Platforms and Pythons and Pandas, Oh My [#44]

Apr 06, 2017

Hallo!

This is how I feel these days*:

Serious foreign policy issues have emerged for the Trump administration, a notable one right here on my patch in Northeast Asia. Suffice to say, however we all expect this all to play out, we'll be wrong.

What I Read
The woman behind Lean In admits it's not working. The man eaten by a python. The white paper on the influence of tech platforms on journalism. How airstrikes on North Korea could get those of us in Seoul killed. The LA Times is running a series of powerful editorials about the dangers of the still-new presidency. What happens if you redact everything that Trump says that's untrue or unproven. The more you lie, the easier it gets on your brain. The crisis of Trumpism. The art of George W, and his redemption tour. "That was some weird shit." Readjusting to life in China, as a panda. A whole lotta effort is expended to design the letter M. Why movie trailers use the same sound effects. An oral history of making Steel Magnolias. The act of sipping wine involves a complicated brain interplay. Nostalgia for Google Reader. On nostalgia, in general. Postpartum soups from Asian moms. The toy-free kindergarten. Ali Wong is queen.

What I Wrote/Talked About
Why South Koreans believed North Koreans grew horns out of their heads. (Some of them still do.) The missile provocation a day before the Xi-Trump summit. The ousted president's arrest.

What I'm Watching

The past few episodes of Girls have been strong
The New Girl season (and maybe series) finale
John Oliver going off on Devin Nunes
I gave Lust, Caution a rewatch after I liked The Handmaiden so much. It's a layered spy drama and emotionally heavy, yes, but it's also built around a historical parenthesis I didn't know much about — the Wang Jingwei government, when a break-off part of the Nationalist Chinese regime got Stockholm syndrome and took up with their Japanese occupiers.

Recommendations

The morning show you and I both love, Morning Edition, is now available as a daily podcast!
The fifty best movies under 90 minutes
Humiliation as a powerful driver in politics, and the complicated notion of 'elites' are among the topics in a sprawling conversation between Ezra Klein and Chris Hayes. I recommend this for a long commute or workout.
In honor of her new book, listen to the Longform podcast episode featuring Ariel Levy. Levy wrote THE most affecting personal essay, "Thanksgiving in Mongolia," which forms the basis of the new book. "I don't think I've ever read anything in a magazine that made me feel the way that did," Longform host Max Linsky said. (Me neither.)

Here's to not getting nuked,

Elise

*Yes, that's my daughter Baby Isa, whose personality is creepily like mine.

Hu's Letter?