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outmakingmoonshine · 5 months ago

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The Bear & Roman Mythology

After seeing this post by @thoughtfulchaos773 awhile ago I started looking into the myth of Venus and Mars and I'm now in a never ending rabbit hole of mythological conections in The Bear. If you haven't read the post above already I highly recommend checking it out before continuing with this. There are so many things that line up with characters and storylines in the show, even beyond the myth of V+M but it all still centers around the story of SydCarmy.

Thank you to @thoughtfulchaos773 for helping me structure and edit this post.

Disclaimer: There are many versions of mythological characters, sort of like different universes in Marvel & DC where the same characters appear in different stories, with different relationships and dynamics. Sometimes 2 characters are the same person but "split" into different aspects of broad concepts like love, war etc. There are also multiple different interpretations of those stories, relationships and dynamics by different philosophers, writers, artists etc. and of course this post is mixed with my own interpretation of the symbolism and priciples of the characters. Myths are heavily based on symbology and Roman myths are heavily based on the symbology of western astrology (or vice versa) so I'm mainly looking at the mythological and astrological symbols they're replicating in The Bear. This could be possible spoilers for the end of the show. Gifs that aren't credited are mine.

The table scene depicted Syd &Carmy as Venus & Mars but I think that was just the reveal of the mythological connections to their stories and they’ve been subtly showing us these (and other) mythological connections to multiple characters all along.

I debated putting this into parts but I think it needs to be understood all together so there is a lot of information and it's really long so it's under the cut.

Mars is the God of war and the spirit of battle who was immediately in awe of Venus's beauty, is attracted to her natural sexuality (not promiscuity) that matches his own and he quickly falls in love with her. (In astrology Mars also rules passion and lust.)

Carmy was practically in awe of Sydney’s beauty from the beginning

He openly sexually desires her from early on, his eyes basically magnetize to her lips whenever she's near and he can't help but flirt with her

He has fallen (or is falling) deeply in love with her

The overall tone of their myth together is Venus helps Mars find peace and balances out his war-like-nature so it doesn't consume him. He becomes a more evolved version of Mars from their relationship together. He's still the God of War but now with the wisdom of "being one" with love and peace. He can wage war in a noble and just way instead of like a savage because the true motive and purpose of war is to find peace.

Who is Carmy's motive/motivation for everything he's been doing?

Gifs by heardchef & thoughtfulchaos773 .

Who is a significant part of Carmy's purpose/dream?

Gifs by swannsways

And who does he desperately want to find a connection with? Syd, the source of his peace.

"Syd and Carmy do things for one another. She is a source of peace and focus for him and, at times, he can be a source of inspiration and dependability. Sometimes he can’t." - Jeremy Allen White

The overall tone of the show and Carmy's story so far is that he desperately needs to heal and find peace and Sydney is the one who brings that to him. Also Venus (Syd) is the only person in the entire Roman mythology (the show) that can get through to Mars (Carmy) and calm his anger and spirit of battle.

The actors and writers keep referring to Carmy as "like a baby" in interviews and we're watching him go through an evolution or "metamorphosis" on the show from being "like a baby" in dealing with his family situation, socialization, relationships, love etc, to being a man. Sydney was the catalyst for that change in Carmy like Venus was the catalyst for change in Mars.

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Venus was in a loveless marriage with the "God of the forge" aka the God of fire, Vulcan, and through her relationship with Mars finally gets to experience being with with someone who she truly loves and who loves her, someone who can match her nature with fiery passion.

The way I interpret the way the show plays with the symbology of Venus being "in a loveless marriage to the God of fire" is Sydney is the God of Fire (she's the one who represents fire in the show) but she has trouble believing in her own fire/passion and expressing it. Sydney loves cooking and she's excellent at it but she can't connect with her passion and make what she envisions. Sydney doesn't know how to express her loving nature either and that also keeps her from connecting with the fire inside her. Passion for something, creativity, cooking, love etc are all associated with fire. So Sydney is in a "loveless" marriage with her own fire. (Marriage is symbolic of being one with something/someone.)

Sydney also represents Ceres Goddess of agriculture, growth and motherly relationships. (I read a meta about this while ago but I can't find it now, if you know who wrote it please link it so I can add it here.) Syd is the reason for any growth of the restaurant and nearly everyone in it. She planted seeds of confidence, inspiration and motivation in so many of them and has nurtured their growth through the process. Carmy stopped letting her nurture the seeds she planted in him in 2x03.

Also Minerva (Goddess of Wisdom). The wisest people know they don't know everything so they spend a lot of time seeking more and more inspiration/knowledge/wisdom, symbolically they're all the same thing. Syd came to the restaurant to seek inspiration/wisdom in the culinary world from Carmy, he didn't deliver so turned to Coack K's book. Syd's always looking for ways to better her skills and knowledge even though she's already very skilled and knowledgable. Syd is usually the voice of reason for Carmy when he listens. She was a voice of reason for Richie in 1x07, although a very harsh one. Also in one version of myth Mars was in love with Minerva but she was annoyed by him and rejected his amourous advances and based on Syd's reaction to this amourous look from Carmy in 2x09

I think we might see Syd not being as open to these looks from him in S3.

I think Carmy also represents Neptune/Poseidon (God of the Sea). Blue, water, emotions, feelings etc all relate to water and to Carmy. Neptune had 2 main siblings, one was the God of the Heavens (Mikey), one was the God of the Earth (Nat, the Earth is symbolic of fertility) and Neptune (Carmy) was God of Freshwater and The Sea.

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Claire = Anna Perenna

Anna Perenna is the Goddess of Time and The Changing Of Years.

Time:

I still think the clocks in scenes with Claire relate to season 2's theme of time, “every second counts” and the fact Carmy was wasting time doing unproductive things with her instead of actually helping to build the restaurant. But I think another layer of meaning could be symbolism that she represents the Roman Goddess of time.

The changing of years - Anna Perenna is where the term "per annum" comes from, Anna symbolizes bringing in the new year but “the changing of years” can also be interpreted as metaphorically trying to "change" your past years, to make up for them, relive them or to right wrongs from them etc. That’s basically what Carmy was trying to do with Claire in S2, relive/"change" the negative effects of his past years. Carmy was trying to bring in a "new year" and new beginning but not with Claire, he wanted to start something new with Sydney.

The myth is Mars was in love with Minerva (Syd) and he went to Anna for advice but Anna wanted him for herself so she tricked/forced him into marrying her. Some versions don't mention a marriage between them and just say Anna disguised herself as Minerva to access Mars's bedchamber, either way their myth together revolves around her disguising herself as Minerva to force him into a relationship with her.

Carmy was imo very clearly attracted to Syd by 2x02. He ran into Claire and turned her down giving her a fake number but she wanted him anyway so she tracked him down and forced him to communicate with her which ultimately forced him into a relationship with her, even though that part wasn't really Claire's fault. I think Carmy gave in to Claire chasing him, one because he felt trapped and two, so he could learn through hanging out with Claire how to hang out with the woman he actually wants; Sydney. So he basically gave in to Claire to get a form of advice.

I'm not going to say much about the show's take on "disguising" Claire as Sydney, here are some posts that explain it very well. Carmy projecting his idea of Sydney onto Claire also plays into the concept of Anna being "disguised" as Minerva.

Anna and Mars do stay married (bc there's no divorce) in one version of myth but tricking Mars into marriage is basically all there is to the "love" part of their story which isn't really a love story because Mars was never in love with her and never chose to be with her.

I think almost everyone in The Bear cast and the writers have said they want Carmy to end up happy, even Molly Gordon said it in a recent interview. Mars was not happy with Anna Perenna, he was trapped with her. Carmy isn't happy with Claire, he was basically cornered and trapped into that relationship. If Carmy is going to end up truly "happy", I don't see how that can be with Claire. They've done a lot of work with the script, the lighting, the directing, the music etc to show Carm is his happiest with Syd. It's ingrained so deeply in the narrative of the show now and they use Claire to contrast and highlight that fact.

