LongReads Round-Up Volume Nine

#Environment

Calling President Obama to end the magical denial of climate change on Capitol Hill http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2012/11/19/121119taco_talk_remnick

#Essay

This article ended a year-long column chronicling life after the author’s young son died of cancer. http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/epilogue-deadkidistan

#Fashion

Zara and fast fashion, the ultimate unsustainable economic model http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/magazine/how-zara-grew-into-the-worlds-largest-fashion-retailer.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Ex-Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka are now employed in the garment factory industry http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/3173c7e8-21be-11e2-b5d2-00144feabdc0.html

#Female Genital Mutilation

A recent article in The Guardian discussed the oft-secret practices of FGM in Indonesia. As a Peace Corps volunteer in the country, I've been shocked at the revelation. Female circumcision has never been mentioned to me, and was not mentioned in our volunteer training. These are a few articles and studies on FGM in Indonesia:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/nov/18/female-genital-mutilation-circumcision-indonesia

2011 article by activist Julia Lalla-Marharajh in HuffPo http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julia-lallamaharajh/indonesias-new-guidelines_b_1030330.html 

Historical survey and modern study of FGM, connecting it to practicioners of Islam (instead of cultural practice pre-conversion) http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/arch_0044-8613_1998_num_56_1_3495 

2003 study completed by Population Council Jakarta in partnership with USAID: http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNACU138.pdf 

#Feminism

The push and pull of women’s economic progress: improvement does not mean the battle is finished http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2012/11/why-do-some-feminists-get-uneasy-when-women-make-progress/265171/ #feminismaintdeadyet

How “girl” centric TV is giving more complex representations of women http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2012/11/the-upside-to-girly-tv-shows-they-understand-that-women-struggle/265151/

#Film

“Pulp Fiction” seems to mark a change in film culture… for an older generation, the end of great film and for the younger, just the beginning http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/10/film-culture-isnt-dead-its-just-more-fun/263264/

Comparison of the original “Prometheus” script and the final product, a few plot holes tied up http://io9.com/5960275/what-did-damon-lindelof-add-to-prometheus-the-biggest-differences-with-the-original-draft

#Food

Essay on food as the gateway to acculturating in the American South http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2012/11/08/smoke-lingers/

#Health

Children who feel no pain. Waiting for this to be adapted into a gritty graphic novel and then subsequently a slightly less gritty film http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/18/magazine/ashlyn-blocker-feels-no-pain.html?pagewanted=all

Sexual health practices in the porn industry, and the law that wants to make all actos wear condoms: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/06/health/unlikely-model-for-hiv-prevention-porn-industry.html?pagewanted=all

Adult actress Stoya makes the case for refuting the condom law:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/16/stoya-measureb-porn-condoms-la

#International

On the new presidency in China: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/11/07/xi_jinpings_challenge?page=full

#Literature

A few articles on experimental literature:

http://htmlgiant.com/random/what-is-experimental-literature-five-questions-bhanu-kapil/

 http://htmlgiant.com/author-spotlight/unfold-is-the-wrong-word-an-interview-with-bhanu-kapil/

http://www.bostonreview.net/BR31.4/welish.php

A prose poem by experimental writer Bhanu Kapil http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/239154

His Dark Materials author Phillip Pullman has a new retelling of the Grimm Fairytales http://www.npr.org/2012/11/11/164432853/philip-pullman-rewriting-the-brothers-grimm

Mapping European crime novels across the continent: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/oct/26/crimes-grand-tour-european-detective-fiction

#Political

Appreciating this flowchart of the David Petraeus scandal by Gawker http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18571gytxfkj7jpg/original.jpg

What the generation that is coming of age in America will expect from their government: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2012/11/the-malia-generation.html

Election season can tear apart friendships over party loyalties: http://www.salon.com/2012/11/17/game_over_conservative_friend/ #essay

#Photography

Beautiful collection of celebrations and preparations for Diwali http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/11/diwali-the-festival-of-lights/100404/

#Poverty

Using direct deposits for poverty level families, India sees a marked upswing in improved nutrition and quality of living, and a downturn in corruption http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21565966-debate-growing-about-how-get-welfare-needy-money-where-your-mouth

Fifteen percent of Americans live below the poverty line, and even more live in a daily struggle to meet monthly needs. http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21565956-americas-poor-were-little-mentioned-barack-obamas-re-election-campaign-they-deserve

