I had a great time in New York with David Barrett, Jake Mealy, and Kevin Rutherford and co at the Welliba event today, and luckily my train home was only slightly delayed! And I was still able to fit in some talks and books for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was an excellent conversation between Ann Lipton and Michael Levin on the constitutionally questionable, absolute mess of states engaging in national "regulation" of proxy advisors on the Shareholder Primacy podcast. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMg2k1gDL1Q

Next was an amazing talk by Victoria Webster-Wood on biohybrid robots (!) at the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute. Integrating muscle tissue into robotic systems? Micro-organism bots? Cyborgs?! Yes, please. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-G0wL_TqW4

Next was a great talk by Michael Treadway on the pathophysiology and treatment of motivational deficits in mental illness at the Society for the Science of Motivation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlaTDXc5ZOU

Next was "Why Trust Science?" by Naomi Oreskes. Oreskes delivers an inspired, rigorous interrogation of the nature of science, its history, its faults, and why it's essential. The deep exploration of what we mean by science and how the many processes and norms that comprise its essence is incisive and illuminating, and the discussion of how different groups can distort science is essential. The sections on scientific failures of the past are also instructive, providing patterns to learn from moving forward. Highly recommend https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691179001/why-trust-science

Last was "Witches, Midwives, and Nurses" by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English. This is a classic of feminist and medical history, focusing on the roots of medical establishments and its entanglements with literal witch hunting. It is an extremely political text, and while every history is to a certain extent, this one goes farther on the political side and lighter on the historical rigor than I'd like. The second edition contains a good introduction that acknowledges some of its shortcomings for a modern audience, so I'd recommend picking up that version if you're interested in this topic https://feministpress.org/products/9781558616615-witches-midwives-and-nurses-second-edition