Damon Young
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and
Articles by Damon Young
Identification of tofersen PD-response biomarkers in VALOR clinical trial CSF via multiplexed quantitative proteomics
Results Our CSF analysis included longitudinal CSF samples from 70 subjects enrolled in VALOR Part C7 with available material for all collection time points from baseline through week 16 (five time points). In line with the trial randomization (2:1 tofersen:placebo), our cohort consisted of 47 subjects in the tofersen treatment group and 23 subjects in the placebo arm (Figure 1A), which allowed us to randomly distribute subjects in a 2:1 ratio across 16-plex tandem mass tagged (TMT) sample sets.
To Puff or Not to Puff — Kill Your Darlings
Bestselling novelist John Birmingham called this essay of mine the ‘finest work of literary opinion since Nietzsche said the New Testament was God learning to write badly in Greek’. Now that I’ve established my literary mastery once and for all, I want to talk about blurbs, puffs, endorsements. They’re ubiquitous on covers in Anglophone publishing. Plaudits on the front, laudations on the back. Sometimes they’re massed together so tightly they look ‘defensive’, as Hemingway once complained.
Damon Young: The second best thing about getting doxed by white supremacists
On the last day to register to vote before the election, Rapper and Activist Common made an appearance at Community College of Philadelphia for 'Party at the Polls' an event aimed at boosting voter participation.
Organizers In Conversation
By Dr. Eve L. Ewing & Damon Young Black Life Everywhere: Chicago, launches with our conversation series spotlighting local cultural and political organizers. This is a prolific and timely discussion between Damon Williams and Dr. Eve Ewing. Listen in as they cover the nuances and celebration of Black Life in Chicago. Tagged: A digital magazine centered in the radical spirit of resistance and hope across the Black diaspora.
The Seventh Son
“Madness … is the salt,” novelist Nikos Kazantzakis once wrote, “which prevents good sense from rotting.” Seth – the protagonist of Sebastian Faulks’s new novel The Seventh Son – has only good sense, and this is his vulnerability. Seth is a Neanderthal, born to Londoners Mary and Alaric in the near future. The parents have no idea. Neither does their surrogate, Talissa. They’re all part of a tycoon’s decades-long experiment.
Young Rupert: The making of the Murdoch empire
There’s an art to writing the journalistic yarn, and Walter Marsh has it. Young Rupert: The making of the Murdoch empire is his biography of the youthful Rupert Murdoch, documenting the kingpin’s rise and rise. In plain but far from dull prose, Marsh shows how Murdoch’s father, Keith, tried to leave his son an empire. Instead, young Rupert was the heir to a fight: “His father’s colleagues and rivals were descending on his inheritance like seagulls on a bag of chips.” And how he fought.
Nietzsche o el arte de cultivar las ideas al aire libre
Friedrich Nietzsche pasaba un rato ocioso bajo un limonero y mascullaba algo para sí. Para los habitantes de Sorrento, aquel huerto no tenía nada de especial, proporcionaba fruta y limoncello, su famoso licor agridulce, pero para el joven filósofo —de treinta y tres años por aquel entonces, en excedencia de su cátedra de Basilea— la arboleda de cítricos era mucho más.
Reasonable boy
Because I had been a reasonable boy, mother allowed me to accompany Manis to the marketplace. But because I was a reasonable boy, I raised my chin. “No, mother.” A swallow passed above the courtyard, snapping at whatever small things flew there. Black against the grey. “The teacher said my letters were well-made, and I ought to write more.” As I’d hoped, mother clasped her hands together, her onyx rings catching the light. Black against the grey. Then she put her cold palms to my cheeks.
Adriana Ramírez: Hi. I’m the problem; it’s me.
In January 2022, the Supreme Court agreed to take up Affirmative Action once again, and I braced myself. The magazine and newspaper think-pieces were coming, long-form and short-form columns debating the merits of rewarding the historically underrepresented, and of correcting institutional injustices to achieve equity in opportunity.
Svante Myrick: The right lesson to take from Martin Luther King, Jr.
