Morning Coffee (9/30/17)

Catalonia’s Independence Referendum: What’s at Stake?

Kurds Voted. So Is the Middle East Breaking Up?

Uh... U.S. ambassador breaks with policy: ‘I think the settlements are part of Israel’

Well this was... barely a blip: Terrorists just tried to assassinate Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in Afghanistan

Trump Keeps Talking About a ‘Hospitalized’ Senator That Doesn’t Exist

Also: Trump Duped by Old Footage of Iranian Missile Test

Traces of Crime: How New York’s DNA Techniques Became Tainted

Whoa: 'Chemical surgery' used to mend harmful mutations in human embryos

After Outcry, Irish Government Buys Yeats’s Artifacts

Ball Gowns, Lace Ruffs and Fairy Wings: Theater History for Sale

Afternoon Tea (9/29/17)

Such a good, interesting read: This island is not for sale: how Eigg fought back

Playing Indian: How a fight over Native American symbolism in Oregon brought to light the conflict at America's core.

This about new translations of the Iliad is fascinating: The Art of Wrath

The Banned 1910s Magazine That Started a Feminist Movement in Japan

A Chorus of Mazel Tovs in Uganda

Weekly Rec: Wind River

I'm getting ready for this year's Oscar project, and I'm making a big effort to see more things before the nominations are announced so it's not so much to do at the end. So! That's why I saw Wind River last weekend!

And I'm very glad I did, because it turns out that Wind River is exactly my favorite genre: somewhat angsty yet practical detectives solving crimes in snowy places, often in an isolated community that is in some way in tension with the outside world. In this case, we had a rookie FBI agent (Elizabeth Olsen), a Fish and Wildlife Service tracker (Jeremy Renner), and an experienced tribal police officer (Graham Greene, not that one) investigating the death of a young Native American woman on the Wind River reservation during a snowstorm.

I still can't look at Elizabeth Olsen without seeing her sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley, but that works in her favor here, as her character's arc is centered on the people around her underestimating her skills and dedication because of her looks, the fact that she's a young woman with little experience and no familiarity with the harsh climate, and (reasonably enough) the fact that she's an FBI agent, and outside law enforcement has historically taken little interest in what happens on reservations, both in the movie and the real world. I loved her character and she did a great job and this movie made me a fan.

Jeremy Renner inhabits his character masterfully as well, and his tracker serves as a guide to the reservation for both Olsen's character and the viewer. He's white, and the characters around him never let him forget that, but knowing the land and its inhabitants (human and animal) is literally his job, and his ex-wife and children, and therefore his in-laws and extended family, are members of the tribe, so he has a real personal connection and stake - as well as a specific connection to this case that becomes clearer as the movie progresses.

My main quibble here - without spoiling - is that I wasn't sure about the way the mystery reveal was executed; it took me out of the story more than I think was intended. But in general, I went into this movie without knowing much about it (and without liking Sheridan's Sicario) and wound up loving it, so that's always a delightful surprise. The writing was tight, the cinematography breathtaking, the score striking. This one is definitely worth seeing in theaters if you can find it.

Morning Coffee (9/29/17)

Happy Friday! Let's take a break for some lighter links.

Me elsewhere: The Good Doctor was not good.

Hero: Sydney bride gets married with bouquet made of doughnuts

The weather has finally turned so it's the perfect time for Fug Nation Loves Pajamas!

LOOK at this child stealing popcorn and Prince Harry's reaction.

And to go back in time a bit: The day I photographed the Queen and her dogs in the living room at Balmoral

!! Baby penguins have swimming lessons in Birmingham

Eat Like Your Favorite Author: Writers on their Signature Sandwiches

20 Descriptions of Armie Hammer’s Voice in the Call Me By Your Name Audiobook

41 Autumnal Cocktails Perfect for the Crisp Days of Fall

Let's go to the Peak District.

Heh: Quiz: Are You Chris, Chris, Chris, or Chris? (I got Pine and I didn't even try to rig it.)

Afternoon Tea (9/28/17)

This from Celeste Ng was great: What Writers Can Learn From Goodnight Moon

The Strange World of Sorority Rush Consultants

I can't wait to see the movie: Victoria and Abdul: The Friendship that Scandalized England

This German Village Is a Town Based on Time

A glimpse of when Canada's badlands were a lush dinosaur forest by the sea

Morning Coffee (9/28/17)

Me elsewhere: Me, Myself & I was bad.

Good thing we didn't put her in charge of anything: Clinton pressed Trump to deploy hospital ship Comfort to Puerto Rico. Now it’s preparing to go.

"The acting head of the Drug Enforcement Administration will resign at the end of the week, according to law enforcement officials, who said he had become convinced that President Trump had little respect for the law."

These women are amazing: A Sisterhood of Domestic Workers is Fighting Against SB 4

Angela Merkel won in a landslide — now comes the hard part

Labour's route to Downing Street

Jemele Hill on doing the right thing

THE TANA FRENCH SHOW IS FINALLY HAPPENING!!!

Ooh: Delta Is Offering Free Messaging on Flights Starting in October

Whoa: Lady Lucan, key figure in 1974 murder mystery, found dead at London home

California Officially Has a State Dinosaur

Afternoon Tea (9/27/17)

From Poland to Lithuania: A Writer’s Search for Her Jewish Past

(Her) Body: Roxane Gay Speaks for Herself (For herself but with Mallory Ortberg, I should specify!)

The Creepiest Children's Book (Count me among those who had The Lonely Doll as a kid and never realized it was creepy!)

Hot Dates in the Saudi Desert

These posts where the British Library explores its holdings in an area are often quite interesting: Vietnamese traditional markets

10 Great Anecdotes from Hillary's Book about Obama and Bill

About President Obama:

1. "He would call from time to time and share his thoughts on the race. 'Don't try to be hip, you're a grandma,' he'd tease. 'Just be yourself and keep doing what you're doing.'"

2. He thought she overdid it in 2008, so he kept trying to get her to rest more in 2015-16. Aw.

3. When she called the President right after she called Trump to concede: "The President said everything right. He told me I'd run a strong campaign, that I had done a great deal for our country, that he was proud of me. He told me there was life after losing and that he and Michelle would be there for me."

About Bill:

1. After her concession speech: "I'm so proud of you... That was a great speech. History will remember it."

2. He has opinions on the relative merits of CBS procedurals: he "insists" NCIS: Los Angeles is the best of the franchise.

3. "I remember how hours after she was born, Bill walked around the hospital room with tiny Chelsea in his arms, explaining everything to her. We didn't want to waste a moment."

4. Bill was the first father that hospital ever let be in the operating room during a C-section, and it sounds like they only allowed it because he was Governor and insisted.

5. "In a minute he will reorganize our bookshelves for the millionth time, which means I will not be able to find any of my books, and once I learn the new system, he'll just redo it again, but I don't mind because he really loves to organize those bookshelves."

