Morning Coffee (5/31/16)

This may be the best thing I've read about Trump: The Joke That Ate the GOP

Bernie Sanders didn’t play the inside game, and it both helped and hurt him

Related: Talking with Nevada's top political expert about the rift between Sanders fans and party leaders

This is very useful these days, sadly enough: Travelgate to Furnituregate: a guide to the Clinton scandals of the 90s

How Online Harassment Is Setting The Tone For The 2016 Election

The cool girls, good girls and bad girls of modern books

Sexual harassment in academia is, sadly, not a shocking subject at this point, but when the perpetrator is a famous ethics professor, that's... something.

Middle Eastern Writers Find Refuge in the Dystopian Novel

The people behind Hottest Heads of State have a new site devoted to making fun of New York Times Magazine ads, and now I officially want to be friends with them.

Every Meal Lucy Snowe Almost Eats in Villette

Morning Coffee (5/30/16)

The Nazi Tweets of ‘Trump God Emperor’

The System Isn’t ‘Rigged’ Against Sanders

Trump Attacks Federal Judge in Trump U Case (and calls him Mexican, though he was born in Indiana. Because of course.)

Meanwhile, the libertarians nominated Gary Johnson and... William Weld?!?!

Here's an interesting take on this election from a professional focus group moderator.

How Venezuela’s socialist dream collapsed into a nightmare

I meant to link to these last week, but Todd VanDerWerff always has write-ups of the TV networks' upfront presentations and I look forward to his take every year: NBC, FOX, ABC, CBS, the CW.

Lisa Lucas, head of the National Book Foundation, wants you to love reading

This is actually fascinating: Here’s What Happens When An Adult Follows 8 High School Dress Codes

I think this piece about young teens and social media is a little alarmist, but it's interesting anyway.

Morning Coffee (5/29/16)

Do Sanders Supporters Favor His Policies? Meh, not particularly. (And that's the case with virtually all candidates, but in this instance where he's getting power over who writes the platform etc. based on the idea that huge numbers of people support his positions, it's worth thinking and talking about the fact that that really can't be assumed.)

Your guide to President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court shortlist

This is long, but if you're interested in how TV works at all, it's essential reading: The Business of Too Much TV

Good for her: Robin Wright Pressed for Equal Pay on House of Cards

Believe it or not, this is COMPLETELY HILARIOUS. Just click. Please. America’s Questions about “Brexit” Answered

Satirical erotica author Chuck Tingle's massive troll of conservative sci-fi fans, explained (Because I've seen a few rumors going around and I'm not sure how serious they were: No, I genuinely have no idea who Tingle is.)

Fascinating: One of Florence’s Oldest Families and Its 600-Year Archive

Will We Ever Know Why Nazi Leader Rudolf Hess Flew to Scotland in the Middle of World War II? (Probably not!)

It's so interesting how our image of desirable produce has changed: Pretty Portraits of the Tiny, Lumpy, Sweet Strawberries of the Early 20th Century

Run. RUN AWAY.

Morning Coffee (5/28/16)

"When you see progressive white men—many of whom enthusiastically supported Barack Obama’s candidacy—hate Clinton with every fiber of their being despite the fact that she’s a carbon copy of Obama’s ideology (or in fact now running slightly to his left), it’s hard to find any other explanation than sexism."

Jerrod Carmichael Might Be the Next Jerry Seinfeld — So Why Was Renewing The Carmichael Show Such a Tough Call for NBC? (Please watch The Carmichael Show. It is great.)

I was just the other day wondering what happened to Salon. Wonder no more.

Huh: Planet Aid's Yellow Clothing Donation Bins Are Part of a Global Cultlike Scam

A great bad review can be a thing of beauty. Here's Todd VanDerWerff on Alice Through the Looking Glass.

Fascinating questions here: Italians Agree Fresco Is a Masterpiece, but All Else Is Up for Debate

All The Dirt On Rona Barrett, Hollywood's Forgotten Gossip Girl

Women's Voluntary Service: 'The army Hitler forgot'

"Indeed, if any instrumentalist was going to be involved in a wild international money-laundering scheme, it was probably going to be a cellist."

And Now, Men Explaining Why They Send Dick Pics CAN THESE QUOTES BE REAL? (I suppose. Unfortunately.)

Morning Coffee (5/27/16)

Happy Friday! As usual, we'll be ignoring current events and going with some lighter stuff today. If you'd like to support the time I spend putting these link posts together (and maybe get some fun extras), head over to Patreon - there are options that start at just $1 a month.

