My very earliest entries in this blog were not always up-to-the-minute stories and analyses. Sometimes I just posted things that I thought were cool. Given that by the time I post my next entry, the Shit Demon from Dogma will become the leader of the free world &c, I’m going to go halfsies on this one. If you want to skip right to the good-still-exists-in-the-world stuff, I don’t blame you in the slightest. First:
- There’s little I love less than autoplaying news video online, but I have to urge you to watch this clip from Rachel Maddow on the ever-widening gyre of Russian state meddling in the 2016 election, particularly regarding the internal workings of the FBI.
- Delightfully foul-mouthed author Chuck Wendig hosts a guest post on his blog by writer Sarah Gailey, on the eugenics of the ACA repeal, and how deeply rooted the social Darwinism of that act is rooted in American history. Update: Disabled activists Elsa Sjunneson-Henry and Heather Ace Ratcliff joined the post in an interview about how eugenicist history and policy has targeted disability from the very beginning.
- Jack Shafer of Politico has not quite written the “Think of how good adversity will be for the arts!” post of journalism, but he comes close. Meanwhile, Masha Gessen urges us to learn from Russian reporters about what’s to come.
- You want to feel really nauseated? “‘You Focus on the Good’: Women Who Voted for Trump, in Their Own Words” literally mirrors the language of abuse and the abused.
- From Damon Young, for the Root: “America Didn’t Deserve Michelle Obama.” Damn right.
- A real thing in the world: collectible Hieronymus Bosch figurines.
- This Azerbaijani woman wrote out the entire Quran on black silk in gold and silver ink. Gorgeous doesn’t even begin to describe this.
- Are you listening to Song Exploder? You really should. This week, host Hrishikesh Hirway (also of local favorite The West Wing Weekly) gets Solange Knowles to break down “Cranes in the Sky.” It’s so fortifying to hear an artist talk about depression, mental health, her creative process and what makes her laugh; it’s also good for me to realize that the title of this song actually has nothing to do with birds.
- Another podcast rec, from Slate: “How the Onion Remade Joe Biden.”
- A very real story that will make your heart sing: in Polish (so hit “translate” on your browser, what a future we live in!), a gigantic, authentic Nazi-eating fish.
Stay brave, friends.
Esther Bergdahl 