Magnús Agnesar-Sigurðsson

People in Glass Houses The inspiring writings of Shirley Hazzard (1931-2016)

Short stories from within the 1950s United Nations bureaucracy? Yes.

How to talk about Anthropocene civil service? Two helpful keywords: imagination and responsibility

Another Substack post and the first substantial one. This post lays the groundwork for future explorations and conversations on Anthropocene civil service. Please have a look and subscribe if you are interested!

What is Anthropocene Civil Service? An anthropologist's perspective on civil service in the face of global environmental problems

Please check out my Substack if you are interested in the specific blend of public administration, anthropology, and climate change, or simply just one of those!

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public "This is not about defending our paychecks. This is about protecting the health of our communities."

Here's a letter to the American public from (anonymous, out of fear of retaliation) current & former employees of EPA, earnestly -- and somewhat heartbreakingly -- explaining how important their work is & what a tragedy is is that Trump's destroying it.

Screenshot of the rebuilt future risk tool

Another critical tool taken down by the admin but preserved for the American people: FEMA’s Future Risk Index. It shows how much climate change will cost our communities (actual $ figures!)—no wonder the admin felt threatened.

fulton-ring.github.io/nri-future-r...

#FEMA #risk #data #climate

Facing pages from My Bondage and My Freedom with a photo of author Frederick Douglas on the left page and the title on the right page.

Today, we honor Frederick Douglass on his chosen birthday. 🎂 His 1855 autobiography MY BONDAGE AND MY FREEDOM is a powerful account of his journey from enslavement to freedom.

Read it here ➡️ https://archive.org/details/mybondagemyfreed6062doug/

#Blackhistorymonth #LetReadersRead #InternetArchive

Banned terms in scholarly publications and restrictions on researchers' activities We share the apprehensions expressed by our community of editors, authors, and publishing professionals about the potential effects these changes may have on scholarly communication, particularly with...

"COPE considers that authors and editors are best placed to determine the appropriate language to be used in their respective fields, to ensure that research is communicated appropriately."

publicationethics.org/guidance/cop...

Treasury protest

Enormous crowd at Treasury
#forkoff

I am on paternity leave 🥰 but trying to do get some anthropology writing done when Agnes sleeps. Thought I had finished a final draft of an article yesterday, but had to do lots of deleting today because I had misread the word count 🥲

Good explanation of fire-resistant choices made in rebuilding after fires.

Mercury Insurance president: “I think people have to maybe pause... and think about, do you want to build back exactly the same way? Because if you do, we’re going to be having this conversation again in a few decades.”

Screenshot from Rilke's Notebooks of MLB, translation Robert Vilain: Is it possible that, despite inventions and progress, despite culture, religion, and philosophy, we have remained on the surface of life? Is it possible that even this surface, which might at least have been something, has been covered with an incredibly boring material so that it looks like the drawing-room furniture in the summer holidays? Yes, it's possible.

Always liked this para from Rilke's Notebooks of MLB, trans. R. Vilain. Seems esp fitting these days.