6. "He never once asked me to put my career on hold for his. He never once suggested that maybe I shouldn't compete for anything - in work or politics - because it would interfere with his life or ambitions. There were stretches of time in which my husband's job was unquestionably more important than mine, and he still didn't play that card. I have never felt like anything but an equal."

7. "On our first date, we went to the Yale University Art Gallery to see a Mark Rothko exhibit. The building was closed, but Bill talked our way in."

Morning Coffee (9/27/17)

Me elsewhere: Young Sheldon wasn't as bad as I feared.

!!! Saudi Arabia Says It Will End Ban And Allow Women To Drive

A New Study Shows Just How Many Americans Were Blocked From Voting in Wisconsin Last Year

Surprise! Trump’s tax ‘reform’ looks like tax cuts for the rich

I'm glad he's representing us so well on the world stage: Where is 'Nambia'? President Trump 'invents' African country

Of course: Alabama Senate Candidate Roy Moore Whips Out A Handgun At Rally

Undercover with the Alt-Right

Barbara Blaine, Who Championed Victims of Priests’ Abuse, Dies at 61

Goodbye, For Now, To A Vital Source For Native American News

Ooh! Lost Rubens portrait of James I's 'lover' is rediscovered in Glasgow (They're talking about the Duke of Buckingham and I'm not sure why "lover" is in quotes, as I think that relationship is pretty well-documented.)

Good. They should be better about this IN GENERAL because it happens to all sorts of authors, not just Hillary: Amazon Removed Hundreds of Reviews of Hillary Clinton’s Book From People Who Probably Didn’t Read It

Afternoon Tea (9/26/17)

The Mercury 13 Women Were Ready for Space, But NASA Never Gave Them a Chance

The Salvation of Mosul

Learning to Love Dill, Russia's Ubiquitous Herb

My Life in Domestic Goddesses

Bertillons and others: some language textbooks of the past

Over 100 Things in Hillary's Book That Made Me Like Her Even More, Part 7 - THE END.

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6.

OKAY, this is the end. Of this list, at least. Come back tomorrow for (one post only, I swear, of) awesome things in the book about OTHER people. Mostly Bill.

121. "Of course, it helps when the candidate who gets the most votes wins the election. What an idea!"

122. She calls out Biden for saying no one related to the campaign talked about the middle class: "I find this remarkable, considering that Joe himself campaigned for me all over the Midwest and talked plenty about the middle class."

123. "That said, a small but still significant number of left-wing voters may well have thrown the election to Trump. Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, called me and my policies 'much scarier than Donald Trump' and praised his pro-Russia stance. This isn't surprising, considering that Stein sat with Putin and Michael Flynn at the infamous Moscow dinner in 2015..." She then says Stein "wouldn't be worth mentioning" (ha!) except that she got enough votes in Those Three States to swing the results.

124. "Maybe, like actress Susan Sarandon, Stein thinks electing Trump will hasten 'the revolution.'"

125. "When I said, 'You could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables,' I was talking about well-documented reality."

126. "Democrats have to continue championing civil rights, human rights, and other issues that are part of our march toward a more perfect union. We shouldn't sacrifice our principles to pursue a shrinking pool of voters who look more to the past than the future."

127. "That vision did win the popular vote by nearly three million (yes, I'm going to keep mentioning that)."

128. "None of the factors I've discussed here lessen the responsibility I feel or the acing sense that I let everyone down. But I'm not going to sulk or disappear. I'm going to do everything I can to support strong Democratic candidates everywhere. If you're reading this book, I hope you'll do your part too."

129. "Why is the burden of opening our hearts only on half the country?"

130. "I was feeling restless and needed an emotional boost. I thought it might help to visit Val-Kill, Eleanor Roosevelt's cottage, which is one of my favorite historical sites." I too visit historical sites when I need an emotional boost.

131. "Unless people stay engaged and find ways to translate protests into political power, we aren't going to stop Trump's agenda or win future elections."

132. "Get involved in a cause that matters to you . . . Don't just think about it or talk about it: support a cause with your money, your time, and your talents."

133. "My advice would be simple: Don't let the bastards get you down. Stay true to yourself and your values. Most of all, keep going."

134. "Seriously, if anyone is thinking of quitting the Republican Party, now would be a good time."

135. About her campaign staff and volunteers, in the acknowledgments: "In fact, I asked the publisher whether we could print all your names here - more than 6,500 - but they said it would make this book twice as long. Please know that you are written in my heart, now and always."

<3 <3 <3

Morning Coffee (9/26/17)

Me elsewhere: My thoughts on Star Trek: Discovery!

Experts on North Korea’s latest threat: “This is how war by miscalculation starts”

Go Susan Collins! (Honestly I'm glad we get to praise someone other than McCain this time.) Health Bill Appears Dead as Pivotal G.O.P. Senator Declares Opposition

I just... At Least 6 White House Advisers Used Private Email Accounts

Germany’s Far Right Complicates Life for Merkel, and the E.U.

In case you want to catch up on what happened over the weekend: Donald Trump versus the NFL, explained

Related: Star Trek: Discovery cast takes a knee in premiere night protest

Related to that, Mallory Ortberg is recapping Discovery and I'm very excited about it.

Here's an interesting read in light of the upcoming Catalonia referendum: Domains Are Power

How Toys R Us Succumbed to Its Nasty Debt Problem

Local languages are driving the BBC’s expansion in Africa

Afternoon Tea (9/25/17)

(You've got a few more days to join me on Patreon and get September rewards!)

Author Alisha Rai Discusses Writing Romance Novels in a Very Rough Year

The Paranoid Girls of Tumblr

The Making of the Modern American Recipe

The Other Invasion (by which they mean the 1167 Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland)

This headline is hilarious, but the piece is interesting! Why It Matters Where Your Jewels Come From

Over 100 Things in Hillary's Book That Made Me Like Her Even More, Part 6

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5.

(I think we're looking at 7 parts total.)

101. "'What now?' I asked. 'Jim Comey...' Jennifer began, and I immediately knew it was bad."

102. "In the days that followed, some people thought I should fire Huma or 'distance myself.' Not a chance. She had done nothing wrong and was an invaluable member of my team."

103. She calls out Chris Cillizza by name for how many email pieces he wrote.

104. "I've read the Times for more than forty years and still look forward to it every day. I appreciate much of the paper's terrific non-Clinton reporting, the excellent op-ed page, and the generous endorsements I've received in every campaign I've ever run."

105. She calls Putin a manspreader.

106. On Trump: "He dreams of Moscow on the Potomac."

107. She calls Assange an odious hypocrite.

108. I loved this subtle takedown: "I wondered who told Trump to say that."

109. "We sometimes joked that if we wanted the press to pay attention to our jobs plan, which I talked about endlessly to little avail, we should leak a private email about it."

110. "I wasn't just a former candidate trying to figure out why she lost. I was also a former Secretary of State worried about our nation's national security."

111. On the whole Russia story: "It's like something out of one of the spy novels my husband stays up all night reading."

