Podcast: Danger! Fire, Hurricanes, Drowning, and More
by meep
Thinking about risks in a concrete way
In response to two other podcasts, I talk about some concrete risks that people have dealt with through history, but I think people may not fear as much as they should anymore. Fear (the emotional reaction to risk) and danger (the rational assessment of risk) can guide you, but it helps for you to take a broad look at the environment.
Episode Links
Crossing Thin Ice podcast – look for Episode 8, 24 Apr 2023, Fear v. Danger
Research Insights SOA podcast – look for 26 Apr 2023, 16th Annual Survey of Emerging Risks Key Findings
Jane Austen’s England
An authoritative account of everyday life in Regency England, the backdrop of Austen’s beloved novels, from the authors of the forthcoming Gibraltar: The Greatest Siege in British History (March 2018)
Nearly two centuries after her death, Jane Austen remains the most cherished of all novelists in the English language, incomparable in the wit, warmth, and insight with which she depicts her characters and life. Yet the milieu Austen presents is only one aspect of the England in which she lived, a time of war, unrest, and dramatic changes in the country’s physical and social landscape. Jane Austen’s England offers a fascinating new view of the great novelist’s time, in a wide-ranging and richly detailed social history of English culture. As in their bestselling book Nelson’s Trafalgar, Roy and Lesley Adkins have drawn upon a wide array of contemporary sources to chart the daily lives of both the gentry and the commoners, providing a vivid cultural snapshot of not only how people worked and played, but how they struggled to survive.
Fire Companies
Union Fire Company, sometimes called Franklin’s Bucket Brigade, was a volunteer fire department formed in Philadelphia in 1736 with the assistance of Benjamin Franklin.1 It was the very first firefighting organization in Philadelphia,2 although it was followed within the year by establishment of the Fellowship Fire Company.3 The fire company was formed on 7 December 1736 after a series of publications in the Pennsylvania Gazette by Franklin and others pointing out the need for more effective handling of fires in Philadelphia and remained active until approximately 1820.3 Although modeled after the Mutual Fire Societies of Franklin’s native Boston, the Union Fire Company protected all members of the community rather than only the members of the company.4
(I live in Croton Falls)
Photo Courtesy of James Falco-Ball
Atlas Obscura: A Short History of Fire Marks, The World’s Hottest Insurance-Related Antiques
Clasped hands were a popular fire mark motif.
A refurbished fire mark from Virginia.
Drowning
Summer Season Warning: Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning (Plus Drowning Mortality Trends)
MAY 26, 2022
Summer Season Warning: Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning (Plus Drowning Mortality Trends)
This is something I like to remind people in my networks every Memorial Day weekend, which kicks off “summer” in many Americans’ minds. It turns out I just noticed a jump in the number of drowning deaths during the pandemic as well. What a surprise.
Pools are more dangerous than Covid to small children
APRIL 19, 2022
Pools are more dangerous than Covid to small children
I am getting a bit tired of people assume that a small, non-zero risk is a huge risk. Upon hearing that a federal judge knocked down a fiat regulation that he liked, one person decided to enact a small twitter drama:[Read full story at link]
Enjoy!
