Letters, Red Meat Republic and the Knicks
So far, I’ve seen my last letter in Colorado, Iowa, California, and North Carolina newspapers. My next one will make the animal-welfare case for increased public funding for cultivated-meat research. If you want to send out your own letters, give this a gander: https://slaughterfreeamerica.substack.com/p/how-to-write-letters-to-newspapers-6eb
Anyway, it’s time for (Cell) Culture Talk. Here’s what I’ve been reading and watching lately.
Book — The Legend of Luke by Brian Jacques. This one was published around the time I checked out of the Redwall series, so I’m not sure if I’ve read it before. The cover looks familiar. Either way, I got the sense Jacques wrote a novella he padded with a long frame story.
Book — Finding God in the World by Avery Brooke. The author was a friend of my maternal grandparents. She attended our family reunions in Avalon, New Jersey. I was surprised to see the text was blurbed by Madeleine L'Engle. On the whole, it’s a lovely spiritual memoir.
Book — Red Meat Republic by Joshua Specht. This isn’t an animal-rights history of American beef production. Specht describes workers, small ranchers, and Native Americans as the industry’s primary victims. Still, there’s a lot to learn here.
Sports — Knicks beat 76ers, 110-96. Philadelphia made a run in the third quarter, but New York held them off. Both teams were missing important players. Recent Knicks addition Bojan Bogdanović looked more comfortable in his new role.
Sports — Knicks lose to Celtics, 116-102. A number of basketball analysts have suggested this game might be an Eastern Conference Finals preview. Personally, I have no sense of how good New York is right now, with all of the team’s recent injuries and trades.