Ooh: Inside the Workshop Where Lego Geniuses Build Masterpieces

This Cat Sails Around The World And We Want Her Life

Delightful: A Day with Ben Whishaw

New in the Guardian's great "How to Eat" series: Macaroni cheese.

I hate gendered book lists, but I love books about unhappy rich people in beach houses, and this summer beach book list is fun.

The Chelsea Flower Show is gorgeous and I really hope Mary Berry and the Queen hung out. I feel like they'd have a lot to talk about.

Murder and Madness in the Castle: Macbeth’s Inverness

Photos of the World at Twilight, When Everything is a Hushed Grey

Why the Enduring Fascination with the Mitford Sisters Won’t Die

Two Medieval Monks Invent Horses and Armed Warfare

Morning Coffee (5/26/16)

I love this: Sorry, Not Sorry: My Apology Addiction. Recently someone started pointing out every time I reflexively apologize for NO REASON and it was...astonishing.

I think we all assumed that Trump plans to target Clinton over Whitewater, but the notable thing here is that Politico found this out because Trump's spokeswoman EMAILED A POLITICO REPORTER instead of a campaign consultant with a similar name.

The Fact That You’re Going To Die Is Donald Trump’s Biggest Asset, Psychologists Say

Bill Clinton Gets Into 30-Minute Debate With A 24-Year-Old Bernie Fan Why does Bill Clinton never show up to talk to ME while I'm eating eggs?

This Vince Foster explainer is useful, especially for those of us who weren't quite following things at an adult level in the early nineties.

A Letter to a Bernie-or-Bust Voter

So many of my favorite words in one headline: In Silicon Valley, Gossip, Anger and Revenge

Not shocking, but always important to point out: White Men Working at the Washington Post Make Way More Money Than Their Peers

GOOD NEWS: Everything’s Going To Hell But At Least We Are Moving Away From Open Kitchens In Our Homes

Heee: Executive Notes On TV Shows That Skewed “Too Male"

Morning Coffee (5/25/16)

PETER THIEL HAS BEEN FUNDING HULK HOGAN'S LAWSUITS AGAINST GAWKER and I said "Oh whoa!" out loud when this surfaced on Twitter last night. (I assume this is the kind of news that seems HUGE to a certain subset of people and everyone else is just "Who? What? Why do I care?" Which is totally fair.)

Dems discuss dropping Wasserman Schultz This makes me so mad, because of stuff like this: "Lawmakers who have discussed the end of Wasserman Schultz’s tenure acknowledge the fate would be unfair because she’s worked hard to help the party. But they say the greater priority is to mollify restive liberals backing Sanders." NOPE.

If you're wondering, Sanders requested a recanvass instead of a recount because he'd have to pay for a recount, but the state pays for a recanvass. In which no ballots are actually counted. But as long as he's doing something to allow him to claim Clinton cheated, why should he care about actual votes?

David Brooks Writes Column Titled 'Why Is Clinton Disliked?' That Does Not Contain the Word 'Woman' Must be nice to live in David Brooks's world, in which apparently there's no reason to even THINK of such things.

Why Bernie Sanders picked Cornel West to help write the Democratic platform (I mean PERSONALLY I would not pick someone who called the very popular sitting present a war criminal to write the platform of said president's party, but what do I know?)

Twitter is making changes and I think I like MOST of them, though they explained things so badly that (of course) everyone on Twitter freaked out at first.

Um, England? You guys okay over there? The Foreign Secretary Has Just Denied That The Foreign Office Cat Is An EU Spy

Interesting: Book Challenges as Primary Sources in the Study of American Religion

The great Suri's Burn Book is going away, but for the best possible reason.

I hadn't entirely realized the Man in the Iron Mask was still a mystery, but I guess some people think they have solved it?

Morning Coffee (5/24/16)

Sorry this is a little late! The site I use to organize my bookmarks is currently down; cross your fingers that it's not gone forever, as that's where I organize all my recipes, too. The following is a selection of links I happened to remember in enough specificity to track down, so... welcome to my brain, I guess.

I generally agree with the notion that we've gone way too far with marketing glimpses of teasers for trailers for... but I AM FREAKING OUT OVER THE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST TEASER, YOU GUYS.