Every year, the arrival of the Martin Luther King holiday calls us to pause and reflect on Dr. King’s legacy. And every year, I’m struck by the same thing: as sincere as we are in our reverence for Dr. King, we keep learning the wrong lessons, not just from his life but from history writ large. Let me explain. In my life, in our lives as Americans, there are people and stories that inspire us.
Randall Balmer: Why Americans like football so much
I teach a course on the intersection of sports and religion in North America, and I ask students whether there is something about American society that draws us to the violence of football. Why, for instance, despite the NFL’s best efforts, has American football not caught on elsewhere in the world, whereas by most metrics it is America’s most popular game?
Soup is so much more than food
There is a woman in Pittsburgh who goes by the Instagram handle Brothmonger. She has a newsletter where she shares recipes and announces when and where she’ll be selling her soup next. I am not the sort of person who stands in line for exclusive sneakers. I like them, sure. Not enough to brave the weather, though. I am decidedly, aggressively unbrave in the weather. But I will endure for her soup pop-ups. I will stand in the rain. I will shiver in the cold.
Ask Damon: My husband's favorite waitress is racially insensitive
Dear Damon:I was floored. I am an interracial woman, but I am as pale as can be ... White folk often confuse me as White. But walking through the streets of New York City with my Black father and hearing that word leveled at both of us in an attempt to steal our humanity still stings to this day. Hearing that word makes me feel unsafe. The problem is, this is my husband's favorite waitress.
Ask Damon: Should I talk to my daughter about her weight gain?
(María Alconada Brooks/The Washington Post; iStock) Dear Damon: As an introvert, Kim is uncomfortable going places alone and most of her friends live an hour away. She used to go to the gym with her previous roommate, who was an excellent cook and frequently made healthy meals for them both. Since her current roomie is rarely home, Kim's routine has settled into long workdays, followed by evenings online.
Damon Young: Soup is so much more than food
There is a woman in Pittsburgh who goes by the Instagram handle Brothmonger. She has a newsletter where she shares recipes and announces when and where she’ll be selling her soup next. I am not the sort of person who stands in line for exclusive sneakers. I like them, sure. Not enough to brave the weather, though. I am decidedly, aggressively unbrave in the weather. But I will endure for her soup pop-ups. I will stand in the rain. I will shiver in the cold.
The 10 Best Places for Black People to Escape White People When We Just Don’t Wanna See Them for a While, Ranked
10. Hood barbershops. Even if there’s a white barber working there, his name will be “White Mike” or “White Bobby” and he’s there to escape white people, too. 9. A Delta Sigma Theta game night. Be warned, though. While there won’t be white people there, there will be elephants. Lots and lots of elephants. All of the fucking elephants. 8. The set of any movie featuring Clifton Powell.
Is It Safe Yet to Admit How Shocked I Am That There Are Actual Black People Who Had No Idea Meghan Markle Is (Partially) Black?
Forget about everything else. And by “everything else” I mean the conversations about what Meghan Markle’s engagement to Prince Harry means. And the conversations about what “means” means. And the conversations about whether Markle qualifies as black. And the conversations about whether that’s her choice to make. And the conversations about whether we should feel anything but sadness about her marrying into an imperialist empire.
Commentary: Soup is so much more than food
There is a woman in Pittsburgh who goes by the Instagram handle Brothmonger. She has a newsletter where she shares recipes and announces when and where she’ll be selling her soup next. I am not the sort of person who stands in line for exclusive sneakers. I like them, sure. Not enough to brave the weather, though. I am decidedly, aggressively unbrave in the weather. But I will endure for her soup pop-ups. I will stand in the rain. I will shiver in the cold.
Soup is so much more than food
There is a woman in Pittsburgh who goes by the Instagram handle Brothmonger. She has a newsletter where she shares recipes and announces when and where she'll be selling her soup next. I am not the sort of person who stands in line for exclusive sneakers. I like them, sure. Not enough to brave the weather, though. I am decidedly, aggressively unbrave in the weather. But I will endure for her soup pop-ups. I will stand in the rain. I will shiver in the cold.
Ask Damon: I can't afford to hang out with my rich friends
(María Alconada Brooks/The Washington Post; iStock) Hi Damon!I am money-conscious and always on the lookout for cheap options for things that I enjoy. However, my inner circle of friends each have careers that are far more lucrative than mine (all making high six-figure salaries) and they frequently spend $200 on a meal without batting an eye, no special occasion needed. It's not unusual for them to spend $500 on a bottle of wine.
