LongReads Round-Up Volume Fifteen

What!? It's been nearly a month since my last update? How did this happen?

#Animals

Owls are so hot right now http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/science/long-cloaked-in-mystery-owls-start-coming-into-full-view.html?pagewanted=all

#Comedy

Louis CK and modern comedy http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2013/02/louis-ck-our-gogol.html

#Education

Indonesia has one of the worst education systems in the world www.aljazeera.com/programmes/101east/2013/02/201321965257154992.html

Some Christian homeschoolers want to study evolution, don't believe Adam rode dinosaurs in the Garden of Eden http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/03/old-earth-young-minds-evangelical-homeschoolers-embrace-evolution/273844/

#Feminism

Political commentator Zerlina Maxwell recently went on Sean Hannity's show to promote educating boys and men about consent and rape culture. Since then she has received death and rape threats from men and women who don't believe there is a need for educating men about stopping rape. Two pieces: a response to harassment on xoJane, and Maxwell's points on education on Ebony

http://www.xojane.com/issues/zerlina-maxwell-receives-rape-and-death-threats-hannity#

http://www.ebony.com/news-views/5-ways-we-can-teach-men-not-to-rape-456#

Margo St. James was a seventies pioneer in protecting the rights of sex workers and providing health care services to them. Her thoughts on minority criminalzation and feminism after forty years http://bitchmagazine.org/article/forty-years-in-the-hustle-sex-work-margo-st-james-interview-activism-coyote

#Film

Has the Hollywood machine squashed inventive storytelling in modern film? Short answer- yes http://www.newrepublic.com/article/books-and-arts/magazine/107212/has-hollywood-murdered-the-movies

#Health

Buying drugs on the internet: http://nplusonemag.com/i-m-waiting-for-my-ups-man

The pharmaceutical/insurance/medical complex is exploiting all of us www.healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/bitter-pill-why-medical-bills-are-killing-us/print

#In France

Gerard Depardieu, French icon, is changing citizenship to escape new super taxes http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/02/25/130225fa_fact_collins?currentPage=all

#Language

How language affects our concept of time and saving: http://blog.ted.com/2013/02/19/saving-for-a-rainy-day-keith-chen-on-language-that-forecasts-weather-and-behavior/

#Literature

Academic texts need to be as well written as entertainment pieces http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/02/15/on_writing_well

An account of a symposium on the works of Allen Ginsberg http://www.litkicks.com/Topics/NaropaReport.html

Making me very excited to read more George Saunders http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/magazine/george-saunders-just-wrote-the-best-book-youll-read-this-year.html?pagewanted=all

A new collection of fairy tales shows male characters getting the same kind of torments Sleeping Beauty and Snow White found themselves in http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/03/long-lost-fairy-tales.html

A hundred years of women writing about their feelings and being told they're frivolous http://therumpus.net/2013/03/the-ghost-of-mary-maclane

Two of Renata Adler's books are back in publication http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2013/03/welcome-back-renata-adler.html

Italian author Francesco Pacifico writing about sex, purity, and Catholicism in his new novel http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2013/03/12/underwear-life-an-interview-with-francesco-pacifico/

#Music

Nina Simone's activism through music http://www.good.is/posts/remembering-nina-simone-as-a-siren-and-powerful-civil-rights-activist

All Hail Queen Beyonce http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/02/her-highness.html

#National

Is Marco Rubio the answer for Republicans? http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/02/19/marco_rubio_not_ready_for_prime_time_republican_foreign_policy?page=full

About the (lack of) training a member of the Foreign Service receives: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/02/19/sink_or_swim_state_department_training?page=full

Ways Obama wants to model after Germany: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/02/president-obama-wants-america-to-be-like-germany-what-does-that-really-mean/273318/

#Photography

A woman documents scenes of spousal abuse and then is reamed in a misreported article: http://www.salon.com/2013/03/01/dont_blame_the_victim_or_the_photographer/

#Religion

The Pope's butler did it! http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201303/spy-in-the-house-of-lords-march-2013?printable=true