Also EXTREMELY EXCITED about this: Ava DuVernay’s “A Wrinkle in Time” Will Feature Diverse Cast

11 reasons why Bernie Sanders lost this thing fair and square

"If this isn't the end for the Republican Party, it'll be a shame. They dominated American political life for 50 years and were never anything but monsters. They bred in their voters the incredible attitude that Republicans were the only people within our borders who raised children, loved their country, died in battle or paid taxes. They even sullied the word 'American' by insisting they were the only real ones."

Robin Wasserman, being smart as usual: What Does It Mean When We Call Women Girls?

I didn't really know who Blac Chyna was before reading this, but it was still fascinating and you should read it if you're interested in the interplay of celebrity and class and social media: How Blac Chyna Beat The Kardashians At Their Own Game

Awesome: Female WWII Pilots Can Now Be Buried at Arlington National Cemetery

The man who has photographed every train station in Great Britain

Drowned worlds: Egypt's lost cities

The Seven Stages Of Aspirational Produce Shopping

Morning Coffee (5/23/16)

Me elsewhere: Your TV news for the week.

The real reason Hillary Clinton is beating Bernie Sanders

WHAT: Trump's Political Advisers Wanted to Vet Him. He Said No.

Donald Trump Wanted A White-Versus-Black Season Of “The Apprentice” Because of course he did. (Thought experiment: If NBC had greenlit that, how would it have affected the 2008 election and/or Trump's political future?)

Important: "Culturally, we have a deeply ingrained, often subconscious contempt for women and for the things women do. That’s why when something is marked 'feminine,' it becomes humiliating or emasculating for a man to do it. It’s why we smirk at the idea of Bill Clinton taking over Michelle Obama’s vegetable garden."

Sanders supporter Robert Reich wrote that his fellow supporters should support Clinton in the general if she becomes the nominee. You won't believe what happened next.

This post from a disability activist who reached out to both the Sanders and Clinton campaigns is worth a read.

Perfect: Reasons that woman is not smiling at you, a man who is about to tell her to smile:

New Strawberry Shortcake TV show???

Found: A Napoleonic War Diary Hiding in a Bookstore in Tasmania

The Onion, BARELY: Facebook Clarifies Site Not Intended To Be Users’ Primary Information Source

Morning Coffee (5/22/16)

President Obama Signs Legislation to Remove 'Oriental' and 'Negro' From Federal Code

OF COURSE: Sanders, after coming up short in Kentucky, thanks the state for ‘great victory’

This Week In The War On Women: Progressives Have Their Own Lady Problem

An important thing to understand: Paleoconservatism, the movement that explains Donald Trump, explained

Here's a more important reason to be against gender reveal parties, other than that they're annoying and obnoxious.

Search for Family’s Lost History Leads to Mass Grave in Poland

The Mysterious Letter Writer Who Beguiled Flannery O’Connor and Iris Murdoch

Ooh: Ancient Arabic Text Shines Light on Massive Supernova

This is great: From Tina Fey to Bryan Fuller, 41 Hollywood Producers Explain the Weird, Personal Origins of Their Company Names

I'd never thought about which historical war settings lend themselves to which kinds of games. Interesting.

Morning Coffee (5/21/16)

Kinda fun: Vox's VP Generator: use political history to build Clinton and Trump's shortlists

Seriously, this Venn diagram was TERRIBLE.

This is GREAT, from Robin Wasserman: A letter to my teenage self: mess up more

How Rival Gardens of Eden in Iraq Survived ISIS, Dwindling Tourists, And Each Other

Interesting: Google Is Feeding Romance Novels To Its Artificial Intelligence Engine To Make Its Products More Conversational

Save the Allegory!

The Nazi Underground

Wow: London During the Blitz: Then and Now Photographs

The Swiss Have Made Cheese Since the Iron Age

Inside the 19th-Century Free Love Commune Powered by Electric Sex, Eugenics and Delusions of Immortality

Morning Coffee (5/20/16)

Me elsewhere: New episode of The Fourth Wall podcast called Fandom 101, the CW's fall schedule, new clips from The Hollow Crown, and Thursday's Daily Read.

On to Happy Friday links! (Don't worry, we'll be back to all the terrible things happening in the world tomorrow.

!!!!! A Fort McMurray Evacuee’s Cat Was Taken Care By An Airline And It Was Adorable

I loved how Star Trek revealed the new show logo on Instagram; luckily a smart person took a screenshot.

Leicester City: The science behind their Premier League title

Is The Onion following my dad around now?? Area Dad Needs More Time With Museum Plaque

Speaking of Dad, he passed along this delight: University Title Generator

Pet Sounds is really really really great.