Ask Damon: How do I tell my friends their dogs need better training?
(María Alconada Brooks/The Washington Post; iStock) Hi Damon:Whenever I have said something about actions like this in the past to other people, I have been met with either indignant astonishment ("you don't like DOGS?") or clueless denial ("Fido is very friendly" or "Junior is so protective of me"). For the record, I am not afraid of dogs - just potentially unsafe unruly behavior.
A.J. Edelman: A Jewish Pittsburgher meets antisemitism at the Olympics, and here
“You people make all the rules, but not today.” I will never forget those words. Mere hours before my Olympic debut at Pyeongchang in 2018, a jury member of my event disqualified a critical piece of equipment of mine by overruling the recommendation of the equipment panelists.
Andrew N. Wegmann and Ben Wright: Why is Liberia's president's son playing for the U.S. in the World Cup?
On Tuesday, millions of Americans rejoiced as the United States advanced to the knockout rounds of the World Cup, defeating Iran by a single first-half goal - only its second of the tournament. The first goal, scored against Wales in a 1-1 draw, came off the boot of 22-year-old New Yorker Tim Weah, the son of George Weah, a legend named the best player in the world in 1995.
Ask Damon: Am I homophobic because I think my gay in-law is rude?
(María Alconada Brooks/The Washington Post; iStock) Hi Damon:I also feel uncomfortable with how he uses language used to bring women down, like "witch" with a b and "slut." The other bridesmaids find him charming and delightful; they have even said that they are so glad there is "a gay" in the wedding. I never thought of myself as such a stick in the mud until now, but I just do not click with him.
How we got here with Kyrie Irving, explained
As I’m writing this, Kyrie Irving just returned from an eight-game suspension from the Brooklyn Nets for being “unfit to be associated” with the team. By the time you read this, he might be suspended again. Or he might have just scored 58 points against the Denver Nuggets. Or he might have just retired from the NBA, to question the legitimacy of snow (Is it really true that no two snowflakes are alike?) while walking the flat Earth like Caine in “Kung Fu.” Anything is possible.
How we got here with Kyrie Irving, explained
When I think about how we got here, I keep coming back to the same word: unanchored. The internet has effectively democratized information. We have access to so much of it, with so much of it hurled at us, that the spiritual, emotional and intellectual principles that dictate how we process, assess and synthesize it have never been more paramount. Irving is a genuinely curious man, and I believe he has a good heart, but he's navigating this journey without an intellectual anchor.
How we got here with Kyrie Irving, explained
As I'm writing this, Kyrie Irving just returned from an eight-game suspension from the Brooklyn Nets for being "unfit to be associated" with the team. By the time you read this, he might be suspended again. Or he might have just scored 58 points against the Denver Nuggets. Or he might have just retired from the NBA, to question the legitimacy of snow (Is it really true that no two snowflakes are alike?) while walking the flat Earth like Caine in "Kung Fu." Anything is possible.
Ask Damon: My husband blames his bad hygiene and weight gain on me
(María Alconada Brooks/The Washington Post; iStock) Hi Damon:At what point does enough become enough? I have tried to be the good, supportive wife for so long, and now I am angry and I want better for myself. But how am I supposed to help someone who won't help themselves but expects me to just make everything magically better? - The Good Wife? My husband has given up, and he blames me.
The anti-Blackness of 'the Black kids teased me for talking white'
Race is a social construct with an arbitrary and elastic hierarchy. The only static element is that people deemed “Black” exist at the bottom. American University’s Antiracist Praxis subject guide defines anti-Blackness as “specific forms of racism contingent upon or cast through the denigration, disenfranchisement, and disavowal of people racialized as Black.” And anti-Blackness is atmospheric — felt everywhere, but usually only seen if you know what you’re looking for. It’s not just a word.
Damon Young: Grown-up Black anti-Blackness
Race is a social construct with an arbitrary and elastic hierarchy. The only static element is that people deemed "Black" exist at the bottom. Anti-Blackness is atmospheric — felt everywhere, but usually only seen if you know what you're looking for. It's not just a word. Not just another unnecessarily complex form of academese. It's tangible. Material. Tactile. It's the belief, for instance, from actual medical professionals today, that Black people have higher tolerances for pain than white people do.
