John Cox

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Savvy Gardening

Vegetables to Plant in August: What to Sow for Fall Harvests

This guide outlines which vegetables to plant in August for fall harvests, including turnips, kale, beets, cilantro, bok choy, radishes, mizuna, salad greens, broccoli, and carrots. It explains the practical timing considerations for late-season planting, such as counting backward from your first frost date and adding extra days to seed packet maturity estimates to account for shorter days and slower growth. The article also covers soil preparation, seed germination in hot summer conditions, and specific variety recommendations based on the author's experience gardening in zone 6a.

Permalink gardeningdiyadviceagriculture

www.theatlantic.com

Review: ‘The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity’

Graeber and Wengrow's *The Dawn of Everything* dismantles the conventional linear narrative of human history—from egalitarian hunter-gatherers through agriculture to inevitable state hierarchies—by drawing on recent archaeological evidence to show that pre-industrial societies were far more politically complex, varied, and deliberately organized than assumed, with populations regularly choosing between different social forms rather than passively following technological determinism. The authors argue that human beings have long possessed the freedom to disobey, relocate, and create alternative social arrangements, and that this freedom, rather than inevitable progress toward bureaucratic states, should define what we consider "civilization." The book, posthumously published after Graeber's death, frames human history as one of political experimentation and possibility rather than predetermined stages, suggesting that our current "stuck" condition in hierarchical states was neither inevitable nor necessary.

Permalink philosophyhistorybooksagriculture

BuzzFeed News

These Republicans Who Voted To Cut Food Stamps Personally Received Large Farm Subsidies

House Republicans who voted to cut $39 billion from food stamps over a decade included several members whose family farms had received substantial government agricultural subsidies—Rep. Stephen Fincher received $3.4 million in farm subsidies while quoting scripture to justify denying aid to those unwilling to work, Rep. Vicky Hartzler's farm received over $800,000, and Rep. Kristi Noem's family ranch received $3.4 million. The hypocrisy highlighted the inconsistency of lawmakers accepting government payments for agriculture while arguing against public assistance for the poor based on principles of personal responsibility.

Permalink politicsnewsagriculturebudget

Scientific American

The Smart Way to Play God with Earth's Limited Land: Scientific American

Lynas argues that 83 percent of Earth's ice-free land is already human-influenced and that "wilderness" is effectively extinct, making traditional conservation approaches obsolete. Rather than pursuing low-impact rural living or halting land conversion, he contends that humanity should concentrate its impact through intensified agriculture on existing farmland, aggressive urbanization, and electrified transport, while allowing marginal lands to rewild and protecting high-biodiversity areas—a strategy that also slows population growth through demographic transition. He specifically advocates scrapping biofuel subsidies (except potentially for aviation), switching ground vehicles to electricity, and recognizing that cities, despite their apparent sprawl, actually represent the most environmentally efficient way to house the world's growing population.

Permalink environmentsustainabilityscienceagriculture