112. "I love when CNN does real-tim fact-checking in its on-screen chyron. More of that, please."

113. "We're all going to share our American future together - better to do so with open hearts and outstretched hands than closed minds and clenched fists."

114. She tells a cute story about joking with the election volunteers in Chappaqua about whether she'd have to show ID - and turns it into a point about how many Americans' votes are suppressed that way.

115. "I've always loved that quip from Winston Churchill about how democracy is the worst form of government - except for all the others. I still believe that, even when our system feels totally nuts. (Electoral College, I'm looking at you!)"

116. "On Election Day, with the campaign all but finished, I had a chance to think in earnest about the work ahead. It was exciting."

117. On her concession call to Trump: "It was all perfectly nice and weirdly ordinary, like calling a neighbor to say you can't make it to his barbecue. It was mercifully brief."

118. "The speechwriters gingerly approached with a draft of a concession speech. I honestly wondered why anyone would want to hear from me ever again."

119. On why the media wants her to take all the blame: "Their real problem is they can't bear to face their own role in helping elect Trump, from providing him free airtime to giving my emails three times more coverage than all the issues affecting people's lives combined."

120. "Whenever I do a job, such as Senator or Secretary of State, people give me high ratings. But when I complete for a job - by running for office - everything changes."

Morning Coffee (9/25/17)

Me elsewhere: TV news for the week.

German election: Merkel wins fourth term but far-right AfD surges to third

New Order Indefinitely Bars Almost All Travel From Seven Countries

Good thing no one gets upset about this kind of thing: Kushner used private email account for some White House business

This New G.O.P. Publication Looks a Lot Like a News Website

Heh: White House Denies John Kelly Is Having an Existential Crisis

John le Carré on Trump: ‘Something seriously bad is happening’

My Star Trek: Discovery post will be up at The Televixen later today, but in the meantime, I like Todd's piece: Star Trek: Discovery nails the important stuff in a surprisingly terrific debut

Interesting: Jury to Decide Whether or Not "Comic-Con" Has Become Generic

Whee: Bill Clinton & James Patterson’s Novel ‘The President Is Missing’ Lands At Showtime For TV Series Adaptation

Much ado about nothing: ancient Indian text contains earliest zero symbol

Morning Coffee (9/24/17)

Good for him: Bruce Maxwell Becomes First MLBer To Protest During National Anthem

This is a really good read for today, election day: A Storm in Germany

Pentagon Tests Lasers and Nets to Combat a Vexing Foe: ISIS Drones

Document Revives Mystery of Vatican Teenager Who Vanished in ’83

The Virginia church of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee has voted to drop his name

Moore Reportedly Claimed Endorsement From Deceased Conservative Activist

2016 Voter Turnout Dropped At HBCUs, Climbed At Women's Colleges, Study Finds

The ‘Vietnam War’ co-director has been making movies with Ken Burns for decades. Why is only one of them famous? (I started watching this series yesterday and it's great, of course.)

Medieval porpoise 'grave' on Channel island puzzles archaeologists

SIGH: Most-wanted criminal arrested after posting Instagram video of himself

Morning Coffee (9/23/17)

Here's What You Need To Know About Germany's Election

SHRUG: Manafort Working on Kurdish Referendum Opposed by U.S.

What a shock: Trump is assembling the most male-dominated government in decades

Aaron Hernandez Had Severe C.T.E. When He Died at Age 27 (Not a surprise, but the fact that it was so bad so young is... not good, when it comes to the danger of pre-NFL play.)

World's richest woman Liliane Bettencourt dies aged 94 (I hear this new book about her is very good.)

Lillian Ross, a Pioneer of Literary Journalism, Has Died at Ninety-Nine

Annie Proulx is getting a lifetime achievement National Book Award, and the bits of her interview in there are very interesting.

This is SO GROSS. It's even worse than the headline makes it sound: Ian Somerhalder 'Threw Out' Nikki Reed's Birth Control Pills So She Would Get Pregnant

This is ALSO gross: Divorce Comedy With Royal Family Twist From Meghan Markle’s Ex-Husband Trevor Engelson Set At Fox With Big Commitment

Restoring Eleanor Roosevelt’s Childhood Home on the Hudson

Afternoon Tea (9/22/17)

Huh: The World’s Greenest Sports Team Is a Century-Old Football Club in a Tiny English Town

The Fascinating Story of How Lilly Pulitzer Came to Be

Mysticism and rudely-shaped rocks: why 17th-century palaeontology is worth revisiting

In Ruins by the Shore, Some See Connecticut’s ‘Crown Jewel’

Heh: Starbucks Drinks for a New America

100 Things in Hillary's Book That Made Me Like Her Even More, Part 5

Uh, confession: We're only 2/3 through the book. So I guess we'll continue this next week.

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4.

81. "I've always thought about policy in a very practical way. It's how we solve problems and make life better for people."

82. On Bernie: "I nonetheless found campaigning against him to be profoundly frustrating. He didn't seem to mind if his math didn't add up or if his plans had no prayer of passing Congress and becoming law."

83. "I've always believed that it's dangerous to make big promises if you have no idea how you're going to keep them."

84. "I am proud to be a Democrat and I wish Bernie were, too."

85. "It was beyond frustrating that Bernie acted as if he had a monopoly on political purity and that he had set himself up as the sole arbiter of what it meant to be progressive, despite giving short shrift to issues such as immigration, reproductive rights, racial justice, and gun safety."

86. "Later, Chuck Todd of NBC's Meet the Press actually criticized me for being too prepared. I'm not sure how that's possible - can you be too prepared for something so important? Does Chuck ever show up for Meet the Press and just wing it?"

87. "We learned that many Republican voters didn't have any problem with big government, so long as it was big government for them."

88. "It may be hard for us to match his grandiose promises, because we still believe in arithmetic, but we can offer real results." (HERE she's talking about Trump, but funny how quotes could often be about him OR Bernie, huh?)

89. "My staff lived in fear that I'd start talking about 'the rise of the robots' in some Iowa town hall. Maybe I should have."

90. "Just as they were racing off to load the speech into the teleprompter, I said I had one more thing to add: 'I'm going to talk about Seneca Falls. Just put a placeholder in brackets and I'll take care of it.'"

91. "'I married my best friend,' Bill said. It was like hearing a love letter read out on national television."

92. "I plan to live long enough to see a woman win."

93. She almost added a universal basic income proposal to her campaign platform! And then didn't because they couldn't quite make the numbers work! I love her for both parts of that, actually.

94. "Usually when I meet people who are frustrated and angry, my instinctive response is to talk about how we can fix things." SAME.

95. "Republicans will always be better about defending yesterday. Democrats have to be in the future business."

96. "I was tempted to make voodoo dolls of certain members of the press and Congress and stick them full of pins."

