LongReads Round-Up Volume Twenty-Three

"The Robots that Saved Pittsburgh," by Glenn Thrush for Politico. I don't know a ton about robotics (other than that we should fear them and their inevitable takeover of society), but this long piece on how the robotics industry revitalized Pittsburgh while other industrial cities watched their economies crash is layman friendly. While I'd selfishly love for Pittsburgh to go unnoticed by the rest of the country so I can keep its low rents and post industrial culture to myself, this well researched article highlights the city's powerhouse-primed position in the national economy. "Improbably for a blue-collar town that seemed headed for the scrap heap when its steel industry collapsed, Pittsburgh has developed into one of the country’s most vibrant tech centers, a hotbed of innovation that can no longer be ignored by the industry’s titans."

This is relatively old news in the media world, but its worth a visit if you hadn't followed the story when it was published last month. "Dr. V's Magical Putter," by Caleb Hannan, released on Grantland, quickly gained notoriety and criticism for outing a trans woman who, prior to the publication, committed suicide. The article traces the journalist's fascination with a golf putter invented by an MIT physicist name Dr. Essay Anne Vanderbilt. As he researches her past, it comes to light that she is in fact lying about her credentials (though her putter still works as it claims). Along with discoveries about her education and work background, Hannan uncovers that Vanderbilt is in fact a transgender woman, and goes on to reveal this information to both her peers and the public at large with his article. This article is a sad reminder that mainstream media often mistreats and mis-reports on trans issues, and that society at large has minimal understanding of trans issues. After being met with vehement criticism, Grantland editor Bill Simmons published an apologetic "A Letter from the Editor," that addressed his own uninformed knowledge of trans men and women. Even better, ESPN writer Christina Kahrl, herself a trans woman, wrote an op-ed titled "What Grantland Got Wrong," that did an excellent summation of the problematic treatment of trans men and women in media.     "[Caleb Hannan's] essay on “Dr. V and the magical putter” figures to be a permanent exhibit of what not to do, and how not to treat a fellow human being."

"From Harvard to Webcam Girl," by Anna Katzen for Salon. A lackluster job and general malaise regarding the future sent Katzen in front of the webcam, where she stripped, masturbated, and discussed literature for strangers (and money). Katzen writes about her experience in a market driven by novelty ("pervs love new girls") and her worries that this choice in self employment will wind up being a regret later in life. Just enough voyeuristic details into the weirdness of camsex, but Katzen delivers with a sense of humor and self awareness, not titillation. "...some of my most popular performances entail me reading erotica, perhaps Anais Nin or the Marquis de Sade, in the buff...I have unwittingly created a powerful “brand” for myself: the wild intellectual, the bluestocking in garters."

"The Science and the Scam of the Séance" by Katie Heaney for Pacific Standard Magazine. The spooky spiritualism during the turn of the nineteenth century has been revealed to be mostly hoaxes and frauds (despite all the horror films that milk the séance trope). Heaney discusses one of the leading spiritualists of the day, who never let being exposed as a faker stop her from scaring the money out of curious folks' pockets. Heaney illuminates the tools for faking communication with the dead, and shares how even us twenty first century skeptics get the willies sometimes. "As much as I typically resent hoaxers for “ruining” many of the paranormal phenomena I hold dear, I am also impressed by anyone who can pull it off."
"The Academic Feminist: Melanie Klein on Yoga and Feminism," interview by Gwendolyn Beatham for Feministing. Klein discusses how she found yoga shortly after feminism, and the two practices have intertwined in her life ever since. This interview focuses on an upcoming book Klein edited with Anna Guest-Jelly, one of my favorite yogis who confronts body image issues in modern yoga practices. Their upcoming collection of body image centric essays tackles appropriation, racism, ageism, basically all the -isms with which popular Western yoga culture is fraught. Beatham includes a great round up of links and resources for those interested in the melding of feminist and yogic thought. "Feminism gave me my intellectual grounding and yoga provided the practice to embody and live these teachings."

"Himalayan Bath Salts Will Not Save Your Life," by Brian Palmer for Slate. Facebook is full of bad science, in the form of iStock photos overlaid with text that erroneously educates the masses that yes, the male brain hears music differently than a woman's, and blueberries cure cancer! Its not just science posts-misinformation gets spread around Facebook with the quickness of a "click share." A "science" website called Natural News is wildly popular, and wildly efficient at disseminating false information that feeds people's paranoia. Palmer reveals the misreporting and manipulation of information that happens in Natural News articles. Worse than instructing readers to eat lemon peels is the fearmongering it wages against the government, preying on fears of restricted liberties and conspiracies. "Natural News has an uncanny ability to move unsophisticated readers from harmless dietary balderdash to medical quackery to anti-government zealotry."

"Sexual Assault at Patrick Henry College, God's Harvard," by Kiera Feldman for The New Republic.  Oh, MAN. I have so many feelings about this piece and how it ties to fundamentalism's obsession with purity, conservatism's forced, unquestioning belief in authority, and my fears about how schools like PHC are feeders for politics. I attended one of those private schools with no federal funding (and no federal laws), and while I never witnessed the school administration cover up an assault case, I attended lectures that taught homosexuality could be "caught," like an illness, chapels that preached that women were meant to be wives and mothers, not leaders or careerists, and met several young women who blamed themselves for being assaulted. The culture at work in schools like PHC and Grove City College foster victim blaming and rape apology, placing responsibility on women's sexual, tempting bodies and not on the men who apparently can't control their raging testosterone. "'The entire line of questioning was basically like, ‘Did you make it up? Or did you deserve it in some way? Or was it consensual and now you’re just lying about it to make him look bad?’"

"Once Upon a Time," by Nicole Pasulka for Buzzfeed. I find this article incredibly stressful because, as a future hoarder, I could never throw away possessions with Pasulka's cavalier attitude. I even found myself thinking, as she bemoans losing a set of childhood books from her parents' home, 'you got what you deserved, lady.' This is a beautifully written, wistful essay on the memories she has of her most beloved books as a child. Buzzfeed isn't just for gif posts and "44 Things" lists. "The characters I remember the most show that bad can be good, that love isn’t reserved for those who do the right thing."

"How to Survive a Ten Hour Flight Like a Lady," by Hilary Fischer-Groban for The Hairpin. I've made the 'other side of the world' flight a few times now, and let me tell you, I looked HELLA ROUGH when I landed in America last summer. I had zero shame and wore my Peace Corps shirt and told myself people would let me slide for looking so beat/wolfing down a footlong Subway sandwich in a matter of minutes. Also, arriving home to the fanfare of friends and family also meant photos, photos of me looking exhausted, splotchy, and probably visible stink lines. If you're going to be picked up by loved ones at your next transpacific flight and don't want them to run screaming in the other direction, check out these tips, and the comments section too! "If this isn’t working for you, try thinking about how glad you are that you aren’t doing this journey by sea or worse, not at all, you spoiled brat."