LongReads Round-Up Volume Ten

 #Feminism

“If you’re starting to suspect that the system is built so that women lose no matter what they do, watch out. Thoughts like that may be rational responses to the world how it actually is, but they also lead one down the dark path towards admitting that you are, in fact, a feminist.” http://prospect.org/article/sorry-feminists%E2%80%94not

#Film

Truman Capote writing about Marlon Brando filming in Japan http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1957/11/09/1957_11_09_053_TNY_CARDS_000252812?currentPage=all

Review of Spielberg's Lincoln film: http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/nov/21/lincoln-authentic-wonderment/

#History

Cracking the cipher of a secret society with computer algorithms http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/11/ff-the-manuscript/all/

#International

An idealist struggles to liberate North Korea http://www.themorningnews.org/article/north-korea-wont-be-liberated-in-a-day

One of those “what we took from history isn’t what actually happened” situations- how the mythology of the Cuban Missile Crisis is harming US foreign policy http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/10/08/the_lie_that_screwed_up_50_years_of_us_foreign_policy?page=full

Rape allegations swallowed up in Chinese bureaucracy http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/11/08/kafka_in_beijing?page=full

Major powers, including China, are turning on the charm in South East Asia. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/11/18/chinas_soft_power_surge?page=full

#Literature

How Charlotte Bronte did it different http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/arts/bee-wilson/charlotte-brontes-silent-revolt

Truman Capote's unfinished last novel that might be responsible for destroying his career http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/12/truman-capote-answered-prayers

Queenan has read approximately six thousand books, and he has strict rules for what he reads next: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444868204578064483923017090.html

#Music

Love Song for Leonard Cohen http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/nov/15/why-i-love-leonard-cohen/

#Photography

Photo series of abandoned world fair structures http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2012/11/jade-doskow-worlds-fairs/?pid=4269

Portraits of men and women suffering from addiction http://www.motherjones.com/photoessays/2012/03/portraits-addiction-bronx/mannyquiles-arnade

#Political

Interesting perspective from a Mormon reporter who followed the Romney campaign http://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/a-mormon-reporter-on-the-romney-bus

Uniting behind economic reform http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/dec/06/what-new-president-should-consider/?pagination=false

What should be the new focus of reform, post health care http://prospect.org/article/great-societys-next-frontier

Nate Silver, the great prophet of our age: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/11/16/predicting_the_future_is_easier_than_it_looks?page=full

#Travel

From Harper’s, a ranging history of the Bronx Zoo, from its eugenics fascinated founders to present day http://longform.org/wild-things/

Atlantic City after Sandy: http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/magazine/110217/boardwalk-vampires

If you haven't yet, check out this weekend round-up about workers' conditions and rights in the warehouses that ship for internet omni-retailers. 

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 Seven

#Art

New Statesman provides an English translation of the tax evasion charges China is laying against artist Ai Weiwei as a means of suppressing his work: http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/politics/2012/10/ai-weiwei-papers 

August interview with Ai Weiwei about censorship, China, and individual expression: http://www.realitysandwich.com/ai_weiwei_dj_spooky

#Comics

I’m not Tomine’s biggest fan, but I appreciated what he had to say about the evolving art of cartooning/comics/ illustrating. I’m also a sucker for his “Missed Connections” cover. http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2012/10/29/urban-renewal-an-interview-with-adrian-tomine/

#Education

New technological frontiers in learning a second language: http://www.salon.com/2012/10/27/whats_the_secret_to_learning_a_second_lanuage/

#Environment

When is the human species going to hit its second inflection point? How our species’ success will destroy us. http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/7146 #recommended 

#Feminism

Looking at several new books that deal with gender, feminism, and sexuality (The End of Men, How to Be a Woman, Heroines, This is How You Lose Her) and where we are all losing out in the gender divide: http://therumpus.net/2012/10/how-we-all-lose/

Two interviews with the author of Heroines, Kate Zambreno (essay-memoir-history-lit-theory hybrid about female modernist authors)

http://believermag.tumblr.com/post/34763897153/why-dont-you-like-me-writers-tamara-faith-berger-andhttp://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2012/10/22/heroine-worship-talking-with-kate-zambreno/

Moore lived in Cambodia and taught university women how to make zines: http://therumpus.net/2012/10/the-sunday-rumpus-interview-anne-elizabeth-moore/

