I think I'll have something to say about this curious time in the world--effectively all around the world.  Maybe in a few days.  For now, I think, we're all just processing stuff.  In many ways, we're processing.  Here are some small pieces to keep your mind distracted from COVID-19, and thinking beyond a virus.

How Newton used his time in social isolation during the plague wisely.  Perhaps an inspiration to us all.

Admittedly I don’t know much about this, but if I had to invent a new subatomic particle, I think “the axion” would be a good name for it.  Imagine an Axion ray!  Sounds perfect.  I hope this particle goes from hypothesized to confirmed (though I suspect there’s no test yet imagined to establish its reality).  

My UVA (and Miller Center!) colleague Mary Kate Cary on the session, a couple years ago, when Jim Lehrer talked to a bunch of us about “how to moderate a debate.”  It was about much more than that, however—it was about how to get people to lay out their own views, without you getting in their way, and yet with you being a good (and fair) ref.

Oh, this is a weak piece on books.  Its vaporosity is what you would expect from a college president.  It's tub-thumping declamations are what I would expect from someone committed to a "Great Books" curriculum.  It’s just a bunch of empty words about books that all boil down to a simple assertion without any evidence: “there’s nothing like a book!”  I agree, but I think I say it more quickly, and with a bit more evidence.

Is there a crisis of the middle-class in the US?  We’ve heard a lot about “deaths of despair” among working class white men.  Maybe this is broader than “working class”.  If so, how is the crisis—which is surely rooted in part in economics—about cultural changes as well, such as declines in marriage?  This piece is a rich look at how marriage and family patterns have changed for Americans, esp the middle class, over the past 40 years.  It’s actually very interesting.

Finally, a nice classification system for our talking heads--a group distinct from our public intellectuals. This piece differentiates them into the following five categories: “analysts," "pundits," "hacks," "barkers," and "propagandists.“  Note to self: I want to be an analyst.

Be safe and sound, my friends.  Don't go out.  If you need to go out, practice "social distancing."  In the meantime, read books, call old friends, clean the house, work in the garden.  Do all the things which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves; and with all nations.