Compromised/Compromises [#71]
Hope y'all in the Northern hemisphere are surviving a sweltering summer! For those of you in Oceania enjoying winter, I am a little envious right now.
I read so much stuff I couldn't wait to share with you. Let's be clear, I don't usually send out nonsense, it's just that this week I enjoyed some exceptional longreads, short reads and reiterations of themes I feel strongly about (i.e. you don't have to personally EXPERIENCE something to have compassion for clear injustices). Here we go...
Reading
Zadie Smith's 10 rules of writing. An excellent, maddening farewell to China. Satire skewers the nihilism on display in Helsinki. Obama's Johannesburg speech, in full. If Trump's compromised, he's doing nothing to conceal it. "This sad, embarrassing wreck of a man." We don't have to be parents to care about the plight of children. Middle children are going extinct. Deliver a baby at Chik-fil-A, get free Chik-Fil-A for life. The meaning of "self-made." Don't let your kids grow up playing (American) football. Gamergate showed us years ago how the culture wars would be fought. In losing Bourdain, we lost a great example of how to be a man. A compelling angle to the Thai cave drama. Barbecue, America's most political food. The five Picassos that went missing from the LA Times office building. "Why is insensitivity something to strive for?"
Werk/Musings
I'm very busy eating my way through Taiwan so the latest stuff is random: Podcast riffing about North Korea with the great China historian and my friend/perpetual tormentor, John Delury. Blog riffing on the Korean language, and selling my Austin house. Documentary cameras covered how some of us foreign correspondents covered the Moon-Kim summit.
Listening/Watching
These six minutes of radio from This American Life, h/t Lauren Migaki. Jay Caspian Kang on the Longform podcast. Showtime's The Affair is good when Pacey from Dawson's Creek is on, and much more interesting when the focus is on the pediatric doc, Vik.
That's it for this time. Send me thoughts/quips/complaints/questions and/or links worth sharing.
On a personal note, best of luck to my dear friends, the thoughtful designers and newsletter readers(!) Wes and Danny, who are moving on to new jobs. I learned so much working with you both during that magical stretch of 2011 when we were stuck in a windowless room together every day.
Until next time, comrades!
Elise