#Workforce

Walmart workers are gearing up for Black Friday strikes http://www.thenation.com/blog/171299/walmart-strike-spreads-texas-organizers-promise-massive-black-friday-protest

LongReads Round-Up Volume Eight

#Art

Some trippy art for your Monday morning: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/11/03/llewellyn-mejia-draws-your-nightmares-on-peyote-art/

#Astrology

Evolutionary astrology: http://www.realitysandwich.com/evolutionary_astrology #reincarnation

Astrology and sexuality: http://www.realitysandwich.com/mars_neptune_orgasm_addiction_sharing_sexual_energies

Give in to Mercury in Retrograde this month http://galadarling.com/article/10-magical-ways-to-make-the-most-of-mercury-retrograde

#Booze

Presidential drinking habits: http://www.themorningnews.org/article/four-more-beers

50 American Gins: http://www.foodandwine.com/slideshows/american-gin-renaissance

#Comics

Interview with Glyn Dillon about his new graphic novel and small press publishing: http://www.tcj.com/the-now-of-glyn-an-interview-with-glyn-dillon/

Three interviews with Theo Ellsworth, author of Capacity and upcoming The Understanding Monster trilogy. His work is partly trippy surrealism, partly exploration of the artistic subconscious, partly reminiscent of my favorite Outsider artist, Adolf Wolfli. Amazing black and white pattern and texture work.

http://www.brokenfrontier.com/lowdown/p/detail/talking-dreams-with-theo-ellsworthhttp://www.tcj.com/the-theo-ellsworth-interview/http://www.newsarama.com/comics/understanding-monster-theo-ells.html

A new anthology of queer comics is coming out (pun TOTALLY intended) http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/11/01/rediscovering-comics-queer-history-an-interview-with-no-straight-lines-editor-justin-hall/

Preview of an ongoing crowd funding project for the graphic novel Elysium, about a social media platform that lets you communicate with your dead loved ones (and causes the apocalypse) http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/11/09/elysium-online-indiegogo-preview-crowd-funding-watch/

#Crime

The author was a hitchhiking teen and possibly escaped a serial killer http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201211/truck-stop-killer-gq-november-2012

Rhonda Roby works as a forensic scientist identifying the dead in cold cases, serial murders, and during 9/11 http://www.dmagazine.com/Home/D_Magazine/2012/November/Rhonda_Roby_Naming_the_Dead_at_Ground_Zero.aspx

#Design

Innovative design in the home of an architect http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/11/lessons-from-a-surprise-visit-to-richard-rogerss-house.html

#Development

A round up of critiques regarding journalist Nicholas Kristof and the Savior Identity: http://postwhoreamerica.com/nicholas-kristof-half-the-sky-all-the-credit/

Factory labor in Cambodia has all the trappings of unions but no outcomes: http://truth-out.org/news/item/8307-the-fashion-industrys-perfect-storm-collapsing-workers-and-hyperactive-buyers

Another critique of development and aid work that uplifts workers to “savior” status: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-white-savior-industrial-complex/254843/

How NGOs have failed Haiti: http://www.thenation.com/article/170929/ngo-republic-haiti

#Election

I love this fist pump of optimism after the 2012 elections http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/hippies-wander-into-the-lions-den-maul-lions/264921/

Talking about the white vote for Romney http://www.thenation.com/blog/171093/bad-news-about-white-people-romney-won-white-vote-almost-everywhere

Gifs of Karl Rove’s meltdown http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/11/time-karl-rove-took-fox-news-decision-desk/58777/

What a second Obama term means for the rest of the world http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-20233941

The GOP needs an accessible, moderate charmer to reestablish the party… but finding that seems unlikely http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/109864/why-the-gop-needs%E2%80%94-wont-get%E2%80%94its-own-bill-clinton

#Fashion

Interview with the Rodarte sisters: http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2012/03/rodarte-201203

#Feminism

Roxanne Gay writes about being a bad feminist: http://www.vqronline.org/articles/2012/fall/gay-feminism

#Film

Could the internet have garnered cult support for the biggest film failure in history? http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2012/11/would-the-internet-have-rescued-heavens-gate.html

#Food

Hanging with Aziz Ansari and eating everything http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7776162/qa-parks-recreation-star-aziz-ansari-kanye-west-favorite-foods-more

The legend of the Burger in the West http://gearpatrol.com/2012/10/26/the-oral-history-of-in-n-out-burger/

Traveling to Sichuan to eat the best the region has to offer http://www.bonappetit.com/blogsandforums/blogs/badaily/2012/04/sichuan-travel-story.html