I APPROVE: The First Restaurants Only Served Soup

The Mind-Boggling Challenge of Designing 120-Sided Dice

Heh: Facebook Trivia Questions, Customized for You

Ooh: 'Impossibly Rare' Violet Diamond Found

If Tom Hiddleston Were Your Boyfriend

Morning Coffee (5/19/16)

ICYMI: My review of Robin Wasserman's Girls on Fire (And I mentioned wanting a playlist for this book and a lovely commenter pointed me to this one.)

Me elsewhere: CBS's fall schedule

Important: This is how fascism comes to America

Wow, this is amazing: Dying GOP Senator Apologizes to Muslims for Donald Trump

Yes yes yes yes yes: Sanders Needs to Talk Down His Supporters and Explain That Nothing Is Being ‘Stolen’

We can no longer hope or pretend that the self-absorbed racism and misogyny and bullying and violence is the fault of Sanders's supporters or staff but not the man himself: It comes from the very top.

Yes, Sanders supporters, having the people YOU threaten complain about being threatened absolutely makes YOU the victim here: Pro-Bernie Trolls on Why They Harassed Nevada's Democratic Chair

This is ridiculous: “I think a little bit of disruption is exciting. That’s democracy,” Chamberlain said. “The reality is without that, all you have is boring parliamentary procedure and everyone falls asleep." Go watch TV if you want entertainment. Sit down, shut up, let the adults run a real nation.

This has some interesting stuff about Sanders' psychology and I hope it's true.

Whoa: Report: Theranos Is Voiding Two Years of Blood Test Results

Men Are Sabotaging The Online Reviews Of TV Shows Aimed At Women

WHAT: Employee is suing his boss because his job was too boring

Book Review: Girls on Fire

Robin Wasserman, author of some of my young adult favorites including The Book of Blood and Shadow and The Waking Dark, released her first adult novel this week, and while her previous books were very good, Girls on Fire is breathtakingly great. I just opened my copy to find a quote from the first pages for you and can barely bear to pick one.

Impossible not to see them, not to remember what it was like, when it was like that. To sit there, shivering, as the sun dips toward the horizon and the wind blows cold over the waves, as the sky blazes red and darkness gathers around the girls, neither of them knowing how little time they have left before the fire goes out.

Remember how good it felt to burn.

As that quote suggests, the main characters here, as in Wasserman's YA novels, are teenagers for the bulk of the narrative, but in this case the narrator - and reader - is looking back at these experiences from an adult perspective. And from the lyrical first chapter with the all-important "there's always one in charge" on, Wasserman writes some of the most realistic descriptions of all the flavors of intense, complicated dynamics between adolescent girls I've ever read. Friendships, relationships, frenemy-ships, jealousy, love, hatred, rivalry - it's all here, and it feels like this book is telling all of our old secrets, and then taking them to a new level with gigantic stakes.

Most of the novel is set in the early nineties; the characters are a few years older than me, but close enough in age that their world and cultural touchpoints felt both comfortingly and scarily familiar. Who among us wasn't wearing flannel and doing pagan rituals in the woods? (I'm not, however, as familiar with the music - mostly Kurt Cobain - that plays a large part in the story; I should see if Wasserman has put together a playlist.) Wasserman perfectly captures the changes taking place both in her characters' small community and the culture at large; this intense specificity of setting plays very well against the universality of her characters' emotions and the teen girl experience she describes.

There's a central mystery here, too, the death of a classmate before the action starts, along with a palpable feeling from the beginning that the characters - and reader - are hurtling toward another terrible event. There are twists and terrible secrets gradually unraveled, but unlike in many high-profile psychological thrillers like Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train, the twists didn't annoy me because they felt vital to the story and to the characters themselves, rather than reading as a careful puzzle constructed to convince the reader of the author's intellectual dominance. (Which is not to say that Wasserman is not smarter than all of us. I know her - full disclosure - and she is.)

But for me, the mystery, as compelling as it was, was both secondary to and made frightening by Wasserman's perfect portrayal of the power of teen girl friendship. Because what's so fascinating and wonderful and terrifying here is not that the things that are done by and done to these girls are foreign and unique, but that it's all too easy to imagine that with a few different casual decisions and chances of fate, any of us could have wound up exactly where they do.