97. In one of her emails to John Podesta: "Please wear socks to bed to keep your feet warm."

98. She's got a great story about a White House operator not believing she was who she said (while Secretary of State) and asked for her direct office line (even though she wasn't there). "I told him I had no idea what my direct office # was since I didn't call myself and I just hung up and am calling thru Ops like a proper and properly dependent Secretary [of] State - no independent dialing allowed."

99. "There's a certain poetic justice now in remembering how enthusiastic Michael Flynn was about sending me to jail."

100. "In fact, more of my emails are now publicly available than every other President, Vice President, and Cabinet Secretary in our country's history combined."

Morning Coffee (9/22/17)

Whew. We made it to Friday. As is tradition around here, we're going for links on the lighter side today.

Hey, Patreon patrons at the $3 level or higher! Our September hangout is tonight at 9pm ET! Get in touch with your Skype handle! And if you're not a patron yet, there's still time to join in time for this!

Aww, look at the Autumn equinox Google doodle!

Whoa: She's a Ballerina. And a Quantum Physicist. And Maybe an Astronaut.

Awesome: Once Teased For Her Love Of Bugs, 8-Year-Old Co-Authors Scientific Paper

This is perfect: If Bostonians Loved Other Local Institutions the Way They Love Their Local Sports Franchises

Ooh, Hank Green is writing a novel.

The best fashion headline ever: This Winter, It’s Chic to Look Like a Muppet

This is fun, from author Kevin Kwan: What to Buy to Look Like: A Crazy Rich Asian

Sold: This new novel set in an idyllic English country bookshop is as soothing as it sounds

Oh gosh: Chrissy Teigen’s Daughter Luna Got a Talking Elmo and Their First Meetup Is Just Adorable

Now I want to try spiced wafers.

CUTE GIANT TOTE BAGS.

Afternoon Tea (9/21/17)

This is a fascinating read on the evolution of quinceanera culture: My Super Sweet 15

In Alaska’s Far-Flung Villages, Happiness Is a Cake Mix

Patient Hero: John Henry and the Earliest American Account of Posttraumatic Stress

On a Tiny Island in Scotland, Two Giants in the Family

Out of the Mikvah, Into the World

Weekly Rec: Runaways by Rainbow Rowell

I should start by saying that I am not a comics person. Like, at all. I'm an extremely text-oriented person. (Please don't pivot to video.) Whenever I've tried to read comics or graphic novels in the past, I've felt very distant from the work as I constantly have to remind myself to pay attention and look at the pictures. Even when I could admire what they were trying to do, it wasn't a natural or fun reading experience for me.

However! Something that comes along with working and being friends with authors and other people who make things is the motivation to try things outside your own comfort zone so you can appreciate and support their work. (One of my friends has a horror novel coming out next week and I'm already pre-stressed about it.) So when news broke that my pal Rainbow Rowell (Eleanor and Park, Fangirl, Landline, etc.) was writing the new run of a Marvel comic, I figured I should give it a try.

And I'm actually glad I did! Runaways, which started this month, is a revival of an older series about the teen children of supervillains. I've never read the originals but this first issue grounds things pretty well: correct me if I'm wrong, people who know what they're talking about, but the characters have dispersed and are somewhat in hiding after taking down their parents, but now things are happening that are prompting them to get the band back together.

I'm sure my reading experience was helped by the knowledge that this was by someone I know, whose books I love, and that therefore I should find it more accessible - but I did! I enjoyed it! I know this sounds like faint praise - "Read this comic! I didn't hate it like I usually do!" - but honestly, I'm delighted. I didn't feel that detachment I usually do when I try to read this format. I'm already invested in the characters and looking forward to the next installment. So maybe you should check it out too!

100 Things in Hillary's Book That Made Me Like Her Even More, Part 4

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3.

61. "There are some out there who say women and men can't really be friends. I can't understand that."

62. She's completely honestly about motherhood sometimes being very boring.

63. "Here is where my friends would say, 'Of course Hillary has data.'"

64. "If you go out to dinner with me, your picture might be in the paper. You might be hounded by trolls online. You might lose friends who detest me because of my politics. You might even need to hire a lawyer. I almost want to offer a disclaimer to new friends: these side effects may occur." Aww.

65. In the past year, she's become penpals with a mystery writer she's read for years, and I am dying to know who.

66. She does an extremely good job of calling out systemic racism and police violence without vilifying all police officers.

67. "So I shook off the threats and got to work."

68. "Bernie Sanders, who loved to talk about how 'true progressives' never bow to political realities or powerful interests, had long bowed to the political reality of his rural state of Vermont and supported the NRA's key priorities."

69. "I was particularly concerned that if a 'Second Amendment person' came after me, he'd be coming after my security detail of Secret Service agents."

70. "Every time I tried to talk about the massacre of little children that happened at that school in 2012, I started to choke up."

71. "In 1992 and 2008, change meant electing dynamic young leaders who promised hope and renewal. In 2016, it meant handing a lit match to a pyromaniac."

72. "Change is hard. That's one reason we're sometimes taken in by leaders who make it sound easy but don't have any idea how to get anything done."

73. "At Wellesley, I tried to find ways to push the college toward more progressive positions through negotiation rather than disruption."

74. She really did go undercover to a segregated school to catch them telling prospective parents that black children wouldn't be admitted.

75. "But talking about fairness alone wouldn't get a ramp built for this girl's wheelchair at the local public school."

76. "So I've never had much respect for activists who are willing to sit out elections, waste their votes, or tear down well-meaning allies rather than engage constructively."

77. "I have zero patience for adults who hurt or neglect kids. My temper just boils over."

78. "The people of Flint couldn't wait for the next election. They certainly couldn't wait for the Revolution."

79. "Plus, I happen to love talking about foreign policy." (She is SUCH A NERD and it's great.)

80. On Matt Lauer's behavior to her at the Commander in Chief Forum: "Trump should have reported his performance as an in-kind contribution."

Morning Coffee (9/21/17)

Iceland’s Government Falls After Letter Asking to Pardon Pedophile

Mueller Seeks White House Documents Related to Trump’s Actions as President

"Two people familiar with the matter told Reuters that Trump was using money donated to his re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee to pay for his lawyers in the probe."

Why Is Congress Conducting Its Russia Investigation in Secret?

SIGH: "As for Mr. Obama, Mr. Sanders sees the man who many Democrats believe will go down as one of the country’s greatest presidents as largely incidental to his vision."

OH PROBABLY: Is Trump Mulling Peter Thiel for a Top Intelligence Advisory Post?

Artist unveils design for Parliament Square suffragist statue (First female artist to design a Parliament Square statue!)

The Resegregation of Jefferson County

Real face of mummified warrior revealed at British Museum

The Story Behind the Greatest Internet Recipe Comment of All Time

Afternoon Tea (9/20/17)

Romance Novelist Julia Quinn on What Makes a Character Sexy My favorite part: "In some ways, portraying a healthy relationship in literature is the most revolutionary thing you can do."

