Zoë Plakias

@zoeconomy

Associate Professor of Economics @ Western Washington University | she/her Scholarship + teaching on food, agriculture, environment, resources Also: equity, mentorship, pedagogy, public transit, kindness, legos, cats Views are my own www.zoeplakias.com

4.411 Folgt2.953 Follower3.870 Posts

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Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Apr 19

Sun is shining! Flowers are blooming! Joy is resistance!🌷 ☀️ 🌱 ✊

Photo of a yellow tulip with red stripes slightly open. Petals are in focus with blurred greenery in the background.

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Apr 4

The world is shit but the books are 🔥

Photograph of a stack of four books with spines visible.
Book one: Floodlines, Saleem Haddad
Book two: Troubled Lands: Stories of Mexico and Cuba, Langston Hughes and Ricardo A. Wilson II, ed.
Book three: Wild People Quiet, Tara Gereaux
Book four: The ADHD Field Guide for Adults, Cate Osborn and Erik Gude

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Mar 12

Cleaning out my junk folder and came across this banger in a phishing email clearly written by a mother somewhere in the world.

Screenshot of black text on white background that reads:

Hope you don't disappoint us.

Acknowledge this email within 24hrs.

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Mar 5

Go to war with Iran for 32 days or feed all the hungry people in the US for a year? 🤷‍♀️

Screenshot of Feeding America Map the Meal Gap website, with the following text and information:
Food Insecurity Rate in the United States: 14.3%
Estimated program eligibility among food insecure people in the United States: 37% above SNAP threshold, 20% between 130% and 185% poverty, 43% below SNAP threshold of 130%.
Average meal cost in the United States: $3.58.
Annual food budget shortfall: $32,156,122,000.

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Mar 4

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Feb 14

Post a tree you photographed.

Photograph of a dying conifer tree with no foliage and covered with a vibrant yellow green moss. It is surrounded by other trees and has ferns and dead leaves at its base. The sky above is gray and overcast.

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Jan 26

From the @seiu.org Instagram page, this is Alex Pretti's colleagues having a moment of silence in his honor

Medical staff, mostly dressed in blue scrubs and caps, line a hospital hallway with beige floor and florescent light in the distance, their heads bowed. One person stands with head in hands. A sign in the hallway reads: 2P: Intensive Care Unit.

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Jan 19

Please join me in donating (and quote post @russ41.bsky.social below and he will generously match!)

Screenshot showing transaction information. The text reads:
Donation to Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center $100.00
Processing fee $3.30
Tip for Givebutter $5.00
Total $108.30

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Dec 24

Merry Christmas (eve) to all those who celebrate! #Lego

Photograph of a coffee table with a gray Lego base layer top. In the center is a Lego Christmas tree. A gray Lego road snakes across the table in front of the tree. In the foreground on the left a small bridge allows any Lego person traveling The road to cross the creek. A Lego snowshoe traverses a small patch of snow in the middle distance. In the background a large piece of Lego equipment with tracks instead of tires move snow around. A small path leads to the tree with a Lego cat and a Lego cat-sized door leading to the area beneath the tree, where the cat shelters. Next to the tree stand a Lego Jesus and one of the Blues Brothers--on a mission from God. In the foreground to the right a Lego man closely resembling Kurt Russell's character from The Thing drive this snowmobile down the road. In the background on the right is a house with a chimney two Lego people stand outside, one with a warm beverage. A holiday wreath hangs on the house welcoming people. Another Lego person in the background approaches the Lego house from the woods on a four-wheeler. Also far in the background on the left, is Wall-E, eager to experience the Christmas spirit. Beyond the table on which this Lego scene takes place is a wood stove, a bookshelf, a rug and other less exciting trappings of real life.

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Dec 18

Um... What? Also, if you do happen to decide a scythe is the perfect gift for someone in your life, please do not pay $200 for one. Ask your friend who grew up in a rural area to raid the family barn. I guarantee there's a rusted scythe covered in mouse poop somewhere in there you can spruce up.

Screenshot from the NY Times Wirecutter site. On the page is a photo of a scythe leaning against a white fence or building. Above the photo, the text reads: Grim reaper lawncare. Smaller text below the photo gives photo credit: Liam McCabe/NYT Wirecutter

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Nov 18

My Instagram just now... Because the algorithm doesn't understand why something is trending.

Screenshot of a sponsored Instagram ad from Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education. Photograph of mostly middle aged men sitting in a classroom listening to a slightly older man talk. The text of the ad reads:
Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education
The classroom is waiting for you
Apply now

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Oct 23

Just discovered my stapler at work has a storage space for extra staples and I am irrationally excited about this feature! ‼️🤯

Photograph of a person's hand holding a stapler upside down with the index finger pulling back a rubber cover to reveal a row of staples.

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Oct 20

Backyard apples are FREE AND GOOD FOR MAKING APPLESAUCE

Photograph of 8 quart sized Ball jars and two pint-sized Ball jars containing beige applesauce sitting on a cloth on a gray tiled counter.

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Sep 7

New books! 😍😍😍 #BookSky Courtesy of @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social, Leif Enger, Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, @philipchristman.bsky.social, @annaleen.bsky.social, Manon Lagrève, + @villagebookswa.bsky.social!

