Published in June 2024

Here is a roundup of my articles published in June. I hope you find something to enjoy.

Everett Herald

WWMG specialty services available right in our backyard

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ParentMap

Climate Play Helps Parents Bridge a Difficult Topic

Why You Should Try New Things as a Family

Beyond the Museum: Kids and Families Learn at America’s Car Museum

Why It’s Important for Teens to ‘Hang Out’

Reprints

Sibling Stories: 26 Books That Celebrate Sib Bonds

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Western Washington Medical Group

Cardiac Physiological Pacing for Pacemaker

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Reading Down a Crooked Road

My unintentional theme in June was ‘hidden histories of oppression.’ One of these was “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West.” First published in 1970, the book is dated in many ways. But it is invaluable as the first mainstream attempt to present the history of westward expansion without a colonial bias. Reading this book removes all plausible deniability that it was anything short of intentional genocide. No matter how unpleasant, I think we all have a responsibility to own the truth.

In between catching up on Bridgerton and binging Chinese fantasy dramas, I watched a powerful underground documentary in June. As I mentioned in May, I read the book Sparks: China’s Underground Historians and their Battle for the Future and highly recommended it. One of the people featured was Lin Zhao, a poet who spent most of her adult life in prison and was eventually executed for speaking her conscience. The book also talked about an independent filmmaker named Hu Jie, who made a documentary about her called “Searching for Lin Zhao’s Soul.”

In the early 21st century, Hu Jie did not risk his life to make such a film. But was taking a risk and did have to make sacrifices. As far as I can tell, the movie has never been shown in theaters in China or anywhere else. The movie is available for purchase by organizations, but individuals cannot buy or rent it anywhere (let me know if you find out I’m wrong). Sparks mentioned that underground Chinese filmmakers sometimes put their work up on international platforms like YouTube. That’s how I found a subtitled version of the movie, split into two videos. These films don’t always stay up very long, but often pop again on different channels, so if my link is dead, keep searching.

It is worth making the effort to track down this documentary.

And that’s June in the books.