Here are links to my latest work, Daily Posts from the archives (April 28-May 2) in case you missed them, and articles, old and new, from around the internet. You can follow me on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook (I am not accepting new friends on the last platform, but you can use the “follow” option).
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NEW WORK!
As you know, I’ve been working on a longform essay on Meghan Markle. That is still forthcoming: in the meantime, I couldn’t resist writing a short one about the recent and very strange New York Times articles on her. Markle is certainly a centre of gossip, but I make the links between the coverage of all her fluff and the stagnation of contemporary media.
“The NYT, Meghan Markle, and the State of Media.”
FROM THE ARCHIVES!
“Kamala Harris and the Art of Losing.”
“On Trump, Immigration, and the Failure of the Left.”
“What Is the Point of Politics Without Ideology?“
“Who’s Middle Class Anyway?: Sarah Palin, Joe Sixpack, and Main Street.”
“Support Your Media, or Watch It Die.”
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ELSEWHERE ON THE WEB!
Democracy Now’s April 28 segment on the arrest of Milwaukee county judge Hannah Dugan is worth watching. When the news first broke, too many supporters, working with few facts, tried to make it look like she was a hero who had broken the law. As it turns out, she did nothing of the sort. That’s an important point to make in the face of what appear to be unjust and false charges. In these times of crisis, it’s tempting to make up stories to make “us” look better or heroic, but this can be a pointless and even counterproductive exercise.
And, oh, look, it turns out that agents didn’t have a warrant for Khalil’s arrest, after all.
And, oh, look, it also turns out that the “Professor at Center of Columbia University Deportation Scandal is Former Israeli Spy.”
The Chicago Sun-Times has published this excellent guide, “How do Chicago’s sanctuary laws protect immigrants?”
A 15-year-old, Bradyn Bohn, took his own life after being sextorted. We have to take social media and its corrosive effects on vulnerable people, especially the young, more seriously (without falling into the usual right wing or libertarian traps).
Sadly, so is Jill Sobule, killed in a home fire. Sobule’s “I Kissed a Girl” was the iconic pop song of 1995. (Katy Perry stole the title.) Be kind to the Gen Xers in your midst.
I have some updates on the plagiarism project coming up soon, and this story about the mishandling of allegations at the University of Minnesota is going to make it into one of my future essays.
Monthly Review’s Michael D. Yates has a critique of tariffs, along with a historical analysis, in “The Trump Tariffs and the U.S. Labor Movement.”
This is a fascinating CNN report on one Trump voter, a North Carolina beekeeper, who says, “I never thought I was going to lose this much money.” I don’t really care for the shaming of Trump voters, something that liberals love to do—people vote for complicated reasons, and many who voted for Harris are among the most annoying neoliberals on the planet who hoped they could all go back to brunch while she enabled a genocide and did nothing about economic inequality. Anyway: this ten-minute clip is worth watching all the way, for the revelations about some very unexpected results of tariffs.
An Oklahoma family of citizens was raided by federal agents, in a case of mistaken identity. But, initially, no one took responsibility for what happened, and the family has been left with nothing. DHS admits that it is “not an ideal situation.”
This Human Rights Watch report from 2016 points out that, by then, the U.S had seen 20 years of immigrant abuses.
Yes, media paywalls are a pain, but they’re also how many outlets pay their writers and staff. Jessie Shi offers alternatives for publishers, in Editor & Publisher magazine. In the meantime: “Support Your Media, or Watch It Die.” (Current Affairs, Truthout, and many others don’t have paywalls, but that doesn’t mean the labour is free: subscribe!)
Politico has always seemed a tad off to me (even though I do quote them on occasion). Nathan J. Robinson writes about “The Corruption of Politico,” in Current Affairs.
Remember “Chicken Soup for the Soul?” And how that phrase was just everywhere at one point? The Decoder Ring podcast has a fascinating episode on the whole thing (and it was a whole thing).
Here is Thom Gunn’s poem, “Considering the Snail.”
Which reminds me of one of the best books on the subject, The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, by Elisabeth Tova Bailey.
This Scientific American conversation between Rachel Feltman and Stephen S. Hall is about snakes, and worth a read or listen.
Valerie, the runaway Australian dachshund, has been found. I’m not sure that’s entirely a good thing: as many friends pointed out, she seemed to be perfectly happy to be lost.
And if you’re in the world of arts funding: an upcoming conversation between Daniel Phoenix Singh and Renee Johnstone, on Saturday, May 3, 11-1 EST, will be about “the challenges of doing anti-racist work in a particularly southern racist city.”
You should read this, “Oskar Kokoschka, Hermine Moos, and the Alma Mahler Doll.” Just read it.
Here, of course, is Jill Sobule’s “I Kissed a Girl.” That man is Fabio. Look him up.
This has been a blistering week, more so than the others. But perhaps this is our fate, to experience each week more intensely or more painfully than the last. Take your vitamins, drink lots of water, and get your naps. Remember the many who are being rounded up and disappearing from our streets and homes. Bring them all back.
I will see you next week.
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You can find previous Updates here.
Image: Alberto Giacometti, Men’s Heads (Têtes d’hommes), ca. 1959