#Film

Nice completist review of the Coen Brothers’ body of work, from one auteur theory enthusiast to another: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/the_completist/2011/08/i_watched_every_coen_brothers_movie.single.html

The predicament of political filmmakers in China: http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/world-affairs/2012/10/hazards-independent-chinese-cinema #censorship

Following the Wachowski siblings’ passion for unique storytelling and the journey of filiming Cloud Atlas: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/09/10/120910fa_fact_hemon?currentPage=all

Puzzling out the complicated paths of characters in Cloud Atlas: http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/10/27/cloud_atlas_meaning_what_does_the_wachowskis_movie_say_about_reincarnation.html

#Health

Treat yo’self: Weeks worth of massaging does a body good. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/magazine/my-multiday-massage-a-thon.html?ref=magazine&pagewanted=all

A tiny island in Greece has one of the longest average lifespans in the world. In many ways the lifestyle reminds me of Indonesia, pre-processed food boom. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/magazine/the-island-where-people-forget-to-die.html?pagewanted=all #longevity

#International

Interview with civil rights activist in China who has fought forced family planning legislation and led class action suits against the Chinese government: http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/human-rights/2012/10/chen-guangcheng-facts-have-blood-evidence 

What countries would be voting for Obama this month? http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/10/31/blue_planet?page=full

#Journalism

Specifically, the ethics of found-out plagiarizer and science journalist Jonah Lehrer, But on a grander scale, the state of branded journalism and pop science: http://nymag.com/news/features/jonah-lehrer-2012-11/#

Encounter was a cultural literary arts magazine published out of Britain and covertly funded by the CIA as part of the cold war agenda. http://www.newstatesman.com/node/135185

1960s article about the resignation of Encounter editor when he discovered the CIA was funding the publication. (You need a NYTimes subscription to access this article) http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70815FF3D5B107B93CAA9178ED85F438685F9

Censorship in China: http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/politics/2012/10/virus-censorship

#Literature

Survey of HP Lovecraft’s body of work and how it has influenced culture, and how the internet made all that influence possible. http://www.themorningnews.org/article/h.p.-lovecraft-author-is-dead #obituary

Neil Gaiman created the holiday “All Hallows Eve,” a day to encourage children reading “scary” stories. The Millions has a list of recommended reads. http://www.themillions.com/2012/10/all-hallows-read-a-parents-guide-to-scary-books-for-young-readers.html #children’s lit #spooky

Excerpt from the new David Foster Wallace biography by DT Max (see next link)  http://www.themillions.com/2012/08/excerpt-the-opening-paragraphs-of-d-t-maxs-every-love-story-is-a-ghost-story-a-life-of-david-foster-wallace.html #biography #DFW

DT Max wrote this piece in 2009 after DFW’s suicide. Give yourself a good chunk of time to work through and process this thirteen page longread. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/03/09/090309fa_fact_max?currentPage=all #biography #DFW #obituary

Ongoing interest in articles dealing with parental aging http://www.vice.com/read/i-asked-my-dad-who-has-dementia-to-annotate-jonathan-franzens-how-to-be-alone- #photography #dementia

Certain literature is there in times of grieving, heartbreak, and disappointment—but what story can you turn to when you’re mourning the loss of a pet? http://www.themillions.com/2012/10/elegy-for-a-grey-cat-on-grief-books-and-his-dark-materials.html #grief

James Pogue works out some of his John Jeremiah Sullivan jealousy:  http://nplusonemag.com/the-son-shines-bright #SouthernLit

Series of essays by Rachel Yoder from her collection The Hard Problem: A Guide for the Intergalactic Writer Looking to Mate: http://therumpus.net/2012/11/three-short-essays-from-the-hard-problem-a-guide-for-the-intergalactic-writer-looking-to-mate/ #essay

#Music

THIS QUOTE: “As demure as she may be, this girl is also intense and out for blood — of Red’s title, Swift said, “All those emotions — spanning from intense love, intense frustration, jealousy, confusion, all of that — in my mind, all those emotions are red.” Not to put too fine a point on it, but in this she echoes another passionate artist constrained by traditional expectations of femininity: Sylvia Plath.”  http://thisrecording.com/today/2012/10/30/in-which-we-get-taylor-swift-alone.html

The tiny echelon of producers and top-liners pumping out all our Top 40 hooks: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/03/26/120326fa_fact_seabrook?currentPage=all

