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Welcome to Original Jurisdiction, the latest legal publication by me, David Lat. You can learn more about Original Jurisdiction by reading its About page, and you can email me at davidlat@substack.com. This is a reader-supported publication; you can subscribe by clicking here. Thanks! This coming Monday, June 10, marks the first day when current law students can apply for federal judicial clerkships under the Law Clerk Hiring Plan. To everyone applying, good luck—and take care.

First off, I wanted to thank all of you who watched and shared the first installment of my explainer video series about antisemitism. The early reaction has been very encouraging and spanned the ideological spectrum. To be fair, not all the reviews have been positive: Can’t please everyone, I guess. But more seriously, a key goal of this series is to reframe our antisemitism conversation in terms of principle, rather than partisanship, so I’m gratified to see that the work has spoken to people from different backgrounds.

Welcome to the Convivial Society, a newsletter about technology and culture. Welcome, especially, to recent subscribers. I’m not sure what you all are expecting, but the focus and approach can vary a bit from one installment to the other. I think, though, that if you hang around for a while, a relatively consistent set of questions, as well as an approach to thinking about them, will be evident enough. In any case, today you have a brief and loosely structured meditation on dusk, darkness, rhythms, and well-being.

Earlier this week, I slipped out to theaters to see No Hard Feelings, a new comedy starring Jennifer Lawrence as a cash-strapped gig worker who responds to a job listing from a wealthy couple looking for a young woman to “date” their introverted teenage son before he goes off to Princeton. The premise is juicy, like a Risky Business for the age of helicopter parents, only with the focus more on the (hapless, amateur, would-be) sex worker than the virginal high schooler taken on a ride.

I’ve now seen Furiosa (dir. George Miller) twice in theaters. Each viewing, in addition to the various news, thinkpieces, and behind-the-scenes articles about the belated prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), has given me a lot of things to think and write about. Now that it’s out on digital video, I wish to share my many disparate thoughts, impressions and insights about the film, which refuses to get out of my head.

A woman I used to be acquainted with had the shocking experience a few years ago of her living room ceiling caving in while she was at home -- thankfully in another room of her tiny rental apartment, which was on the second floor of an old building.  Although she wasn’t physically hurt, the experience devastated her, understandably so. The destruction dented and dirtied not only her belongings, but her sense of well-being and security.

I chose either the best or worst time to log out of Twitter/X, because something funny happened at the top of the new year. People started reminiscing about – and arguing over -- early 2000s-era streetwear. And The Hundreds. There’s an unwritten law in fashion and broader culture that trends cycle every generation. The Strauss-Howe theory claims that these turnings last 20-22 years, allotting just enough time and space from the moment to become nostalgic about it.

That's why we are asking anyone reading this article to spend a few minutes to add their voice. But you - quite rightly - will want to know: why should I sign your petition in particular? SIGN THE PETITION And we think that 'different' means better. When you sign Protect the Wild's 'Proper Ban on Hunting' petition an email is sent to Defra (the government department that is supposed to look after the environment), the government's current Secretary of State for the Environment (and we say 'current' because this critically-important department has changed hands five times since February 2022), the Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, and the Lib Dems spokesperson for the Environment.

Hey there, and welcome back to Gen Dread! If this is your first time here, welcome! If you like, hit the subscribe button below and you will receive weekly articles, interviews and research updates about mental health and wellbeing in the climate and biodiversity crisis. We’re a growing community, and would love you to be part of it.  Thank you so much to those of you who wrote me last week to share your ideas about what needs to be prioritized in order to protect young people’s mental health as the world heats up.