The show is about family, found family, love and connection with others. To be blunt, Carmy has shown zero signs he wants to genuinely connect with Claire on that level and every sign he wants to connect with Syd. He basicaly indirectly asked Syd to be his family multiple times. We haven't heard or seen that sentiment once with Claire. Everything the actors and writers have said on what the show is about and what they want for Carmy in the end isn't conducive to him ending up with Claire imo.

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Claire = Psyche

Psyche is a mortal who later becomes the Roman and Greek Goddess of the soul. She's a beautiful woman depicted as a pixie.

She’s portrayed as the “perfect-girl”, very beautiful...and that's about it for her personality traits. (Although later Psyche becomes a Goddess in her own right, the myths mostly present her as the male fantasy of the "ideal" beautiful woman with no distinct personality traits so men can project whatever idea they want on to her, much like how Claire is written.) She's a mortal who gains the attention of the Gods for her "otherworldly" beauty rivaling that of Aphrodite (the Greek version of the Roman, Venus). Considering most stories made today are retellings and twists of ancient epic tales, mythology, literature etc. I would bet the “manic pixie dream girl” trope is strongly influenced by Psyche.

One of the most well known novels including Psyche is “Metamorphoses”, alo known as “The Golden Ass” by Lucius Apuleius. It has 11 books but only 3 of them (books 4-6) are about Psyche and her love story with Cupid.

**This might seem a bit confusing but it’s an important distinction to understand; Cupid is Venus & Mars’s “son” but not necessarily literally, everything in myth is symbolic. Figuratively V&M’s love “gave birth” or “created a new concept” that didn’t exist before, which is love and war combined as one. Cupid delivers love with a weapon so he’s the symbolic representation of V&M’s energies combined as one. Cupid is also known as Eros (God of erotic love) and Eros is the lust and passion aspect of Mars. Mars is not Eros/Cupid but Eros/Cupid is a singular aspect of Mars. In the show Carmy is not actually Cupid but Cupid is a version or aspect of who Carmy is. Similarly Psyche is a version or aspect of who Venus is so Claire is a version or aspect of Sydney. Psyche & Cupid are basically another rendition of Venus & Mars. Venus (the heart) becomes one with Mars (the ego/mind). Cupid (the heart) becomes one with Psyche (the mind). They're the same concepts just told from different perspectives for different cultures.

The rest of the books in Metamorphoses are about the main character Lucius who is obsessed with “magic” and it follows his struggles, adventures and misfortunes on his personal journey of metamorphosis. Psyche & Cupid’s story shows up right in the middle of that as a kind of interruption to Lucius’s journey.

Here's Wikipedia's breakdown of the novel:

Let's look at these story beats and see what’s recognizable in Carmy’s story in S2. But first:

Birds are symbols of freedom, hope, spirit, transition, new beginnings, strength, love, and joy.

Donkey's are symbols of service, suffering, being servile, a beast of burden, a workhorse, being stubborn, stupid or just an “ass.”

“Lucius, dabbling in magic, attempts to turn into a bird”

I think "Magic" is symbolic of love here but to look a it from another angle, Carmy acted like he was put under a spell as soon as he met Claire in that freezer aisle. His focus has never been that great but it's like we entered into a different reality with Carmy's character in that scene and for most of S2. The same fiery man who doesn't mind being sassy, giving people attitude, who has no problem bossing anyone around, becomes a withdrawn shell of himself around Claire. Almost like he was a one-dimesional/singular aspect of himself with her. The whole airy fairy, fake deep, “stoner bro” way they were talking in that scene was also weird and unnatural imo, almost like they were portraying him as “under a spell” or “not fully himself” without bringing actual magic into the show. Tbf Carmy also seems like he's under a spell when he stares at Sydney so I think overall magic = love in this context. *Psyche & Cupid are still a love story and Carmy didn't know yet that he wasn't in love with Claire.

Through his relationship with Claire, Carmy was trying to be a bird; looking for freedom from his past, pain & trauma, hope, a new beginning, love & joy but he isn't looking for that with Claire, he’s looking for it with Sydney. He wants to transition into something new with Syd and was figuring out through Claire if/how he could do that. Claire was the cold prep.

Another layer of symbolism could be he was trying to be a bird by trying to be like Mikey (and Richie), be a “normal” guy, have a girlfriend, go to parties, be the “cool” guy etc. Trying to be what other people think freedom is because he has no idea how to make sense of it on his own.

“But after the spell goes wrong, turns himself into a donkey”

After “the spell” aka his relationship with Claire goes wrong, Carmy's been transforming into a "donkey" for most of S2.. His transition was complete in 2x10 in the walk-in when he stupidly and stubbornly came to the conclusion he can't be in a relationship and decided that reverting back to the mindset he was in at his worst in NY is the right thing to do. And judging by the trailers we're about to see him lean into being a “donkey” in S3.

He's going to become a beast of burden, a workhorse, not just a burden for himself but for everyone else. Service is the nature of his job and he's going to work himself and everyone at The Bear to the bone. I think we all agree Carmy was stupid and “just an ass” regarding Syd in S2 and he's probably going to be an even bigger ass to her (unintentionally) in S3.

“And goes on a long journey where he is restored to human form by the Goddess Isis”

Isis is primarily known as the female matriarch in Egyptian mythology and is the basis of most, if not all, of the major female Gods created after her. Venus is the Roman version of Isis so Isis, Venus, Aphrodite etc are all different versions of the same concepts and principles just remixed and made more relatable for different cultures and time periods.

“Along the way, he hears many stories, including tales about Socrates and the endeavors of a group of bandits.”

I don't really know anything about the tales of Socrates but a quick Google gave me this:

I'm more interested in the unhighlighted part. It sounds like wisdom Carmy needs to think about and make useful if he's ever going to stop self-sabotaging and find peace. He needs to admit his ignorance and start listening to people instead of making up his own mind about what he thinks they mean, especially in regards to Syd. We're watching Carmy go through this continual questioning, his monologue scenes are one representation of that.

“The biggest, most notable story Lucius hears on his journey is about Psyche and Cupid's love story, spanning books 4-6.”

Psyche and Cupid's love story for the middle few books of the novel and Claire came into the show in the middle of the story. The story of C&P is a "side-story" and all Claire kept taking carmy on "side-missions" throughout their relationship.

The love story between Psyche and Cupid is long so I won't go into too much detail here but some brief relevant notes from it are; Venus was jealous of Psyche so she sent her “son”, Cupid (who’s really an aspect of Mars/Carmy) to make Psyche fall in love with a monster but Cupid accidentally hit himself with his own arrow and fell in love with her instead. I think Carmy “accidentally” falling into a relationship with Claire when he clearly didn’t see her as his girlfriend, represents that. When Psyche realizes she’s in love with a monster she runs away. Claire doesn’t really know who Carmy is and in 2x10 that “monster” side of him was revealed to her and she ran away.

I might make another post on Cupid & Psyche after I've seen S3 but here’s an interesting little preface of the story of Cupid & Psyche within Metamorphosis on Wikipedia:

“Lucius [...] finally regains human form by eating roses sacred to Isis.” The end of the story is basically Lucius/Carmy stops being an ass and regains human form by eating roses sacred to Isis/Venus/Sydney.

I think Carmy is going to be “restored to human form”/ by Sydney at when he finally eats something she made, eats not tastes. Carmy will find love and peace, something he craves in another person, Syd is the only person he's shown he wants that with.