#Technology

Its possible that a big part of the Republican loss in the presidential campaign was due to out of date or totally absent social networking and tech base  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/magazine/can-the-republicans-be-saved-from-obsolescence.html

After reading this article, I had a nightmare about a teenage boy watching me through my webcam http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/03/rat-breeders-meet-the-men-who-spy-on-women-through-their-webcams/

Bring on the modified chicken blobs! http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/opinion/sunday/dont-be-afraid-of-genetic-modification.html?_r=0

#Television

After mainlining two seasons of Homeland, I assuredly agree with this http://www.salon.com/2012/12/15/tvs_most_islamophobic_show/

Are all the heroines of modern TV crazy? http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/magazine/tvs-new-wave-of-women-smart-strong-borderline-insane.html and my response: http://sailorbaby.tumblr.com/post/45241524615/semi-serious-thoughts-on-television-response-to

#Travel

A skeptical trip to Disney World in the seventies: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1971/01/02/1971_01_02_052_TNY_CARDS_000299445?currentPage=all

#War on Terror

An early piece from The Atlantic about preemptive arrests and thought crime http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/10/prophetic-justice/305234/?single_page=true

On NDAA and domestic terrorism: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/02/201321710236780782.html

The CIA wrongly captured and tortured a man as a terror suspect http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2012/dec/13/cia-tortured-sodomised-terror-suspect

LongReads Round-Up Volume Twelve

#Comics

Interview with the author of a historical account of Marvel Comics: http://www.theawl.com/2012/12/the-long-twisted-history-of-marvel-comics-a-talk-with-sean-howe

#Crime

Growing up with an adopted older brother and convicted murderer http://www.xojane.com/it-happened-to-me/larry-swartz-murderer-adopted

#Business

How Starbucks revolutionized coffee culture, and might be bringing the same popular oomf to tea http://www.themorningnews.org/article/a-spot-for-tea

How Walmart used bribes to get building permits in illegal zones n Mexico http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/18/business/walmart-bribes-teotihuacan.html?_r=0

Disney brand runs everything http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/05/09/500-disney-iger/

#Essay

Shelia Heti writing about why bother socializing http://www.sheilaheti.net/whygoout2.html

Emily Gould on "lady blogs," emotional women, and validity of said emotional women as writers http://www.emilymagazine.com/?p=837

The female writer's fear of being alone, the pursuit of solitude and self satisfaction outside of relationships http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/the-lonely-ones/

Making and keeping friends in late young adulthood http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/faqs-re-friendship-in-your-20s/

Forgot just how much I love Rookie for a minute. Perennial goodie of an essay for the teenage girl inside of you http://rookiemag.com/2012/01/how-to-not-care-what-other-people-think-of-you/

#Fashion

Tavie Gevinson, child fashion blogger to culture pulse point (and masthead leader of Rookie) http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/09/20/100920fa_fact_widdicombe?currentPage=all

#Feminism

J. Jack Halberstam talks about the dissolution of traditional gender roles, and genders themselves, and how feminism needs to move beyond polarizing vagina/penis platforms http://lareviewofbooks.org/article.php?type=&id=981&fulltext=1

After Volume Eleven’s n+1 takedown of The Atlantic, I read this piece by LA Review of Books entitled “Is The Atlantic Making Us Stupid?” talking again about gender issue/”women’s interest” pieces http://lareviewofbooks.org/article.php?type=&id=918&fulltext=1

#Film

Interview with Mel Brooks http://www.avclub.com/articles/mel-brooks-on-how-to-play-hitler-and-how-he-almost,89843/

Interview with Corey Feldman http://www.avclub.com/articles/corey-feldman-on-child-actors-his-favorite-roles-a,89648/

#Health

On mental health, medical services responsibilities, and quality of life:

http://gawker.com/5968818/i-am-adam-lanzas-mother 

http://www.xojane.com/issues/a-response-to-i-am-adam-lanzas-mother-from-a-doctor-in-the-trenches-i-am-adam-lanzas-psychiatrist 

http://www.vice.com/read/the-right-to-die-is-the-right-to-live-0912348-v19n12?Contentpage=-1