The Secret History of America's Oldest Tofu Shop

This is about the American Revolution, though it doesn't sound like it from the title: The French Bread Connection

The Making and Unmaking of Iggy Azalea

Aww: Two Pastors in Love, and Only God Knows

100 Things in Hillary's Book That Made Me Like Her Even More, Part 3

Part 1. Part 2.

(This... may end up at more than 100 before I get to the end of the book. SORRY.)

41. "I wish so badly we were a country where a candidate who said, 'My story is the story of a life shaped by and devoted to the movement for women's liberation' would be cheered, not jeered."

42. "This has to be said: sexism and misogyny played a role in the 2016 presidential election."

43. On what she expected when she kept her maiden name: "Maybe people would even respect what it said about our marriage: that I wanted to preserve my pre-Bill identity, that I was proud of my parents and wanted to honor them, that Bill supported my choices."

44. "Think about it: we know of only a handful of speeches by women before the latter half of the twentieth century, and those tend to be by women in extreme and desperate situations. Joan of Arc said a lot of interesting things before they burned her at the stake."

45. Aww: "I'll bet you know more about my private life than you do about some of your closest friends."

46. "People say I'm guarded, and they have a point. I think before I speak. I don't just blurt out whatever comes to mind." Hint hint!

47. "It will, no doubt, merit a line in my obituary someday: 'Her eyes once watered on camera.'"

48. She absolutely takes Bernie and the like to task for deciding that some issues are sacrosanct but not women's health.

49. "Mansplaining. The second I heart it, I thought, 'Yes! We needed a word for that!'" [I explained that one to my mom and a few of her Mount Holyoke friends and they reacted the same way.]

50. "It happens at work, too. I make sure everyone has eaten, that my staff is wearing sunscreen if we're at an event in the baking sun."

51. "Something I wish every man across America understood is how much fear accompanies women throughout our lives."

52. She makes sure to point out that Princess Leia has gotten a promotional to General.

53. "We helped bring into the mainstream the idea of a woman leader for our country. That's a big deal, and everyone who played a role in making that happen should feel deeply proud. That was worth it. I will never think otherwise. This fight was worth it."

54. "If you're ever looking for me at a party, you're likely to find me wherever the kids are."

55. "Finally, I sat down and tried my best to make eye contact with this squirming infant. 'Chelsea,' I said firmly, 'this is new for both of us. I've never been a mother before. You've never been a baby. We're just going to have to help each other do the best we can.'"

56. No woman at her law firm had ever gone back to work after having a baby, so she wrote her own maternity leave policy while pregnant.

57. She takes time for a little message to any new mothers who might be reading: "You're doing great. It'll get easier, so just hang in there. And maybe ask your partner or mom or friend to take over for a few hours so you can have that shower and get some sleep."

58. On the idea that she and Bill must "have an arrangement": "We do, it's called a marriage."

59. "All I know is that a lot of people have grabbed my hand and told me their worries and dreams, and that's been a unique privilege."

60. "People like me when I'm in a supporting role."

Morning Coffee (9/20/17)

Hillary Clinton Is Finally Expressing Some Righteous Anger. Why Does That Make Everyone Else So Mad?

Fear itself: Donald Trump's real immigration policy

Was Charlottesville the Exception or the Rule?

‘Friends of the Court’ Have Hidden Ties to Big Investors

Turkey's new school year: Jihad in, evolution out

Maurice Bluestein, Who Modernized the Wind Chill Index, Dies at 76

Whoa: Record-sized data centre planned inside Arctic Circle

I know I say this every time archaeologists find thing in Egypt, but it blows my mind that they're STILL making big finds in Egypt: Ancient Egyptian treasures uncovered in tomb near Valley of the Kings

THIS IS HORRIFYING: Icelandair introduces introverts' worst nightmare: Inescapable interactive theater

This piece is very interesting and thoughtful, and also, pay your writers! I'm a Black Writer Suing Ebony for Unpaid Work. It Doesn't Feel Good.

Afternoon Tea (9/19/17)

From Prison to Ph.D.: The Redemption and Rejection of Michelle Jones

“I’ve Always Been Political”: Celeste Ng and Nicole Chung in Conversation

How a Design Agency Helped Make Portland, Maine, the Hippest Foodie Town in New England

“Skip intro”: Netflix could’ve saved TV title sequences, but now it’s killing them

10 Years After Her Horrible 2007, Britney Spears’s Tabloid Saga Shows How Much Has Changed

American Assassin: Men are too emotional to be trusted with nukes.

(MOVIE SPOILERS AHEAD.)

I went to see American Assassin on opening night not because I have a huge enthusiasm for this kind of action movie - I prefer my espionage stories to be of the "people inscrutably reading files" type - but because I enjoy Dylan O'Brien's face and wish to support his career, especially now that he's gone through a difficult recovery from a terrible on-set accident. I also enjoy Taylor Kitsch's face, and I have vaguely warm feelings toward Michael Keaton as I do everyone who was in Spotlight, the greatest movie of our time. Honestly, this whole introductory paragraph is just to give your brains a second to react to the spoiler alert above and stop reading if you so choose.

So, I saw this movie, and it was a reasonably enjoyable mindless action movie, but! It turns out that the lesson of American Assassin, like basically everything else in 2017, is that men are way too emotional to be put in charge of nuclear weapons. The premise of the movie is literally "This guy has too many feelings, so let's train him to kill people really effectively!" Specifically, he ends up going after a previous guy with too many feelings trained by the same people, whose feelings about the fact that assassins are not supposed to have feelings have led him to construct a nuclear weapon more or less for funsies. Their trainer, who also has a surprising number of feelings for someone who claims to have none, is basically just setting their deadly emotions to ping-pong off each other and hoping it ends up okay. Far be it from me to question the wisdom of CIA Director Hercule Poirot, but I have some doubts about this entire endeavor.

There are only two female characters in this movie, because we do not count women who exist solely to die tragically and inspire men as characters. So far as the audience knows, these two have had at least as many if not more terrible things happen to them than have any of the men, and they do a much better job of keeping a handle on themselves and doing their jobs. (One of them does one questionable thing because of her feelings, but their overall track record is much better.) Their experiences have clearly shaped them and helped refine their priorities, but they do not make everything about their own pain. One of these women has the unlucky task of supervising the assassin training nonsense described above, and it is entirely due to her calm competence that this movie does not end in literal nuclear holocaust.

In summary: Hillary should have won, and this movie is silly but Dylan O'Brien does this thing with a window that's worth the price of admission.

(Posts made possible by my Patreon supporters! Join in!)

100 Things in Hillary's Book That Made Me Like Her Even More, Part 2

Part 1.

21. To cheer Obama up after his first debate with Romney, Hillary sent him a Photoshopped picture of Big Bird strapped to the top of Mitt's car.

22. She hired the first chief diversity officer to make sure she had the most diverse presidential campaign ever.

23. "My advisers had to deal with a candidate - me - who often wanted something new to say, as opposed to just repeating the same stump speech over and over." Not that that sounds like anyone we know.

