The Rogovoy Report 1.15.24

From around the corner to around the globe...

Jan 14, 2024

The Great Malformation: A Personal Skirmish in the Battle for Attention

(Hedgehog Review) by Talbot Brewer - What we are living through is the unplanned and mostly unnoticed obsolescence of this very basic element of the human form of life. The work of cultural transmission is increasingly being conducted in such a way as to maximize the earnings of those who oversee it. Their instruments of acculturation now find their way into the family sanctum, diverting our attention from our kin and toward a variety of screen-based fascinations that are well known to make us more lonely, less capable of intimacy, more prone to depression, less capable of concerted and undistracted attention, more riven by consumer desires, less empathetic, and less capable of calm and well-reasoned political debate — that is, entirely unlike how any sane society would wish its progeny to be. The market economy torn free from the rest of cultural life some half-dozen generations ago has now turned upon its parent and consumed her. The work of the polity that Aristotle regarded as most crucial — the acculturation of successive generations — increasingly occurs as the unplanned aggregate effect of corporate profit-seeking, in a direction that few regard as genuinely good for the next generation. This novel experiment in socialization raises anew the concern that we might prove unable to keep our republic (as Benjamin Franklin put it), or even our humanity.

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Our Semicolons, Ourselves, by Frank Bruni (NYT)

Don’t kick the seats and switch off your smartwatch: how to be a better audience member (The Guardian)

Adam Schiff would abolish filibuster, end the Electoral College, and expand the Supreme Court in his pro-democracy plan (Politico)

Bizalion’s Fine Food Celebrating Its 20th Year

(Berkshire Edge) GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. - Bizalion’s Fine Food, poised at 684 Main Street in Great Barrington, may not pop up on your radar without a tip from a friend. However, once you enter the café and store, one of two things is sure to happen: if you came for some quiche or a panino, you’re going to leave with a bag of dinner ingredients as well; or if you came for ingredients, you’re going to treat yourself to an espresso and toast, or a sandwich and splash of wine before you leave.

Kitty’s Restaurant a Smart, Sexy Addition in Hudson

(ATU) HUDSON, N.Y. - Nothing will prepare you for the unapologetically sexy cube of black-sugar pork belly jiggling on a doorstop of brioche toast smeared in quince aioli, for sweet indulgence, and lacy microgreens for the boudoir look. Kitty’s Restaurant in Hudson, sibling to the existing Kitty’s Market Cafe, is finally open opposite the Amtrak station. Owner Ben Fain has slowly been orchestrating the development’s expansion, along with a soon-to-open, 6,500-square-foot event space, over several years. From the market’s 2020 start in the culinary hands of Chez Panisse alumna Lauren Schaeffer and Anna Morris, to the 2021 opening of sibling natural wine shop Grapefruit, and the expansion of a rear patio in 2023, the realization of Kitty’s Restaurant is the time and the moment, with executive chef Nicole LoBue turning up the heat.

READ MORE:

Meng’s Pan Asian Restaurant in North Adams changes hands, menu to remain the same (iBerkshires)

Pittsfield’s Crust pizzeria opens second restaurant in Williamstown (Berkshire Eagle)

5 trends that defined Hudson Valley dining in 2023 (ATU)

Why you should eat lentils every day (WaPo)

What’s the best time to eat dinner? Here’s the math (WSJ)

HEALTH & WELLNESS

There’s a Huge Covid Surge Right Now and Nobody Is Talking About It

(WIRED) - Seemingly everyone has come down with at least one bout of illness this winter: sniffles that theoretically pass as “just some bug” if you don’t test for Covid. But there’s a solid chance, with or without a test, that those sniffles were Covid after all. We’re in the midst of the largest global surge in daily Covid infections since Omicron, with nearly 2 million new infections per day estimated in the US alone. Odds are, you barely noticed.... But infection rates haven’t peaked yet, and we can expect hospitalizations and deaths to rise over the next few weeks. “That’s really troubling for a variant that’s rapidly taking over,” says Mark Cameron, an infectious disease researcher at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine—and especially worrying during the winter flu season. Read also, These are the new vaccines you should get — and it’s not just Covid-19 (WSJ)

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’It’s transforming yourself and then the world’: A new focus at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health (Berkshire Eagle)

Children living near green spaces ‘have stronger bones’ (The Guardian)

Will a full-body MRI scan help you or hurt you? (New Yorker)

7 brain foods that can help you beat anxiety (WaPo)

2023 was hottest year ever recorded globally (The Guardian)

NEWS FROM THE BERKSHIRES

New Lending Library at the Guthrie Center Lets Visitors Borrow Musical Instruments

(Berkshire Eagle) GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. - It’s a bounty pulled straight from a folk musician’s dream: dulcimers, banjos, fiddles and guitars, to name a few. Leaning against old pews or lined in refurbished gun cases, the instruments are given new life as implements of creativity. Strings rule the realm, but if you can’t strum it, you can drum it — full kits, congas and percussion trinkets of all kinds are strewn around the balcony in the Guthrie Center, too. George Laye, who served as the center’s director for 18 years until his retirement in 2022, has been building the collection of instruments for over eight years with the intention of starting a musical instrument lending library — which opened for the first time on Wednesday.

