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 

The Omni Retailer Warehouse Workers Conditions Round-Up

Three articles by human rights journalist Mac McClelland for Mother Jones. In the first, she observed a warehouse in Ohio that contracts shipping and handling for an internet omni-retailer. Next, an essay from last Christmas season about the conditions of the workers behind internet shopping. Then in her third article, she worked as a "picker" in a similar factory. She faced physically grueling labor at a meager, though legal wage, with inflexible time management demands and impossible goal targets. She packed a (possibly un-)surprising amount of dildos.

http://www.motherjones.com/rights-stuff/2011/07/ohio-warehouse-temps-unemployment

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/12/slave-elves-online-shipping

http://www.motherjones.com/print/161491

Many of these omni-retailers such as Amazon or Walmart Online contract a third party logistics company to staff and manage the shipping and handling aspect of online shopping. These logistics companies hire on a temp basis, where reaching full hire is a Sisyphean task. Companies can afford to fire temp employees easily and frequently, without even requiring to give a reason, because of the overabundance of unemployed people who are willing to step into the role of exploited worker.

Lehigh Valley, PA's newspaper The Morning Call investigated conditions in Amazon's warehouse, where employees frequently faint in 100 degree heat and are called to mandatory overtime regularly.

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-allentown-amazon-complaints-20110917,0,7937001,full.story 

Huffington Post wrote about warehouses in the Midwest, and how temporary work perpetuates poverty and job instability.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/20/new-blue-collar-temp-warehouses_n_1158490.html?view=print&comm_ref=false

This holiday season, as many of us begin navigating the frenzied waters of sales and markdowns in the name of gift giving, keep in mind the workers you affect from start to finish in your purchases. I'd like to admonish to shop small, local, or independent whenever you can, but I understand the economic privilege that comes from. When you can buy a novel for full sticker price at an independent bookstore, or get a 42% discount and free shipping from an online omni-retailer, I see and feel the financial pressure to be as thrifty as possible. At all times, remember to be an ally and support of workers who are underpaid and overworked and treated as inhuman cogs in the capitalist machine, both in America and around the world.

The Wal-Mart Black Friday strike is just one effort to bring more attention to workers' rights.

http://prospect.org/article/wal-mart-always-low-wages 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/22/walmart-strike-dallas_n_2175697.html
http://www.thenation.com/blog/171425/black-friday-strike-will-test-power-high-stakes-online-organizing
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/11/201211227838361804.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/20/walmart-unrest-black-friday-strike
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/wal-marts-looming-black-friday-strike-could-make-for-an-unexpectedly-painful-holiday-season/2012/11/19/70d5eba4-3209-11e2-92f0-496af208bf23_story.html