#Photography

The Atlantic has been busting fake photos of Hurrican Sandy damage: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/12/10/instasnopes-sorting-the-real-sandy-photos-from-the-fakes/264243/ #sandy

Series of photos and quotes from four young Chinese photographers: http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/world-affairs/2012/10/generation-next-photo-essay

#Relationships

Worries and joys while dating a 500 pound man: http://www.xojane.com/it-happened-to-me/it-happened-to-me-i-fell-in-love-with-a-500-pound-man #essay

#Travel

Coming to terms with death during the Running of the Bulls: http://www.themorningnews.org/article/the-bull-passes-through

A tiny span of the Massachusetts coast seems to be a magnet for everything spooky and strange:  http://www.themorningnews.org/article/cape-fear

A recent visit to post-Fidel Cuba, tentatively developing: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/11/new-cuba/gorney-text #international

LongReads Round-Up Volume Five

#Comics

Really gonna let my nerd show with this one. This is an interview of webcomic phenomenon Homestuck author Andrew Hussie by the author of the Scott Pilgrim series, Brian Lee O'Malley. I've yet to delve into the 5000 page back archive of Homestuck, but I'm well aware of the intense fans thanks to Tumblr:  http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/10/02/homestuck-interview-andrew-hussie-bryan-lee-omalley-ms-paint-adventures/

#Environment

Not for those who once had a panic attack after watching The Day After Tomorrow (aka this blog author): http://www.alternet.org/visions/wake-our-world-dying-and-were-all-denial?paging=off 

#Feminism

On bullying and the sexual fixation on breasts in the Western world: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/10/pointless-shame-the-english-speaking-worlds-issue-with-womens-breasts/263585/

#Film

Two pieces relating to the new Ben Affleck film Argo, about the CIA taskforce that staged a film company to rescue American hostages from Tehran:

First, the Wired article from 2007 that originally reported the story: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2007/04/feat_cia/

Second, the Slate piece that examines the veracity of the film: http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/10/12/argo_true_story_the_facts_and_fiction_behind_the_ben_affleck_movie.html

An interview with the director of upcoming film Sassy Pants: http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/interview-with-coley-sohn-writer-and-director-of-sassy-pants #Women in Media

#Health

Connecticut legislator reevaluates mental health policy that he implemented in the seventies that now affects his son's life: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/my-son-is-schizophrenic-the-reforms-that-i-worked-for-have-worsened-his-life/2012/10/15/87b74a98-eadd-11e1-b811-09036bcb182b_print.html?src=longreads&buffer_share=ceb93&utm_source=buffer #Policy

Fat? Healthy? Can it be both? http://therumpus.net/2012/10/fat/ 

The "restorative" powers of the sensory deprivation tank: http://www.theawl.com/2012/10/new-yorks-last-sensory-deprivation-tank  

#International

Vice Docs are always intense: http://www.vice.com/vice-news/crime-and-punishment-in-the-gaza-strip-part-1 #Video

Really beautiful essay on the healing women need in Pakistan: http://www.guernicamag.com/daily/humera-afridi-malala-yousufzai-and-the-bonesetters-alchemy/  #Malala

#Literature

TPR's Southern editor offers some flawless reading recommendations: http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2012/08/31/dear-paris-review-john-jeremiah-sullivan-answers-your-questions/ 

Literary Absurdity: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-love-song-of-j-alfred-capslock #AltLit

A great survey of the dark enchantments of Angela Carter: http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2012/10/17/chamber-of-secrets-the-sorcery-of-angela-carter/

Hillary Mantel's Wolf Hall was one of the best books I've read in 2012. She's revitalizing historical fiction/literature: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/10/15/121015fa_fact_macfarquhar?currentPage=all

I love mixtapes. And reading. This is a mixtape of reading: http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/a-mix-tape-of-chapters-from-novels/

Hell is Other Bloggers: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/shouts/2012/10/le-blog-de-jean-paul-sartre.html  #Humor

#MMA

Its an article on mixed martial arts that opens with a Karl Marx quote. You want to go to there: http://www.vice.com/read/fightland-weightless-history

#Photography

The rise of the studio portrait photograph: http://www.theawl.com/2012/10/the-uncanny-art-of-studio-photographys-heyday

Photo essay on love and intimacy: http://www.guernicamag.com/daily/rose-lichter-marck-circling-the-sea/

