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Friday music blogging: Alabama Shakes

No band in the last five years has gotten as much early hype as the Alabama Shakes. In fact, the hype was so thick that I put off listening to them for quite a while, unsure that the world needed another soul-rock-revival novelty band. But I finally got around to listening, and damn if they […]

Cure and simple: How to make your own bacon and charcuterie

Want to learn how to preserve that local pasture-raised meat? These recipes for homemade bacon and green chile chicken sausages should get you hooked.

R.I.P. Adam Yauch, musician and activist

Adam Yauch, aka MCA, was the co-founder and beating progressive heart of the Beastie Boys, who not only made some of the most defining music of the 1980s and ’90s but were among the first celebrities (at least in my memory) to go activist without sacrificing their cool. Yauch, who died today at the criminally […]

Brace yourself for tomorrow’s supermoon

Saturday is the night to engage in your moon-related activities — blow it up, write your name on it, release your singing marmoset creatures, whatever — because you’ll have a pretty good view. It’s a “supermoon,” where the moon is closer to earth in its orbit than normally — and it’s going to be the […]

BLM announces draft of ‘common sense’ rules for fracking

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) just released a draft [PDF] of its new rules for hydraulic fracturing on public lands. These rules were last revised in 1988, and they’re being updated to deal with the current fracking boom (the BLM says 90 percent of new wells going in on public land are using fracking). […]

Giant plant tags tell you how to care for streetlights, hydrants, and mailboxes

It’s all very well to talk about the urban jungle, but how often are you supposed to water it? Carmichael Collective’s tongue-in-cheek urban plant tags offer care instructions for metropolitan flora like benches, fire hydrants, stop signs, and mailboxes.

More pictures of dogs on bikes than you ever knew you wanted

We thought that one dog on a bike was exciting. But Keenan Roberts at Buzzfeed knows better. What’s more exciting than one dog on a bike? TWENTY DOGS ON TWENTY BIKES. These two are my favorites:

Critical List: Fracking fluids reach aquifers in only a few years; Heartland’s weird campaign

According to a new study, it only takes a few years for fracking fluids to migrate from deep in the ground into aquifers. We know we should ignore this sort of campaign from Heartland, but seriously? Climate change advocates are like the Unabomber?? Could senior BP officials get caught in the Justice Department’s criminal probe?

Science says: Cut that steak in half to keep the climate in check

In their continuing efforts to go beyond CO2, some scientists have been looking seriously at the impact of nitrous oxide on the climate, and results point to a very familiar refrain: Eat more plants, less meat.

Big Oil dominates political attacks on Obama

Last month, almost 14,000 negative ads focused on energy. Why is energy dominating the right's campaign against Obama?