Searching for Bigfoot in the Berkshires

(Boston Globe) - While working on a movie script featuring Bigfoot, I had started seeing branded merch everywhere. On CBD oil and air fresheners. On car polish and coronavirus masks. On scented candles and Nalgene bottles and maple syrup and vile, undrinkable IPAs. Why hadn’t I noticed this before? What I really wanted was to understand where Bigfoot came from. What would research reveal about the folklore and anthropological backstory of Bigfoot? Was it an actual zoological possibility or a human-wide cultural delusion, a manifestation of a universal desire to believe in the unbelievable? I spent the better part of a year going on “expeditions” to suspected Bigfoot haunts across the country. Massachusetts’s first documented Bigfoot sighting took place in Berkshire County in 1765. The Barrington Beast, as it came to be known, resembled a large bear with a gorilla-like face. In 1865, The North Adams Transcript published several stories about a “wild man” leaping fences and crossing darkened roads. And on October 18, 1879, The New York Times printed an article about two hunters who encountered a wild man in the mountains near Williamstown. It was about 5 feet tall, they said, “with very wild eyes,” walked upright, and was covered in bright red fur.

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Berkshires and planet Earth suffer hottest year ever in 2023 (Berkshire Eagle)

Great Barrington residents demand accountability, transparency after police intervention over teaching of “Gender Queer” book (WAMC). Read also, Fallout from police department’s warrantless investigation into a copy of ‘Gender Queer’ continues at school district’s committee meeting (Berkshire Edge) and Law firm to investigate book search in Great Barrington middle school, as reports of homophobic bullying prompt calls for action (B Eagle) and The Great Barrington teacher who had the cops called on her over ‘Gender Queer’ has an attorney and wants answers (Boston.com) and Legislation would let the professionals decide what books are appropriate for students (B Eagle)

Selectboard approves cannabis manufacturing facility in Great Barrington (B Edge)

Dawn Jardine named new library director in Great Barrington (Berkshire Edge)

Ski Butternut to celebrate 60th anniversary (B Edge)

Lenox Board of Health urges rewrite of GE transportation plan for Rest of River cleanup to include rail (B Edge)

Beloved Berkshire entrepreneur Nabih Nejaime dies at 88 (Berkshire Edge). Read also, Stockbridge businessman Nabih Nejaime is remembered for warmth and generosity (Berkshire Eagle)

Downtown Stockbridge sees flurry of real estate activity, as key buildings change hands (B Eagle)

Stockbridge police see ‘alarming increase’ in incidents of vehicles illegally passing school buses (B Eagle)

Neighbors’ objections shoot down proposed high-density housing plan in Williamstown (iBerkshires)

New Pittsfield mayor and city council at odds over ‘level-funded’ budget (WAMC)

As Gov. Healey looks to cut almost $400M amid billion-dollar revenue shortfall, State Sen. Mark explains how it will impact Western Mass. (WAMC)

Committee assignments doled out to North Adams city councilors (WAMC)

Winter arrives in the Berkshires (B Eagle)

In recent years, hyperlocal papers have popped up across the Berkshires (B Eagle)

Stanley-brand thermal cups that are all the rage got their start in Great Barrington (NEWS10). Read also, Stanley cups have taken the internet by storm. The Berkshires can lay claim to the cup that started it all (Berkshire Eagle)

NEWS FROM THE HUDSON VALLEY

Hudson Begins Tearing Down Shantytown

(ATU) HUDSON, N.Y. - The city began tearing down a historic fishing village on the Hudson River waterfront last week despite the protests of some residents who said they were given assurances some of the structures would remain. The village comprises a series of wooden fishing and hunting shacks, some of which date to the 1800s. Also called the Furgary Shacks or Shantytown, the shanties were built on state land with mostly found materials. They were forcibly cleared of people by Hudson police in 2012, two years after the city took ownership of the area from the state in a land swap. Read also, Furgary demolition marks end of era (HV360)

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Hudson police officer Christopher Filli succumbs to medical emergency while on duty (HV360)

Hudson rabbi Daniel Fried -- Columbia County’s only full-time rabbi -- dies at 78 (HV360)

County shares plans for downtown strip mall in Hudson (HV360)

Hudson city council urges governor to deny Iroquois pipeline expansion across river in Athens (HV360)

Documentary “Hudson, America” -- which focuses on six first generation Bangladeshi immigrants from Hudson transitioning from high school to college while they confront anti-immigrant sentiments, the #MeToo movement, sexual abuse, forbidden love -- now streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Kanopy (WAMC). Read also, ‘Hudson, America’ premieres on Amazon (ATU)

In Twin Counties, churches, historic sites, honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy (HV360)

Donkey, two horses rescued in Catskill; caretaker arrested for animal cruelty (ATU)

US Rep. Molinaro announces reelection bid (HV360)

State sends thousands of dollars to trails, historic sites (ATU)

Elise Stefanik wants to be Trump’s running mate. That’s unfortunate (The Guardian)

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The Rogovoy Report 1.15.24

From around the corner to around the globe...

REQUIRED READING

FOOD & DINING

HEALTH & WELLNESS

NEWS FROM THE BERKSHIRES

NEWS FROM THE HUDSON VALLEY

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