Morning Coffee (11/30/15)

Me elsewhere: TV news!

NEW PICTURES OF PRINCESS CHARLOTTE. SHE'S SO CUTE.

Make sure you spend some time on the Google homepage today - there are at least three different Anne of Green Gables animated doodles for L.M. Montgomery's birthday.

I saw Spotlight a few days ago and highly recommend it. And then check out the Globe's landing page for the movie - it's got coverage of the movie itself as well as links to the original Spotlight coverage talked about in the movie.

And this Q&A with the costume designer is interesting.

9 questions about ISIS you were too embarrassed to ask

Adele Mailer has died, and - wow. "Some guests recalled that the point of no return came when she told her husband that he was not as good as Dostoyevsky."

Why South African students have turned on their parents’ generation

BBC's Witness radio program is great in general, but look, they have a World War II collection!

Look at these book-shaped plates!

Heh: My Female Students Don’t Seem As Impressed With Me As They Used To

Morning Coffee (11/27/15)

(If you're looking for happy Friday links, check out yesterday's post!)

Some Australian paramedics have stopped asking a certain question to test patients' level of consciousness: Mr Abood once asked a patient to name the prime minister, only to be told: “I haven’t watched the news today.”

Gingerbread King's Landing!!!

Here's an interesting Barthes retrospective for the hundredth anniversary of his birth.

Spotlight sounds really good.

This Choice by Gaslight game looks interesting.

81-Year-Old Woman, Last Fluent Speaker of Her Language, Learns to Type to Make a Dictionary

Why Is Othello Black?

A Castle Receives a Weekly Delivery of Delhi’s Secret Desires

Whoa: Inside Stanford Business School’s Spiraling Sex Scandal

What Being 15 Looks Like Around The World

Morning Coffee (11/26/15)

Happy Thanksgiving! We're going to do mostly happy links today, because it's a holiday, and then regular links tomorrow, because I don't have enough happy links for two days in a row.

There's going to be a Henning Mankell "memoir of sorts"!

Very important: An Investigative Report on the State of Reese's Peanut Butter Trees in America

Rachel Fershleiser IS a literary wizard. (Seriously. I recently needed an early review copy of a forthcoming book, and I tweeted something vague and seemingly within MINUTES she had me talking to the correct people at the publisher.)

I haven't played the Game of Thrones game, but they're making a second season of it and they sound really interesting! Maybe I will try it!

This piece on the Italian New Jersey accent is very interesting, as is how it's similar but not identical to what I grew up hearing in Connecticut.

How Suffragists Used Cookbooks As A Recipe For Subversion

Oreo Churros?!?!

When Facebook meets The Onion... Literally Unbelievable

It's a holiday so let's have a KITTEN VIDEO.

Hey Ladies are back!!!

Morning Coffee (11/25/15)

Rabia Chaudry is writing a book on Adnan Syed's case! (I think this is good; I was talking to a friend the other day about how obviously SOMEONE would jump on this with a book, so I'm glad it's her and not an outsider who would be more sensationalist about it.)

First promo for Grease: Live! I may have said this before, but I'm ALL IN on this one: I like Grease but don't have a huge emotional attachment (as I do to Sound of Music, say) so I think I'll be able to enjoy it without getting UPSET AT THE DESECRATION.

John Gallagher, Jr. is putting out an album! I like his single. I miss The Newsroom. He was in that Green Day musical so now every time I hear Green Day - even actual Green Day, not the musical - I miss The Newsroom. Welcome to my brain.

Is anyone making a piecaken for Thanksgiving? I am kind of fascinated?

This Michael Phelps profile is very well done and maybe made me into a fan?

Huh: Anne Frank’s diary in a copyright law paradox 70 years after her death

Putin’s daughter, a young billionaire and the president’s friends

"Adoption can be a very good thing for an individual child, but it is not charity. It is not a religious crusade. It is never a 'miracle,' the hand of God at work, when a child ends up living without their original parents."

Learning to Be Beyoncé From Her Terrible Father

Perfect: Signs You’re About To Be In A Gay Subplot In A Period Drama

Morning Coffee (11/24/15)

I love this annual feature from Vox: How to Survive Your Family's Thanksgiving Arguments

ISIS, a history: how the world's worst terror group came to be

The Female ISIS Suicide Bomber in the Bathtub Was Exactly None of Those Things

Perhaps the craziest thing in this totally insane New Yorker crime story is that NO ONE in it is sympathetic.

“All the world was made for you”: Talking Back to Ophelia in 1918

This Enya profile is fascinating. She named her castle Manderley, you guys.

