Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
Adam Kotsko, whom right-wing politicos are dubbing the “white guilt” college professor, has taken to his personal blog to clarify remarks that he says have been misrepresented online. If you go to Kotsko’s Twitter feed — where the controversy I’m about to talk about began — you’ll see that Kotsko has a message up stating…
In the social media age, the prospect of being socially shamed has become a real site of anxiety for mainstream culture. Jon Ronson has written a book on the topic, and columnists routinely meet their wordcount by repeating cliches about the dangers of Twitter hordes. The primary anxiety seems to be centered on social media…
Since the shooting of nine members of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC earlier this month, a string of fires have burned at at least seven Southern churches, most of them predominantly black. Federal officials have launched investigations into the fires to determine if they are hate crimes. Authorities suspect that natural…
After failing to criminally prosecute any of the financial firms responsible for the market collapse in 2008, former attorney general Eric Holder is returning to Covington & Burling, a corporate law firm known for serving Wall Street clients. The move completes one of the more troubling trips through the revolving door for a cabinet secretary. Holder worked at Covington…
“The individual system with the 401(k) is a monster, especially for people 60 years old or more,” says Angelien Kemna, a leading European investor and pension executive. Kemna is no bleeding-heart liberal. She arrived at this conclusion after leaving one of the top private-sector jobs in global finance—CIO and CEO of ING Investment Management in…
German Chancellor Angela Merkel toasts with beer in Dachau, August 20, 2013. REUTERS/Michael Dalder Stop me if you’ve heard this one. The Greeks, Italians, Spaniards and Irish walk into a bar, where the French and Germans are the bartenders. It’s happy hour, and the Germans and the French are serving half-price drinks. Although everyone quickly…
It’s hack week at Vox Media, and Melissa Bell is in her element. The meetup, which is taking place in downtown Philadelphia, has drawn more than 90 employees, all hoping to come up with the next innovation for the company, whether it’s a virtual reality application or interactive video. Bell, the company’s newly named vp…
By heeding their government’s advice and voting “No” in the referendum on Sunday, Greek citizens sent an unambiguous message. Much like the fictional Americans portrayed in the movie “Network” who threw open their windows and shouted out, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore,” the Greeks are demanding that…
On Sunday, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras put his political future and, more importantly, the future of the common currency in the hands of Greek voters. It was the political equivalent of pushing one’s chips all in at the poker table and after Sunday’s referendum, Tsipras appears to have been holding a better hand than Junker,…
Earlier today, as has become a symbolic custom, Tsipras spoke to Russia’s Putin by phone. Aside for the referendum, the topic of their conversation was unknown, but both sides rushed to note that financial aid was not among the topics of discussion, which assures it was. However, with the Greek negotiations still ongoing even if,…