Fertility trials and culturing the skills of waiting http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/6694/

#Language

A former DMV employee and self educated linguist endeavored to create the most precise and logical language ever http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/12/24/121224fa_fact_foer?currentPage=all

#Literature

Short fiction by Rebecca Schiff http://nplusonemag.com/men-against-violence

The opening lines of this interview with VS Naipaul are basically the best http://www.tnr.com/article/110946/vs-naipaul-the-arab-spring-authors-he-loathes-and-the-books-he-will-never-write#

Another great interview with Martin Amis http://www.vulture.com/2012/07/in-conversation-martin-amis.html

A historical literary moment, when the father of vampires met the father of American poetry http://www.neh.gov/humanities/2012/novemberdecember/feature/when-bram-met-walt

The Morning News finishes its year-long series on modern Russian Literature with this excerpt and interview with Mikhail Shishkin http://www.themorningnews.org/article/mikhail-shishkin

Review of Oprah: Gospel of an Icon that takes “followers of Oprah” to a new level  and explores the pseudo religious impact of Oprah in viewers’ lives.  http://lareviewofbooks.org/article.php?id=1142&fulltext=1

#Music

The fusion of rap music and traditional Mongolian music http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/2012/10/2012103113231574635.html

Jay Zhttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/t-magazine/the-house-that-hova-built.html?_r=3&

Music round up that speaks to the soul http://rookiemag.com/2012/12/from-the-soul/

#Obituary

White girl privilege aside, I appreciate this piece by Lena Dunham http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/06/lena-dunham-remembers-nora-ephron.html

#Politics

How American tragedies affect presidencies (and how Obama reacts to tragedy) http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/12/17/a_president_we_can_believe_in

Interesting piece on the inside logistics that helped pass gay marriage bills in several states http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/12/the-gay-marriage-plot-inside-this-years-other-high-stakes-campaign/265865/?single_page=true

In a time where America is rife with gun control debates, a journalist steps behind the counter of a gun store http://www.gq.com/news-politics/big-issues/201209/gun-shopping-gq-september-2012

Ta-Nehesi Coates writing about race and the presidency, and the pressure of acceptable blackness http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/09/fear-of-a-black-president/309064/1/?single_page=true

Multiculturalism, liberalism, and questions of identity http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/nov/22/freedom-diversity-liberal-pentagram/?pagination=false

#Sexuality

Why Uganda's aggressive anti-gay laws have roots in American culture http://harpers.org/archive/2010/09/straight-mans-burden/?single=1

James Deen, America's sweetheart porn star  http://lareviewofbooks.org/article.php?id=1021&fulltext=1

Famous women talking about their first times http://rookiemag.com/2012/03/absolute-beginners/

Why you should never fake an orgasm (enjoyed the comment-versation about the heteronormative tone of the article as well) http://rookiemag.com/2012/02/a-real-good-time/

Attempts at online dating http://www.lrb.co.uk/v34/n20/emily-witt/diary

#Spirituality

Last month Rookie magazine's theme was Belief. A few of my favorite articles included building an altar, a conversation between atheists, and reconciling religion and feminism:

http://rookiemag.com/2012/12/anatomy-of-an-altar/http://rookiemag.com/2012/12/beyond-belief/http://rookiemag.com/2012/12/a-holy-allianc/

#Technology

How a Reddit query sparked a film treatment http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/03/ff_reddit/

Forget cloud storage. Theoretical extraterrestrial storage is where its at. http://www.themorningnews.org/article/interstellar-hard-drive

Chemical weaponry developed in the Cold War http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/12/17/121217fa_fact_khatchadourian?currentPage=all

#Television

Sarah Nicole Prickett relates Alan Sorkin’s The Newsroom to the creeping fears of the fading “great American male” legacy http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/television/how-to-get-under-aaron-sorkins-skin-and-also-how-to-high-five-properly/article4363455/