Morning Coffee (5/18/16)

Me elsewhere: Okay, I've had a few pieces come out in the last 24 hours, so here's a rundown:
* At Insatiable Booksluts: 10 Must-Read Patriarchy-Smashing Crime Solvers
* At The Televixen: Exploring Personal Space with Dana Luery Shaw and ABC's Fall Schedule
* Also: Here's Tuesday's Daily Read, and my TV reference spreadsheet has been updated.

On to the links!

"Loud cursing, shouting, obscene gestures and vile insults, including crude comments about the female anatomy. It was all on display over the weekend as supporters of Bernie Sanders turned the Nevada State Democratic Convention into chaos."

"But the bigger worry for Democrats may not be that Sanders's supporters view Donald Trump as a better presidential candidate, but rather that they come to regard the whole electoral system — and Clinton's nomination — as inherently fraudulent."

"He can’t go to the convention and argue that his pissed off white support is somehow more valid than all the votes and all the delegates Hillary has won from a far more diverse cross section of the Democratic party."

Donald Trump’s Plan for America Includes Shutting Down the Media

The Trump Campaign Told A Reporter They’re Not Interested In Spanish-Language Media Coverage

Muslim Leaders Wage Theological Battle, Stoking ISIS’ Anger

I agree with most of what Dan Fienberg says here about the Castle finale, especially the part at the end about Beckett's agency.

Welp: Who Said It: Roald Dahl or Judy Blume?

Inside Evan Spiegel's very private Snapchat Story

How To Tell If You’re In A Robert Frost Poem

Morning Coffee (5/17/16)

Me elsewhere: FOX's fall schedule, plus the trailer for Love, Nina and yesterday's Daily Read.

This is a "revolution" of which I want no part: From Bernie Sanders Supporters, Death Threats Over Delegates

This makes good points: The Wackiest Donald Trump Conspiracy Theory Yet

Unearthing the Secrets of New York's Mass Graves

This profile of Lin-Manuel Miranda is just thoroughly delightful. (185 days until I see Hamilton, not that I'm counting.) (Okay, I'm really not counting in any ongoing way, I just looked it up right now.)

WOW: ‘An amazing way to go’: Jane Little, world’s longest-serving orchestra musician, collapses and dies performing ‘There’s No Business Like Show Business’ (My violin teacher collapsed and died while performing as well. I wonder how common this is?)

Dear actors, please only speak words others have scripted.

Whoa: LA Times Music Critic Sasha Frere-Jones Exits, Accused of Expensing $5K Strip Club Tab

Castle is over and the finale was... passable... but this alternative ending is much better.

If You Are What You Eat, America Is Allrecipes

Relevant to my interests: Paperback Writer: Books about the Beatles

Morning Coffee (5/16/16)

Me elsewhere: Your TV news for the week and NBC's fall schedule.

An interesting read from the always-great Emily Bazelon: Should Prostitution Be a Crime?

Only a Democrat can stop Trump now

The West needs to stop panicking about Russia's "hybrid" warfare

Whoa: The day we discovered our parents were Russian spies

SIGH: CBS Passes on Nancy Drew Adaptation For Testing “Too Female” For Lineup (Also, not that this isn't terrible, but what did they think they were getting when they ordered NANCY DREW? How was that not expected to test female??)

Related, and sadly not surprising: This Study Shows that Gender Disparity Isn’t Much Better on Indie Films

Here is an adorable story that you should only click on if you are caught up or spoiled on Game of Thrones. (As of a few weeks ago, not LAST NIGHT.)

I heard this Edna O'Brien interview on the radio yesterday and it made me want to read all her books.

Wow: This Ancient Laptop Is The Only Key To The Most Valuable Supercars On The Planet

Robert Downey Jr. said Gwyneth Paltrow is his free pass - to kiss on set when cameras are rolling. You know, when it is literally his job. I have a lot of questions, primarily: Does he no longer take roles where he has to kiss anyone ELSE?

I also have a lot of questions about this KFC nail polish situation, but I guess they boil down to WHY?

Morning Coffee (5/15/16)

AWESOME: Selena Gomez crumpled up a "Marry Justin Please" sign from a fan on stage.

Hillary Clinton doesn't need to choose between a reassuring campaign and progressive policies

Google Proposes More Gender Diversity In Career-Based Emoji, Such As Women Doctors, Engineers, & Rock Stars

The New Yorker's profile of Melania Trump is quite well done.

This is a great profile of Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton's Aaron Burr).

Postal service isn't a particularly lucrative business. That's why Finland's is going to mow lawns too.