“As a structural mirror of the overarching plot, the tale is an example of mise en abyme. It occurs within a complex narrative frame, with Lucius recounting the tale as it in turn was told by an old woman”

Cupid and Psyche's story is a structural mirror of the overarching plot of The Golden Ass/Metamorphoses novel. Carmy, The Golden Ass, is going through a metamorphosis, the overarching plot of The Bear is about his journey. His story with Claire has been a mirror of his relationship with Sydney.

“Mise en abyme” is “the technique of placing a copy of an image within itself, often in a way that suggests an infinitely recurring sequence. In film theory and literary theory, it refers to the story within a story technique.” (Credit wikipedia)

Carmy & Claire are a smaller story within the overarching story of Carmy eventually finding love and peace with Sydney, that Carmy (Lucius) experiences on his journey of metamorphosis. Claire/Carmy is a copy of SydCarmy within the overall story.

Anyone who’s written a meta in this fandom knows how this show and sydcarmy “occurs with a complex narrative frame”. All the info in this post alone is barely scratching the surface of the mythological symbolism they’re using, let alone all the other works they’re using symbols and influences from.

“Although the tale resists explication as a strict allegory of a particular Platonic argument,”

Which basically means:

The story of The Golden Ass aka Carmy in The Bear, isn't easily explained as a clear example of a specific idea from Platonic (Plato's) philosophy.

The use of the term “Platonic argument” here is very interesting imo, I know it has its own context here but what the showrunners and actors keep giving the audience is the “platonic argument”. Why do they keep repeating that word even after S2 when sydcarmy is clearly not just “platonic”?? These are cryptic clues imo, they want us to know what the show and story is about but they don’t want to tell us and ruin it.

You can tell from all the different mythological connections to one character alone that this story doesn't come from a clear example of a specific idea, it's a hodgepodge of multiple stories and ideas but I think Apuleius’s “Metamorphoses aka The Golden Ass” may be the overall story the show is retelling. The Golden Ass is Carmy, (he’s the “star chef”, stars are gold. He never got any stars but he retained three of them, he’s like a “golden child/prodigy” in the culinary world.) The show in general is following his journey of metamorphoses. Venus & Mars are Psyche & Cupid, that’s why they keep parallelling carmy/claire with sydcarmy, blurring the lines between Syd & Claire and who Carmy’s thinking or talking about, flashing images of Syd in claire/carmy scenes etc.

Venus and Mars were only ever a secret love affair btw. They never got married or were officially together, the story of their romance is really based on speculation and interpretation. That’s basically how the show has deliberately portrayed sydcarmy as they continue to give their story so many romantic elements but still gaslight the audience so it stays a "secret love affair”.

I think The Bear is a modern retelling of the story of Venus & Mars and Cupid & Psyche via the story in Metamorphosis where V&M, one of the greatest love stories of all time, actually end up together in the end. Carmy experiences a love story with Psyche on his journey but the story ends with him being saved by Isis/Venus.

If you got this far, thank you for reading! I need to write another part about Richie (and possibly Nat if I find enough connections) but I want to wait until I’ve seen S3 first. Briefly, I think Richie might be Apollo who is Perceus in Greek mythology and the rival/brother of Ares/Mars. Apollo is the one who tells V&M’s husband about her affair with Mars and helps Vulcan catch and expose them. I also think Richie sees himself as Mars in a way, the leader of the army so to speak. Other than the mention earlier, I think Nat could represent another one of Neptune’s siblings too, Juno the Goddess of marriage.

#sydcarmy #sydcarmy meta #the bear meta #carmy x sydney #chef's kiss #anti claire bear #i guess #even tho me and this post are not anti claire

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themainspoon · 1 month ago

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So, I like to avoid sharing any info about myself here, but I need to talk about this: I am currently a student at Western Sydney University, and yesterday two students peacefully protesting our universities financial involvement in the ongoing genocide in Palestine were violently arrested by the police, and charged for "assaults" they did not commit. These are videos of the arrests recorded by the students who were at the protest at the Parramatta campus:

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The students arrested were Arabic and Black, making this a clear example of racially targeted police violence. Everyone there, students and staff, were threatened.

There is going to be a counter protest tomorrow:

This use of state voilence is unacceptable, and the way our university is profiting off of a genocide is unacceptable. If you are in the area tomorrow please consider showing your support.

#student protests #free palestine #ACAB #Auspol #Instagram

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girlactionfigure · 1 year ago

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Know Thine enemy

I am not a Jew and I’m not a citizen of Israel. I haven’t even visited Israel. I don’t trace my religion back to a holy site in Jerusalem and I don’t have a problem with Arabs or Muslims or Christians. I’ve read about Abraham, Moses, David and Solomon; the Umayyads, the Abbasids and the Ottomans; I know about the British, the Balfour declaration, Ben Gurion and Golda Meir. I know a bit about the Six-Day War and the Intifada. I might not have any personal stake in the Holy Land, but humanity certainly does - and I’m a human being.

The women, men, children, elderly people and soldiers who were kidnapped, tortured, raped, humiliated and murdered on Saturday by Hamas in sovereign Israel were human beings too.

Those who did it to them are not.

Imagine what kind of rational and ethical gymnastics you have to do to justify the cold-blooded murder of teenagers at a music festival; or watching a child, perhaps 5 years old, being prodded with a stick and made to cry for his mother in Hebrew while children of a similar age laugh and mock him? We don’t know that child’s fate and for all we know what followed may have been much worse. It’s depraved. To even enter a conversation about these disgraceful facts with a rehearsed retort about territory or Gaza being an “open-air prison” reeks of moral bankruptcy.

If you wail and scream about your land, dignity, rights, oppression and poverty but are willing to murder, rape, kidnap, torture or humiliate children; then I don’t have to listen to your reasons. When the video footage, photographs and stories of Saturday’s carnage come not from "Israeli propaganda” but from the Hamas terrorists themselves, then how am I to read anything else into it but that you want credit for these atrocities? You want me to know you did it. You want me to know you are proud of it. You want me to see you for who you are. Well, I do.

So, if you swarmed the Israeli Embassy in London, waving Palestinian flags and calling for genocide; if you went down to Times Square to celebrate a victory for decolonisation against “apartheid Israel”; if you sang along to “gas the Jews” chants at the Sydney Opera House or hung a “one settler, one bullet” Palestinian flag over Grayston bridge in Johannesburg then you’re telling me who you are. Well, I see you - and you’re my enemy.

I’m one of those people who believe civilisation is a real thing, and I’ve resisted the poison of moral relativists in the humanities departments of universities across the west who think that being nuanced about the idea of civilisation versus barbarism is a signal of intellectual prowess or critical self-reflection. Upon even a cursory investigation of these people or their positions, you will find every sign of pedestrian intelligence and self-absorbed navel-gazing, combined with a fetishisation of victimhood and always concomitant humourlessness. They too, are my enemies.

It is always interesting to note that only western liberal democracies tolerate and give succour to the most heinous arguments and positions in public protests. You couldn’t picket on the side of quite laudable things like education for girls in Taliban Afghanistan, gay rights in Syria, or against the death penalty in Saudi Arabia. The Ayatollahs of Iran wouldn’t allow women to protest the hijab there under threats of violence. But London, New York, Sydney and even Johannesburg will embrace marches where people actively call for genocide. This is not how allies behave.

Perhaps when the dust has settled we can examine the insidious links between Anglo-American leftism and antisemitism, between Europe never reckoning with what happened in the holocaust and their growing Muslim populations, and between ignorant regimes like mine in South Africa and their determination to stand alongside the worst human-rights abusers in the Middle East.

For now, it’s no big mystery that this has nothing to do with the existence of the State of Israel and everything to do with Jew-hatred - that great, festering wound in the side of humanity from which all prejudice flows. It has been there for thousands of years and every time we think it has healed, some monstrous collective claws it open again.

Hamas aren’t hiding the ball. Their leader, Ismail Haniyeh, safely skulking in Qatar, made this clear. He celebrated dead Jews, not territory won, nor Gazan lives saved.

