Glenn McRae
@vtmcrae.bsky.social
“…each small act of goodness, love and non-violent resistance helps dilute the toxins that are dumped daily into the common well.”
OCTOPUSES
OCTOPUS
open.substack.com
February 8, 2026 at 2:46 PM
“…each small act of goodness, love and non-violent resistance helps dilute the toxins that are dumped daily into the common well.”
America’s Best Idea
‘America’s Best Idea’ Under Threat | Faculty of Arts and Sciences
In his new book, professor Randall Balmer warns of the growing erosion of the separation between church and state in the United States.
fas.dartmouth.edu
February 7, 2026 at 1:18 PM
America’s Best Idea
One does what one can.
GETTING OUR ‘JOICE BACK
I’ve told this story other places over the years, but it bears repeating:
open.substack.com
February 3, 2026 at 12:38 PM
One does what one can.
“But the world doesn’t stop just because something horrible happens—even in death, life continues all around us. We still have to go to work, feed our families, pay rent, and make plans.”
Your body wasn’t built for this
On collective grief, love meeting loss, and what happens when our nervous systems are asked to absorb the world all at once.
open.substack.com
February 2, 2026 at 1:03 PM
“But the world doesn’t stop just because something horrible happens—even in death, life continues all around us. We still have to go to work, feed our families, pay rent, and make plans.”
Find a way to get centered and focus on self care to meet the challenges of these times.
Walking mountain paths alone,we learn our breath.
On the surface, the Tao is impractical, illogical
open.substack.com
January 30, 2026 at 11:42 AM
Find a way to get centered and focus on self care to meet the challenges of these times.
Alexis de Tocqueville, in Democracy in America, wrote, “America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
For American self-government to endure, Americans need both good leaders and good citizens. They are mutually reinforcing.
For American self-government to endure, Americans need both good leaders and good citizens. They are mutually reinforcing.
Democracy Is Not a Spectator Sport
The demands of citizenship in a divided time, as tested in the Texas legislature
open.substack.com
January 29, 2026 at 1:52 PM
Alexis de Tocqueville, in Democracy in America, wrote, “America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
For American self-government to endure, Americans need both good leaders and good citizens. They are mutually reinforcing.
For American self-government to endure, Americans need both good leaders and good citizens. They are mutually reinforcing.
Time for a lavender revolution
While lavender is globally prized for its fragrance, its agricultural residue has been an underutilized byproduct. It is being
successfully converted into hard carbon (HC) for use as a high-performance battery anode.
interestingengineering.com/energy/laven...
While lavender is globally prized for its fragrance, its agricultural residue has been an underutilized byproduct. It is being
successfully converted into hard carbon (HC) for use as a high-performance battery anode.
interestingengineering.com/energy/laven...
Time for some courage in the climate fight too
Big business, and its political enablers, have turned tail. They need to take a page from the resistance
open.substack.com
January 29, 2026 at 1:36 PM
Time for a lavender revolution
While lavender is globally prized for its fragrance, its agricultural residue has been an underutilized byproduct. It is being
successfully converted into hard carbon (HC) for use as a high-performance battery anode.
interestingengineering.com/energy/laven...
While lavender is globally prized for its fragrance, its agricultural residue has been an underutilized byproduct. It is being
successfully converted into hard carbon (HC) for use as a high-performance battery anode.
interestingengineering.com/energy/laven...
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” King replied from a Birmingham jail. “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”
This little book has eyes on ICE in Minneapolis
“The Handbook for Constitutional Observers” explains how to safely document law enforcement interactions, inform people about their rights and connect families to support resources.
open.substack.com
January 19, 2026 at 1:18 PM
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” King replied from a Birmingham jail. “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”
we are all Renee Good
We Are All Good
We Are All Renee Good
open.substack.com
January 17, 2026 at 3:46 PM
we are all Renee Good
“Search engines present multiple results, which triggers our evaluative instincts. We know we need to assess options. AI presents a single, confident-sounding response that feels like it came from expertise. We’re less likely to question it even though we absolutely should.”
Why Does AI Keep Recommending Nike?
What your AI chatbot learned from the internet's loudest voices.
open.substack.com
January 16, 2026 at 2:08 PM
“Search engines present multiple results, which triggers our evaluative instincts. We know we need to assess options. AI presents a single, confident-sounding response that feels like it came from expertise. We’re less likely to question it even though we absolutely should.”
