Here are links to my Daily Posts from the archives, in case you missed them, and some interesting articles. You can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
The Alice Munro essay is taking shape! I’ll send it to my editor this week, and it should be up fairly soon after that. Here’s a brief excerpt, from the introductory section, which doesn’t give away the thesis but gives you a sense of the spirit of the work. The February 13 episode of Law and Order, “Duty to Protect” dropped Alice Munro’s name.
Law and Order is famous for stories “ripped from the headlines” because it features courtroom dramas based on real life events and people. But it has always only ever hinted about specific incidents: viewers have to have followed famous crimes to know what the references might be. “Duty to Protect” is highly unusual in invoking Alice Munro’s name so explicitly. “This shit is so bad,” the writers seem to say, “that we’re not even going to pretend it’s about anyone else.”
Links!
A discussion of Guy Hocquenghem’s Gay Liberation after ‘68, between Shuli Branson (also the translator of the book), me, and Kai Rajala.
“Critical Race Theory Won’t Save Us”
“On Race, Class, and Education”
I spoke with David Parsons of the Nostalgia Trap podcast about my “A Manifesto.” You can subscribe to them on Patreon.
And “A Manifesto” is here, in the glorious, storied Evergreen Review (read, support).
“Stop Posting Quotes without Links,” I’m begging you.
Elsewhere on the Internet
All of Europe, that conglomeration of small bits that persists in imagining itself as an entire continent, is shocked, shocked, I tell you about Trump’s tyrannical, censorious ways. So here are some reminders that Europe is doing just fine in the censorship department:
Swiss police violently arrested journalist Ali Abunimah, when he arrived to give a speech about Palestine. The latest on the story (see last week’s update) indicates even more murkiness behind the scenes. You can donate to his fundraiser here.
In October, British police raided journalist Asa Winstanley’s home and seized his electronic devices.
In Germany, two universities cancelled events featuring Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, after state pressure.
Oh, and even in Canada: the writer and activist Yves Engler has been arrested for his pro-Palestine social media posts.
I thought this was a really good episode of Democracy Now, on Ukraine, Trump, and Putin, “A Victory for Putin”? Jeffrey Sachs & Matt Duss Debate U.S.-Russia Talks to End Ukraine War.”
Here’s Roald Dahl’s account of his daughter’s death from measles.
Yvonne Zipter’s obituary is here, in the Windy City Times.
In Mondoweiss, Sana Saeed points out that liberal celebrities are expressing horror at ethnic cleansing in Gaza, now that they have Trump to blame (even though all of it began long before him).
This is a phenomenal essay on New Orleans and the real cost of the Super Bowl, by Alex Skopic, “The Super Bowl Exposed the Brutality of America’s Class Divide.”
Also in Current Affairs, “Let Food Stamp Recipients Eat Whatever The Hell They Want.” (Subscribe already!)
“Is India Developing a Fascist Aesthetic?,” asks The Polis Project. I’ve long wondered about the hypermasculinity of the last few decades of Bollywood movies (what is with that jacked Hanuman!?), and this is a really informative discussion.
I loathe the New York Times, for so many reasons, but it does, on occasion, produce some great writing. This Katie Van Syckle report on Meghan Markle is the most deliciously sarcastic coverage of her re (re-re-re?) branding of her, ah, enterprise: “Meghan Reimagines Her Lifestyle Brand, Calling It As Ever.”
I disagree with Bilge Ebiri’s evaluation of the film here, but this is a great assessment of Jeremy Strong and his performance in The Apprentice (which is brilliant, and you should watch it).
Saturday Night Live ran its big 50th anniversary show, and it was slow going at first, but picked up in later bits. Sometimes SNL feels like a bad friendship, the kind where you meet up with someone a couple of times a year because you feel tethered to them by high school memories, or something. But every now and then, you have an amazing coffee date, and you remember why you still like them.
One of my favourites is the Diner Lobster sketch.
Another, from an older era, is Steve Martin’s “King Tut.”
The Dr. Who Cast sings 500 Miles, because.
One of my favourite poems, “Musée des Beaux Arts,” by W. H. Auden.
In case you missed it, here’s last week’s Update. You can find all of them here.
Stay warm, stay angry, and I’ll see you next week.
Image: origin unknown. Please let me know if you know who created the meme (based on H.R. Geiger’s Alien).