I’m afraid there are only two sides in a war - your allies and your enemies. On September 11th, 2001, I knew whose side I was on. I feel the same today.

Gareth

Gareth Cliff

#Israel #AmYisraelChai

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huriya · 6 months ago

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College Shitlist (boycott these colleges)

This is the updating list of colleges where pro-palestine protests are present that have brutalized/arrested/punished their students for protesting the ongoing palestinian genocide.

REMEMBER: DO NOT GIVE YOUR MONEY TO THESE COLLEGES. PROTESTS ON THESE CAMPUSES ARE IMPORTANT, BUT KEEPING YOUR INTELLIGENCE AND MONEY AWAY FROM THESE ABHORRENT INSTITUTIONS DIMINISHES THEIR POWER. THEIR ONLY POWER COMES FROM THEIR STUDENTS AND THEIR MONEY. YOU HAVE THE POWER TO TAKE THEIR PRESTIGE AWAY.

In No Particular Order:

Princeton University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

University of California - Berkeley

Stanford University

Virginia Tech

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

University of Washington

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

University of Wisconsin - Madison

Harvard University

Yale University

University of California - Los Angeles

Cornell University

University of Pittsburgh

University of Chicago

University of Southern California

University of California - San Diego

Tufts University

Northeastern University

Stony Brook University

University of Connecticut

University of California - Merced

University of Massachusetts - Amherst

University of Iowa

University of Arizona

Arizona State University

University of California - Irvine

George Washington University

DePaul University

University of Pennsylvania

Pomona College

University of Texas - Dallas

The New School

University of Houston

University of Rochester

University of New Mexico

Duke University

New York University

University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

Barnards College

University of Vanderbilt

Rutgers University - New Brunswick

Columbia University

Portland State University

University of Oregon

California Polytechnic Institute Humboldt

California Polytechnic University - San Luis Obispo

Northern Arizona University

University of Utah

University of Kansas

University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign

Washington University

New Mexico State University

University of Texas - Austin

Tulane University

University of South Florida

University of North Florida

University of Florida

Emory University

University of Georgia

Mercer University

Notre Dame University

Case Western Reserve University

The Ohio State University

Virginian Commonwealth University

University of Virginia

University of Buffalo

State University of New York - Purchase

State University of New York - New Paltz

Brown University

Brandeis University

Dartmouth College

University of New Hampshire

Emerson College

CUNY City College of New York

International List:

University of Amsterdam

University of Alberta

University of Queensland

University of Sydney

University of Melbourne

Australian National University

University of New South Wales

University of Calgary

University of Oxford

Feel free to share this list, send me additional colleges to add (WITH SOURCES), and/or request more information on a particular college

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spacetimewithstuartgary · 21 days ago

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New SpaceTime out Friday

SpaceTime 20241101 Series 27 Episode 132

Could Betelgeuse be two stars

A new study has raised the possibility that the red supergiant Betelgeuse might actually be a binary star system.

Richard Branson to co-pilot first crewed flight for Space Perspective

Virgin boss Richard Branson will co-pilot Space Perspective’s first stratospheric balloon flight.

Australia looking at developing more space ports.

Although Australia hasn’t put anything in orbit since the glory days of the Woomera Rocket range over half a century ago plans for new space ports continue to surface with Western Australia and Queensland the latest to make a proposal.

November Skywatch

The giant spiral galaxy M31 Andromeda. the Crab Nebula M1 and three meteor showers are among the highlights of the November night skies on Skywatch.

SpaceTime covers the latest news in astronomy & space sciences.

The show is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple Podcasts (itunes), Stitcher, Google Podcast, Pocketcasts, SoundCloud, Bitez.com, YouTube, your favourite podcast download provider, and from www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com

SpaceTime is also broadcast through the National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio and on both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

SpaceTime daily news blog: http://spacetimewithstuartgary.tumblr.com/

SpaceTime facebook: www.facebook.com/spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime Instagram @spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime twitter feed @stuartgary

SpaceTime YouTube: @SpaceTimewithStuartGary

SpaceTime -- A brief history

SpaceTime is Australia’s most popular and respected astronomy and space science news program – averaging over two million downloads every year. We’re also number five in the United States. The show reports on the latest stories and discoveries making news in astronomy, space flight, and science. SpaceTime features weekly interviews with leading Australian scientists about their research. The show began life in 1995 as ‘StarStuff’ on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) NewsRadio network. Award winning investigative reporter Stuart Gary created the program during more than fifteen years as NewsRadio’s evening anchor and Science Editor. Gary’s always loved science. He studied astronomy at university and was invited to undertake a PHD in astrophysics, but instead focused on his career in journalism and radio broadcasting. Gary’s radio career stretches back some 34 years including 26 at the ABC. He worked as an announcer and music DJ in commercial radio, before becoming a journalist and eventually joining ABC News and Current Affairs. He was part of the team that set up ABC NewsRadio and became one of its first on air presenters. When asked to put his science background to use, Gary developed StarStuff which he wrote, produced and hosted, consistently achieving 9 per cent of the national Australian radio audience based on the ABC’s Nielsen ratings survey figures for the five major Australian metro markets: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth. The StarStuff podcast was published on line by ABC Science -- achieving over 1.3 million downloads annually. However, after some 20 years, the show finally wrapped up in December 2015 following ABC funding cuts, and a redirection of available finances to increase sports and horse racing coverage. Rather than continue with the ABC, Gary resigned so that he could keep the show going independently. StarStuff was rebranded as “SpaceTime”, with the first episode being broadcast in February 2016. Over the years, SpaceTime has grown, more than doubling its former ABC audience numbers and expanding to include new segments such as the Science Report -- which provides a wrap of general science news, weekly skeptical science features, special reports looking at the latest computer and technology news, and Skywatch – which provides a monthly guide to the night skies. The show is published three times weekly (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and available from the United States National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio, and through both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

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allylovesyaxx · 1 year ago

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dreams do come true ✨🦋🪩🧡

@that-musical-lesbian

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mindblowingscience · 11 months ago

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Our brains are remarkably energy efficient. Using just 20 watts of power, the human brain is capable of processing the equivalent of an exaflop — or a billion-billion mathematical operations per second. Now, researchers in Australia are building what will be the world's first supercomputer that can simulate networks at this scale. The supercomputer, known as DeepSouth, is being developed by Western Sydney University. When it goes online next year, it will be capable of 228 trillion synaptic operations per second, which rivals the estimated rate of operations in the human brain.

#Science #Neuroscience #Brains #Computers #Super Computer #Australia

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religion-is-a-mental-illness · 1 year ago

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By: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Published: Oct 14, 2023

I was raised to curse Israel and pray for the destruction of Jews, writes AYAAN HIRSI ALI... That's why I know all too well Hamas is another ISIS - whatever useful idiots in the West say

All across the West, there is no shortage of people blaming the horrors in Israel on Israel itself — and openly supporting the perpetrators.

The head of policy at the Community Security Trust, which monitors hate crimes committed against British Jews, has said: 'Anti-Semites are getting excited by the sight of dead Jews... Hamas murdering Israeli civilians has exhilarated them... We've had reports of people driving past synagogues shouting 'Kill the Jews'.'

Anti-Semitic incidents in Britain are currently three times higher than they were this time last year, the charity adds.

'Free Palestine' graffiti has been scrawled on a railway bridge in Golders Green, a Jewish area of north London, while in Oxford Street, one young woman — who may well have been radicalised in England — was filmed ripping down posters that pleaded for the safe return of the babies taken hostage by Hamas. 'Free Palestine, f*** you!' she screamed at an onlooker who dared to remonstrate with her.

On Thursday night in Paris, police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse hundreds of people at a pro-Palestine rally, in which protesters chanted 'Israel murderer [sic]' and 'End the siege of Gaza.'