Collection from award winning embedded war photo journalist: http://www.motherjones.com/photoessays/2009/08/2nd-tour-hope-i-dont-die/01 #War

#Technology

The case for outing internet trolls: http://jezebel.com/5952522/publicly-outing-trolls-and-predators-isnt-a-distraction-its-a-solution (see last week's Gawker article revealing the identity of a Reddit contributor)

Psychiatrist Sherry Turkle talking about how the over connectedness of the internet is making us lonelier: http://www.npr.org/2012/10/18/163098594/in-constant-digital-contact-we-feel-alone-together?sc=fb&cc=nprbooks&device=iphone #LongListen

LongReads Round-Up Volume Four

#Anarchy  

Portland based activists have responded to grand jury subpoenas for testifying with silence:  http://truth-out.org/news/item/11181-facing-grand-jury-intimidation-fear-silence-and-solidarity

A third Northwest activist jailed for refusing to testify: http://www.salon.com/2012/10/11/third_northwest_activist_jailed_for_staying_silent/

#Art

A Rothko painting was defaced at Tate by a “rebel” artist: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/oct/08/defaced-tate-modern-rothko

#Biography

Looking for Kim Philby: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v34/n19/tom-carver/diary

Nazi resisters Bonhoeffor and von Dohanyi: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/oct/25/tragedy-dietrich-bonhoeffer-and-hans-von-dohnanyi/?pagination=false 

#Current Events

Deported American veteran now keeps a home for other veterans in Mexico: http://prospect.org/article/farewell-arms-and-united-states #Immigration

Politicians are ignoring climate change: http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/10/why-arent-politicians-listening-joe-romm-climate-change #Environment

What will Mitt Romney do to America? http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/magazine/is-there-life-after-mitt.html?_r=1 #Politics

Lance Armstrong and the Doping Case: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/11/sports/cycling/agency-details-doping-case-against-lance-armstrong.html?_r=1&hp #Sports

#Feminism

This author believes she was discounted because she is a woman writing about religion: http://www.hds.harvard.edu/news-events/harvard-divinity-bulletin/articles/the-pen-is-mightier

#Humor

Cute animals take cute baths: http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/the-greatest-moments-in-the-history-of-bathtime

Top Ten Fictional Hangover: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/gallery/2010/dec/26/tom-waits-pgwodehouse#/?picture=370029069&index=0

#International

Where is the Pakistani condemnation of the Malala shooting? http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/10/10/We_Are_All_Malala

China's dissemination of public information to flame certain individuals: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/10/what-is-a-human-flesh-search-and-how-is-it-changing-china/263258/

The Nobel Peace Prize might be a joke: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/10/12/worst_prize_ever

#Literature

The Art of Translating Literature: http://www.guernicamag.com/daily/marilyn-hacker-the-paradox-of-translation/

2012 Nobel Prize for Literature goes to Mo Yan: http://www.themillions.com/2012/10/chinese-novelist-mo-yan-wins-the-nobel-prize-for-literature.html

Short fiction by Mo Yan: http://www.granta.com/New-Writing/Frogs

Short piece by http://readthebestwriting.com/?p=1097

In memory of the late Kingsley Amis: http://maudnewton.com/blog/?p=18815

Essay by Walker Percy on the joys of Bourbon: http://www.claremont.org/publications/crb/id.764/article_detail.asp

Thinking about poems: http://therumpus.net/2012/10/the-last-poem-i-loved-oh-karma-dharma-pudding-and-pie-by-philip-appleman/ #poetry

Writing a Booker Prize Winner: http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/ideas/hilary-mantel/eyes-prize?page=full

Short fiction by Chris Drangle: http://www.granta.com/New-Writing/Exit-Music

Literary titans writing about censorship: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/10/01/literary-icons-on-censorship/

#Religion

Fundamentalist support for Mitt Romney: http://www.salon.com/2012/10/11/fundamentalists_for_mitt/

Is it impossible to criticize Islam? http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/oct/11/can-islam-be-criticized/

Chinese Muslims face cultural difficulties: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/10/201210493210185606.html

Druid biker and Arthur Pendragon Reincarnate: http://www.vice.com/read/all-hail-king-arthur-uther-pendragon

#Science #Technology

Its the best time to be a physicist http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/blog/quantum-optics-physics-nobel/

Revealing the identity of an internet troll: http://gawker.com/5950981/unmasking-reddits-violentacrez-the-biggest-troll-on-the-web