Morning Coffee (3/31/15)

Me elsewhere: I guested on my friends' Shameless podcast this week! I talked about Chekhov's gun and vampires and please try to contain your shock.

Today's Eiffel Tower Google doodle is cute.

Yesterday's N.S.A. incident sounds . . . potentially less alarming than it sounded at first, so that's something?

Yay home state: Connecticut becomes first state to boycott Indiana over anti-LGBT law

Thank you, John Oliver. April Fools' Day is the worst.

Live-action Mulan!!!

Here's an interesting read about the Boston Olympic bid.

Glen Keane's revolutionary new animated short will change the way you think about movies

"She is the most banal and simultaneously the most monstrous person to ever move to Florida; her heart is a gun and her brain is a ledger."

Morning Coffee (3/30/15)

Me elsewhere: Here's your TV news for the week!

I deeply enjoy the feud between Stephen King and Gov. Paul LePage.

This headline was basically MADE FOR ME: Why Is American Figure Skating Losing the Cold War?

I agree with Alyssa Rosenberg that everyone should calm down about spoilers.

This idea is GREAT: I Paid a UX Expert $100 to Get Drunk and Evaluate Gizmodo's Design

I didn't know much about Steven Smith, who passed away recently, but if you're a tea drinker, his obituary is fascinating.

The 9 Weirdest Implications Of The Many Worlds Interpretation

Why “The Jinx” Is Better Than Any of You Whiners: A Visual Guide

Heh: Mindy Kaling on Whether or Not These 6 Classic Rom-Com Couples Are Still Together

Morning Coffee (3/27/15)

Happy Friday!

Church of England appoints most senior female bishop

Trust me, you want to watch this. The President, being funny and self-deprecating, with six-year-old Girl Scouts wearing superhero capes who INVENTED A ROBOT. There's hugging.

Related: Singer Robyn Launches Tech Festival for Girls

OMG INSPECTOR GADGET IS OUT TODAY YOU GUYS.

I am not a lawyer, and yet I am EXACTLY the kind of person who wants to read about the best legal pad for legal work.

The Asterisk Kvetches to Its Agent

Whoa, look at this NES cake.

Perfect: If John Cho Were Your Boyfriend

Morning Coffee (3/26/15)

Um. Maybe you should reconsider this system, California.

New Harper Lee book cover!

This story is insane and says a lot about race and class and . . . other things.

Two good reads re: that terrible Deadline piece: “Ethnic” actors aren’t stealing white roles and Shonda Rhimes is not having it with that Deadline story.

Well this is . . . alarming: Boston House Was Rigged to Explode When Someone Turned On the Lights

“Apocalypse is right around the corner”: Rick Perlstein unloads on Mike Huckabee-style conservatives

Sigh: Cops Find Suspect Hiding in Cabinet After He Posts Snapchat Story of Himself Hiding in Cabinet

Why It Matters Who Steve Jobs Really Was

Men You Meet While Traveling By Airplane

Morning Coffee (3/25/15)

DROP EVERYTHING. THE X-FILES IS COMING BACK YOU GUYS.

I'm sure you've seen this already, but just in case: This Harry Potter parody of "Uptown Funk" is INCREDIBLE.

Five Important Ways Ted Cruz Will Drive The GOP 2016 Field To The Right

Ooh: Sweden adds gender-neutral pronoun to dictionary

There have been some developments in the UVA rape case story this week, and I found this timeline very helpful.

Issues of church and state are particularly fascinating in Italy.

Having a referendum on the Boston Olympics bid seems wise. Those of us just over the border will be counting on you to do the right thing, Massachusetts!

The most perfect thing ever written: Every Argument About “Buffy” On The Internet, From 1998 Until Now

Morning Coffee (3/24/15)

Well. George Zimmerman: Killing Trayvon was God’s plan, and wishing he lived is ‘almost blasphemous’

Serial’s Adnan Syed Sets Out His Case for a New Trial

This whole situation with the Game of Thrones book/show timelines and spoilers is just . . . unfortunate. (Says the girl currently reading book four. Whatever.)

Ooh, you can vote to name the surface features of Pluto and Charon!

Syfy's upcoming Greek mythology drama Olympus looks potentially terrible in a fun way.

Argentine archaeologists probe 'Nazi hide-out' for clues

There's a new Muse song, if such things interest you. It's . . . Muse-y. (Video potentially NSFW.)

Very curious to see what the new Lisbeth Salander book is like.

Morning Coffee (3/23/15)

Me elsewhere: Here's your TV news for the week!

Google doodles are on a role recently. Today: Emmy Noether.

Oh, New Hampshire.

Fascinating: The History Of Europe Lies In British People’s DNA

How Harlequin Became the Most Famous Name in Romance

Over 100 Years of Popular Girls Names in One Bubbling Visualization

I want all these candles.

Multiple-Choice Reading Quiz Answers Actually Selected by Students in Classes I Taught as a T.A.

Morning Coffee (3/19/15)

Let's bring back "Pecksniffian."

Hysteria and Teenage Girls

Fascinating: Hunting for Random: The Quest to Find Numbers That Keep Your Data Safe

This Is What It Looks Like When 152 Black Cats Audition for a Movie

There were a lot of waffles on Gossip Girl.

15 Once-Popular Baby Names On The Verge Of Extinction

9 Historical Mysteries Solved By Astronomy

Too Many Men

Morning Coffee (3/18/15)

Awesome: Oregon will be the first state to automatically register voters

You should absolutely read this amazing piece my friend Todd wrote about being adopted.