Outside the Sydney Opera House, about 1,000 protesters lit flares and waved Palestinian flags — and some were filmed chanting: 'Gas the Jews.'

In the U.S., meanwhile, 31 student groups at Harvard signed an open letter claiming that the 'Israeli regime' was 'entirely responsible for all unfolding violence', while California's Stanford University displayed a banner declaring that Palestine would be made free 'by any means necessary' — a sinister slogan that tacitly justifies Hamas's slaughter of children in pursuit of its aims.

Not to be outdone, the Chicago 'chapter' of the Black Lives Matter movement posted an image of a paraglider alongside the slogan 'I stand with Palestine'. The reference, of course, was to Hamas paragliders who descended on Israel's Supernova music festival last Saturday to rape and butcher at least 260 young people.

In short, anti-Semites the world over have been emboldened by this crisis, and Jews are once again being blamed for their own massacre. And I am not remotely surprised. In my childhood, I was steeped in the Islamist movement's noxious anti-Semitism — which has been on such ugly display this week.

Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, I spent my early years escaping political strife after my father was imprisoned for being an anti-government activist. We moved between countries before settling in Kenya.

The worst insult in the Somali community was to be called a 'Jew', not that any of us actually knew one. To be called a 'Jew' was so abhorrent, some felt justified in killing anyone who so dishonoured them with this 'slur'.

As a teenager in Nairobi in the 1980s, I joined the Muslim Brotherhood — the strict Sunni Islamist movement, founded in Egypt in 1928, from which Hamas ultimately descends.

I vividly remember sitting with my female fellows in mosques, cursing Israel and praying to Allah to destroy the Jews. We were certainly not interested in a peaceful 'two-state solution': we were taught to want to see Israel wiped off the map.

When I was 16, my school's teacher of religion was Sister Aziza. She read to us the Koran's lurid descriptions of the everlasting fire that burns flesh and dissolves skin — the place reserved for Jews.

Sister Aziza described Jews as physically monstrous, with horns coming from their heads, out of which flew devils that would corrupt the world. Jews controlled everything, she told us, and it was the duty of Muslims to destroy them.

It was a lot to take in for a teenager who read Western romance novels in secret, but I believed every word.

When the fatwa was issued against the British writer Salman Rushdie in 1989, a small crowd gathered in a Nairobi car park to burn a copy of his novel The Satanic Verses.

Sister Aziza urged us to join in the condemnations of Rushdie and I am ashamed to say I took part in the book-burning. I was certain Rushdie should be killed, but the scene nevertheless made me uncomfortable.

That seed of doubt grew over the next few years as I questioned why, if Allah was so just, women were treated as mere chattels in some Muslim families.

Over time, my questions turned into open rebellion against the Muslim Brotherhood, Islam and, ultimately, my family.

My father sent me to relatives in Germany in 1992 so I could go from there to Canada to join the distant cousin he had married me off to. I ran away from that marriage and travelled to the Netherlands where I sought asylum.

Eventually, I became a member of the Dutch parliament, and later settled in America.

I abandoned my religion, but I have never lost my clear-sighted understanding, forged in my childhood, of Islamism's pathological hatred of Jews, as well as Muslims considered as heretics and non-Muslims in general.

The former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi — a one-time leader of the Muslim Brotherhood — declared that Muslims should 'nurse our children and our grandchildren on hatred' of Jews. His organisation has done just that — and the despicable sentiment is the underlying context to Hamas's most recent attacks.

The truth, however, is that Hamas is no more a friend of the Palestinians than it is a friend of Israel.

Those who see the conflict as a simple territorial dispute between a colonial state and a dispossessed minority fail to recognise Hamas for what it really is: a gang of genocidal Islamist thugs backed by a theocratic, anti-Semitic regime in Iran.

Useful idiots on the far-Left in Western countries, who blindly support Hamas because they see it as a freedom-fighting group, harm the very people they claim to defend.

They say they want peace —and perhaps many of them do. But real peace talks based on the 2020 Abraham Accords between Israel and Arab countries have made painstaking but undeniable progress despite the efforts of Hamas.

Until Hamas's recent attacks, Saudi Arabia and Israel had looked set to normalise relations. This murderous incursion was an attempt to derail such talks — and thus ruin any chance of lasting peace.

Ordinary Palestinians want to build a prosperous, functioning society. Hamas, in its obsession with annihilating Israel, doesn't care about that. It wishes only to bring about a genocidal Islamist dystopia.

It is Hamas, after all, that holds Palestinians hostage in Gaza, setting up military installations in — and launching rockets from — civilian areas in the full knowledge that counterstrikes will kill innocent people.

It is Hamas that impoverishes Palestinians by stealing humanitarian aid to fund its terror. This is what 'by any means necessary' truly signifies: supreme callousness towards Palestinian life.

If you genuinely want to see peace between Israelis and Palestinians, or more generally between Muslims and Jews in the Middle East, then Hamas should be your enemy.

And even if — like many in the West, as we can now see — you don't care at all about Israeli or Jewish lives, even if you care only about the lives of Palestinians, Hamas is still your enemy. After all, Hamas ruthlessly persecutes any Palestinians who disagree with it: a 2022 U.S. State Department report found that, among other abuses, Hamas detained and assaulted critical journalists.

It is especially hostile to public figures associated with its rival Fatah, the Palestinian party voted out of office in Gaza in 2006, but which still runs the West Bank.

Hamas harasses its own dissidents, and has invaded the home of at least one young critical activist, telling his parents to keep their son under control — or else.

As a Dutch MP in 2004 and 2005, I travelled to the West Bank and met Palestinians.

In public, they spouted all the usual lines about Israel being their 'oppressor'. But once the cameras were switched off, they spoke more truthfully.

They complained bitterly about their treatment by Hamas and other radical groups, and told me how money meant to feed the people was being taken to fund those organisations' activities and their leaders' luxurious lifestyles. Arabs and Palestinians alike told me how fed up they were with conflict, and how ready they were for peace.

Hamas, like other Islamist groups, has done its best over the course of decades to stomp all over those wishes.

And it has been successful. The shocking rise in anti-Semitism in the West owes much to the entrenched Islamist networks that have spent years stirring up this ancient hatred.

Europe must now wake up to these fifth columnists who shamelessly celebrate violence and bigotry, promoting hatred of the Jewish minority in Europe.

The West must also wake up to the moral corruption of its own Hamas supporters, from Left-wing university students to flag-waving street thugs.

Meanwhile, elite human-rights organisations need to do far more to name terrorism when they see it.

It is horrifying to see Amnesty International claiming that one of the 'root causes' of the crisis is 'Israel's system of apartheid imposed on Palestinians'.

Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, should do more than merely equivocating in its insistence that no injustice can justify another.

This is not to argue that Israel should be immune from criticism. My point is that much of the criticism is at best misguided and at worst thinly veiled anti-Semitism.

Hamas, like Lebanon's Hezbollah, Isis in Syria and Iraq, Nigeria's Boko Haram, Somalia's Al-Shabaab and several other groups, are fighting not for the liberty and prosperity of Muslims but, ultimately, for the annihilation of Israel and the imposition of an Islamic state.

If Palestinians and other Muslims have to suffer for that aim, then so be it.

Well-meaning celebrities and broadcasters who, out of wilful ignorance and good intentions, hesitate to condemn Hamas as terrorists need to recognise this truth.

These are dark times for Israel and for the world, but there are some reasons to be hopeful.

This week's strong statement by America, Britain, France, Italy and Germany condemning Hamas while recognising the 'legitimate aspirations' of the Palestinians is a good sign.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer's condemnation of Hamas is particularly welcome, given that, until recently, his party was led by a man who called these butchers his 'friends'.