Think about what you are reading, but also about where it is coming from. Supporting new innovative writers and independent publishers is as important as writing those checks for the tax deduction. Do both. Support voices and essential services. Advance change with your book buying habit.
The Day NY Publishing Lost Its Soul
How did we get here? And how do we get back?
open.substack.com
January 15, 2026 at 3:35 PM
Think about what you are reading, but also about where it is coming from. Supporting new innovative writers and independent publishers is as important as writing those checks for the tax deduction. Do both. Support voices and essential services. Advance change with your book buying habit.
Take a breath, pause and think about your destination.
Lichen Incognita
The virtues of spending two years watching something in nature do basically nothing
open.substack.com
January 15, 2026 at 3:12 PM
Take a breath, pause and think about your destination.
Sometimes a new book actually captures a current issue just right.
So You Want to Own Greenland....
We have, in a sense, acted as though we own Greenland for decades.
open.substack.com
January 13, 2026 at 6:12 PM
Sometimes a new book actually captures a current issue just right.
“How it works is each of us doing one small good thing, every day.”
A BAD WEEK
This week has felt like the bad shift when winter first begins and all of a sudden in the morning it's dark, and it is dark in the early evening, and the whole day becomes elliptically squeezed.
open.substack.com
January 11, 2026 at 1:03 AM
“How it works is each of us doing one small good thing, every day.”
Librarians are wonderful. “Use AI to explore. Use libraries to verify. Use your brain to evaluate.”
How to Spot AI Hallucinations Like a Reference Librarian
The verification tricks that would make fact-checkers weep with joy.
open.substack.com
January 9, 2026 at 8:36 PM
Librarians are wonderful. “Use AI to explore. Use libraries to verify. Use your brain to evaluate.”
The story of 2026?
A Woman on a NY Subway Just Set the Tone for Next Year
This is what's coming in 2026
open.substack.com
December 29, 2025 at 6:05 PM
The story of 2026?
“This gap, between the world as it is and how we’re told to see it, comes down to a choice about what we do with our attention.”
The Telemetry
All the news the headlines missed in 2025.
open.substack.com
December 29, 2025 at 3:06 PM
“This gap, between the world as it is and how we’re told to see it, comes down to a choice about what we do with our attention.”
Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler
Glenn McRae (@glennmcrae)
I just finished the new biography of Octavia Butler (Positive Obsession), one of the great writers of my lifetime. Whether you know her work well, or are just being introduced to it, this book is both...
substack.com
December 24, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler
“Is there any room for weirdness in this conformist world?”
The Return of the Weirdo
Will this be the cool new thing of 2026?
open.substack.com
December 22, 2025 at 2:55 PM
“Is there any room for weirdness in this conformist world?”
I can always count on Krista to frame a way of being in the world so that I can move on.
“Be kind, for everyone is fighting a great battle.” See what happens if you take this as a life practice through the ordinary encounters of your days. How do you internalize the news differently?
“Be kind, for everyone is fighting a great battle.” See what happens if you take this as a life practice through the ordinary encounters of your days. How do you internalize the news differently?
"Be Kind, For Everyone is Fighting a Great Battle"
Quiet intelligence with civilizational power
open.substack.com
December 21, 2025 at 8:42 PM
I can always count on Krista to frame a way of being in the world so that I can move on.
“Be kind, for everyone is fighting a great battle.” See what happens if you take this as a life practice through the ordinary encounters of your days. How do you internalize the news differently?
“Be kind, for everyone is fighting a great battle.” See what happens if you take this as a life practice through the ordinary encounters of your days. How do you internalize the news differently?
“So let me make a plea for fuzzier writing. Let me praise the metaphors and sublime indirection of the great poetic minds. Let us seek out that open-ended ambiguity which invites us inside the text—allowing each of us to test our own interpretive skills. “
My Problem with Clear Writing
Or why clarity is overrated
open.substack.com
December 10, 2025 at 12:07 AM
“So let me make a plea for fuzzier writing. Let me praise the metaphors and sublime indirection of the great poetic minds. Let us seek out that open-ended ambiguity which invites us inside the text—allowing each of us to test our own interpretive skills. “