We’re all gonna have our favorites — which in my case would include the cartoonist who’s “already changed the way we talk about film”. But part of the MacArthur Foundation’s genius is the pure Calvin & Hobbes “There’s treasure everywhere!” reading the awards provides…
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mellowjohn
overlooked again. damn.
Corner Stone
@mellowjohn: You’ll get ’em next year, buddy.
PurpleGirl
I knew and worked with a mathematician who won a MacArthur — Charles Peskin, a mathematician at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (NYU) — won an award in 1983 and became a MacArthur Fellow. His work has involved mathematical physiology and fluid dynamics. He could never spell stochastic and asymptotic correctly. He thanked me for correcting his spelling when I typed his research papers.
Mnemosyne
One of our local art installations/museums got an MacArthur a few years ago:
The Museum of Jurassic Technology
There’s a pretty entertaining book that was written about it as well.
geg6
Didn’t the woman who came up with the Bechdel test get one thus year?
raven
A neighbor just won the The National Poetry Series Open Competition.
Sir Laffs-a-Lot
We should nominate either Steve, Max or Betty Cracker’s Boxers for the Awards next year
Mnemosyne
@geg6:
That the link at “the cartoonist” above.
Technically, Bechdel herself didn’t really come up with a “test” — one of her comic strip’s characters talked about a test that she’d come up with, and people adopted it as their own without realizing that the character frequently gets on the other characters’ nerves by being overly PC.
some guy
Bechdel is a national treasure.
Corner Stone
This New Syrian Adventure is such an amazing proposition.
ETA, why does this phrase remind me of Fine Young Cannibals?
Felanius Kootea
@geg6: Yup. Cartoonist Alison Bechdel wins MacArthur prize.
Corner Stone
When he’s being booked Jonathan Dwyer is wearing a t-shirt that says “Propaganda” across the top and “Obey” in the middle.
That’s like Springtime in a bowl right there.
raven
raven
Check in Betty
PhoenixRising
Alison IS a national treasure. Mary Bonuato, the strategic genius who led the successful legal fight for marriage equality, was also a winner. She’s going on a stamp, drawn by Alison.
ETA: nemmind. Seconding Raven’s comment.
Miki
Yay, Sarah Deer. Seriously fucking deserved. Notalata nostalgia for my alma mater but pleased to see this award.
Bernie would be pleased.
Armadillo
I used to work with Rapping, so was pretty surprised to see him on the front page here. Not in any derogatory sense – he’s a great guy and a great lawyer. He was a great mentor to me. He’s highly deserving, and I have a tremendous admiration for his dedication to a worthy cause.
It’s just a little surprising to load up this page and see someone you used to work with pop up like that. Wow. Great news.
Xboxershorts
This is my nominee
“A few Pennsylvanians are racing to find old wells that spread fumes in homes and bubble contaminants into drinking water, even as the industry continues to fuel the state’s economy”
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/18/pennsylvania-abandoned-fracking-wells-methane-leaks-hidden
This is my wife. I have been funding her efforts mostly by myself and guiding and coaching her in so many ways for the last 5 years….
God Bless her and The Guardian for bringing this critical issue the attention it sorely needs…there are millions of such abandoned wells all over the US and the world
Mnemosyne
@Armadillo:
That’s the funky thing about the MacArthur Fellowship — no one has any idea how they get awarded or how the decisions are made. You literally get a call one day saying, Congratulations, we’re sending you a large check.
Anne Laurie
@Xboxershorts: Kudos to her, and to you!
(I say this as someone who lives down the block from the W.R. Grace site. At least we knew what we were buying, and as every realtor told us, the city’s water is now piped in from a cleaner area.)
Linnaeus
As a historian of science, I’m glad to see that Pamela Long is one of the fellows. It’s even more impressive that she is an independent scholar – it’s hard to do scholarship and not be a “regular” full-time academic.
artkqtarks
Yitang Zhang, a mathematician, had struggled to get an academic position and had done some odd jobs including a work at a Subway sandwich shop before he made a breakthrough. Now he is a MacArthur Fellow.
http://www.simonsfoundation.org/quanta/20130519-unheralded-mathematician-bridges-the-prime-gap/
Xboxershorts
@Anne Laurie: Thanks! Laurie’s (my wife) ability to research both the legacy history of PA’s 155 years of drilling activity as well as PA’s byzantine legal and policy maze has gotten to the point that she can exceed that of the PA DEPs own staff. She is on a first name basis with the head of the DEPs oil and gas management and she has had DEP’s own field staff refer problem wells that residents have complained about for decades to Laurie and our organization and we have forced the state to take action on them!
I love being a constant thorn in the side of political appointees…heh heh heh heh heh heh heh