And if Israel and the Arab states do not allow their worst instincts to rule them, talks may continue — and might just secure peace in the longer term.

Hamas is another Isis. They are the enemies of Israel; they are the enemies of all Jews; they are the enemies of Palestinians; they are the enemies of peace and freedom. They are the enemies of Western civilisation itself.

It is about time they were recognised as such.

To achieve a two-state solution — with free and prosperous Palestinians and a safe Israel — the first, fundamental step is for people to stop chanting slogans in support of terrorists and murderers, and for everyone to cry in unison: 'Down with Hamas!'

Remember two years ago when everyone was arguing about whether the terrorist assault and takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban was Trump's fault or Biden's fault? Today, people are scolding us not to call the same thing terrorism. It's "liberation" and "decolonization."

Remember in 2014 when Boko Haram kidnapped the children and everyone was campaigning for their safe return because it was an unconscionable act of terrorism? Now kidnapping and murdering children is an act of legitimate revolution.

Remember when kids rushed to support ISIS the instant they rose, and people were appalled and argued over how could it could be possible to support a terrorist state that seized illegitimate power? Online radicalization was blamed, and many didn't want to believe that indoctrination had primed it well in advance. Now, if your Gender and Postcolonial Studies haven't activated you to support a terrorist state that has seized illegitimate power in the region, you're a bigot.

Remember when we cheered on the Iranians for finally fighting back against the regime of terror that hung over them, hoping for them to finally win the war against the regime? Now, Israel has to simply take whatever assaults of terrorism are dealt at them; it is, as Douglas Murray said, is the only country which is not allowed to win a war.

Remember when certain people liked to call everyone who disagreed with them "Nazis" and that punching them was the right thing to do? Now the extermination of all the Jews is the "Be Kind" position.

How morally confused do you have to be, after all this, to side with the terrorists?

Hamas is to Palestine as ISIS is to Syria and the Taliban is to Afghanistan.

As I've posted about before, Islam is a supremacist ideology. Its goal is world domination. They tell us that. Loudly.

https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/USC-MSA/Volume-4/Book-52/Hadith-196

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah 's Apostle said, "I have been ordered to fight with the people till they say, 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah,' and whoever says, 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah,' his life and property will be saved by me except for Islamic law, and his accounts will be with Allah, (either to punish him or to forgive him.)"

https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/USC-MSA/Volume-1/Book-8/Hadith-387

Narrated Anas bin Malik: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah.' And if they say so, pray like our prayers, face our Qibla and slaughter as we slaughter, then their blood and property will be sacred to us and we will not interfere with them except legally and their reckoning will be with Allah."

Narrated Maimun bin Siyah that he asked Anas bin Malik, "O Abu Hamza! What makes the life and property of a person sacred?" He replied, "Whoever says, 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah', faces our Qibla during the prayers, prays like us and eats our slaughtered animal, then he is a Muslim, and has got the same rights and obligations as other Muslims have."

https://quranx.com/Hadith/Muslim/USC-MSA/Book-41/Hadith-6985

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the tree Gharqad would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews.

It has successfully weaponized intersectional shibboleths to trick useful idiots into thinking that the supremacist is the oppressed victim.

#Ayaan Hirsi Ali #down with hamas #hamas #Palestine #israel #islamic terrorism #islam #antisemitism #terrorist organization #jihad #religion #exterminate hamas #religion is a mental illness

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pineapplerightsideupcake · 9 months ago

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Pls don’t dismiss this I really want to hear your thoughts. This anti white women, why aren’t you standing for Arab women stuff reminds me of a tweet. Basically an Arab (I think? Poc for sure) “feminist” woman was saying that it’s ok that Sydney Sweeney was being sexually harassed in insta comments for just eating wings bc she’s a “whore” and that feminists should focus on real problems like fgm and honor killings.

This recent stuff has honestly made me think (as an African woman, from a Muslim background) that this anti white women stuff must be just jealousy. We know how bad the misogyny in Arab/Muslim cultures are. Despite the hardships we have here in western countries, it’s way better than it used to be. Women can wear pants, open their own bank accounts, and divorce their husbands. In some cultures, including my own, women can’t divorce. Hell they can’t even dress how they want to even in western countries, I’m literally a victim of this. And I believe these Muslim/Arab women know this, and it’s probably jealousy that’s causing this irrational hatred of white women, not just celebs but most. I’ve seen them say all white women are Karens etc. that would explain the denial about hijab and misogyny within Islam and certain cultures too. I used to hate white girls bc I was jealous they didn’t have to wear hijab or dress in long dresses all the time. I realized after growing up that it’s not their fault I was raised in a misogynistic culture that says a girls body is always shameful (I was wearing hijab way before puberty). And in a way, I can’t blame my mother bc she’s so brainwashed by religion she truly believes it. Anyway there’s more to be said about how they only seem to attack white women and rarely the men but that’s a story for a different day.

I think it’s less likely jealousy and more that women from extremely misogynistic cultures are more likely to be misogynistic themselves, and “white feminism” has been weaponized by men to silence feminists all over the world.

In the west it implies women already have it too good and should stop complaining.

Elsewhere it’s used to dismiss universal feminist ideals as being “white feminism” that “our women” don’t need.

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faithfromanewperspective · 1 year ago

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the western sydney work ethic, mental health, burnout, inequality and ableism

inspired by ashton irwin on artist friendly with joel madden and 17902 sustainable urban development at the university of technology sydney

I’ve teased the idea of writing this post for a while now, and now I’m sitting in my borrowed bed in Sydney with the graphs and maps from my course still at the back of my eyelids and still processing the Vibes of catching up with my childhood friends and wondering if it’s too early to go to bed if the sun’s still up—it’s time to let it out. Because I found a bunch of seemingly unrelated things and put them together in a way that helped me process my upbringing and the way it’s positioned me as I go through life even now.

For background of this post, the Greater Sydney metropolis has a very stark rich/poor divide, where a large strip from the west going to the south of the city have been left behind in a variety of ways. In my uni course I see the maps on income, education level, job overqualification, crime, violence… they’re nice and set out, and they validate what I already intuitively knew—just like everyone who grew up in the area I’m going to refer to vaguely as Western Sydney. These graphs put words to something I’ve lived when I was too young to process it, something I hear the impacts of in 5 seconds of summer’s songs like I’ve never seen in any other art ever.

I know many people relate too and I don’t want to say you have to be from Western Sydney to get it. There are plenty of other places with similar trends, but this strip of suburbs, half a city, is where I grew up and the case study I’m going to use for the phenomenon I’m going to describe in this post.

Having spent the last decade and a bit in a more conservative, more sheltered area of suburban Brisbane, where people take it slow and at least attempt to have fun without getting completely wasted; where people have high expectations for their lives and livelihoods they never quite meet and where they’re the kind of emotionally aware that you hear all about how stressful that experience is: this was the backdrop of my teens and young adult years to this point. It’s where I learned about mental health and neurodivergence and ableism and where I really explored what faith and spirituality is to me. It’s where I never quite felt comfortable when people were too polite, where I poured all the belief they had in me as a gifted kid plonked into that environment I wasn’t native to into the delusion that I could deconstruct the unequal education system of their own creation if I only worked harder than anyone had ever worked before. Then they would finally listen. It’s where I tried and tried to get help for my mental health and wasn’t listened to either, not when I presented so well and was simply unable to unmask until I was unable to mask at all. Where the slightest bit of hope caused me to forget everything that was hurting me, making it a struggle to work through even to this day. where I wondered if I was some superhuman for the fact that I can work my ass off without even realising it’s hard work, a smile on my face and arms open for connection as always (the mark of health they say) while being desperately unwell, hurting, thinking I had it good compared to some of the people I’d see crumple under the pressure, I should be kind to them (not understanding why I found them so, so relatable).