Singin' in the Rain is coming to Broadway!!

Ooh, a Balanchine movie could be interesting.

Fascinating: The Invisible Library

The Onion, barely: Carly Fiorina Shares Heartbreaking Story About Father Of 3 Who Couldn’t Meet Sales Goals

Morning Coffee (11/23/15)

Me elsewhere: TV news!

This (and many similar things) are not getting enough attention: Polish Anti-Refugee Demonstrators Burn Jew in Effigy

Claire McCaskill is a TREASURE.

Hackathons Have a Gender Problem

I love Richard Scarry, and this on how he updated his books to be more progressive is great.

Anonymous sexism in paleoanthropology

"This is for everyone reading: You can spend holidays with whomever you like, including just yourself, if that’s how you want to roll. Family members will have feelings about it, and that’s understandable, but their feelings don’t automatically trump your own."

Ha: The Bible Written In New York City Blog Voice

This piece on D&D mostly made me want to read an actually good bio of Gygax.

Tinder: not good at dealing with harassment.

I love gift guides. Here's Vox's.

Perfect: Alternatives to Writing Your Thesis

Morning Coffee (11/20/15)

(A note for any new readers: on Fridays, I try to post all links that are light or funny or heartwarming or at least emotionally neutral, because I think sometimes people just need a break. It doesn't mean I'm not aware of important things going on in the world or don't care; I am watching the news literally as I write this. And don't worry, I'm still bookmarking all the terrible things and will have them for you next week.)

Awesome: Taylor Swift Donates 25,000 Scholastic Books to New York City Schools

It's Clueless's 20th anniversary (!!) and Tom and Lorenzo analyze the fashion. This is great, but I would have liked some inclusion of the fashion descriptions in Emma and how they are similar/different from the movie as far as certain characters being stylish or not, etc.

“This is in some way a nice problem to have, in the sense that you have a 103-year-old product that’s selling off the shelves like hot cakes, and yet we have customers who are on back order who are disappointed,” L.L.Bean’s chief executive, Chris McCormick, said in an interview at company headquarters in Freeport. “That doesn’t sit well with us.” (People have asked me if I'm okay in this time of L.L. Bean crisis. The answer is yes, because the Bean Boots I got for my 16th birthday are still basically pristine, because that's how great these boots are.)

It's been A Week. Let's ogle some holiday cocktails.

The War and Peace miniseries looks SO PRETTY. Can I read the book in time? The eternal question.

I'm going to link you to THREE thinkpieces on the Great British Bake Off because it's just that good: here's the Guardian, Vox, and Eater.

Once Upon a Time, a Cross-Stitch Sampler Counted as Official Paperwork

Will, Kate, and Harry: The Fun Royal Power Trio

London's Most Haunted Tube Stations

"Every time you have sex, someone drowns. This is not considered a notable occurrence, this is simply how sex works in Ireland.

Once a day, you feel a prickle on your neck, as if someone is watching you from across the lake. They are, and it is either your real mother or the man dangerously obsessed with you."

Morning Coffee (11/19/15)

Me elsewhere: Chicago Med was fine!

Obama's biggest terrorism struggle: how to sell "Don't do stupid shit" as a strategy

The Anti-Immigration Activist Who Set The Stage For Donald Trump

In case you were wondering if Gamergate was going to be non-terrible about this: Gamergate Supporters Are Responsible for the Terrorist Photoshopping of Journalist Veerender Jubbal

Governors can’t keep out refugees. But they can make their lives miserable.

And now a word from history: The U.S. Government Turned Away Thousands of Jewish Refugees, Fearing They Were Nazi Spies

Also: The governor who didn't give in to fear ... and paid a price for it

My friend (and awesome YA author) Adam has important things to say about mental health, success, and more: Happiness Isn't Just an Outside Thing

This piece on the Oscar Pistorius trial is fascinating and important: Bantu in the Bathroom

Pakistan Military Expands Its Power, and Is Thanked for Doing So

Ayn Rand’s Marcus Aurelius

Morning Coffee (11/18/15)

Me elsewhere: Into the Badlands was kind of boring but maybe just isn't for me?

Ben Carson's OWN ADVISERS are saying that they are struggling to make him understand foreign policy, so he's obviously someone we want in charge right now.

Speaking of Carson: Secret Chambers, Grain Silos and the Long, Long History of Pyramid Conspiracy Theories

Turning back Syrian refugees isn't just wrong — it helps ISIS

I knew the basics of the IS/ISIS/ISIL/Daesh name thing, but this had some interesting details I hadn't read before.

Gawker is retooling as a political site. Huh. (And moving celebrity and pop culture coverage to Jezebel, which... yeah.)

