Author: Ben Young Landis

A screenshot of a lecture slide depicting 10 policy characters as 3-D illustrations generated by Hero Forge: The Governor, The Budget, The Agencies, The Legislator, The Courts, Industry, The Media, Constituents, Society, and Scientists. Each appears like a mythical or futuristic figure, although The Governor is a charicature of Governor Gavin Newsom. The footer reads at Young Landis at C R 8 X T hashtag sci pol comm hashtag C A L E G, and the Creative Externalities square logo.
Photo of several Navigating Policymaking Mindsets worksheets arranged on a sunny surface, atop a plastic folder. The top sheet has pre-filled fields. In the Your Policy Idea box, it reads "Clinics providing stem cell treatments in our state must prominently post signage and written disclaimers to inform patients that treatments have not been approved by FDA, if that is the case."
Photo composition of fruits on an old, worn bamboo cutting boardm, full of old knife marks. Some cherries are scattered to the upper left. A large mango fills the upper right corner. In the center view is a ripe avocado cut in half, exposing the large, nearly spherical seed. A whole avocado rests nearby. Water droplets adorn the fruits. The style is hypersaturated in color and contrast, accentuating the shadows and cuts. (Photo by Ben Young Landis)
Photo composition of fruits on an old, worn bamboo cutting boardm, full of old knife marks. Some cherries are scattered to the upper left. A large mango fills the upper right corner. In the center view is a ripe avocado cut in half, exposing the large, nearly spherical seed. A whole avocado rests nearby. Water droplets adorn the fruits. The style is hypersaturated in color and contrast, accentuating the shadows and cuts. Photo by Ben Young Landis
An enormous freight ship, with shipping containers stacked more than 10 layers high like toy blocks, can be seen touching both sides of the Suez Canal. It's so big that a big tractor-digger on the shore looks like a tiny insect. The foreground is stacked containers from the ship from which this photo was taken.
Photo of Mr. Spock from Star Trek, holding his hand up in the Vulcan salute, with a "V" formed by parting his fingers.

Live Long and Ever Given: A Cultural Explainer and Teachable Moment on Asian Language Bias

“It’s a weird name,” typed many a social media spectator this past week. Yes, much has been quipped of late about the Ever Given — the enormous cargo vessel that had been blocking the Suez Canal — as well as Evergreen, the Taiwanese shipping giant which owns the vessel. But the names actually serve as an example of how Asian languages and cultures often elicit a reaction of confusion or unconscious bias by Western audiences.

Continue Reading
2021.03.29 Ben Young Landis 0
An enormous freight ship, with shipping containers stacked more than 10 layers high like toy blocks, can be seen touching both sides of the Suez Canal. It's so big that a big tractor-digger on the shore looks like a tiny insect. The foreground is stacked containers from the ship from which this photo was taken.

Live Long and Ever Given: A Cultural Explainer and Teachable Moment on Asian Language Bias

“It’s a weird name,” typed many a social media spectator this past week. Yes, much has been quipped of late about the Ever Given — the enormous cargo vessel that had been blocking the Suez Canal — as well as Evergreen, the Taiwanese shipping giant which owns the vessel. But the names actually serve as an example of how Asian languages and cultures often elicit a reaction of confusion or unconscious bias by Western audiences.

Continue Reading
2021.03.29 Ben Young Landis 0
Emerging Tech and Data Science Solutions to Regulated Species Challenges in the Electric Power Industry EPRI Welcome and Context for the Workshop. THe EPRI logo is visible on the video slide. The playlist shows this is video 1 of 15
Children and parents gather at the Science Storytellers booth at the Family Science Days public fair hosted in Seattle by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, February 16, 2020. The photo shows scientists of diverse ethnicities and genders seated and being interviewed one-on-one by kids with pen and paper in hand. (Photo by Ben Young Landis for Science Storytellers)
Cover photo for the communicatingciencia.org website. It is a black and white photo of a gridded sheet of paper with a list of penciled words in Spanish, starting with "escribir, comunicar, informar, ciencia, cultura" and so on. A pencil appears in the background. (Graphic by Ben Young Landis)