Latif Nasser (@latifnasser) / X

Latif Nasser

7,517 posts

Latif Nasser

@latifnasser

nerdy writer type. mostly harmless. co-host, wnyc's @radiolab. host, #theotherlatif and #connectednetflix

Los Angeles, USA

Joined August 2014

Pinned
Latif Nasser
@latifnasser
Jan 26, 2024
Last January, I noticed something peculiar in my 2yo’s bedroom that - after a year of obsessive reporting - led me to a profound cosmic revelation about what’s even possible in our universe. A 🧵.
Latif Nasser
@latifnasser
Apr 15, 2023
Last year, a coworker randomly asked me to hand-deliver an antique violin across the country. I said yes, because why not. I had no idea what I was getting into, and now I need your help. A 🧵
Latif Nasser
@latifnasser
Nov 2, 2020
The US election is tomorrow. If you, like me, are tired of horse-race-style reporting, and need to zoom out, I wanna tell you a story. It’s about an ancient force influencing the election. And, as a bonus, it’ll give you an Easter egg to watch for as the returns come in. THREAD
Latif Nasser
@latifnasser
Nov 2, 2020
Replying to @latifnasser
Ok here we go. Look at the electoral maps by county for the last few decades of US presidential elections. You’ll notice that the South goes almost uniformly Republican red every time. Duh. But if you look closer, there’s something else there ...
Latif Nasser
@latifnasser
Apr 16, 2023
Replying to @latifnasser
We even found a matching donor, who pledged to donate dollar for dollar for the first $5,000 we raise. So chip in if you can! And to bring things full circle. I’ll end with a video of Ali in my house playing the violin that Jeremy gave him! Whew. END OF THREAD
00:00
Latif Nasser
@latifnasser
Nov 2, 2020
Replying to @latifnasser
The Black Belt story is painful but profound. The death of plankton led to the life of cotton, which led to the bondage of enslaved people who harvested it, which led to the freedom of the voters who descended from them. Death leads to Life leads to Bondage leads to Freedom.
Latif Nasser
@latifnasser
Jan 26, 2024
Replying to @latifnasser
Including my detailed plan to officially rename 2002-VE68 to “ZOOZVE” to immortalize the typo and thus retroactively make the poster in my kid’s room correct! This plan falls into the category of so-crazy-it-just-might-work. And we will know the answer VERY soon. END OF THREAD.
Latif Nasser
@latifnasser
Jan 26, 2024
Replying to @latifnasser
How inspiring is it that we are alive at a time when we are just discovering this new class of paradoxical and promiscuous rock stars like Zoozve that remind us how weird and temporary and connected everything in the universe is. And how much we still don’t know.
Latif Nasser
@latifnasser
Apr 16, 2023
Replying to @latifnasser
We just celebrated his 1yr anniversary in the US. To mark it, I wanted to tell his story and try to raise money for him. Not for basic needs, but for him to continue the violin lessons he had to stop for 2 years. I want him to know the WORLD is rooting for him to make music
Latif Nasser
@latifnasser
Jan 26, 2024
Replying to @latifnasser
It wasn’t ZOOZVE, it was 2002-VE, which is an actual object near Venus. The illustrator Alex confirmed that he probably misread his own writing. Aha! 2002VE! Okay so what IS 2002VE??
Latif Nasser
@latifnasser
Jan 26, 2024
Replying to @latifnasser
Contrary to the posters, we don’t live in a big clockwork, we live in a dance club, and while some of us are doing the same old waltz with our same old moon, there are bodies out there do-si-do-ing their way all over the solar system.
GIF
Latif Nasser
@latifnasser
Jan 26, 2024
Replying to @latifnasser
It’s a whole new category of thing. Something that orbits a star and a planet at once. Something that is not a moon, but also not not a moon. They call it … a quasi-moon.
Latif Nasser
@latifnasser
Jan 26, 2024
Replying to @latifnasser
So I tracked down the person who discovered it: Brian Skiff at Lowell Observatory in Arizona. He has actually discovered so many asteroids that when I talked to him, he had no idea what I was talking about, genuinely didn’t remember this one.
Latif Nasser
@latifnasser
Nov 2, 2020
Replying to @latifnasser
And yes, since most African Americans vote and have voted Democrat, the reason the swoosh appears election after election for the last 50 years or so is … the descendants of enslaved people.