And here's some more info on Gawker's changes - including layoffs - from The Awl.

Important context: On Gawker's Problem with Women

Seeking emotional satisfaction through foreign policy is a bad idea

Romania Places the Heart of a Queen in Her Castle

Perfect: Unsolicited Advice For The Six Wives Of Henry VIII, Working Within Their Social Parameters And Not Suggesting They Just Invent Feminism Because That’s Anachronistic

Morning Coffee (11/17/15)

Me elsewhere: My recap of Haven's "Perditus"

If you only click on one link today, please make it this one: Did the media ignore the Beirut bombings? Or did readers? "But unless the victims are either children or Christian, I have never really succeeded in getting readers to care about such bombings that happen outside of the Western world."

Speaking as someone who supports her in general, I'm extremely disappointed in my governor: Maggie Hassan is first Democratic governor to call for complete halt of Syrian refugees coming to U.S.

No, State Governors Can’t Refuse To Accept Syrian Refugees

In case you were wondering whether Trump was being less terrible or less idiotic about this than you'd expect: Nope.

Since I saw a lot of questions about this during the debate: A closer look at the link between climate change and violence

Also seen a lot of questions about this: Colleges’ Yik Yak problem, explained

How to Interrupt Jeb Bush

Okay, we need a break: Stray Cats Invade the G20 Summit, Bold as Can Be

Crazy: Forty-year-old Canadian buddies learn they were switched a birth

Dating Tips from a Spy

Morning Coffee (11/16/15)

There's a siege going on in Belgium as I write this, of a suspect in the Paris attacks - in general, I'd recommend the Guardian and Vox for good, quick updates on this or pretty much any breaking news situation.

Me elsewhere: TV news and Flesh and Bone thoughts

Beirut, Also the Site of Deadly Attacks, Feels Forgotten

The Cult of the ‘Amateur’ (This does not seem like a good time to put an amateur in charge of the country!)

I don't actually want Sanders to be kept off the ballot, but I'm glad someone is challenging his registration because a. they're RIGHT and b. it's fun.

This is great: An Interview With the Gay Dad Targeted for Adopting Kids and Helping Foster Children

Fascinating: The Pentagon's Missionary Spies

Nuremberg Nazi Site Crumbles, but Tricky Questions on Its Future Persist

"The Assad suburb": How Syria ghettoized the military to keep it loyal

This is an amazing statement in several ways: A spokesman for Blavatnik, Andrew Garfield, said: “I don’t think we are going to comment. The allegations are primarily directed at Oxford.”

Peak Inequality: Investigating the Lack of Diversity Among TV Directors

"– ‘Tis the smoke-choked air of this cursed mill town, that so fills and oppresses me I think I shall never be rid of it, and if they were to cut me open after I have left this body, they would find nothing but ash and soot inside
– You questioned capitalism and the class system, if only for a moment
– He never was well, mum"

Morning Coffee (11/13/15)

Happy Friday! FINALLY.

It's the most wonderful post of the year! My friend Beck has posted her annual review of Oprah's gift guide.

Awesome: A Judge Used Taylor Swift Lyrics To Dismiss The $42 Million Lawsuit Against “Shake It Off”

Ooh! A Lost Story by Edith Wharton Has Been Discovered in Yale's Library

Look at this 3D printed violin!! (I think the objections that it doesn't sound that great are nonsense; no one's saying it should be used by professionals, but it would be GREAT for making music learning more accessible for kids.)

This is old, but a friend shared it recently and it was too delightful not to pass along: Computing the optimal search strategy for finding Waldo

How the British Royal Family Became a Global Brand

!!! Whisky Advent Calendar!!!

The Funky Little Football Phone That Sold a Million Magazines

Treebooks Vs. Ebooks: Just Read.

"TRACY: I will say this, though: I appreciate that you are the only man in this entire movie who has not described me as a frigid bitch-goddess or a human statue.
MIKE: That is something, isn’t it? I said you were a girl, and that I liked your fire, and your self-sufficiency.
TRACY: It was, quite literally, the nicest thing any man has ever said to me, including my father and former husband.
MIKE: My God, that’s awful."

Morning Coffee (11/12/15)

Hillary Clinton quoted Hamilton on Twitter, and given the way 70% of my Twitter timeline is nonstop Hamilton tweets, I assume this means she now has the nomination wrapped up.