I am not a freak of nature, or superhuman, though I am neurodivergent and twice-exceptional. I am the product of my upbringing and my ancestors. I carry generations of culture from hectares of foreign lands my ancestors made their homes on (ethically questionably in some cases I do acknowledge) and became part of the ecosystem of. It is, like most difference, a gift and a curse. Something that makes certain measures of ableism not apply to me, but creates others in their place. I’ll get into this more later.

in the strip of suburbs united by demographics we call Western Sydney, farmers from the notoriously difficult land of the Murray-Darling and immigrants from everywhere on the planet, some Indigenous but few Indigenous to Australia, make up classrooms, neighbourhoods, workplaces. Think I Am Australian by The Seekers, but just the verses, as a snapshot of some of the stories representative of the people. Interwoven in the landscape. We celebrated Harmony Day on the 21st of March in my primary school. Everyone had a different cultural background. We heard different languages spoken on the street. There were stereotypes. There were scared people trying to find their tribe, build a life in Australia, away from the larger scale farms, get their kids a good education to do a trade or go to university. Fear and angst and hurt coexisting with an appreciation of the juxtaposition of others you’d never head admitted out loud. But the second verse of the Australian national anthem was written just for us, or might as well have been. Beneath our radiant southern cross, we’ll toil with hearts and hands… google the lyrics, you’ll get it, you’ll see why I wish the rest of Australia did too: for those who’ve come across the seas, we’ve boundless plains to share, with courage let us all combine to advance Australia fair…

No one with the power to acknowledge this I interact with these days remembers the second verse. Except 5 Seconds Of Summer, in their ridiculous little promo videos, who I’d bet the rubble that’s left of my parents’ old house as the new owners turn it into a mansion because Gentrification, have no idea of what a meaningful gesture that is.

I can feel the wounds of being torn from the good parts of that experience closing over. And so it’s time to give the often forgotten stories on an often forgotten piece of land that made me and also these four wonderful humans who we are today, the credit it deserves. Start by telling our stories.

One thing I love about Artist Friendly is it cuts straight to it. Joel Madden is just incredible like that—in a world coming out of the 2010s pop decade of dancing while the room is on fire (bloodhound, 5sos) put your rose coloured glasses on and party on (Katy Perry’s chained to the rhythm) (these I would consider more analytical quotes of the era, one whose vibe was ‘forget all the pain in the world, let’s party and sing about how horny we are’ which for all my cynicism I did find fun)—he kept up his punk edge, kept investing in new musicians, searching for and investing in what’s real. He also really loves Australia, and when you put our underdog-supporting attitude next to Good Charlotte’s songs you understand why. Anyway, the episode pretty much opens by him asking Ashton about his background, and relating from the perspective of working-class-emotionally-unavailable/immature-parents-who-showed-their-love-through-provision-and-really-did-try-to-be-there-but-had-none-of-the-resources. I like the positive take. It’s high time we stop being classist and ableist towards the people who’ve met our needs as much as they were able, but it still wasn’t enough. Who taught us how to take opportunities, work to prove our worth, and through it all couldn’t even afford therapy.

I used to think my family was rich because we lived in Australia and my parents had gone to university. Never mind the fact that I was born when they were barely older than I am now. Never mind the mould in the walls or sneaky Tuesday night washing of the school uniforms in the summer when we got sweaty and there weren’t any spares or the mismatched bargain bin clothes we wore or the bedroom I shared with my sisters. I knew the people I compared us to. And now I do really believe if I’d grown up a bit less frugal or even a few k’s out of the area I did I wouldn’t be who I am. I wouldn’t have the perspectives I have, nor would this podcast episode have me feeling so seen. Like, yes I lived a bit further into the city than these guys, close to the train line without any farmland where the house values shot up seemingly overnight and meant the area I grew up in is experiencing a very weird disparity as two cities collide within it today. But we grew up in the same era in western sydney, we grew up loved and knowing that was a privilege and we grew up knowing from a very young age we had to spend our whole lives working hard if we wanted life to be manageable and we better be polite and better not ask for too much.

yet we also grew up with hurt. From the trauma we inherited from our caregivers as we encountered the attitudes and fears with which they faces the world. From what we saw our peers go through much too young to be able to draw boundaries with the empathy we felt too much of and understood nothing of. From broken family relationships that were all too common. From religion that hurting people used to cause or at least stagnate hurt instead of healing.

when I was burning out and struggling as an unrecognised neurodivergent I used to wonder why my father would place such value on the Protestant work ethic when Jesus died exactly so we wouldn’t have to strive. And I acknowledge that the PWE is harmful to many disabled folk or literally anyone who has experienced the demands of life and had their stress invalidated for it. Including myself. But never having the expectation of a life of ease and luxury? I do appreciate that. It’s given me a whole different metric for how I view life, one none of my friends except those who are from those years of my life understand. No one in Brisbane or my online international friends seem to get it. But I’m sure when you see yourself in this post, that some of you will (we might be the largely unheard minority but I’m sure we exist. Joel Madden is proof of that). It’s given me a differently calibrated emotional pain scale in many ways. Different standards for when the warning lights come on (and I’m very perceptive of angst and disappointment and always see them in others to be worse than they are because of it). And when I look at everything this band has accomplished, I know it’s the same for them.

I have spent a lot of time these last years advocating for neurodivergent acceptance. I’ve done so in a way that made sense of the decade previous, of existing in a world of inequality I’ve always been so sensitive to and of expectations that I took on as opportunities (because what else have I been trained to do)? And yet so much of it is about funding and resources. And when there isn’t that? You make room for my favourite thing ever: grassroots, unofficial but beautifully organic loving neurodivergent affirmation. Plenty of rural folks, my grandparents included, hate labels, prefer focusing on strengths and equipping young people based on those than accommodating difficulties. They’re often seen as conservative, bigoted, ableist, and some of them are. But they bring with them an important lesson about how to live with the realities of the economy that they struggle in too, too much to support someone else. They don’t have the same impossible expectations of their neurodivergent progeny and protegees and community members that many who hold in their heads an idea of perfection they hope to bring to their families do (the kind of things sometimes only a diagnosis can free someone from, and nothing from the memory and shame of) and that—that is an important attitude for all of us to have.

Some people are unconventionally neurodivergent affirming while knowing none of the terms, or maybe trying to hold off using them because of the same economic and confidence reasons I’ve tried to unpack. Some rely on simple kindnesses and explanations that centre around possibility, and go nowhere near deficit. Some people know intuitively or through hard life lessons themselves (usually the latter) the value of stripping all but essentials from the functionality of everyday life. Not making it any harder than it is.

Of course you can drum on the tables in math class. My son is a musician, I get how it is.

Liz Hemmings is the only valid neurodivergence parent—I’ll say no more, it is how it is

Sometimes when we advocate for things we have to be aware that the way the dominant in-power often wealthy culture has figured it out isn’t always the best way to do things. Environmentalism is a prime example of this. This is why we need brown environmentalism and to decolonise and listen to our Indigenous stewards and share power.

You can take a lot of lessons from a place that’s as culturally diverse as Western Sydney. And you can see how a work ethic is facilitated, rather than gatekept. You can see why Ash, when asked by Joel if he’s scared of every getting back to that life (ref to poverty) his attitude is actually one of gratitude and almost reverence for the place that shaped him, that brought the band together and everything that came from that point forwards. That shaped their attitude and birthed the grit that got them through being on tour with one direction and I don’t think he said it but in Ash’s case I bet the empathy he has for the fans and the way he just wants to connect and create a fun experience but also one where we’re deeply seen by moving songs is because he knows what it’s like for so many people. You can’t not if you grew up like we did. You can see why Luke at any chance will say ‘we’re from Sydney Australia’. It has a way of sticking to you, the rich culture that’s a patchwork of orphaned cultures, the way everyday life is like one of those adventures you emerge from with strong bonds usually only found in fantasy novels. You can see that the band is proof that those bonds exist in real life.

after a decade and a bit pretending I know what leisure is and how to have fun without Bad Angst I’m glad that this proof is still in my life. I’ve still got close friends from primary school and few can boast that (we might not quite be Calum and Michael in that regard, but they still have other friends from primary who they’ve kept in touch with despite geographical separation as I have).

