Media Round Up: Moss and History

Here's some thoughts on media I've read or watched recently:

Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer—I loved Braiding Sweetgrass so I was excited to learn that the author had an earlier book about moss. This was really lovely! Kimmerer’s prose is gorgeous. I enjoyed learning a bit about moss life cycles and I really liked the descriptions doing "muddy boots biology"

The Long Ballad (长歌行) episodes 17-35 — I got really into this and started watching ahead of my group watch. The show is very loosely based on early Tang dynasty history, and many of the characters are inspired by read historical figures. But they main character is not based on anyone. There are adventures and found family and mentorship, and the main romance is very cute. I love basically all the characters! There's lots of schemes and tactics and I'm finding it very fun. The show is also really nationalist and racist in its portrayal of central Asians. There's a lot of downplaying the harshness of the Tang imperialism while playing up the violent stereotypes about central Asian nomads. Despite this I've gotten very sucked in and have been watching multiple episodes a day

( Early Tang China and the World, 618–750 CE; A Spoonful of Time; The Girl and the Ghost; The Mountains of Mourning; and 铜钱龛世 Copper Coins )