Clayton Page Aldern
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compatibilism.bsky.social
Clayton Page Aldern
@compatibilism.bsky.social
9.5K followers 590 following 540 posts
🌎🔥🧠

Data reporter @grist.org. Thinking about climate change, brain health, active inference

THE WEIGHT OF NATURE is out now:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/717097/the-weight-of-nature-by-clayton-page-aldern

Signal: aldern.01
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compatibilism.bsky.social
Scare your family members! www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/717097...
Book cover for “The Weight of Nature” by Clayton Page Aldern, featuring the silhouette of a human head filled with a gradient texture that shifts from cracked, dry earth at the top to smooth blue at the bottom, symbolizing environmental stress on the mind and body, with the subtitle “How a Changing Climate Changes Our Minds, Brains and Bodies” and a small Penguin Books logo in the lower right corner.
November 27, 2025 at 2:26 AM
compatibilism.bsky.social
“When we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage upon wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has been smashed.”

—Walter Benjamin, somehow writing about this painting
Angelus Novus by Paul Klee. Kind of a silly flat cartoon of an angel in a tutu upon which critical theory has apparently predicated an understanding of the sweep of history
November 24, 2025 at 3:55 AM
compatibilism.bsky.social
the AI tries its hand at French post-structuralism
Amazing screenshot of a Google AI response reading: “Al Overview: No, a locomotive does not have a "pee-pee-maker" in the biological sense. The term comes from a philosophical concept by Gilles Deleuze…”
November 16, 2025 at 9:39 PM
compatibilism.bsky.social
🤌
Screenshot of The Atlantic website showing an article titled ‘The Right Is Changing the Rules of the Culture War’ with the subtitle ‘For conservatives, cancel culture is in.’ The article is by Thomas Chatterton Williams and published on September 13, 2025. The page features The Atlantic’s logo at the top, a red section with a large white quotation mark graphic, and the publication date at the bottom.
September 14, 2025 at 7:52 AM
compatibilism.bsky.social
Not a new issue!
This is a page from HOMELESSNESS IS A HOUSING PROBLEM, showing page 177 with the header “Response”. The text discusses the dehumanization of people experiencing homelessness and its impact on social policy. The main body text explains how extreme out-groups may be perceived as less than human, citing brain activity research showing neural patterns of disgust when viewing such groups. It argues that this dehumanization creates psychological barriers between the “deserving” and “undeserving” in policy discussions. The page includes a lengthy block quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1935 State of the Union address, where he expressed concerns about welfare dependency during the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s quote discusses the burden of federal relief programs and argues that continued dependence on relief is spiritually and morally destructive, advocating for work programs over direct relief.
September 14, 2025 at 3:05 AM
compatibilism.bsky.social
If you live in Chicago, you can use our interactive map to check your service line and request free water testing. Even if your address isn't in the database, you can see nearby lines that might serve your building. That map is embedded in our investigation here: grist.org/accountabili... 8/n
August 28, 2025 at 4:36 PM
compatibilism.bsky.social
And while Chicago is supposed to notify 900,000 at-risk households about their lead pipes, as of July, they'd only sent out 62,000 letters. More than 90% of residents with dangerous pipes still don't know they're at risk. That's one reason we built our lookup tool. 7/n
Infographic titled "What material is your water service line?" showing Chicago's four-category classification system for water service lines. The graphic displays four pipe illustrations with colored backgrounds: 1) Lead pipe (gray pipe with red background) - at least one component known to be made of lead; 2) Suspected Lead pipe (gray pipe with red background) - composition marked unknown but suspected to contain lead based on building age; 3) Galvanized Requiring Replacement pipe (lighter gray pipe with red background) - no lead components known, but galvanized steel that can become contaminated with lead from upstream pipes; 4) Non-Lead pipe (copper-colored pipe with blue background) - no components made from or contaminated with lead. The graphic explains that Chicago classifies entire service lines based on knowledge of three components: the gooseneck connecting to the water main, the public-side line under the sidewalk, and the private-side line running into the building. Source: City of Chicago. Graphic by Paul Horn/Inside Climate News.
August 28, 2025 at 4:36 PM
compatibilism.bsky.social
