Grab bag–one of several

2026, August 13

Many twists and turns on “The Odyssey”

I saw the Nolan adaptation of The Odyssey in the movie theater. It’s a book I love and have read twice. The second time around was the Emily Wilson translation.

Of the movie, I thought that Nolan had made Odysseus into Oppenheimer. There is a scene were Odysseus, after springing out of the Trojan horse and opening the gates of Troy, contemplates in horror the carnage he’s unleashed.
I was expecting him to say “Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds”. Or, considering that Odysseus was an old hand in combat and that the Trojan war was in its tenth year, he could have said “I am shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.”

Emily Wilson has an article taking the movie down, and it’s worth reading. The title is apt for Nolan’s portrayal of Odysseus: An Uncomplicated Man. There’s also a 40 minute interview with her on NPR.

Ezra Klein has an interesting view on how the Nolan movie is itself a Trojan horse, hiding an attack on the current fascist times and cult of MAGA in a movie about The Odyssey. I think Klein is right: Ezra Klein Show: Christopher Nolan’s Finest Trick.

No matter how clever or how well intended, a movie has to work as a movie, and this little remark from film critic Richard Brody in a review of a different film, says something about Nolan’s Odyssey that I find satisfying to read:

An influential notion in art-house filmmaking is that of slow cinema: long takes and spare action that emphasize the real duration of onscreen events. It’s a term I avoid, because what matters more than speed of action is speed of thought. Movies made up of quick cuts and onscreen turbulence, such as “The Odyssey” and “Superman,” may look fast, but they dole out ideas and emotions at the cautious pace of children’s books.

from Richard Brody on “Fast” by Rob Tregenza.

That’s it, there you have it. Nolan has made an Odyssey to talk about the current amoral times, and in doing so has departed from the spirit of the book, and has done so with a movie that is at once portentous and shallow.

Spielberg is back to form

I loved Disclosure Day. Watch it. If you’re in need of motivation, or if you’ve seen it and want to mull on it, there’s the Richard Brody review.

Physics of music

Minutephysics as a very good video on The Physics Of Dissonance.

Wellness

I’m often on the lookout for tips on how to live better. Recently, the youtube algorithm suggested a video from Tim Spector: 8 tips for a healthy gut microbiome.

All 8 rules are interesting, and some of them I’ve sort of been doing for years.

There was one rule that I found delightful: Eat 30 plants in a week. “Plants” does not necessarily mean “green leaves”. Many things can go in here, for example coffee, spices, nuts, mustard seeds, olive oil. Watch the video to see why Spector recommends variety in plant consumption.

There was another video I clicked on: 5 japanese habits

Don’t drink coffee first thing in the morning
Instead, drink water
Go outside to move and soak sun in the first 30 minutes of being awake.

Finally, this video, How to fall back asleep in the middle of the night, explains that you should not feel obliged to fall asleep right away, and that even lying awake with your eyes closed in darkness is restorative.

The story of Hannah Cairo

A lovely story from Quanta magazine about a mathematical prodigy. At 17, Hannah Cairo Solved a Major Math Mystery.

In 2023, after a second summer with the Berkeley Math Circle, Cairo wondered what her next step should be. She had already applied to several universities, and while most schools rejected her — she hadn’t finished high school yet — she was accepted by the University of California, Davis. Should she start her undergraduate studies three years early? Or should she pursue educational opportunities elsewhere?

Stankova encouraged her to instead participate in Berkeley’s concurrent enrollment program, where she could take graduate-level math courses from leading researchers in the field.

The math world is also adjusting to the fact of Cairo herself. After completing the proof, she decided to apply straight to graduate school, skipping college (and a high school diploma) altogether. As she saw it, she was already living the life of a graduate student. Cairo applied to 10 graduate programs. Six rejected her because she didn’t have a college degree. Two admitted her, but then higher-ups in those universities’ administrations overrode those decisions.