SIGH. People Are Slamming the Veterans Day Google Doodle for Not Being White Enough

At least they apologized? Bloomingdale’s Realizes New Ad Advocates Date Rape and Apologizes After Online Outrage

How Marco Rubio Became the GOP's Foreign Policy Candidate

10 Falsehoods That Netanyahu Told During His Appearance At CAP

"But right here, right now, the moment feels wrong to host a female cage match." Good for THR.

A difficult but important read: 'A Mountain of Misconduct' at New Hampshire Rehab

Life Pulls Back in Afghan Capital, as Danger Rises and Troops Recede

Americans’ questions about Obamacare are changing. Their Google searches prove it.

"MONK #1: I don’t know much about Alexander the Great
only that he was one of the Nine Worthies
what was he like? what did he love? what brought him pleasure?
MONK #2: so the main thing to remember about him is that he loved scolding fish"

Morning Coffee (11/11/15)

Me elsewhere: Agent X was fun!

The Veterans Day Google Doodle is quite nice.

Important: Here's a good overview of the threats - and, just now, arrest - at the University of Missouri.

Here's John Dickerson on last night's debate.

Vox has a very thorough explainer on the Starbucks red cup controversy that makes some interesting points about social media fame and outrage in general.

"Under the rascality test, 'the objectionable conduct must attain a level rascality that would raise an eyebrow of someone inured to the rough and tumble of the world of commerce,'" says Bissetti. Oh, New Hampshire.

Ugh: American Girl Magazine Faces Criticism for Photo of Adopted Daughter and Two Dads

Humans of New York and the Cavalier Consumption of Others

Why it's time to leave old-school SEO behind. Amen.

Sex, Drugs, And V-Neck Tees: Inside The Cult Of American Apparel

"Because there are skulls, I shouldn’t waste my time reading books or looking at flutes or having an expensive pocket-watch? You’re going to have to do a better job of persuading me that the pursuit of all interests is dust and vanity if you can’t even draw a withered laurel wreath."

Morning Coffee (11/10/15)

Me elsewhere: The Last Kingdom recap!

Amazing news: Mallory Ortberg is the new Dear Prudence.

Ben Carson, the humblebragging instrument of God The idea of this man having any kind of power is really very scary.

This is really important: Men Explain Hillary to Me "As long as feminism has existed, left-wing men have dismissed it as a bourgeois triviality. Now we know how little things have changed. For that, at least, we can thank these men for educating us."

An "artist" set the Russian security service's door on fire. "His plans apparently went undetected by the F.S.B., which like its predecessor, the K.G.B., is responsible for surveillance of the Russian population to prevent crimes and attacks." Karla would be horrified.

Unfixable: How Obama lost Syria

Was Neruda assassinated?

In Tunisia, a Mission of Justice and a Moment of Reckoning

Interesting: I thought the Amazon store was a terrible idea. Then I actually went there.

The fraught history of Princess Leia’s infamous bikini

"MAN: can you say da-da
can you say da-da for me?
BABY FOUCAULT: discourse is not life"

Morning Coffee (11/9/15)

Me elsewhere: TV news!

Today's Hedy Lamarr Google doodle is very fancy and well done and nicely incorporates the various aspects of her career, so make sure you check that out.

Best headline ever? Ben Carson Defends Himself Against Allegations That He Never Attempted to Murder a Child

Also: Carson claimed West Point 'scholarship' but never applied

Wondering how a night club fire brought down a prime minister? The Romania situation, explained.

I only knew Mark Everson was running in the first place because his campaign manager rented an office next to my friend's law firm. New Hampshire!

This Is Why NFL Star Greg Hardy Was Arrested For Assaulting His Ex-Girlfriend

Wow: "Once they reach 18, children may disavow the practice of same-sex cohabitation or marriage and stop living within the household and request to join the church."

"THE RED BULLETIN: What could we learn from James Bond that would help us in our day-to-day lives?
DANIEL CRAIG: [Thinks for a short while.] Nothing."

The history of seed vaults is really interesting!

Dogs I Would Like To Own In Art, Even Though They Are Probably Dead Now

Morning Coffee (11/6/15)

Happy Friday!

Me elsewhere: Haven recap!

Obviously this is good but I also just like the headline: Salt Lake City—Which Is Still in Utah—May Have Just Elected an Openly Gay Mayor

CBS is developing a show about a secret society of spy princesses and it's already my new favorite.

Australia Deploys Sheepdogs to Save a Penguin Colony

I love PR stunts that also actually do good: Adidas Offers Design Resources to Schools That Want to Get Rid of Their Offensive Mascots

I would, of course, totally watch this Sorkin-pitched Pixar movie about talking office supplies.

Justin Trudeau paper dolls!!