These mapping efforts illustrate how the toxic burden falls heaviest on Black and Latino neighborhoods and poor households. In majority-Latino areas, 92% of service lines need replacement. In majority-Black areas, it's 89%. Compare that to 74% in majority-white neighborhoods. 3/n
Three choropleth maps of Chicago showing the correlation between lead pipe problems, poverty, and race. The first map displays "Percent of pipes requiring replacement" with a red color scale from 7.0% to 96.1%, showing the highest concentrations on the South and West sides. The second map shows "Percent of residents in poverty" with a blue color scale from 1.8% to 42.5%, with similar geographic patterns of higher poverty rates in South and West side neighborhoods. The third map displays "Percent of residents who are non-white" with a purple color scale from 15.0% to 100%, again showing the highest percentages concentrated in the South and West sides of the city. Gray areas indicate census tracts with fewer than 25 service lines or no available data. The maps demonstrate a clear geographic overlap between areas with the highest rates of lead pipe problems, poverty, and non-white residents. Sources listed include City of Chicago and U.S. Census Bureau, with graphics credited to Peter Aldhous/Inside Climate News, Amy Qin/WBEZ, and Clayton Aldern/Grist.
August 28, 2025 at 4:36 PM
compatibilism.bsky.social
tl;dr Production is projected to nearly triple by 2060, yet only 9 percent of plastic gets recycled (and almost half ends up in landfills). The industry’s carbon emissions already rival those of major countries, ranking fourth globally behind China, the US, and India.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
Area chart showing exponential growth in global plastic production from 1950 to 2019, starting near zero and reaching approximately 400M metric tons, with projections showing continued growth to 1.23B metric tons by 2060. Treemap diagram showing plastic waste management strategies, with landfilling comprising the largest portion (49%), followed by mismanagement (24%), incineration (19%), and recycling as the smallest share (9%). Bar chart comparing plastic pollution levels, showing 22M metric tons in 2019, projected to increase to 44M metric tons by 2060 under current trends, but potentially reduced to 6M metric tons with high ambition policies. Bar chart ranking annual emissions in 2019, comparing the plastics industry (2.24B metric tons) to major countries: China (10.7B), United States (5.26B), India (2.61B), and Russia (1.71B), positioning plastics as the fourth-largest emitter globally.
August 12, 2025 at 5:20 PM
compatibilism.bsky.social
tl;dr Disasters and disaster spending are on the rise… and so are construction costs and insurance premiums, especially in areas with high climate risk. And yet: Americans are still mostly moving to areas prone to fires and floods.
Area chart showing annual FEMA Disaster Relief Fund spending from 1992-2021, with spending generally increasing over time and reaching peaks around 2005 ($33B) and 2021 ($43.3B). Area chart displaying the new home construction price index from 1964-2024 (2005=100), showing steady growth that accelerates dramatically after 2020, reaching 190.3 by 2024. Line chart comparing average home insurance premiums by climate risk level from 2014-2023, with high-risk areas (orange line) showing steeper increases, especially after 2021, reaching over $3,300. Bar chart showing net population movement by disaster risk level, with low-risk areas experiencing net outflow (around -35k people) while high-risk areas see net inflow (around +65k for fire risk areas, +15k for flood risk areas).​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
August 12, 2025 at 5:10 PM
compatibilism.bsky.social
Time to log off
An ad, hopefully fake, but I’m not hopeful, for a lip product called “Lipotle” by Chipotle, the burrito place. A woman with curly hair and red lips holds the silver tube in front of her eyes over a white background. Text reads “Lipotle is back” in all caps. Why is it back
July 15, 2025 at 4:43 AM
compatibilism.bsky.social
Clinically insane levels of sycophancy
Screenshot of two New York Times notifications. The first, from 1 hour ago, is titled ‘Listen to The Daily’ and describes Tom Homan, President Trump’s border czar, “speaking about his deportation strategy and why the administration is just getting started.” The second, from 3 hours ago, is titled ‘News Analysis’ and discusses “how the Iranian revolution never delivered the freedom it promised 46 years ago, questioning whether war with Israel will finish off an unpopular and repressive regime.”
June 19, 2025 at 4:15 PM
compatibilism.bsky.social
Really Quite the juxtaposition here
May 23, 2025 at 5:06 PM
compatibilism.bsky.social
Communing with nature (banana slug!)
Close-up photo of a banana slug crawling along a dirt path in a forested area. The slug’s moist, yellowish-brown body is in focus in the foreground, with its eye stalks extended. The background is slightly blurred, showing green foliage along the trail.
April 20, 2025 at 2:38 AM
compatibilism.bsky.social
United States: [replaces IRA and bipartisan infrastructure law with rat colony, legalizes infant labor]

