thrashing in Houston, the Portland Timbers announced that they have parted ways with head coach Giovanni Savarese. “We are incredibly grateful for the commitment that Gio has given to the Portland Timbers over that last six seasons, and it has been an honor to have had the chance to work with him,” Ned Grabavoy said in a club statement Monday afternoon. “I believe the club is ready for a new direction and voice to help lead us forward.

Today we announced that Portrait Analytics raised a seed round of $7M led by Unusual Ventures, with participation from .406 Ventures and other investors (you can read more details about our seed round at this link).  I want to take a few moments to share a bit about our vision for our product and company, and in particular, the “why” that drives us. And as we start to broaden access to our platform in the coming months, I’ll use this Substack as a way of sharing more about our product and thoughts on how AI will transform the process of conducting world-class investment research.

In case you haven’t seen them yet, I want to call your attention to the latest attack on the scientific method: positionality statements, in which authors attach totally irrelevant personal information to their scientific manuscripts. Typical of the illogic of our schizophrenic age, this is occurring at the same time that the NSF has banned any personal information on official biosketches, for good reason: Individuals are reminded not to submit any personal information in the biographical sketch.

Share Welcome to my latest blog, which focuses on the important topic of perpetrators’ post-separation abuse. There is a particular way in which we get post-separation abuse wrong. The incorrect way of thinking typically goes like this: “This is an abusive relationship.” “The victim should leave.” “The victim has left so the abuse is now over and the victim can get on with their life.” The end. This is a dangerous way for us to think.

Is there such a thing as an ideal city? In the late 15th century, Pope Pius II set out to create one, hiring architect Bernardo Rossellino to design it. The city in question is Pienza, set in the beautiful backdrop of Tuscany’s bucolic Val d’Orcia. Today Pienza’s historic center is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List “as the first application of the Renaissance Humanist concept of urban design.” I’ve written a bit about Pienza for mainstream publications, but I think it deserves a more in depth look.

We hit a milestone this week! To Vegetables, With Love now has over 30,000 subscribers! Wow. That is a lot of vegetable love right there. Thank you so much for your continued support. Many of you have been on my newsletter list since the VERY beginning, and I can’t tell you how thrilling it is to be on this delicious journey with you. This vegetable community keeps growing - we are not the loudest bunch on the internet but we are steadfast and well-fed.