The anti-Blackness of 'the Black kids teased me for talking White' Original
Race is a social construct with an arbitrary and elastic hierarchy. The only static element is that people deemed "Black" exist at the bottom. American University's Antiracist Praxis subject guide defines anti-Blackness as "specific forms of racism contingent upon or cast through the denigration, disenfranchisement, and disavowal of people racialized as Black." And anti-Blackness is atmospheric - felt everywhere, but usually only seen if you know what you're looking for. It's not just a word.
Ask Damon: My boss brought in political signs. I don't share his views.
(María Alconada Brooks/The Washington Post; iStock) Hi Damon:However, the owner/operator started bringing in political signs (of a particular conservative group) into the shop over the weekend. When I first saw the signs, I think all the blood drained out of my face and my co-workers could tell something was wrong. It really caught me off-guard as I work for a state government agency and thought I wouldn't have to worry about "politics" at my part-time gig.
Ask Damon: Is it okay to let my White kids sing 'Weird Al''s 'White & Nerdy'?
(María Alconada Brooks/The Washington Post; iStock) Hi Damon:What do you think? Am I being a humorless worrywart, or is this a legit concern? - White and Nerdy Mom Is it okay to let my White kids listen to and sing "Weird Al" 's "White & Nerdy?" For context, they love the song, and whenever we hear it, they end up humming it for days.
I mask at the gym. It's the smart thing to do. Why do I feel so dumb? Original
I don't know the kid's name. Let's call him "Brandon." He just started showing up to Monday evening pick-up a few weeks ago. He's short (5-6 maybe), a southpaw, approximately 22 years old and can't drive right. Easy scout. Easy guard. Indistinguishable, except for his mouth. The words flow the moment he walks in the gym. "Y'all bout to get it today! Y'all's some lunchmeat! Roast beef! Chipped ham! Salami!" It's fun. He's fun.
Ask Damon: I'm going into adult entertainment. What if people find out?
Hi Damon:- Anonymous I expect to soon enter a niche of the adult entertainment industry. I intend to take all precautions to do so anonymously. But if I am successful, the warm blanket of anonymity may one day disappear. How should I respond if and when this knowledge becomes commonly known in my community? For the record, I am not ashamed, and I wish to simply respond with grace. But I expect that it may be uncomfortable. Any suggestions?
I conquered the shoulderless demon named the Chesapeake Bay Bridge
You know that feeling of technological dominion when you use Waze or some other navigation app, and you beat the projected arrival time? I felt this way a few weeks ago, when driving 90 minutes from Washington, D.C., to Chestertown, Maryland. I’d driven from Pittsburgh to D.C. for an event, stayed two days in a hotel, and then drove to speak at Washington College in Chestertown.
Bret Stephens: Dear Kanye West, or ‘Ye’
We’ve never met, and I hope we never will. Still, I’d like to express a sort of gratitude. With a few outbursts in a few days — you threatened in a tweet this month to go “death con 3” on “JEWISH PEOPLE,” and it’s been downhill from there — you’ve probably done more to raise public awareness about the persistence, prevalence and nature of antisemitism than any other recent event. It’s remarkable how long it took us to get here.
I conquered the shoulderless demon named the Chesapeake Bay Bridge
You know that feeling of technological dominion when you use Waze or some other navigation app, and you beat the projected arrival time? I felt this way a few weeks ago, when driving 90 minutes from Washington, D.C., to Chestertown, Md. I'd driven from Pittsburgh to D.C. for an event, stayed two days in a hotel, and then drove to speak at Washington College in Chestertown.
Ask Damon: My wife doesn't want to have sex anymore
Hi Damon: But now, many, many years later, I am 10 years into my marriage, and sex dropped off dramatically seven years ago after our first child was born. It started again as we worked on a second child, and since she was born, my spouse tells me that she has no libido. I've asked her whether it is something I've done. I've tried to stay in shape (6-foot-4, 200 pounds), but that hasn't changed the situation. She assures me that it isn't about me.
