April 2021 Friday’s e-links: An Apostrophe, One Paper, and Three Podcasts

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I like to think of them as my e-links:

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Friday’s e-links 4/30

Like me, you might care very much about the apostrophe. Sadly, we lost an ally when the president of the Apostrophe Protection Society died at 97 years old on March 30th. A wonderful Washington Post obituary told the story of his battle to rescue the little punctuation mark that has a huge impact.

Friday’s e-links 4/23

In this paper, the Federal Reserve tells us that what many of us teach about monetary policy is wrong. Referring to the AP Exam (taken by many thousands of high school students who hope to get college credit) and the most popular economics textbooks, they warn us that the information about monetary policy is outdated. Rather amazingly, that means we have to tell our students that they have to learn incorrect facts to fare well on the exam. This link includes an example of the problematic parts of the course description on page 165.

Friday’s e-links 4/16

On Tuesdays, the Slate Money podcast goes to the movies.  This week, the synergy between fiction and fact took them to the 2011 film Margin Call (Demi Moore and Jeremy Irons). Combining the story in the film with a focus on Lehman Brothers’s demise, Felix Salmon led a fascinating discussion.

Friday’s e-links 4/09

Again, I’ve a podcast to recommend. From 99% Invisible, the podcast initially grabbed my attention with a snakebite. It continued with an escape from a Costa Rican jungle. The end came with a history of the development of snakebite anti-venom. All was fascinating.

This was the snake:

Friday’s e-links 4/02

My favorite podcast this week was from The Daily. About what was “a likely Rembrandt,” it told the story of a painting’s path from anonymity to fame when an aristocratic art dealer concluded a portrait at an auction was a Rembrandt.

This was the painting: