How is everyone’s weekend going? The awesome September weather continues, which as a mostly lifelong Midwesterner (since the age of 12 at least) is my favorite. Get out and enjoy the outdoors while we still can.
I sent this out in TKR email Friday but wanted to repeat today in the Six.
Many of you have been loyal readers of The Kerr Report since it launched last summer. I appreciate all of you and the relationship I’ve made with many of you over that time.
It’s time to build on that and grow the newsletter.
Over the coming months, I’d like to experiment with some different content formats. I’d like add an audio/podcasting/live streaming element. More interviews with newsmakers while continuing to write and give you informed analysis and opinion.
But I’d like to hear from you.
What would like to see more of? What types of content, more or less? What new content would you like to see in the newsletter?
Feel free to share any ideas you may have.
I’ll be adding a paid subscription either later this year or by January 2022. But before I do, I’d like to know what you want out of TKR so I can deliver the best publication possible moving forward.
Here’s how you can reach me: Drop me a note at jonjkerr@gmail.com. Or send me a direct message on my Twitter feed, @jonjkerr.com.
I’m asking because I do want your opinion. So please reach out with thoughts on what you like or don’t like and what you most want to see in the coming weeks and months.
Thank you.
Now let’s proceed with the Six.
The Downsides To Masking Young Students Are Real.
The mask debate rages on and will become more prescient as we move indoors for the fall and winter. While there remains no definitive study on the efficacy of mask wearing in schools (there are studies out there that corporate media is pushing as the absolute review, that masks make kids safer in schools, but they are flawed and without balanced data). This article from The Atlantic argues how “the potential educational harms of mandatory-masking policies are much more firmly established, at least at this point, than their possible benefits in stopping the spread of COVID-19 in schools.”
The Internet Came After This CEO. How He Calmed The Cancel Storm.
The CEO of a salad chain business, Sweetgreen, is a man named Jonathan Neman. When he made public comments about how fighting against obesity and promoting healthier lifestyles were the best way to combat against Covid, he predictably received backlash from the internet. Neman apologized and has since revised his original post. Inc. Magazine explains what Neman did right and how starting a conversation about wellness was his original intent. A H/T to my sister, Heather, for sending me this story.
The 9/11 Falling Man Is You and Me.
Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the attacks of 9/11. I DVR’d some documentaries, will probably watch some of them this weekend. One of the more fascinating lingering human interest stories out of the attacks is that of the photograph of the man falling from the Twin Towers. A documentary titled, “The Falling Man,” was made a few years ago featuring the photographer who took the picture. This article is from the Associated Press and is an excerpt from a book about the attacks.
The Pitcher Who Got Struck By Lightning And Finished The Game.
In the year 1919, a pitcher named Ray Caldwell took the mound for the Cleveland Indians. It was a brutally hot August day and late summer skies turned threatening. With one out left to get to finish the game, a flash from the sky explodes onto the field. Caldwell falls to the ground. He’s been hit by lightning. A terrific story from ESPN about a long-forgotten incident of baseball history from over a century ago.
One more 9/11-related story in today’s Six. I remembered the story of Todd Beamer, the software salesman who went to college in Wheaton, IL whom happened to be on Flight 93 that crashed into one of the towers. Beamer, whom had a wife and two children, said the immortal two words “let’s roll” before attacking the hijackers and preventing them from their intended suicide mission; crashing the plane into the U.S. Capitol. A nice remembrance of Beamer’s historically bravery and legacy from the Wall Street Journal.
Any time you see a headline with the words “hunter'“ and “grizzly bear,” it’s not going to end well for the hunter. In this story, the hunter manages to survive after a sneak attack from a mama bear and her two cubs in Alaska. A reminder of why I have no future plans to go hunting in Alaska.
Have a great rest of your holiday weekend everybody. Thanks for reading as always.
Have a suggestion for the Sunday Six? Send email to jon@jonjkerr.com