Japan:
Screenshot reading “3-D Printed Train Station: Japan constructed the building in six hours. The method could be an answer to the country’s aging dwindling work force.”
April 13, 2025 at 1:57 AM
compatibilism.bsky.social
Told her the tariff formula was just deficit over imports
Calico cat with amber eyes and black, orange, and white fur sitting on a blue carpet looking displeased. White paws and chest. Yellow furniture elements and lamps visible in background.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
April 6, 2025 at 7:20 PM
compatibilism.bsky.social
Every day there is a new stupidest thing to have seen
Proper Good microwave soups on a store shelf: cheeseburger and pizza flavors, wrapped in generic branding and AI food imagery.
March 25, 2025 at 11:00 PM
compatibilism.bsky.social
Gotta be
Book cover of “Critique of Everyday Life” by Henri Lefebvre. The cover design is minimalist, featuring a white background with large black sans-serif text aligned along the left edge. The title “Critique of Life,” and author name “Henri Lefebvre,” are prominently displayed, wrapping around the spine. Additional text in smaller font appears along the spine, including a description and publisher information (Verso Books).
March 25, 2025 at 5:11 PM
compatibilism.bsky.social
Need one of these for the apartment
A metal sign that says in red text “for assistance push 3 inch help button.” Below the sign is a 3 inch help button that says “push for help.”
March 19, 2025 at 6:30 PM
compatibilism.bsky.social
Cool and chill behavior
An NYT screenshot that says: “…the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin, recently wrote the dean of the Georgetown University Law Center, a Catholic institution, saying that it was “unacceptable” for the school to “teach D.E.I.” (whatever that means) and declaring that until Georgetown revised its curriculum, his office would refuse to hire — that is, would blacklist — its students.”
March 17, 2025 at 2:34 AM
compatibilism.bsky.social
Politics is always a game to the NYT, as opposed to a practical activity with material stakes www.nytimes.com/live/2025/03...
A screenshot that says “Mr. Schumer’s abrupt decision to reverse himself and allow the spending legislation to advance stunned many of his colleagues and angered many Democratic lawmakers and progressive activists who were spoiling for a shutdown fight to show their determination to counter Mr. Trump. Many in his party vociferously opposed the temporary spending measure, arguing that it was a capitulation to the president that would supercharge his efforts, and those of his billionaire ally Elon Musk, to defund and dismantle broad swaths of the government.”
March 15, 2025 at 12:18 AM
compatibilism.bsky.social
Surely Zeldin means they will accomplish this goal by implementing aggressive efficiency standards, making it easier to expand renewables cost effectively, and ensuring development costs aren’t passed onto consumers 👍
A screenshot of a notification from the NYT that says: “EPA’s massive shift: the EPA head said his agency’s mission was to make buying cars, heating homes and running businesses cheaper—not to protect the environment.”
March 13, 2025 at 4:41 AM
compatibilism.bsky.social
They just need to get rid of all those people whose preferences may not align with the broader electorate
A U.S. map from the NYT article “The Donors Powering the Campaign of Bernie Sanders” from Feb. 1, 2020. It is titled “Candidates with the most individual donors,” where darker shades on the map indicate a greater share of estimated donors. The Democratic primary race at the time included Sanders, Warren, Buttigieg, Biden, Yang, and Klobuchar. The map is almost entirely blue (for Sanders). The article summarizes: “Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont received donations from an estimated 1.4 million people through the end of 2019 — far more than any other candidate in the Democratic primary race, according to fund-raising records filed with the Federal Election Commission. The map above shows his expansive donor base around the country, including in Iowa, whose caucuses will be held on Monday. Mr. Sanders is powering his campaign with small donations from supporters across the United States, and he collected $96 million from donors in 2019 without holding a single high-dollar fund-raising event.”
March 2, 2025 at 5:40 PM
compatibilism.bsky.social
As usual @theonion.com is ahead of its time
A screenshot of an Onion headline that says “NOAA Cuts Leave Wind Chimes As Sole Predictor Of Approaching Hurricanes.” Below the headline is a photo of a wind chime against a blurry background of greenery.
March 2, 2025 at 3:04 AM
compatibilism.bsky.social
UK paperbacks are almost here for THE WEIGHT OF NATURE! Blushing at that orange spine www.penguin.co.uk/books/452628...
A book titled "The Weight of Nature: How a Changing Climate Changes Our Minds, Brains and Bodies" by Clayton Page Aldern is shown with both its front cover and back cover visible. The front cover features a cracked earth image transitioning to blue at the bottom. The bright orange back cover contains positive reviews. The book is displayed on a vintage floral-patterned fabric with red, brown, and orange flowers.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
February 24, 2025 at 11:13 PM