Prophets and Bottles that Breed Confusion [Pope Francis Bookclub]

Last updated on: June 16, 2014 at 2:32 pm By Leah Libresco

In 2014, I’m reading and blogging through Pope Francis/Cardinal Bergoglio’s Open Mind, Faithful Heart: Reflections on Following Jesus. Every Monday, I’ll be writing about the next meditation in the book, so you’re welcome to peruse them all and/or read along. In this chapter of Open Mind, Faithful Heart, Pope Francis explains the Book of Revelation of following a kind of dream logic. We cannot enter into these *figures* just by interpreting them allegorically or by representing them conceptually. They are visions, the kind of... Read more

The Merry Merchant and the Sad Antonio

Last updated on: June 15, 2014 at 12:53 pm By Leah Libresco

Last night, I had the pleasure of seeing the closing night performance of The Merchant of Venice, staged by The Shakespeare Forum. It was a delightful production, and the cast did a great job making all the jokes (and there are many) land effectively, without undercutting the heartbreaking trial scene (I cried). The humor of the background characters set apart the two antagonists, Shylock and Antonio, who are some of the only characters who never laughed joyfully. What struck me most... Read more

In the Game of Markets, You Win or You Lie

Last updated on: June 14, 2014 at 3:07 pm By Leah Libresco

This past week, I’ve been doing another guest stint at the Center for Applied Rationality as a teacher and the Prediction Markets Mistress. When I design and run prediction markers, I try to be pretty careful to avoid perverse incentives (that’s why the marker on whether a randomly chosen participant had ever broken a bone specified that I would only count bones broken before the beginning of the workshop). But it turns out one Game of Thrones-related market I created sparked a... Read more

Misguided Maps, Unbalanced Games, and Deadly Dresses

Last updated on: June 13, 2014 at 1:31 am By Leah Libresco

— 1 — When my mother read yesterday’s post on peer mediation and restorative justice, she was surprised I had left out a story from my own childhood. In fourth grade, I was a peer mediator, and, one day, after school, our doorbell rang, and my mom found a classmate who had looked up where I lived and walked over to ask if I would mediate an out-of-school fight. According to my mom, I walked outside and started going through... Read more

The School Where Bullies Ask for Help

Last updated on: June 12, 2014 at 4:59 pm By Leah Libresco

The American Prospect has a beautiful feature on a high school that started trying out restorative justice, instead of defaulting to suspensions. Here’s the basic approach: The cornerstone of KCAPA’s program is the “restorative circle.” Drawing inspiration from the American Indian practice of the talking circle, in which a totem is passed around to signal the opportunity to speak, these meetings are convened for all kinds of reasons, from gauging students’ moods to addressing acts of serious misbehavior like assault... Read more

When a Dog is a Distraction

Last updated on: June 11, 2014 at 12:40 pm By Leah Libresco

I’ve been in the midst of trying to choose the next topic for my DC debating circle. So far, although everyone seems very excited about debating crowning a king in America (prompted by the Spanish king’s abdication), we are apparently all mostly excited to tell each other about what a bad idea it would be, so I’m still looking for a high-interest topic we’re actually divided on. But, in the meantime, our last resolution (R: Every Dollar spent on Dog Food is... Read more

The Loneliness of Lying

Last updated on: June 10, 2014 at 1:59 pm By Leah Libresco

The Toast is in the middle of an ongoing, very funny series of reimagining the Harry Potter books as written by Ayn Rand. I chortled my way through their take on Sorcerer’s Stone (I think this was my favorite line): “Malfoy bought the whole team brand-new Nimbus Cleansweeps!” Ron said, like a poor person. “That’s not fair!” “Everything that is possible is fair,” Harry reminded him gently. “If he is able to purchase better equipment, that is his right as an... Read more

Questioning Christ Fruitfully [Pope Francis Bookclub]

Last updated on: June 9, 2014 at 2:41 pm By Leah Libresco

In 2014, I’m reading and blogging through Pope Francis/Cardinal Bergoglio’s Open Mind, Faithful Heart: Reflections on Following Jesus. Every Monday, I’ll be writing about the next meditation in the book, so you’re welcome to peruse them all and/or read along. The title of this week’s chapter is “Faith Beyond Space and Time,” and it’s mainly about bewilderment. Because God is transcendent, we usually go slightly wrong in our discussions and questions, but we can be confused in an appropriate or inappropriate way. In... Read more

Hibernia Ho!

Last updated on: June 8, 2014 at 4:55 pm By Leah Libresco

Around the end of June, my mother and I will be travelling to Ireland, and I’d quite appreciate the help of the commentariat in planning the trip. Here’s where I could use your input: Recommendations for things to do/places to visit in Ireland – Have you been? Are there things you think I might accidenatly miss out on? (One friend has already done a great job pitching me on Kilmainham Gaol). Recommendations for books by or about the Irish – A... Read more

Prominent Platonic Pairings

Last updated on: June 7, 2014 at 12:06 pm By Leah Libresco

After writing about the dearth of celebrated platonic friendships, I realized I could think of at least one counterexample without too much trouble. Sir Ian McKellan and Sir Patrick Stewart are public friends, and their friendship is a big part of what their fans publicly celebrate them for. What other (non-fictional) living prominent figures fall into this category? How is their friendship celebrated similarly/differently than romantic ones. (I notice McKellan/Stewart photos are fairly comic, not contemplative; as far as I... Read more