I’m a Ramen Hack Genius. This is for the neophytes: http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/ramen-hacks-30-easy-ways-to-upgrade-your-instant-noodles-japanese-what-to-do-with-ramen.html

#Health

David Sedaris goes to the dentist. That’s all you need: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/04/02/120402fa_fact_sedaris?currentPage=all #essay

Manipulating soldiers’ diets to fight off depression: http://www.eatingwell.com/print/15781?page=show #science

#Literature

The critical theory of the ghost in literature: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/jun/17/hauntology-critical

Excerpt from a new novel by Jennine Capo Crucet: http://www.guernicamag.com/fiction/magic-city-relic/

Interview with daytime lawyer/part-time author Charles Yu http://www.themorningnews.org/article/charles-yu

Charles Yu’s review of IQ84 by Haruki Murakami http://lareviewofbooks.org/article.php?id=17

Interview with John Sayles http://www.themillions.com/2011/10/robert-birnbaum-in-conversation-with-john-sayles.html

New short story by Alice Munro http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/nov/02/the-eye-alice-munro-short-story

The case for David Mitchell’s Black Swan Green to be taught as the new Catcher in the Rye http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2012/11/schools_should_replace_catcher_in_the_rye_with_black_swan_green.single.html

How publisher and literary taste maker Malcolm Cowley shaped New York http://www.vqronline.org/articles/1982/autumn/shi-malcolm-cowley/

Review of a new collection of Adrienne Rich’s poetry http://www.tnr.com/book/review/poetry-adrienne-rich-eavan-boland

#Religion

The frustrations of religious conservatism felt by those who share the religion http://www.guernicamag.com/daily/jennifer-sky-faith-and-politics-in-the-sunshine-state/

The monster of atheism might be “Gawd” http://www.realitysandwich.com/neo-atheism_demiurge

Our economic system needs to be spiritually restored: http://www.realitysandwich.com/waxing_sacred_economics_charles_eisenstein

An essay from the eighties about the rise of “feminist spirituality,” including goddess worship etc http://ww.utnereader.com/the-new-feminist-spirituality.aspx

Thinking about possession and writing: http://www.granta.com/Online-Only/Necessary-Daemons

Alexander Chee writes about Tarot http://www.themorningnews.org/article/the-querent

#Technology

Warren Ellis on living in the Science Fiction Condition http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/1/3569208/warren-ellis-futurism-new-aesthetic-social-media

Attempting to live on a self-sustaining, productive farm http://www.businessweek.com/printer/articles/79854-the-post-apocalypse-survival-machine-nerd-farm

#Travel

John Jeremiah Sullivan writes about conservative politics and Kentucky in this 2010 piece http://www.gq.com/news-politics/big-issues/201001/american-grotesque-john-jeremiah-sullivan-birthers?printable=true #politics

How the eighteen hundreds saw a rise in the panicked belief that the dead were rising http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-Great-New-England-Vampire-Panic-169791986.html?c=y&story=fullstory #folklore

Hiking Hawaii’s Big Island http://www.cntraveler.com/islands/2012/11/big-island-hawaii-hiking-adventure-landscapes-beaches-lava-fields

Essay by Vonnegut about the short-lived Kingdom of Biafra in Africa http://journeytoforever.org/rrlib/biafra.html

Living in the mining villages of Peru http://www.vqronline.org/articles/2012/fall/arana-dorado/ #feminism

LongReads Round-Up Volume Three

#Education

The issue with teaching self-expression in place of the mechanics of writing to children:

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/09/how-self-expression-damaged-my-students/262656/

A series of articles on the supposed fall of the Liberal Arts in America:

The reflection of liberal arts in the pop culture mirror: http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/09/pop-culture-has-turned-against-the-liberal-arts/262955/ #LiberalArts #Media

The case for Entrepreneurship as the new Liberal Arts Degree: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/09/how-liberal-arts-colleges-are-failing-america/262711/ #LiberalArts #College

I was really into the following article until this paragraph:

Soon [professors], in their hunger for relevance and their penchant for self-indulgence, began teaching books for reasons external to their intrinsic beauty or importance, and attempted to explain history before discovering what actually happened. They politicized psychology and sociology, and allowed African-American studies an even higher standing than Greek and Roman classics. They decided that the multicultural was of greater import than Western culture. They put popular culture on the same intellectual footing as high culture (Conrad or graphic novels, three hours credit either way). And, finally, they determined that race, gender, and social class were at the heart of all humanities and most social science subjects. With that finishing touch, the game was up for the liberal arts.”

