Since I last updated my blogroll this past fall, the number of feeds I follow in my RSS reader has perhaps doubled. As a result, I’ve started to apply a little more editorial discretion to that list and I may have to do the same to the blogroll at some point in the future. For now, though, I’ll just keep on adding them.
With that in mind, this first “new” batch is going to consist of blogs that I have actually been following for a while, but that have not yet made it the blogroll because their focus was a little outside that of Createquity. Nevertheless, I have linked to all of them from here before, so I figured they deserved a spot.
Abu Bratsche
Written by Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra violinist Robert Levine, Abu Bratsche is a diary of sorts that offers an unusually candid look into orchestra management-musician relations, insider info on the AFM (musicans’ union), and what it’s like to play with various conductors and soloists. Levine is the representative for his own orchestra’s union, so his perspective on labor relations is clearly colored by that role, but he does not simply cheerlead blindly for his side. (At least not all the time.)
Daily Kos: State of the Nation
Not an arts or philanthropy blog at all, so this marks the beginning of a new section of the blogroll for general interest, politics, and “idea” blogs. It’s only the 14th most popular blog on the web, so I won’t go into too much detail describing it.
FiveThirtyEight
Nate Silver’s political blog features some of the most amazing statistical analysis I’ve ever seen. Consistently fascinating reading. And hey, he’s a baseball geek too! It’s like he’s a slightly older and vastly smarter version of me.
Freakonomics Blog
I haven’t actually had a chance to read Freakonomics the book, though I’d like to, but the blog is hosted by the New York Times and features a lot of interesting stuff. I often find the co-authors’ contributions on the annoying side, but the occasional contributors add a lot of value, particularly Daniel Hamermesh, Justin Wolfers, and the amazing Sudhir Venkatesh. Fair warning: the commenters on this blog typically exude a fair bit of smug social Darwinist arrogance (the reaction to the Jon Stewart-Jim Cramer smackdown was especially revealing), so don’t read past the end of the post if that sort of thing gets your blood boiling. Oh, and would it kill them to get a few female contributors?