This is great: UK Sunday paper won't review books marketed "to exclude either sex"

A Girl, A Shoe, A Prince: The Endlessly Evolving Cinderella

4 historical heroes who loved charts

Now I wish I could read the B.Y. Times books.

The Bizarre, Unsolved Mystery of ‘My Immortal,’ the World’s Worst Fanfiction Story

Awwww.

Morning Coffee (3/17/15)

Happy St. Patrick's Day! The Google doodle is cute, of course.

'Tis the Season to Celebrate Irish Women Warriors and Feminists

And on a lighter note, I love these DIY shamrock headbands.

Very interesting: The ideas that define Benjamin Netanyahu

I realized I knew very little about the political situation in Haiti, and this was helpful.

24 Thoughts on Sexism, Feminism, YA, Reading, and The Publishing Industry

Related: On kindness

Men Sleeping Quietly And Not Talking Or Bothering Anyone In Western Art History

Morning Coffee (3/16/15)

Me elsewhere: TV news!

I love today's Anna Atkins Google doodle.

Good job, Boston!

The lyrics for 'Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego' apply weirdly well to Vladimir Putin

But seriously: The very scary reality behind the silly rumors of Putin’s death

Jamelle Bouie, always a necessary read: A New Danger in Ferguson

Honestly, the fact that John Dickerson is writing about Iowa again makes me so happy I almost cried when I started reading this.

Well, this is terrible: Pol Who Gave Away Adopted Daughters Thought They Were Possessed

19 Struggles Only People Who Hate People Understand

Morning Coffee (3/13/15)

Happy Friday!

Are you near Lowell and like arty things? Check this out.

Your Friday probably needs 9 adorable royal babies and toddlers around the world.

Whoa: Watch these artists 3D print animation into reality

Related: You can print a Hillary Clinton action figure.

The Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction longlist looks good. I'm reading one of those books right now!

An Interview With A Regular Watch

8 Magical and Delicious Harry Potter Cocktails

Josh Groban and Kelly Clarkson doing "All I Ask of You"? Yes please.

Here's your Tumblr of the day.

Ooh, bookshelf masking tape.

Morning Coffee (3/12/15)

The uproar over Sen. Tom Cotton's letter to Iran, explained

Bold: State Rep Moves to Keep Georgia Free of Werewolves, Mermaids, Centaurs (But only the ones that aren't "naturally occurring.")

Has our online existence created new mental disorders?

Good Shameless piece: The Emotional Double-Edged Sword of Upward Mobility in America

When the Only Way to See a Doctor While Going Into Labor Is to Tweet at a Brand

12 Women on Twitter and Self-Promotion

How low self-esteem is killing girls’ academic success around the world

A Girl's Guide to Sexual Purity

Morning Coffee (3/10/15)

Obviously I don't want this to happen, but what happens when Queen Elizabeth II dies is fascinating.

This new TiVo OnePass feature looks amazing.

The Oscars reward movies for adults in an age when adults don't go to the movies

9 Historical Murder Mysteries Solved More Than A Century Later

This piece about MH370 theorizing is quite interesting.

I Grew Up in a Cult. Here’s What Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Gets Right.

Cancelled plans ARE the best.

How to Tell If You Are in a Shakespearean Comedy

Morning Coffee (3/9/15)

Okay, getting back to normal this week. Here's your weekly TV news!

This actually has good advice applicable to a lot of situations: I Hate Myself Because I Don't Work For BuzzFeed

Oh no: Everybody Panic: Peeps-Flavored Milk Is Here

Hee: A Letter of Apology from the State of Maine to Lev Grossman

Aah! Hang out with tiny Mulder and Scully in their miniature X-Files office

Share Your Story of How Agatha Christie Changed Your Life

Look at this Harry Potter dress!

British ‘chocolate greenhouse’ saving the world’s cocoa

32 Things Someone From New England Might Have To Explain To An Out-Of-Towner

Morning Coffee (3/3/15)

Classic Alice announced that if they make it to 50k, a generous donor has promised to push it to their goal of 60k. Only 10k to go. Can you help just a little?

Standard Responses to Online Stupidity

Are you worried about the UN taking over the Alamo? So is this Texas state senator.

Whoa: A Map of the Literary Genres

Whoa again: Stories of the Past and Future

Interesting: Slate's Panoply platform is serious about podcasts

Don't Think, Just Hot Take

The Time Everyone "Corrected" the World's Smartest Woman

Pretty: Pinup Girl Vintage Collection honors Disney artist Mary Blair

Morning Coffee (3/2/15)

Classic Alice's funding campaign ends FRIDAY. If we get to $50k, something MAGICAL will happen. That's under $14k to go. Can you help? Just a little? Please?

How Designers Recreated Alan Turing's Top-Secret, Code-Cracking World In "The Imitation Game"

I desperately wanted this story to be about a lawsuit about an actual typo made by Ryan Seacrest.

I'm excited about Rebecca Onion's new history stuff at Slate.

Hee: Martha Stewart CANNOT With These "Fifty Shades of Grey" Questions

The Evolution of Julie Plec

Learn How Agent Carter‘s Costume Designer Made All Of Peggy’s Outfits Battle Ready

Veronica Mars meets Gillian Flynn? Yes please.

Fun: Pick the U.S. Presidents (Without Missing One)