Let's go to London! Largest ever exhibition of the Queen's wardrobe planned for her 90th birthday

Or if we can't go to London let's at least look at a slideshow of Duchess Kate's coats. (The green tartan McQueen has always been my favorite.)

Bands are designing tacos for charity, but I really want them to be THEMED.

"Yet Even More Raspberry Sponge
Marzipan whatsits
I Rolled Up A Cake, Paul
Cardamom Battenberg Handfuls"

Morning Coffee (11/5/15)

Me elsewhere: The Last Kingdom recap

This CodeGirl documentary is great. It's only free through today, so go watch!

New U.S.-Backed Alliance to Counter ISIS in Syria Falters

When Leaders of Taiwan and China Meet, Even Tiny Gestures Will Be Parsed

The Republican Attempt to Hijack the Debates Is Failing Miserably

This is interesting, and I recommend the Times story it links, too: What the Success Academy fight over kicking out students says about the charter movement

Why Republicans like Ben Carson love comparing abortion to slavery

Fascinating and horrifying: They Burn Witches Here

Wondering why no shows have been cancelled yet this fall? Todd explains.

People are mad about the American word for Muggle, but I like the realism of different slang in different places.

Every Comment On Every Article About Bras Ever

Morning Coffee (11/4/15)

The filing period for the New Hampshire presidential primary starts today. If you have nothing else to do, you can watch the candidates file live on WMUR.com.

Syria's tangled proxy wars: a simple visual guide

The Guardian liveblogged Trump's book to save us all from reading it. (The Guardian has THE BEST liveblogs.)

Why Turkey's election results shocked all the experts

Oh, Thomas Blatt has died. He was one of the few survivors of the Sobibor breakout and is in the PBS documentary Escape from a Nazi Death Camp, which I saw recently and highly recommend. (It's on Netflix.)

I feel like the surprising thing here is not that campaigns use the media to coordinate with super PACs, but that reserving ad space in early primary space was "totally not even on [the] radar" of a Cruz super PAC until the media pointed out that they hadn't.

Neuropolitics are fascinating! Maybe terrible, but fascinating.

This Times series about arbitration is quite interesting.

Fantasy readers, check out collaborative serial Tremontaine. I haven't read it yet, but that's a great author line-up.

"WOMAN: can you pat the bunny?
BABY DERRIDA: there is nothing outside the text"

Morning Coffee (11/3/15)

Happy Election Day!

Heads up, New Haven area: Police to Take Valuables from Unlocked Cars to Stop Break-Ins

We're getting a new Star Trek show! On CBS All Access, so . . . I'm really curious to see how that works, as a business decision.

Party Victory in Turkey Bolsters Erdogan’s Pursuit of Power

Whoa: The New York Times Will Have a New Publisher Within Two Years

Step-by-Step: How to Make a Perfect Apple Pie (My friend Carrie and I are going to do this and tweet about it on Sunday. Join us!)

Nicole Cliffe on funding indie media is so important: "'How did those two plucky women with no business sense start a successful site of art history jokes?' - hedge. fund. money. from. a. man."

A female Van Helsing show? I'm listening, Syfy.

Huh! Berries show ancient Fortingall yew tree is 'changing sex'

Fascinating: Beneath the Frills at Ruffle Con

"ARACHNE: haha
I guess you could say I weave like Athena herself
ATHENA [appearing suddenly in the fireplace]: the fuck did you just say"

Morning Coffee (11/2/15)

Me elsewhere: TV news!

Guess what? Some of the Sirius XM holiday channels are STARTING TONIGHT.

I heard this great interview with Marlon James on the radio yesterday and now I'm very excited to read his books.

How 4 Federal Lawyers Paved the Way to Kill Osama bin Laden

This is an amazing sentence: "Göring, who would later be convicted of crimes against humanity, told Richard he was impressed with his integrity."

So is this: "The French food critic François Simon has described the 50 Best as a sort of childlike racket—'a world order of Care Bears, and this under the cynical gaze of a sparkling water.'"

Nope. Nope. NOPE.

I love K9 and will probably see his movie, but I am more interested in a. why these people couldn't get anyone to proofread their terribly-written press release and b. why the BBC and Doctor Who let this situation arise in which people could make a K9 movie without their blessing or involvement. (Before you all rush to explain: I get that the creators of the character own the rights but THAT WAS A DUMB CONTRACT TO ACCEPT, BBC, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?)

'It's a whole other world': religious pilgrims venture deep into Alaska forest

Fascinating: What America’s immigrants looked like when they arrived on Ellis Island

Songs From A Mountain Goats Album In Which Cicero Is Not Mentioned And Everybody’s Marriages Work Out