Stack of books sitting on a wooden table in a house. Bindings read (from top to bottom): Rebecca Solnit, Recollections of my Nonexistence; I Cheerfully Refuse, Leif Enger; Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, We Are Green and Trembling; Christman, Why Christians Should be Leftists; Automatic Noodle, Annalee Newitz; Manon Lagrève, Chez Manon

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Aug 24

Excited to finally finally have two works by @sarahmgilman.bsky.social framed and up on my wall! I saw them in @highcountrynews.org, where they accompanied a piece Sarah wrote called Pioneer of Ruin back in 2018. Here is "Eileen in the Desert."

Framed painting on a wall. Wall is peach colored. Frame is beige. Painting has white matting. Painting is a watercolor of a person standing pointing their hat at a collection of rusted and dilapidated buildings and vehicles in the desert, with a deep blue sky above.

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Aug 22

Had a meeting with some industry folks to talk about possible student projects today. Took the scenic route home. 💙

Photograph of an ocean view. Islands are on the distance. In the foreground is light green shrubbery and darker green conifer trees framing the photo. In the middle distance is a large body of water with the sun hitting it. Blue sky with wispy clouds above with a beam of sunlight pointing down toward the water.

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Aug 20

From @christopherweyant1.bsky.social...

Screenshot of a New Yorker cartoon from the @newyorkercartoons Instagram account. A man and woman stand on the deck of a beach house overlooking the ocean drinking wine. The text underneath the drawing reads: "I can't believe that the summer, and civilization, are almost over."

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Aug 18

It just makes me think of CDs like this...

Tropical scene at sunset in the background. Large 3D block text reads:
NOW
That's what I call music!
87

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Aug 9

I am a proud University of California system grad. The federal government’s $1B dollar demand is designed for one purpose + one purpose only: to devastate UCLA + its critical mission. #StandUpForUC to defend this outstanding public university system + support life-saving work. ucal.us/standupforuc

Photograph of a woman looking up and away from the camera. Text reads: Stand up for UC.

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Jul 24

I made a little #Lego city block today! Don't forget to keep dreaming and finding bits of joy amidst the horror.

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Jul 3

In case you need a photo of a cat right now...

A photo of a tabby cat with paws tucked under him and tail wrapped around himself sitting like a loaf on a red fleece blanket draped over a red chair. Books in the background.

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Jul 1

I am grateful for the raspberries in our yard, which I pick fresh each morning to eat as part of my breakfast.

Close up photo of a raspberry bush on a sunny day with raspberries at various stages of ripeness, from white in color to deep red in color and green leaves all around.

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Jun 28

There's a Ted Gibson Retrospective exhibit at a local art gallery here in Bellingham, WA and this piece seemed apt given all that's happening in NYC this week and far beyond. Learn more about his work here: www.tedgibson-art.org.

A line drawing on brown paper of two individuals (from the back) walking towards multiple many-story apartment buildings. Some building ruins are in the middle distance, with bricks and boards strewn about on the ground. Typewritten text under the drawing reads:

The South Bronx

"By staying within our designated spaces we cooperate with the effort to part us. Separation maintains this system of suspicion and threat." - Jenny Holzer

The piece is from Ted Gibson's Dick and Jane in Retrospect Series, c. 1978-1980.

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Jun 24

The Sheriff of Nottingham has endorsed Cuomo

A photograph of Actor Keith Allen in the BBC series Robin Hood wearing a black embroidered robe and black gloves on a large wooden black throne/chair looking displeased.

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Jun 22

Go by train!

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Jun 10

I guess that makes you my step-grandmother!

AI search result bullshit saying I am the step-granddaughter of Alan Arkin

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Jun 3

GoFundMe knows when US hurricane season starts

Email screenshot.
Subject line: Help People Get Ready for Extreme Weather
Sender: GoFundMe
[Shows a photograph of a person looking across grasslands at wildfire smoke in the distance]
Text: Storms, heat waves, floods, fires, and droughts are happening more often and getting worse. Sadly, the people who are affected the most are often the ones who can't afford to fix the damage.

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· May 11

I have so much work to do b/c I've been sick but @sarahkendzior.bsky.social's new book came in at @villagebookswa.bsky.social, so I just had to go pick it up. Of course it's fantastic, as anyone who's read her work would expect. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms trying to raise kids right now.

The book The Last American Road Trip, by Sarah Kendzior, sits on a wooden table. The cover is a photo of high tension wires over a brown and barren grassy landscape with hillocks and some buildings in the distance and lots and lots of sky ("the sky is free," as Kendzior writes in the book). A bookmark sticks out of the book that says "Village Books and Paper Dreams."

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Apr 29

I guess we're at the Australia-courting-highly-skilled-immigrants-via-Instagram-ads stage of our ongoing authoritarian takeover...

A photograph of teal blue sea water with an incredibly fancy yacht floating in it. People snorkel in the bottom right corner. The text reads: Calling the brightest minds. Researchers. Innovators. Entrepreneurs. A link below reads: learn more. The posting account is @ausintheus. The post is sponsored.

Zoë Plakias@zoeconomy· Apr 13

Happy #Caturday from Mojo's house!