24. "I'm something of a Roosevelt buff. First on the list will always be Eleanor." And one of the reasons she mentions is one of my favorite Eleanor quotes, too: "If I feel depressed, I go to work."

25. "There was a minor Washington tempest back in the 1990s when a newspaper claimed I was having seances in the White House to commune directly with Eleanor's spirit. (I wasn't, though it would have been nice to talk to her now and then.)"

26. On why she likes Teddy Roosevelt: "He was also a shrewd politician who managed to fend off the demands of angry populists on his left, who wanted to go even further toward Socialism, and conservatives on his right, who would have let the robber barons amass even more wealth and power." AHEM.

27. "I'm convinced that the answer for Democrats going forward is not to abandon data but to obtain better data."

28. "My approach came down to two words: routine and joy."

29. She and Bill have kept careful track of every book they've read for years, and I would pay actual money for access to those logs.

30. On her great hair and makeup people: "But I've never gotten used to how much effort it takes just to be a woman in the public eye."

31. She started wearing pantsuits after being photographed up her skirt as First Lady - taking her inspiration from Nancy Drew, and she quotes an actual book (and describes the plot point!) in which Nancy says "I'm glad I wore pants!"

32. The only part of having Secret Service protection that annoys her at this point is causing other people traffic problems with the motorcade.

33. She loves Goldfish crackers, and during the campaign her favorite flight attendant got Flavor Blasted Goldfish for the staff to try. "We passed around the bag and discussed whether it was better than the original. Some of my staff thought yes, which was incorrect."

34. After the Iowa State Fair: "I want you to know that I did not eat that pork chop on a stick because it is politically necessary. I ate that pork chop on a stick because it was delicious."

35. "We take birthdays and holidays seriously on the road."

36. On meeting women in their eighties and nineties excited to vote for a woman: "I imagined myself in thirty years, putting on nice clothes and going to hear my candidate speak." Aww.

37. She's a matchmaker who always wanted the gossip on who in the press corps was dating each other.

38. She calls herself a "lifelong fan of school supplies."

39. "In the end, thanks to our practice sessions, I felt that deep sense of confidence that comes with rigorous preparation."

40. On why she hired Robby Mook: he was "highly disciplined and levelheaded, with a passion for data and a talent for organizing."

Morning Coffee (9/19/17)

The world’s fastest-growing refugee crisis is taking place in Myanmar. Here’s why.

There's a... lot in here: With a Picked Lock and a Threatened Indictment, Mueller’s Inquiry Sets a Tone

The 4 steps for Republicans to repeal Obamacare in the next 2 weeks

Well. Request denied: States try to block access to public records

What The World Thinks Of Trump

Wow, make sure you see the New Yorker cover they would have run if Hillary had won.

‘It Was a Frat House’: Inside the Sex Scandal That Toppled SoFi’s C.E.O.

This is a good, important read: Colin Kaepernick Has a Job

The brilliant, infuriating, boring, hypnotic Ken Burns documentary The Vietnam War

The Race to Build a Computer Powerful Enough to Predict the Future

Afternoon Tea (9/18/17)

Make sure you read to the end, and don't read ahead: The Week My Husband Left And My House Was Burgled I Secured A Grant To Begin The Project That Became BRCA1

Some amazing stuff in here: Peter Hall: A Life in Pictures

TRUE: Opinion: You Should Probably Go To More Movies By Yourself

The Silent Film Returns — on Social Media

Ladies Be Tuckin'

100 Things in Hillary's Book That Made Me Like Her Even More, Part 1

I know this is ridiculous. I'm not sorry.

1. "I realized I was inventing a new pastime: imagining the pain of past electoral losses." She goes on to discuss John Adams, McGovern, Taft, and more. This is totally the kind of pastime I would invent.

2. "But I couldn't - and wouldn't - compete to stoke people's rage and resentment. I think that's dangerous. It helps leaders who want to take advantage of that rage to hurt people rather than help them."

3. She casually refers to Jason Chaffetz as a "wannabe Javert."

4. She refuses to give absolution to people who tell her they didn't vote and want HER to make them feel better about it. "We all have to live with the consequences of our decisions."

5. About making it through her concession speech: "In some ways, it felt like I had been training for this latest feat of self-control for decades." And right after it: "I asked my senior team to go back to our headquarters in Brooklyn and make sure everyone was okay."

6. When Bill lost his gubernatorial reelection in 1980, he was so upset that Hillary had to speak to supporters on behalf. Note: he did not need to do that for her when SHE lost. (Too bad women are so emotional, huh?)

7. After the campaign, she paid everyone through November 22nd and provided health insurance through the end of the year.

8. "It wasn't all yoga and breathing: I also drank my share of chardonnay."

9. She and Bill put up a painting of the balloon drop at the DNC because they loved it so much.

10. She is the pushy friend who makes you take bits of her clothes and accessories you've admired.

11. We like the same type of mysteries. Let's start a book club, Hillary!

12. She's always identified with the older brother in the prodigal son parable. (SAME.)

13. "I ran for President because I thought I'd be good at the job."

14. On the Clinton Global Initiative: "No one could just show up and talk; you had to actually do something." AHEM.

15. She has a completely rational explanation for her "secret" Wall Street speeches, and yet takes complete blame for not realizing they would look bad.

16. Why she finally decided to run: "It was a chance to do the most good I would ever be able to do."

17. "For me, political campaigns have always been something to get through in order to be able to govern, which is the real prize."

18. On all the research and list-making she did to construct her policies and positions: "It was honestly a lot of fun."

19. On long campaign road trips, she googled every NPR station on the way so she'd be prepared for the drive.

20. On Trump's approach to campaigning: "He had no ideological core apart from his towering self-regard, which blotted out all hope of learning or growing. As a result, he had no need to listen to anyone but himself."

Morning Coffee (9/18/17)

Me elsewhere: TV news for the week.

Stop talking about sensitive things in restaurants, you idiots: Trump Lawyers Clash Over How Much to Cooperate With Russia Inquiry

What on earth: Cuba mystery grows: New details on what befell US diplomats

There’s now a real congressional push to block the transgender military ban

Facebook and Twitter may have to testify before Congress about Russian interference in the 2016 election

Why I Will Never Stop Being Glad That Hillary Clinton Refuses to “Go Away”

Ugh: Shailene Woodley drops the single most tone-deaf quote of the Emmys

UGH: Stephen Colbert welcoming Sean Spicer to the Emmys stage was a disappointment and a failure

Good for her: Amber Tamblyn: I’m Done With Not Being Believed

Sigh: Study: Female Characters Achieve Parity on TV—on Shows Created by Women

!! Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen rock to 'I Saw Her Standing There'

Morning Coffee (9/17/17)

The Myth of the ISIS Female Suicide Bomber

Taxpayers billed $1,092 for an official’s two-night stay at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club

House Dems: Michael Flynn May Have Lobbied For Nuclear Deal Inside White House

Hillary Clinton Is More of a President Right Now Than Donald Trump Will Ever Be (Except in, you know, all the ways that matter.)

