LongReads Round-Up Volume Seventeen

"Gone Home: A Brilliant Example of How Less Can Be More in Video Games," by Leigh Alexander for The Atlantic. A new, quiet paced computer game is garnering critical acclaim. The small budget, narrative based game is being hailed as a step in a new frontier of popular gaming, focused on story telling and world building instead of extensive graphics or action. "Many developers have longed to incorporate literary storytelling elements into video games for a while now—but they often stick to the formulas of commercial action thrillers anyway." http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/09/-em-gone-home-em-a-brilliant-example-of-how-less-can-be-more-in-video-games/279464/

"America's Most Popular Podcast: What the Internet Did to Welcome to Night Vale," by Adam Carlson for The Awl. The strangest little podcast on the web exploded in popularity thanks to fervent fans on Tumblr spreading the viral word. The creators of 'Welcome to Night Vale' talk about the rise to being the number one podcast on iTunes, and if it fills The Void. "The "Night Vale" fan community is, as Cecil once described the condition of life itself, both 'proud and terrified.'" http://www.theawl.com/2013/07/americas-most-popular-podcast-what-the-internet-did-to-welcome-to-night-vale

"Anti-Rape Activist Group FORCE Was Behind the Fake Playboy Party List," by Tyler Kingkade for The Huffington Post. FORCE is doing modern age grassroot activism right. Last year they were leaving Consent Panties in drawers at Victoria's Secret and making a fake VS Pink website, and earlier this year they used Kickstarter to fund a memorial quilt (to cover the National Mall) for rape survivors. Check out the fake Playboy website they hosted to spread the word about consensual sex on college campuses. "'The world is safe for bros to be feminists too,' wrote BroBible's Andy Moore after the hoax was uncovered."  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/18/force-anti-rape-playboy-party_n_3944751.html

"Eat, Pray, Love, Get Rich, Write a Novel No One Expects," by Steve Almond for The New York Times. Elizabeth Gilbert criticizes the "chick lit ghetto" mentality, proves how hard she's hustled for her position as one of the best known American writers of the day, and takes us gardening. While she has written novels in the past, Gilbert is navigating the transition from blockbuster memoirs to historical adventure fiction. "The challenge she faces now is how to sell the pleasures of old-fashioned storytelling to masses who hunger for more personal disclosure. Millions of readers love Elizabeth Gilbert. The question is: Will they love her imagination?" http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/magazine/eat-pray-love-get-rich-write-a-novel-no-one-expects.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

"CrossFit's Dirty Little Secret," by Eric Robertson for Medium. CrossFit is not just an exercise and fitness regime, its also an ethos and lifestyle. Sometimes, trying to meet the "maxed out" exercise goals runs intense physical risks to trainers' health. A physical therapist reviews the dangers of rhabdomyolysis caused by excessive CrossFit activities. "Still entrenched in the CrossFit culture of deplete, endure, repeat, she quieted the alarms and stoically pressed on to go to work. It didn’t take long to realize she not only couldn’t bend her arms, they also had no strength." https://medium.com/health-fitness-1/97bcce70356d

"How Much Are They Paying You for This Shit," by Alice Hines for n + 1. Hines sits through Wal-Mart's annual Shareholders Meeting, where fourteen thousand employees of the corporation gather for a healthy dose of company indoctrination. She captures the heady loyalty the employees hold for the company, while illuminating some of the less savory aspects of the Wal-Mart culture. "Given the world outside their stores, it’s likely that associates aren’t so much brainwashed by Walmart as they are grateful to have any job, whether or not it includes a free vacation."  http://nplusonemag.com/how-much-are-they-paying-you-for-this-shit

"Sex trade victims struggle to reintegrate," by Maher Sattar for Al Jazeera. Truly heartbreaking, this brief article offers the difficulties so many child victims encounter trying to reenter normal life after escaping sex trafficking in South East Asia. The sad reality is that for many victims, sex trafficking is a vicious circle perpetuated by family members, poverty, and lack of resources to successfully rehabilitate and assist those most vulnerable."[Victims] face a massive struggle to reintegrate into a social structure that stigmatises them, and in many cases treats them like criminals and illegal immigrants." http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/09/2013918102223875988.html

"Angie the Revolutionary," by Paul Hockenos for Foreign Policy. Surveying Chancellor Angela Merkel's rise to power in Germany, and how she has shaped and steered the country into new frontiers. Her contributions to family and work policies are nothing short of revolutionary, especially coming from Germany's conservative party, while she has managed to insulate the country during a massive economic crash. Entering a third term on the wave of a rapidly mordernizing CDU party, Merkel is being observed around the world. " A woman in the chancellery, taking over from a daunting pantheon of ego-driven alpha males, was a coup of vast proportions and one that resonated positively with the German public -- especially women." http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/09/18/angie_the_revolutionary_germany_angela_merkel?page=full

"A Big Heart Open to God," by Antionio Spadaro for America. Pope Francis has been making headlines around the world with his open, progressive views of humanity. As the first Jesuit priest ever to be made Pope, he gave an exclusive interview to Jesuit publications, including America magazine. He speaks about the influence of the Jesuit Society in his theology, his thoughts on the future of the church, and mentions loving the films of Fellini and corresponding with Borges. "I have a dogmatic certainty: God is in every person’s life... You can, you must try to seek God in every human life."  http://www.americamagazine.org/pope-interview 

Expanding Words Volume Five

Alembic (n) an apparatus consisting of two vessels connected by a tube, formerly used for distilling liquids.

