Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
On Monday, Iowans will flock to their local churches and school gyms to participate in the Iowa Caucus. By day’s end, both Democrats and Republicans will have a winner, and a bona fide frontrunner for their party’s presidential nomination. Some candidates’ chances will essentially be cooked. But it’s safe to say that the day will not end…
In December 1950, Woody Guthrie signed his name to the lease of a new apartment in Brooklyn. Even now, over half a century later, that uninspiring document prompts a double-take. Below all the legal jargon is the signature of the man who had composed “This Land Is Your Land,” the most resounding appeal to an…
Assisted reproductive technologies, or ART, are more common in the U.S. than they’ve ever been: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that around 11.3 percent of women between 15 and 44 have used some sort of infertility service. In 2013, doctors performed a total of 191,000 cycles of ART at nearly 500 clinics…
Today in Tedium: One of the last acts of David Bowie, supreme rock star of the past 50 years who died Monday morning, was the release of his album, Blackstar. One of the ways Bowie promoted the closing chapter of his work was by doing something that he hadn’t done much of over the years: he gave the…
In the early 1960s, when Walt Disney was flying over the Orlando area to scout locations for his newest theme park, he noticed a little island that looked particularly secluded and peaceful. When he completed his Disney World land purchase, he made sure the island, then known as Riles Island, was included. Disney originally planned…
Justice Here’s What Happened When Black People Tried Armed Occupation by Carimah Townes Jan 4, 2016 3:21 pm CREDIT: AP Images/George Widman The MOVE bombing of 1985 When a small group of radical militiamen linked to Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon on Saturday, they vowed to…
Mansion Maniac, a whimsical online toy created by the New York Public Library, may seem like envy bait for the real-estate have-nots. With the help of a Pac-Man-like icon, users can explore the floor plans of some of the city’s most extravagant early-20th-century residences, culled from the library’s archives. But the game is what you…
Dr. Samuel W. Francis spent the first two years of his medical career treating heads and abdomens during the Civil War, and then he helped those with skin disease. Later, he organized a Sanitary Protection Association that led to the creation of an early Board of Health in New York City. He also invented a…
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Every year, a new round of politicians attempt to breathe new life into America’s thoroughly exhausted war on Christmas. But this year, maybe it’s time instead to examine Christmas’s war on Americans. For centuries, the holiday has served as a flashpoint between competing religious ideas. When the Puritans of New England famously made Christmas illegal…