"Human brains are not computers processing data. They are biological prediction machines that perceive the environment through memories and the senses, with the capacity to use that information to imagine plausible future scenarios.

"These inherent predictive and imaginative capacities are the wellspring of humanity’s abilities to survive and thrive—because self-expression is a safety valve that helps us cope with uncertainty. No one truly knows the future; they must live each day not sure of what will happen tomorrow. Art can help us all practice this imaginative muscle in a useful way." - Girija Kaimal

Article: How Creativity Defines the Human Species and Is a Source of Wellness 

"In my book “Science v. Story: Narrative Strategies for Science Communicators, I explore how to use stories to talk in a compelling way about controversial science topics, including vaccination. To me, stories contain characters, action, sequence, scope, a storyteller, and content to varying degrees. By this definition, a story could be a book, a news article, a social media post, or even a conversation with a friend.

"While researching my book, I found that stories about science tend to be broad and abstract. On the other hand, science-skeptical stories tend to be specific and concrete. By borrowing some of the strategies of science-skeptical stories, I argue that evidence-backed stories about science can better compete with misinformation." - Emma Frances Bloomfield

Article: Storytelling Strategies Make Communication About Science More Compelling

Timothy Snyder  is an American historian specializing in the history of Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust. He argues that the defunding of departments of history and the humanities have led to a society without the "concepts and references" or structural tools to responsibly consider "eroding factors" such as modern forms of populism.

He first published these twenty lessons from the twentieth century seven years ago, "first as a kind of online declaration, and then with historical examples, in a pamphlet called On Tyranny.

"They were written in advance of the first Trump presidency, and have been used since in the U.S. and around the world. 

"For those who want democracy and the rule of law in the United States after 2024, I would only add: now is the time to organize, to prepare to win locally and nationally, and to talk not only about what is to be lost but what can be gained." 

Book Excerpt: On Tyranny

"In the 1940s, on a small island off the coast of Maine, photographer Consuelo Kanaga produced a set of portraits. Her subject: the life and likeness of fellow renegade Margaret Wise Brown."

Article: In a Picture: “Margaret Wise’s Boudoir”