Thai Officials Battle Buddhist Monks Over Tigers’ Fate

This is neat both in itself and because, you know, Quidditch is now a sport covered in the Guardian: Quidditch World Cup 2016 hopes to feature first African team

Vegan drama is fun: Famous California vegan restaurateurs under fire over revelation they eat meat

And: Help Me Understand This 'Bullying' Controversy Ripping the Vegan YouTube Community Apart

Morning Coffee (5/14/16)

Me elsewhere: First looks at Time After Time and Still Star-Crossed and your Friday Daily Read.

SAD NEWS: The Toast is closing. I am bereft but also glad that they are making the decision that's right for them.

On Facebook, Trump's Longtime Butler Calls for Obama to Be Killed (As Chris Hayes pointed out on Snapchat, the big thing here is not so much the thing itself as the fact that this guy was glowingly profiled by the Times, like, yesterday.)

Related: Donald Trump's victory proves Republican voters want resentful nationalism, not principled conservatism

Also related: The Myth of the Disappearing Nonwhite Voter

Dahlia Lithwick on covering Merrick Garland is great. Dahlia Lithwick is always great.

Important: Ta-Nehisi Coates On Homecomings

The Unhealthy Truth Behind 'Wellness' and 'Clean Eating'

I'm honestly not that invested in the names of the American wizarding school houses, but this controversy about the software engineer who discovered them (possibly) is fascinating.

Hee: Prince George called Prince Harry out for being on good behaviour when the Obamas came to visit

The First Line Of Every Fan Fiction I Have Started Writing Once I Found Out Emma Watson Was Named In The Panama Papers

Morning Coffee (5/13/16)

Happy Friday! THANK GOODNESS.

Me elsewhere: New promos for Wayward Pines and your Thursday Daily Read.

ALSO: My friend Holly and I started a podcast about fandom and the first episode is available for your listening pleasure!

ALSO ALSO: If you want a thorough, no-frills place to keep up with TV renewals/cancellations/pickups, I made you a thing. I'll be updating it as frequently as possible as events progress today/this weekend.

If you look at one link today it should absolutely be this one: This Puppy Was Abandoned At A Baseball Stadium And Now Has A Job With The Team

Aaah, John Dickerson has a book coming out about presidential campaign history! Happy birthday to me! (Obviously I preordered it immediately to support him, so you don't need to actually get it for my birthday, Mom.)

New Monkees song! Very summery.

Vox's summer movie preview is always fun and interesting.

The Fug Girls' account of their trip to England and Scotland is delightful and will make you want to plan a vacation IMMEDIATELY.

Aww: A Bride Canceled Her Wedding, Then Turned It Into a Fancy Party for Little Kids

Why have I never seen these Boston History Dioramas???

LOOK at this knitting needle gauge ring.

Hee: The Darcy Shirt, A Tour Rider

Crush Cakes: Lin-Manuel Miranda (Crush cakes are a GREAT idea. Let's make this a thing.)

Speaking of, I assume you want to see Chris Hemsworth making a birthday cake for his daughter.

It's Friday. Let's look at some beaches.

Morning Coffee (5/12/16)

Me elsewhere: A cute Grantchester behind-the-scenes video and your Wednesday Daily Read.

As someone who knew Ronan Farrow (and his mom) when he was a kid, I have a hard time looking at the Woody Allen situation "impartially," whatever that means, but regardless of concerns about timing or venue I think Farrow's essay about his father abusing his sister and the (non-)aftermath is brave and important.

Wow: "An explosive allegation about destroyed evidence threatens to unravel the already shaky military tribunal for the alleged architect of the 9/11 terrorist attacks."

Welp: NRA board member Ted Nugent fantasizes about Hillary Clinton being gunned down on live TV

This Harry Reid and Alan Grayson confrontation is just insane and kind of makes me suspect they've been listening to Hamilton and wanted to add some DRAMA to current political meetings.

Okay, the thing with the Sanders's campaign's FEC violations is - even if we give them the benefit of the doubt and assume this is just because of disorganization and/or misunderstanding of the rules: That does not leave us with an impression of people I want to put in charge of anything important like, oh, a country.

No, Trump Is Not Running to Clinton’s Left

What we need now is some Will McAvoy. (I understand all the issues with The Newsroom and I love it blindly anyway.)

Piers Morgan being ridiculous and terrible isn't exactly news but the first graf here is great.

