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Gamblers might win or lose on a given day, but the house wins in the long run. Covering bets over a long time horizon is essential, whether the bet is on a deck of cards or a rising sea. Steve Wynn is not gambling with climate denial WBUR journalist Jack Lepiarz describes how the Steve Wynn's team is working with environmental experts to mitigate the risk of climate-related sea-level rise as they build Wynn Boston Harbor . This is the most expensive single-phase construction project in the history of Massachusetts, so Wynn must take a very long view to ensure the viability of the structure. In just six minutes, Lepiarz and environmental consultant Jamie Fay describe how looking back 200 years and forward 100 years have influenced the construction design. Professionals in finance, insurance, construction, planning, or military operations increasingly understand that they cannot afford foolish gambles on climate. Waterfront locations, as Lepiarz makes clear in his reporting, are bot

When author James Baldwin died in 1987, he was only 30 pages into a writing project that intended to use the murders of Medgar Evers (1963 -- when I was five weeks old), Malcom X (1965), and Martin Luther King Jr. ( April 4 , 1968) as a lens through which to understand the American story more broadly. His premise was that the history of the country is the history of the Negro (the term he uses consistently) within the country. In I Am Not Your Negro , director Raoul Peck brilliantly brings Baldwin's fragments of work forward four decades, weaving together Baldwin's writings (as read by Samuel L. Jackson); video of Baldwin in various debates, lectures, and talk shows; and dozens of well-chosen clips from television and film spanning nearly a century. The film thoroughly dispels the notion that slavery and its aftermath are something that people could "get over" if only they tried a bit harder. This film is rich food for thought. Lagniappe The morning after I posted thi

For many international shipments, the routes shown above are far shorter than alternatives that would pass through the Suez Canal as they circle Asia to the south. These routes have historically been quite difficult, though, being impassable in cold months and requiring massive icebreaker escorts in warmer months. This has now changed, according to a report from CNN Money, which presents melting Arctic ice as a new opportunity presented by climate change . The Russian tanker Cristophe de Margerie has traveled from Norway to South Korea in 19 days, the first ship to make such a journey without an icebreaker in front of it. It is a sign of many more such voyages to come. We know from the study of climate justice that the consequences of climate change accrue very unevenly -- so unevenly, in fact that people in some regions or economic sectors are actually experiencing benefits. The problems of melting Arctic ice are many and are well documented. This story about shipping brings to mind

I have visited Volante Farms in Needham, Massachusetts a couple of times; I think the first time was during one of the many explorations we make in our travels around the state with Project EarthView . Even a brief visit to the farm store reveals that this is a remarkable property. A ten-minute discussion with Radio Boston journalists Jaime Bologna and Deborah Becker hints at just how remarkable the story of this family farm is. Their Farming for 100 Years story is rich with lessons about the geography of food, particularly the importance and challenges of producing food in a suburban region. I would elaborate on some of these connections here, but I am going to wait, since this will be the first writing assignment for my Land Protection class this fall. Productive farmland, a dozen miles from downtown Boston. Image: WBUR Lagniappe I just saw this quote from Henry David Thoreau, whose lived only a few miles from this farm and whose writings are a big part of the course I am teaching.

In 2010-2011, I was writing quite a lot in on this blog about the advantages that would accrue from regionalizing some services in Massachusetts -- consolidating the work of towns that is done by counties in most of the United States.   It would simplify communication between state agencies and local workers, and increase the proportion of funding that would go directly to services. As logical as some county-level service provision would be, it is not going to happen in my lifetime, because of the "illusion of local control," as Gov. Patrick and I described it in a 2009 discussion. We used the word "illusion" because the small scale of governance allows taxpayers to make detailed decisions -- like a town-meeting vote on whether to buy new tires for a police car (I exaggerate only slightly) -- while unfavorable economies of scale very much constrain those decisions. Overhead is quite high, with thousands of people employed managing things who could be much more usef

We live on a water planet, yet clean water is scarce. Even on my own university campus, some students do not have adequate access to clean water during the day -- though bottled water is for sale at a cost about 3 times that of gasoline. Artist Serge Belo calls attention to the importance of water by coordinating the work of 100 volunteers to make a remarkable mosaic from recovered rainwater. I recommend watching the video above and then reading about their project on Viral Mirror and On Note . Water is an important part of the work we do as educators in Project EarthView; I recently posted an article about the global scale of fresh water , in response to a question from a student at Rumney Marsh Academy in Revere.

The first time I purchased a digital camera, it was with professional-development funds from my college. I made the case that the camera would help me to learn student names, because it would make it easy for me to take "mug shots" at the beginning of the semester and put the photos into a spreadsheet. In most of my larger classes, I have announced on the first day that the next class meeting would be "picture day." When possible, I have used wall maps as my "studio" background. I have found the process of cropping and inserting the photos to be a good way to start learning names, and calling roll from the photo-spreadsheet has made me much better -- though still far from great -- at learning names throughout the semester. "Yes, you there." I started the spreadsheet approach when I was in my 30s, and eventually started using it in my smaller classes. Whenever I have failed to do so, I have ended the semester being unsure of at least a few names.

Seminary was where I got my questions answered, and life was where I got my answers questioned. Bill Moyers values both halves of this couplet -- he gained a lot in seminary school, and he gained a lot by moving beyond it. He goes on to say that he knows religion is a powerful animating force in people's lives, and that he has seen both great good and great harm motivated by it. " You can't treat grandma this way ." These remarks come near the end of a remarkable and wide-ranging conversation between the best interviewer we have -- Terry Gross -- and an accomplished journalist (with a cabinet full of Emmys) who once held Sean Spicer's job under a very different president. The conversation begins with Moyers describing how Lyndon Johnson patiently and skillfully did his homework to bring about the passage of Medicare . The discussion then ranges across broad themes of democracy, journalism, work, and mortality -- this is 36 minutes well spent. Actually 72 minutes,