This is the monthly thread for posting media of various types that you've found that you enjoy. Post what you're reading, listening to, watching, and your opinion of it. Post recommendations to blogs. Post whatever media you feel like discussing! To see previous recommendations, check out the older threads.
Rules:
- Please avoid downvoting recommendations just because you don't personally like the recommended material; remember that liking is a two-place word. If you can point out a specific flaw in a person's recommendation, consider posting a comment to that effect.
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- Use the "Other Media" thread if you believe the piece of media you want to discuss doesn't fit under any of the established categories.
- Use the "Meta" thread if you want to discuss about the monthly media thread itself (e.g. to propose adding/removing/splitting/merging subthreads, or to discuss the type of content properly belonging to each subthread) or for any other question or issue you may have about the thread or the rules.
Read The Martian - not bad I guess, but a sort of celebration of terrible ethics.
The ethical dimension is lampshaded at a few points and it's pointed out that it's not quite that clearcut as 'we are wasting billions of dollars to riskily save one volunteer'; I felt he implies that the death might also kill or set back the space program, which makes the choice a bit different. I'm not sure he's entirely wrong: the public has really weird beliefs and attitudes (as this absurd 'Cecil the Lion' dustup has reminded us yet again) and it's entirely possible things might play out as depicted in Weir's novel. The last shuttle deaths did kill that program, after all.