Forging a Path for Women, Deep Into India’s Sacred Shrines

George Takei Calmly Dismantles All of Marvel’s Excuses for Its Doctor Strange Casting

The economy of weight loss tea on social media is fascinating. (I've only ever seen a few of these Instagram posts, so clearly I'm following the right people.)

Let's calm down, everyone: That Long-Lost Mayan City a Teen Found Isn't Lost... Or a City

Morning Coffee (5/11/16)

Me elsewhere: Trailers for Wayward Pines and Inferno and your Tuesday Daily Read.

Of course the Trump campaign selected a white nationalist leader as a delegate. (Update: They're now claiming it was an error; I'm skeptical but at least this is proof that there are SOME things the campaign can be shamed out of?)

And of COURSE Trump's using MRA language.

This explanation of why it's in Sanders's best interests to enthusiastically support Clinton in the general is eminently reasonable, which makes me skeptical that it will possibly happen that way.

Things in Brazil: Not good!

Austria: Also worrisome!

While we're at it, here's a guide to what's going on in Australia.

I get why tech/business-ignorant people are upset about Facebook suppressing conservative news stories but I cannot believe Congress is treating this as a real thing. I mean, I can, but . . . SIGH. What is WRONG with people?

A Thorough and Only Slightly Satirical Guide to Trump’s Potential Vice Presidential Choices

Ooh, there's nothing I like better than a dishy cult story: Inside Superstar Machine, Which Ex-Members Say Is a Cult Preying on New York’s Creative Women

An important thing to remember in discussions of royalty: Princess Charlotte worth £3.2 billion to UK economy

I had never really thought about 3D printing food but THIS IS FASCINATING.

Wow: Retracing a 1,300-Mile Escape From a Soviet Gulag in WWII

Morning Coffee (5/10/16)

Me elsewhere: New Endeavour preview and your Monday Daily Read.

WHAT: Friendly's sells retail ice cream and manufacturing, new owner promises to keep Wilbraham factory

Important: You can't talk about Trump's rise without talking about racism

Sigh: "It's not a conspiracy; it won't be coordinated. It doesn't need to be. It's just a process of institutions, centers of power and influence, responding to the incentive structure that's evolved around them. The US political ecosystem needs this election to be competitive."

Come on, people: Passenger Delays Flight After Mistaking Math Equations for Terrorist Code

This story about Hillary Clinton and alien enthusiasts is actually really interesting - Chris Carter makes an appearance! - but my favorite part is that her response to a question about it "suggested she’d been briefed by someone and is not just being flippant," which is something I feel like you could put in a story about her and ANY ISSUE EVER. She does her research.

Study: Bernie Sanders’s single-payer plan is twice as expensive as he says

Interesting: U.S. Soldiers Defy North Korean Propaganda by Teaching Defectors English

Poor Vox: We shouldn't have to explain that Ted Cruz's dad didn't kill JFK, but here goes, I guess

I had not really followed the Theranos story, so this summary was very helpful.

And an interesting perspective: The Secret Culprit in the Theranos Mess

This piece from the A.V. Club about the Facebook news curator "scandal" is a perfect example of what that site does so well. "In a stunning revelation that has left your weird uncle that lives in rural Montana completely speechless, it turns out the world’s largest social media platform doesn’t just turn on its computers each morning and then give everybody the day off."

Women Enjoying Heterosexual Kisses In Western Art History

Morning Coffee (5/9/16)

Me elsewhere: TV news for the week.

An important new investigation from the Globe's Spotlight team: Private schools, painful secrets

The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes and his team have been expelled from North Korea but have made it safely to Beijing. I saw a news alert as I was falling asleep last night that they'd been detained in North Korea, so I'm very glad the situation was more or less resolved by the time I woke up this morning.

"It's understandable that a real estate developer might assume that what works in real estate would work in economic policy, but it's not true. And Trump hasn't bothered to check or ask anyone about it."

Important: “We would have paid her the same if she weighed 500 pounds”: Publishing, Weight, and Writers Who Are “Hard To Look At”

A Comprehensive Timeline of Carly Fiorina's Historically Short VP Run

Paging Jean Valjean: Stealing Food Isn't a Crime if You're Going Hungry, Italian Court Rules (No, dumb jokes aside, this is a good thing!)

A Former Girl Soldier in Colombia Finds ‘Life Is Hard’ as a Civilian

I find the pieces comparing Trump to ancient historical figures to be weirdly soothing. (I almost said "after all, Greece is fine now" but that's OBVIOUSLY NOT TRUE. But it's not because of Alcibiades.)