Kanye West is boring, too
I am still working and thinking and writing my way through the ambivalence I possess about the relationship people like me — terminally online, 40-ish and once stans of Kanye West — have with Kanye West today. Is he a zeitgeist-steering demagogue? Or do we overstate his present-day influence in large part because we know that a pithy tweet about why Kanye sucks is guaranteed social capital? I lean toward the latter.
10 small words that'll convince people you're a BIG BRAIN BOY
I've always thought that the saying "If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room" was weird because, well, someone has to be the smartest person in the room, right? That's just how rooms, and math, work.
Kanye West is boring, too Original
I am still working and thinking and writing my way through the ambivalence I possess about the relationship people like me - terminally online, 40-ish and once stans of Kanye West - have with Kanye West today. Is he a zeitgeist-steering demagogue? Or do we overstate his present-day influence in large part because we know that a pithy tweet about why Kanye sucks is guaranteed social capital? I lean toward the latter.
Ask Damon: My boyfriend died. Then I found out he had another partner.
Hi Damon:He died recently of a heart attack and I learned that he had a long term partner who lived abroad and came to visit a couple of times year. This explains a lot. He covered it up with some misdirection and some lies. I have some connection to his family and have a huge desire to tell them I didn't know about the partner. I want them to know that I wasn't knowingly cheating on this woman. And part of me wants to make sure she knows as well. People are grieving so I'm giving it some space.
Meme Aesthetics | American Comparative Literature Association
«Back To Seminars Login/Register to submit a paper for this seminar. Additional co-organizer: Stephen Best, UC Berkeley Dank memes, viral queens, magic dreams. In this seminar, we invite scholars from a range of disciplines to broach the topic memes in any way they see fit, recognizing that it is vast, rapidly shifting, and understudied.
On finding empathy for the men who get leg-lengthening surgery Original
For a 2½-day stretch, during the summer of 1984, I wanted to be White. I was watching the Olympics, and in the events I'd seen - swimming and gymnastics, specifically - most of the athletes were White, so 5-year-old me thought you had to be that to compete. That feeling faded as quickly as it came, but it was replaced in 1987, when I wanted shoulders and a neck like LL Cool J had in the "I'm Bad" video. And then in 1988, when I wanted to be light-skinned like Al B.
Ask Damon: I told my engaged son I hate weddings. Now I feel left out.
Hi Damon:I hate weddings. I get sweaty palms thinking about playing any role at all, and get very anxious thinking about being on display. But what I really hate about weddings is the rank consumerism, the fact that people buy into all the hoopla (literally), and that they're a big showoff event for a marriage when half of them will end in divorce. Makes me say no to all of it. Here's the twist: I am White. My son is biracial. My husband is an immigrant from the Caribbean and is a real loner.
I let a spotted lanternfly survive. Then 50 tried to kill me.
Kill it! Squash it, smash it ... just get rid of it" is in the second paragraph of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's spotted lanternfly alert.
Ask Damon: I'm terrible at keeping in touch with friends. Is something wrong with me?
Hi Damon:I'm starting to wonder if there's something wrong with me, because nobody else in my life ever seems to feel this way. Or maybe they're just not talking about it, I don't know. I find myself so wiped out by my day-to-day that I either completely forget to check in with people, or I truly just don't want to because I'm already so wiped out. Am I so self-consumed that I forget to think about other people who (seemingly) love and care about me?
Damon Young: All the words - the racist dog whistles - for 'Black'
There's "urban" of course. And urban's cousin "inner-city." And then there's "at-risk," "underserved" and "fatherless" if talking about our children. "Marginalized," "low-income" and "welfare-dependent" if talking about the parents of those children.
Woke is now a dog whistle for Black. What's next?
We live in "Democratic strongholds" like "Chicago," but we're also "socialists" and "low-information voters" taught "critical race theory" by "Marxists" so we can be "anti-American." Our neighborhoods are "sketchy" and "depressed" "ghettos" filled with "thugs" and "transient" "Section 8" "renters" employable only through "affirmative action" "diversity" "quotas." If we choose to play a sport, we are "naturally gifted," "ungrateful," "intimidating" and somehow both "aggressive" and "lazy." In...
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