Anchoritic (adj) characterized by ascetic solitude

Aposteme (n) an abscess; a swelling filled with purulent matter

Arteriosclerosis (n) the thickening and hardening of the walls of the arteries, occurring typically in old age.

Ataxic (adj) lacking motor coordination

Bonze (n) Buddhist monk

Catafalque (n) a decorated wooden framework supporting the coffin of a distinguished person during a funeral or while lying in state.

Cibation (n) the process or operation of feeding the contents of the crucible with fresh material in alchemy

Corium (n) dermis

Coterminous (adj) having the same boundaries or extent in space, time, or meaning.

Decumbiture (n) confinement to a sick bed, or time of taking to one's bed from sickness

Dorcus (n) stag beetle

Electuary (n) a medicinal substance mixed with honey or another sweet substance.

Eschatology (n) the part of theology concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of  humankind

Fossorial (adj) adapted for or used in burrowing or digging

Fremescent (adj)  becoming murmurous, roaring

Fustian (n) 1. thick, durable twilled cloth with a short nap, usually dyed in dark colors. 2. pompous or pretentious speech or writing

Hagioscope (n) in architecture, an opening through the wall of a church in an oblique direction

Hebetude (n) the state of being dull or lethargic.

Helicoids (n) an object of spiral or helical shape.

Imbroccata (n) a thrust with the hand pronated

Imprimatur (n) an official license by the Roman Catholic Church to print an ecclesiastical or religious book.

Insalubrious (adj) Not promoting health; unwholesome

Internecine (adj) destructive to both sides in a conflict.

Lachrymose (adj) tearful or given to weeping.

Lambent (adj) glowing, gleaming, or flickering with a soft radiance.

Majolica (n) earthenware covered with an opaque tin glaze and decorated on the glaze before firing

Malaprop (n) the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one

Mystagogue (n) a teacher or propounder of mystical doctrines

Opprobrium (n) harsh criticism or censure

Parure (n) a set of jewels intended to be worn together.

Peripetia (n) a sudden reversal of fortune or change in circumstances

Pluperfect (adj) more than perfect; supremely accomplished; ideal

Predicant (adj) of or relating to preaching

Prevaricate (v) speak or act in an evasive way.

Primogeniture (n) the firstborn child

Proboscidean (n) order of large mammals including the elephants and mastodons

Satrap (n) a provincial governor in the ancient Persian empire.

Self-abnegation (n) the denial or abasement of oneself.

Somatization (n) the production of recurrent and multiple medical symptoms with no discernible organic cause.

Sonorous (adj) imposingly deep and full.

Stultify (v) cause to lose enthusiasm and initiative, esp. as a result of a tedious or restrictive routine.

Suzerainty (n) occurs where a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs

LongReads Round-Up, Sweet Sixteen

"This Man Moved to a Desert Island to Disappear. Here's What Happened," Kent Russell for New Republic. When escaping to a desert island, just what are you escaping from? Russell writes about Dave the one time multi millionaire who now lives beach side on a remote island. "All desert-island stories are in some sense about waiting." http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114549/dave-glasheen-lost-boy-restoration-island

"Harvard Business School Case Study: Gender Equality," by Jodi Kantor for The New York Times. After observing a vast, decades long discrepancy between the performance of the genders at HBS, administrators implemented a series of new programs to empower and promote success amongst female students. "Ms. Navab feared that seeming too ambitious could hurt what she half-jokingly called her “social cap,” referring to capitalization. 'I had no idea who, as a single woman, I was meant to be on campus.'" http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/education/harvard-case-study-gender-equity.html?pagewanted=all&_r=2&

"The Feminist Power of Female Ghosts," by Andi Ziesler for Bitch Media. Read (and listen to the Popaganda podcast) the survey of the terrifying power of female ghosts in film. From vengeance to unending obsessions, the female ghost is a reminder that there is no greater fury than a woman scorned. "[You]realize that not only are these women sympathetic characters, but they’re all the more terrifying because they have every bit of anger that makes living women sources of fear, but none of the societal restriction." http://bitchmagazine.org/post/the-feminist-power-of-female-ghosts

"Shrinking Women," by Lily Myers at the 2013 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational. I've listened to this poem, about women and eating, and the power (or fear) to claim place, repeatedly. The text is included in the description of the video, but watching Myers perform and hearing the responses of the crowd is worth the three minutes. "I asked five questions in genetics class today and all of them started with the word 'sorry'." www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQucWXWXp3k#t=12

"23 Things Every Woman Should Stop Doing," by Emma Gray for The Huffington Post. Basically, a round up of all the social anxieties and concerns that are HOLDING US BACK, women! Every paragraph in this list had me "mmhm"ing and waving my hands, church lady style. "There is no easier way to discredit a woman’s opinion or feelings than to accuse her of being overly emotional."  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/11/23-things-every-woman-should-stop-doing_n_3908151.html

"Finding Molly: Drugs, dancing and death," by Shane Morris for Bro Jackson. Talking about the EDM (Electronic Dance Music) scene always seems to go hand in hand with drug use. Morris, a promoter and manager, writes specifically about the dangers of Molly and his own experiences using and dealing. "This was a real person, dying in the back of my Honda, on my friend Brandon’s lap." http://brojackson.com/long-reads/finding-molly-drugs-dancing-and-death?

"A Good Angle is Hard to Find," by Sarah Hepola for The Morning News. Charting the modern phenomena of the "selfie," fears of feminine narcissism, and personal documentation. I love The Selfie, and I love this article. Cheers to Emily Perper's Longreads post for sending me this way. "It gives you all the controls to the story you are telling."  http://www.themorningnews.org/article/a-good-angle-is-hard-to-find?