Now I’ve acknowledged this and traced the strings that are much easier to see when my own life is mirrored in a podcast episode, maybe I can find the good among the cultural dysphoria in the circles I do have in Brisbane, and do value still for what they are even if they’re not quite the same. Now that I can see how a world of too many opportunities and not enough freedom can burn someone out who came from this background, with the type of brain that flourishes on being a latchkey kid and sketchy hangouts with deep conversations and questionable substances but crumples under expectation and too much choice and politeness, I can put my life back together in a way that validates who I am and where I come from, rather than what those around me tell me should be good for me.

as, I can tell by this interview, these guys have. I want to be able to talk about suffering without people acting like it shouldn’t be something we can comfortably say out loud, as Ashton does here and through music. My art isn’t quite the same, but the purpose behind it is so, so similar. I relate a lot to the importance he places on spirituality, even if I’ve tried to do something with Christianity that it, in the mainstream at least, isn’t built for and probably can only partially do on its own. Maybe the epitome of humility is being able to learn from other religions and see them as gifts from God even as, and I include Christianity here as well, anything can be dangerous if used in a way that it wasn’t meant for: anything with power to heal has power or hurt too. I’ve got so much respect for how Ash does it. I think this episode really cemented for me that, and I feel like it’s something we as a fandom don’t talk about enough because of their characterisation (and fair enough, if you’re famous you don’t want people dissecting every part of you, and I’m not going to do that just give a generalised compliment): these guys are so incredibly resilient and intelligent and invested in creating healing and they’re really fucking good at it. They might present themselves as goofs with one braincell that create bops and fan over other celebrities as if they themselves aren’t famous too, but so much of that is humility and them baring themselves in ways that are sustainable and really emotionally mature (for the most part) to be relatable to us as fans and invest in making that connection genuine. They’re not pretending, because they understand how it is to be human.

and you don’t get there by being some sort of Untouchable Philosophical Genius Figure. you get there because you’ve lived in community and you’ve survived hard things because of other people who’ve done similar and created authentic art too. You get there often because you have to: because putting on a fake show and doing stuff for likes and popularity was never going to work and will only screw you up in the long run and you’re worldly enough to see that from a young age and learn from your own intuition and empathy and experiences. You get there because you lived your whole life being resourceful and being street smart and doing what it takes to make good decisions and invest in yourself (who else do you have who’s worth more than that) and your future. Doing what it takes to make sure you’re alive to learn how to do better at things you’re behind in that might keep food on the table in the future, because there’s none of that oh-it-won’t-happen-to-me attitude. That part is very sustainable which I love. I also really really relate to it and have found it something I would get complimented on when I was younger, too young to be so mature. But I never attributed it to myself. I knew somehow, abstractly, I was disabled and nearing my limit and everything I do I did so I could survive. It’s the western Sydney work ethic.

and yet this often beautiful phenomenon has its ugly side. If you know you’re neurodivergent even without the words—more often than not the only people you see who you relate to are those who didn’t make it, who fell off the horse of functionality and into things like addiction and other things that exacerbate the inability to empower yourself. You figure that when you’re honest with yourself you’ll be dead by 25. Sometimes you give up on trying to prevent that and wonder if it’s even worth it to attempt to keep going: is your life really worth that effort?? What I’ve described is a combination of the experiences of many people I know, aspects of it are mine, and aspects mirror things I know these guys have mentioned about themselves (I’m going to leave it at that vague level of detail). You wonder why people believe in you, is it only because any other option is unmentionable? But what if you let them down like you know (fear) you will? And burnout is the epitome of this: the need to let go of trying. And without a decent amount of privilege it’s impossible to return from.

I’ve been there and scrounged at straws of privilege I do have, pretending I’m doing my job to the level that others expect while letting go of every expectation I have on myself. Still problem solving outside every box on how to get back on my feet because I know nothing else, radically accepting that I might not and whittling down all my needs in life to the most essential, that I might still survive even at my limited and diminishing capacity. While always relating to those our society sees as failures. I’ve borrowed from other cultures that aren’t my own to have a stubborn sense of worth while trying to keep afloat in a society and economy that says it’s conditional. My spirituality comes in here, as do my problem-solving skills: again, maybe this culture fears burnout more than anything, but maybe it has half a toolkit on how to get out of it. Only half. I have to pair it with what I learn from others too.

and even through that, I’m immensely privileged to have savant skills and a generally able body. Just like when you make it big as a musician you’re privileged by that. Against a backdrop of I’m-nothing-special. I’ve always struggled with questions of my felt worth, because I’m so conscious of my privilege and ability that sometimes I get the two muddled (though I know my ability doesn’t define my worth in things I do poorly at, and my persistence technically doesn’t either but I’ll be damned if I don’t try and try and actually find doing badly more validating of how I see myself than when I do well, so I chase it again and again, my dad is the same, it’s what makes us so adventurous). I understand the consciousness of things that are going well not lasting, and pouring creativity for new ventures into things like selling candles. Instead of letting achievements make me believe I’m someone more important than I am, using them as ways of giving myself space to do whatever’s next, dial off the pressure a little bit.

I understand appreciating others’ sensitivity and the social capital they bring everywhere rather than their material wealth or achievement and when Ash praised Calum for that and said it made him look bad I felt that. Both the experience of being that counter-cultural person who doesn’t give a shit about money but values connection so, so much more (and from all I’ve written, you can see why, can’t you) to still never being able to be as good a person as I see the need for in the world.

I understand missing family and constantly grieving that, as I weigh up the city of my childhood with the friends and culture I love versus the city of my youth with my feathered family who are my children and who I hate to miss birthdays of and the like, same goes for my sisters and parents and grandparents, the way Ashton, the only band member with younger siblings, hates missing all their milestones too. I feel privileged that Brisbane and Sydney are so close to each other and nothing in my life is as far as Los Angeles. I understand the nostalgia for Sydney. This whole post is proof of it.

I understand the unbreakable bonds between people who make this kind of art together. I understand putting disagreements on the back burner and realising the connection through writing is so much bigger and the connection can overcome whatever is going wrong. Heck, I feel privileged to understand and relate to how such brilliant brains work (nature: neurodivergence I won’t go any further into as well as nurture) as well as the environment that made them what they are.

all my life I’ve longed for that kind of community and connection I’ve seen largely in fiction, sometimes between people in real life. And I think having written this analysis (it’s taken me til my bedtime or later) I do have all the ingredients there. All the ability to make it, both in the practical way I relate to and am there for my friends and whatever I do in my silver bridges tag. In the neighbourhoods I eventually design that foster communities with all the good parts I’ve described but without the inequality and minimal poverty and hurt and violence. To everyone who’s shown me these things in myself that are so worth working for and I know I’m not savantly immediately good at, I am so so incredibly grateful. the city as a whole. My family and friends. The celebrities I grew up nearby and those who invest in people like them. People like me. May I keep investing in people: people like you. because what is humility but knowing there’s always something to learn, and what will bring all of us forward but learning it and putting it into practice in love and empathy that drives a grit that no amount of striving for striving’s sake can manufacture?

#western sydney #western sydney work ethic #neurodivergence #burnout #personal mental health tag #ashton irwin #artist friendly interview #5 seconds of summer #calum hood #luke hemmings #michael clifford #5sos #community #urban design #growing up poor #I did a big analysis and I will do this again #5sos5 city #silver bridges #neurodivergent liberation

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