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/who-killed-liberal-arts_652007.html

Epstein’s apparent inflexibility to the diversifying of the cultural canon to make accords for those who have been historically marginalized and oppressed is just pathetic. He lauds himself as a defender of the liberal arts, but only as far as it extends to the brethren of Dead White Men of the Western World.

#Essay

What are ethics in the age of instant communication and constant change? http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/reinventing-ethics/ #Ethics

Bereavement Advice: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/six-pieces-of-highly-autobiographical-bereavement-advice #Mourning #Humor

The similarities between “extinction” sleep techniques and political torture: http://nplusonemag.com/torture-and-parenting  #Parenting 

The Left needs to get it together: http://www.thenation.com/article/170202/letter-my-liberal-allies# #Politics

You're Average, I'm Average, We're All Average. http://therumpus.net/2012/10/on-being-average/

#Feminism

One feminist is swearing off anymore books about the author's "naughty bits": http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-f-word

Fawzia Koofi is Afghanistan's first woman parliamentary speaker and a serious contender for presidency:  http://womennewsnetwork.net/2012/08/27/afghanistan-woman-parliamentarian-dreams/ (this article is informative but almost frustratingly poorly written/edited.)

Article and accompanying photoset on women priests: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/opinion/sunday/women-as-priests.html?ref=world&_r=0 #Religion

Most Recommended Read about women in the workplace by feminist/mother/foreign policy expert Anne-Marie Slaughter: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-cant-have-it-all/309020/?single_page=true

(and a follow up piece) http://www.salon.com/2012/09/27/anne_marie_slaughter_im_a_card_carrying_feminist/

“Men Explain Things to Me” http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175584/

#Film

Casablanca still has its swagger after all this time:

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/09/happy-70th-anniversary-casablanca/263040/

Five lesser-known horror films to give you the willies: http://www.themorningnews.org/article/secret-horror

 

#Food

Brooklyn’s Foodie Historian, Sarah Lohman: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/09/sarah-lohman-foodie-historian.html

Sarah Lohman’s blog: www.fourpoundsflour.com

#Health

New research from Washington University in St. Louis shows dramatic dip in abortion rates among  participants in a free contraceptive program

Summary from Mother Jones: http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/10/free-contraception-fewer-abortions-pregnancies-study

Summary from Scientific American: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/10/04/free-birth-control-access-can-reduce-abortion-rate-by-more-than-half/

Link to primary source: http://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/Abstract/publishahead/Preventing_Unintended_Pregnancies_by_Providing.99945.aspx

Gonorrhea is evolving for the modern day hook up culture: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/10/01/121001fa_fact_groopman?currentPage=all&pink=GjJ6ve&mobify=0  #Sexuality

Cats Are Not To Be Trusted:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/03/how-your-cat-is-making-you-crazy/308873/

TB should probably have its own horror film franchise: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2003/03/patient-predator

We should fear rabies: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/07/ff_rabies/

#Literature #Poetry #Comics

Art of Fiction interview with David Mitchell, author of soon-to-be-motion-picture-adapted Cloud Atlas:

http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6034/the-art-of-fiction-no-204-david-mitchell

Art of Comics interview with R. Crumb:

http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6017/the-art-of-comics-no-1-r-crumb #Comics

"October" by Charles Wright:

http://apoetreflects.tumblr.com/post/32654992480/october-the-leaves-fall-from-my-fingers #Poetry

Short story by Etgar Keret, the most popular author in Israel:
http://www.granta.com/New-Writing/Accident #ShortFiction

#Music

Rappers putting pen to paper for memoirs and autobiographies: http://nplusonemag.com/it-was-written #Rap

The lead singer of Against Me! recently began touring after her transition, becoming one of the most mainstream trans performers in America: http://prospect.org/article/laura-punk-rocker  #Sexuality #Trans

New CD coming from eternally cantankerous Mountain Goats frontman, John Darnielle: http://entertainment.time.com/2012/09/25/mountain-goats-john-darnielle-on-songwriting-for-tormented-souls/

#Religion

Cargo Cults and other incidental deifications: http://killingthebuddha.com/mag/dogma/accidental-gods/  

Religion, politics, and intrigue surrounds the volcano of Mt. Merapi in Central Java: http://killingthebuddha.com/mag/dispatch/burning-faith/ #Indonesia