Maria Bamford, studies, lawsuits, and CARS SMASHING TO BITS
Unrelated, of course. So don't worry fans of Maria. Or fans of studies.
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We got Maria Bamford on the podcast what the hell else could you want.
I can think of two big reasons to be a Maria Bamford fan and I can think of them right off the bat. One, she’s just so goddamn hilarious. I’ve been interviewing people for well over 20 years at this point and a whole lot of them have been comedy professionals. I don’t think there’s anyone who has so consistently been able to make me struggle to continue the interview due to laughter as much as Maria. That’s a complicated sentence but it’s true!
And another reason to admire Maria Bamford, in addition, B of all, is that she is brave as hell. See, Maria has been through the shit when it comes to mental health. She has been in in-patient facilities, both according to and against her will, and that is a position of great vulnerability. Think about it: you’re unable to function in the world of people and you become dependent on an American mental health care system that is shabby and byzantine at worst and shabby and byzantine at best. So what does the Bammer do? She talks about it! Openly! To audiences! She lays her soul bare and finds jokes in there to make strangers laugh.
It won’t surprise you that behind the scenes, Maria is about the nicest person you’d ever want to meet. And it won’t surprise you, if you know anything about her, that she continues to care for geriatric pugs. She likes the pugs that are, if not at death’s door, at the very least ambling up the front steps toward the door. It MAY surprise you that she also now cares for a two-year-old pug, which is a new experience in energy and enthusiasm that she was not expecting.
I learned this fact and so much more in my interview with Maria on this week’s show. Maria has a new book coming out a week from tomorrow called Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult, which is about her experiences in such cults as Suzuki violin instruction, the Episcopalians, the mental health system, the recovery movement, and Target shoppers. It’s a brilliant and funny book but as I say it’s not out yet so just listen to the podcast and get ready.
Yale settles mental health related lawsuit
Yale University has come to a settlement in a suit filed by Elis for Rachael, a student organization. At issue was the process of leaves of absence for students in states of mental health crisis.
Under the agreement, Yale will modify its policies regarding medical leaves of absence, including streamlining the reinstatement process for students who return to campus. The student group, which also represents alumni, had argued the process was onerous, discouraging students for decades from taking medical leave when they needed it most.
…
Under the agreement, Yale will allow students to study part-time if they have urgent medical needs. Elis for Rachael said it marks the first time the university has offered such an option. Students granted the accommodation at the beginning of a new term will receive a 50% reduction in tuition.
I’m always a little bit torn about stories like these because it’s a good outcome that shouldn’t have required a lawsuit. Like, one of the top universities in the country, a place presumably filled with very smart people, has to go through a whole lawsuit and settlement process to arrive at the conclusion that they could have some goddamn humanity once in a while when members of their community are in crisis? I mean, I guess intelligence and enlightenment aren’t always the same thing but congratulations, Yale, I fucking guess, on having at least a droplet of heart. Am I on a soapbox? I think I’m on a soapbox. But the view from up here is great!
I always wish the follow-up to clickbait headlines like these was always just “No!”
Yeah, the headline is dippy because what the hell else do you think the article is going to say. I was frankly prepared to leave it just at that but the study that it mentions was actually pretty interesting.
Youth engagement with social media is increasing, and this uptick correlates with a decline in their mental well-being.
Researchers at Iowa State University found a simple intervention could help. During a two-week experiment with 230 college students, half were asked to limit their social media usage to 30 minutes a day and received automated, daily reminders. They scored significantly lower for anxiety, depression, loneliness, and fear of missing out at the end of the experiment compared to the control group.
I’ve long suspected there was some sort of middle zone of positivity. If you don’t use social media at all, you can miss out on a sort of human interaction and a familiarity with the interconnectedness of people that can make you feel secure and gratified. If you use it too much, well, that fucks you up and you compare your world to the highlight reel world of everyone you know. So is the healthy middle zone 30 minutes a day? I mean, I guess Iowa State University tells us so.
Here you can watch a bunch of cars go flying off a 300-foot cliff and then smash at the bottom. If you want to.
via kottke, who adds:
It's entertaining to watch in a Jackass sort of way, but the whole thing is a metaphor for a particular facet of America: loud, dumb, fun, and wasteful.
The smashing starts at about 8:03 in the video.
Murica!