Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
If you’re prone to flights of depressive thoughts in the shower (who isn’t?), you’ve perhaps briefly entertained the notion that, since humans are responsible for every environmental catastrophe, maybe the planet would be better off if we all just died. While you might rid yourself of such a bleak thought by making the water scalding…
The past month or so has seen the publication of two books from men who, a decade ago, created questionable blueprints of what dating should be like for an entitled generation of dudes. Unexpectedly (to their former selves, at least) the new stories from these teachers—who, not so long ago, were demonstrating how to sleep…
Having disappeared from the daily headline news, Greece – whose political sovereignty may or may not exist any more, following the farcical development from this summer’s “referendum” and the subsequent third bailout – was supposed to be fixed, if only for the time being, and its economy and society back on a normally functioning track….
The cliché that comedy and torment go hand-in-hand gets another spin in the documentary Misery Loves Comedy, in which the actor Kevin Pollak interviews 50 comics, and comic actors, about their craving for the laughter and approval of strangers. Late in the day, the picture gets around to addressing the question of whether one needs…
The Four Horsemen of Gentrification. Then I saw when the Landlord broke one of the rent-controlled seals. I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Gentrify.” I looked, and behold, a green horse, and he who sat on it had a mason jar; and a fedora was his…
INFOLINKS_ON Big changes are headed to Marvel Studios. Following the announcement that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige will now report directly to Disney Studio Chief Alan Horn instead of Marvel Entertainment CEO Isaac Perlmutter, word is circulating from BirthMoviesDeath that the Marvel Creative Committee has disbanded. The group, which once oversaw the development of Marvel…
Ever wondered why Hogwarts students mostly dress like normal British public-school kids despite the wizarding world of Harry Potter being so arcane? Tumblr user lorddorian wondered that, too—and he constructed a detailed theory about it, looking closely at the way Hogwarts uniforms are described in J.K. Rowling‘s novels and comparing that to the way the films depict them. In…
Hillary Clinton speaks to members of the International Longshoremen’s Association in Charleston, South Carolina, on Oct. 31, 2015.Photo by Randall Hill/Reuters On Oct. 23, Hillary Clinton opened a new front against Sen. Bernie Sanders: She framed him as a sexist. Clinton took a phrase Sanders had routinely used in talking about gun violence—that “shouting”…
Last night’s episode of Agents of SHIELD reveals its subtle theme early on, when Jemma Simmons talks about how too much therapeutic “kid gloves” treatment can make you feel weaker, not stronger. But maybe some people have a harder time getting over their issues than others? Spoilers ahead… The big reveal at the end of…
The Driggs, a luxury apartment building in Brooklyn, received a $631,000 tax break this year. (Cezary Podkul/ProPublica) As gleaming new housing towers spring up around New York City, thousands of new rent-stabilized apartments are coming onto the market. And in return for following rent limits, developers get a share of $1 billion in property…