Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
TMZ, headed by former lawyer Harvey Levin, has always excelled at exploiting legal documents to their advantage: They have a crew of bleary-eyed document scanners camped out at the Los Angeles Courthouse, combing through all manner of filings in order to find the bankruptcy rulings, arrest warrants, and divorce filings before any other site. Which,…
Remember that 2006 movie Idiocracy? The one where Luke Wilson plays an average underachiever who wakes up 500 years in the future, only to realize that he’s now the smartest person on Earth? And everyone else is dumb — like, really dumb? Well, that movie is cruel and terrible and you should be ashamed for…
It’s been a rough year, and the 2016 Emmys had everything we needed: surprises, laughs, and an incredible hosting job from Jimmy Kimmel. But what makes a really great awards show is what happens between awards and acceptance speeches, and Sunday’s broadcast was one of the most amusing and character-driven programs in years. From sandwiches…
Imagine infusing thousands of wireless devices into your brain, and using them to both monitor its activity and directly influence its actions. It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, and for the moment it still is – but possibly not for long. Brain research is on a roll at the moment. And as it…
Michelle Yaa does not feel she converted to Comfa, the Afro-American religion practiced in Guyana. “I call it an awakening.” she says. “It’s just waking up.” Yaa, like increasing numbers of the African diaspora, decided to stop practicing Christianity in favor of a religion of African heritage. Raised a Seventh Day Adventist, she spent…
Much has been written about how sexism dictates whether a garment gets usable pockets. While class unquestionably plays a part, men’s clothing tends to have capacious, visible pockets; women’s clothing tends to have small pockets, if any at all. Content with their pockets, men have little to say about them, but women have been complaining…
Only women would sign up for this much crap. Okay first, allow me to check my privilege so you don’t have to: I am a white woman with a college education. I am married. I live in a beautiful little town in the mountains. I have a career I genuinely like. I am one lucky…
Image: Shutterstock/Techcrunch Expressing love is one of the most difficult and important things you can do as a human being. There is no correct way to tell someone you love them, to truly express how much they mean to you. Messages get lost in translation. Wives and husbands feel taken for granted. Communicating clearly with…
All over America, people have put small “give one, take one” book exchanges in front of their homes. Then they were told to tear them down. Three years ago, The Los Angeles Times published a feel-good story on the Little Free Library movement. The idea is simple: A book lover puts a box or shelf…
“exotic sights and sounds” at the Wangfujing Night Market Last week, I saw a New York Times article shared on my Facebook feed by several high school friends about a common sight in Beijing where we all lived at the time: Chinese men rolling up their shirts just enough to reveal their stomachs as a summertime…