Cassandra Levesque is Determined to End Child Marriage in New Hampshire

This is a good read for Emmy day: Critic's Notebook: Has Anyone Noticed That the TV Industry Has Lost Its Shit Lately?

Here’s Why Steve Bannon Wears So Many Shirts

Perfect: The 19 Books Hillary Clinton Should Write Next

Gamergate is never going away

Trust me, this is the cutest: Kasper Schmeichel, Tom Ince set to renew hostilities in Premier League

Morning Coffee (9/16/17)

Me elsewhere: My first pilot review of the season - The Orville!

Exclusive: Russia Used Facebook Events to Organize Anti-Immigrant Rallies on U.S. Soil

U.S. Military: American Fighting for ISIS ‘Surrenders’

Child soldier recruits double in one year in Middle East and North Africa

Chris Murphy’s stealthy single-payer pitch

Nancy Pelosi Will Not Be Talked Over by Men

Congress’ Far Right Melts Down Over Trump’s DACA Deal With Democrats

And here's the final National Book Award longlist - fiction!

This was great: Joy Reid Wants to Argue With You

I honestly think this is more enlightening about the ways people are surprised by how tech works, rather than anything Facebook-specific: Facebook Enabled Advertisers to Reach ‘Jew Haters’ (i.e. Rather than actively enabling anything, this shows what happens when you don't think to place restrictions on things like "popular search terms", etc.)

The Eighteenth-Century Custard Recipe That Enraged Trump Supporters

Afternoon Tea (9/15/17)

This Patrick J. Adams profile is really interesting. Come for what he says about Meghan Markle, stay for the ruminations on Suits in the age of Trump!

Dream Daddy, the game of the summer, was an ode to evolving queer narratives

A Lexicographer’s Memoir of Merriam-Webster in the Internet Age

This is fun: The Worst Shows Critics Ever Reviewed — IndieWire Survey

A Case for Studying the Humanities in a Time of Neo-Fascism

Patreon Spotlight: Interviews and Guest Posts!

One of the reasons I have a Patreon is to help me publish different kinds of content here, not just more. So I wanted to tell you about my next goal! Because that's very focused in that area.

When my patronage level reaches $100 per month, I'm going to start getting you at least one interesting interview or guest post a month here. I really like the idea of hosting some different voices. For one thing, it just gives you a change from listening to my opinions about everything all the time. And, more importantly, I'm hoping to pull in some perspectives you might not otherwise get the chance to hear.

Wondering what this actually means? Well, how about a few examples? For the first few months once we reach this level: actress/writer Kate Hackett and author Susan Adrian will both stop by. (More on the latter in a second.) I've got an awesome young queer sex educator who will come recommend some non-terrible sex ed resources for the kids and teens in your life. I haven't actually talked to her about it yet, but I'm planning to drag my mom in to talk about health care policy from a pediatrician's point of view. (Hi Mom!) And remember Vampire Legal Issues? Our favorite vampires are no longer on TV, but plenty of other fictional characters are making terrible estate planning decisions, and Lawyer Christine will come back to yell at them.

And... it also means that when we reach the goal I'll put up a notice about how YOU and anyone else interested can pitch me guest posts. I'll even pay you for them.

So. As of this writing, we're at $53. $47 to go. Even $1 a month helps a lot (and gets you an exclusive monthly update on my work!). Any more than that gets you extra content: more links, playlists, recipes, all sorts of stuff. And I said I'd get back to Susan... the thing I have planned with her is really awesome and... really Christmas-related. I'd love to publish it in November to help get us all in the mood (and... maybe help you with your Christmas shopping?!?!). That gives us about two months to reach this goal. Let's do this.

Morning Coffee (9/15/17)

As usual, we're going to put current events mostly on hold and find some happy links to celebrate Friday!

Me elsewhere: Holly and I recorded an episode of The Fourth Wall about Fall TV and the Emmys. Come listen to us have opinions on TV we haven't seen!

Oooh, here's the National Book Award Nonfiction longlist. Some interesting stuff on there I want to read!

This was a complete delight and I don't even particularly care about Harrison Ford: Harrison Ford on Star Wars, Blade Runner, and Punching Ryan Gosling in the Face

LOOK AT PBTEEN'S NEW HARRY POTTER COLLECTION. I guess I don't ACTUALLY want a themed bedroom, but it's tempting.

Oh, I love this list every year! Top 5 Baby Names By State For Births In 2016

Amazing: Danielle Steel’s Desk Is Unlike Anything You’ve Ever Seen

Cool! Uno is finally getting a colorblind-friendly edition

Here’s the World’s Best Honey Cake, According to Science

Beauty and the Beast Le Creuset is totally the kind of thing I would buy if I had lots of extra money lying around.

!! 16 Gifts Every Cheese Lover Will Obsess Over

Afternoon Tea (9/14/17)

I don't usually read comics but I'm going to try this one: Rainbow Rowell on her love of Runaways and the joys of comic collaboration

Ha: The Twelve Tiers of Fall Television!

The convoluted world of best-seller lists, explained

How the Unflappable Fred Astaire Survived the Fifties

Everything Serena Ever Wore on “Gossip Girl”

Weekly Rec: Tinyletters I like!

Two of my dear friends recently started book-related Tinyletters, so I was going to recommend them to you, and then decided I should go back and tell you about some less new ones I like as well. So consider this a Tinyletter recommendation roundup to live in the Weekly Recs archives!

But first: what's a Tinyletter, you ask? It's basically just a free email newsletter. You subscribe and get it in your inbox every time the person writes a new one (or, for most, you can check the online archive if you don't want emails). They're often but not always themed. It's longer form than Twitter or Instagram, more like how blogging tended to be in the mid-2000s. The idea of email newsletters isn't new, of course, but Tinyletters have become something of a trend in the last year or so, partially because with all the (many) issue related to new media and its financial instability, this is a painless way for writers to reach their audience directly. And since there's no direct way to monetize it, I think it often feels intimate in a "this is what I really want to tell you even though I can't necessarily sell it" way. (You can monetize indirectly, via Patreon or affiliate links - for example, I use Amazon referral links when I recommend books, so I wind up with a couple bucks a month of Amazon credit.)

(I suppose I would be remiss not to mention my own Tinyletter, Kate Reads. It's about - brace yourself - what I'm reading. I would like you to subscribe because I have had the exact same number of subscribers for a while now and it's a little demoralizing. MUCH AS I LOVE ALL MY CURRENT SUBSCRIBERS.)

So! The new ones:

My friend Bailey has started Read It Again, about her adventures in rereading books she's already read. And my friend Molly has Forgeterature 101: book reports on books she once read but doesn't exactly remember.

Other favorites (in alphabetical order):

The Check-In: The writing life with YA author Amy Spalding (@theames).

The Crime Lady: Sarah Weinman (@sarahw) discusses crime fiction and true crime.

Episodes: Todd VanDerWerff (@tvoti), culture editor of Vox, talks TV and other things. Todd is one of those writers whose thoughts I will happily read on anything, regardless of whether I think I care about the topic.

Lipstick and other stories: Author Jasmine Guillory (@thebestjasmine) talks books and writing, food, makeup, and more.

The Rec Center: Gavia Baker-Whitelaw (@Hello_Tailor) and Elizabeth Minkel (@elizabethminkel) recommend fanfic and other fandom-related delights.

The Shatner Chatner: Mallory Ortberg (@evilmallelis), late of The Toast and now Dear Prudence, talks about whatever and it's hilarious. (This one is closed to new subscribers - there's a limit imposed by Tinyletter - but you can read them online!)

Two Bossy Dames: Smart, hilarious recommendations and cultural commentary from Margaret Willison (@MrsFridayNext) and Sophie Brookover (@sophiebiblio).

(Weekly Rec posts are made possible by Patreon. Join in!)

Morning Coffee (9/14/17)

I'm so glad this awful man is in jail: Martin Shkreli Is Jailed for Seeking a Hair From Hillary Clinton

How disgusting: Attorneys Suspect Motel 6 Calling ICE on Undocumented Guests

Exclusive: Rice told House investigators why she unmasked senior Trump officials

This is a legitimately big and important story on its own but it ALSO makes me want a The Americans/Halt and Catch Fire crossover: U.S. moves to ban Kaspersky software in federal agencies amid concerns of Russian espionage

Why Mueller is drilling into Trump’s role in drafting Don Jr.’s false Russia statement

Honestly, this is the one thing I thought he'd be on top of: Federal offices are still waiting to hang Trump’s picture

Good for her: Amber Tamblyn Pens Open Letter to James Woods

Related: She Was a Rising Star at a Major University. Then a Lecherous Professor Made Her Life Hell.

I... this is weird! Americans don't need to take over everything! Man Booker Shortlist Is Half American (Also, I've read one of those American books, and I can EASILY think of a Canadian novel I thought deserved this more than that one.)

Bloodstained ice axe used to kill Trotsky emerges after decades in the shadows

Afternoon Tea (9/13/17)

I loved this interview with Celeste Ng - I just got her new book Little Fires Everywhere from Book of the Month and I'm so excited. (If you click that link you can use my referral to get books for $9.99 AND a free tote bag and it's totally worth it.)

This was a DELIGHT: How the Jeopardy! Writers Room Comes Up With All of Those Questions

Innnnteresting: 2017 is the worst fall TV season in recent memory

Inside Higher Ed is sneakily the most hilarious: Homeschooled Student's Transcript Might Be for a Cat

How guest Hans Christian Andersen destroyed his friendship with Dickens

Morning Coffee (9/13/17)

Edith Windsor, Whose Same-Sex Marriage Fight Led to Landmark Ruling, Dies at 88

I haven't had time to watch Ezra Klein's interview with Hillary Clinton yet, but from the description it sounds amazing: "Not only does she refuse to paint an inspiring vision of a political process rid of corruption, partisanship, and rancor, but she’s also actively dismissive of those promises and the politicians who make them."

Sigh: Scandal-plagued foreign leader gets surprise invite from Trump, checks into Trump’s hotel

The most shocking political assassination of the past decade remains an utter mystery

This list is GREAT: The National Book Awards Longlist: Young People’s Literature

Aaah! Star Trek: Discovery reveals its theme song

Pluto's Features Just Got Some Seriously Metal Names From Mythology

For Qatari Network beIN Sports, Political Feud Spills Into Stadiums

Honestly, Walton Goggins was born to play a snake-handling preacher, and Olivia Colman is in this too so I'm VERY excited. (I was on a press call with Goggins once and I'm pretty sure we would have all joined his church by the end of it. Just saying.)

Heh: Declutter Your Chrome Browser Tabs or This Tamagotchi Clone Will Die

Afternoon Tea (9/12/17)

I LOVE this. The ordering is useful but it also gets at exactly why I love le Carré's work: The Best Way to Read John le Carré’s George Smiley Books

I'm a little behind on Outlander, but if you aren't, I guarantee you should be reading Nicole Cliffe's recaps: "Outlander is an EPIC ROMANCE about high-quality knitwear and incredible sex, it is not about Scottish history, and no one will convince me otherwise, including Diana Gabaldon."

Shades of Noir: My Hunt for an Eclipse Glasses Villain

Castle of the Sealand kings: Discovering ancient Iraq’s rebel rulers

What the Rich Won’t Tell You

To the CT Millennials Who Now Must Explain Furries to Their Parents

Oh, you guys. I'm so, so sorry we're going through this. As if 2017 wasn't bad enough! Now we have politicians losing their jobs because people find out they're furries, so then that is printed in the goddamn newspaper and now all of our parents and grandparents and aunts are going to call us up and ask what that means. That concern was obviously my first thought when I read this story, and sure enough, I've already gotten one email from a relative. Do you want to explain furries to your relatives? No. No you do not.

My first thought was "just tell them to Google it", but on second thought that's a terrible idea, partially because you probably don't want to do that to your family but also because it might prompt MORE QUESTIONS. But good news: Vox is on it, because of course they are. The always delightful Dylan Matthews has a furries explainer that is comprehensive and PG-rated, so you can just send that to anyone asking. (How did we ever understand anything before Vox? The only thing they haven't been able to explain to me is bitcoin.)

While we're here, though, let's talk about whether we actually care about this.

First of all: Do we care if our elected officials are furries? I am inclined to say no, we do not. Let people enjoy what they enjoy, to the extent that it is not hurting anyone. Especially right now! I have lost count of the number of Connecticut politicians in jail. The president is a barely literate lunatic rapist who might accidentally start a nuclear war. Does it matter if some guy on a town council is a furry? Nah. You do you, dude.

However! However. According to the reporting, there is something on this guy's profile that says he "tolerates" rape. (Sounds like users have to multiple-choice react to various preferences.) So that's a totally different story. I do not want elected officials who tolerate rape.* And that has nothing to do with his furry proclivities, for the record - lots of non-furries "tolerate" rape! Like the president! - but is in itself sufficient reason to ruin his career. So at the end of the day I'm not losing sleep over this one.

Just over having someone ask me about it at the next family gathering.

* I stopped and thought about this because the context wasn't entirely clear, and I have no problem with, say, rape appearing in fiction if it is portrayed in a thoughtful and sensitive (and, you know, negative) way. I hate the idea that we can't put whatever subject matter in books or TV because it's "bad". BUT I'm assuming in THIS context, it means rape as part of a positive fantasy or role-play or whatever, and that's a different story.

(Posts made possible by my Patreon patrons, though I feel I should maybe apologize to them for this one. Sorry guys! Want to join in on the fun and maybe get to assign me more ridiculous topics to write about? Right this way.)