There's some interesting information here, but the headline made me laugh, because if you found really old hair in a church wouldn't you just EXPECT it to belong to a medieval saint?

I just saw Paul McCartney in concert so I was fascinated to read about Philip Norman's change of heart on him.

The Complicated Sisterhood of Jackie Kennedy and Lee Radziwill

How To Tell If You Are In An E.M. Forster Novel

Morning Coffee (5/8/16)

This is important: No, a Conservative Third-Party Candidate Can’t Steal the Electoral College

A List of the Conservatives Who Are Holding the Line and Still Refusing to Support Trump

Um. Wow. Sex Offender Owen Labrie’s Professor Compared Him to Joan of Arc

Risks of Harm from Spanking Confirmed by Analysis of Five Decades of Research

Press Freedom Weakened Around the World in 2015, Report Says

Speaking of, oops: Egypt’s Interior Ministry, in Error, Releases Memos on Restricting News Media

The Underside of the N.F.L.-Draft Hacking Scandal

I somehow had no idea that James Cook's Endeavour was lost off Rhode Island, but they found it!

The Invictus Games challenges between Prince Harry and the Queen, the Obamas, and Justin Trudeau are thoroughly delightful and I LOVE ALL THESE PEOPLE.

What a terrible problem: The U.S. Has More Cheese Than It Knows What to Do With

Maybe your Sunday could use a little Damian Lewis doing Shakespeare.

And in honor of the day: A Mother's Day Gift Idea from Imperial Russia

Morning Coffee (5/7/16)

Me elsewhere: A review of Fifty Shades Darker and your Friday Daily Read.

It Is Hillary Clinton's Destiny to Defeat Donald Trump

SIGH: Washington Post: Hillary Clinton Needs to Start Thinking About Men's Feelings

"If all of the superdelegates were eliminated overnight, Bernie Sanders would still be losing the race. Blaming them for his pending defeat isn't just missing the point — it's objectively wrong."

"A true Democrat would look at the rest of the primary calendar and the electoral landscape and realize it is time to let the all-but-certain nominee focus her energy on a more dangerous, unpredictable and formidable general-election opponent." (Of course, we all know that Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat, so why should he care?)

Trump, Reagan, and the Downsizing of History

Well that's a relief: The Rolling Stones don’t want Donald Trump using their music at rallies, either

Dahlia Lithwick knew Ted Cruz on the college debate circuit and also when he argued before the Supreme Court and her take on him is fascinating.

If you need to take a break and worry about something other than the election: Might I suggest Turkey?

Stories like this always bring up such complicated questions with no good answers: Chinese Modernization Comes to an Isolated People

Ooh, Isabella Stewart Gardner heist developments: Feds Search Home of Alleged Mobster Suspected in 26-Year-Old Art Heist

Why Won’t Hollywood Cast Asian Actors?

21 Pieces Of Handwriting So Perfect They’re Borderline Erotic

Morning Coffee (5/6/16)

Happy Friday! You know what that means: Taking a break from current events for some lighter links.

Me elsewhere: Kacey Rohl talks Wayward Pines and your Thursday Daily Read.

Well, this may not be happy, depending on your point of view, but Alden Ehrenreich is your new Young Han Solo. For what it's worth, I thought he did a good job with a vaguely similar laconic-with-hidden-depths role in Beautiful Creatures. I am at most a casual Star Wars fan, however, and I'm sure many of you have many more feelings about this than I do.

Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston danced at the Met Gala and I WOULD READ THIS FANFIC. (Okay, I probably wouldn't; I think shipping real people is creepy. But YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.)

Will and Kate recently celebrated their fifth anniversary, and the Fug Girls really came through with this annotated slideshow of 125 pictures of them, which may be just the thing your Friday needs.

Speaking of: This gallery of 100 years of wedding trends would also make a good Friday distraction.

I am reading Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra right now so this was RIGHT UP MY ALLEY: Quiz: Which Romanov Daughter Are You? (Tatiana, obviously.)

Hey West Wing fans: Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford appeared on The Late Late Show together and the show's YouTube channel has a bunch of delightful videos; start here.

5 Books You Must Read to Truly Get This Season of Penny Dreadful I love when my TV comes with homework! (...no, really, I do.)

PRETTY STATIONERY AND DESK ACCESSORIES

I just love this headline: Silicon Valley CEO Debuts Her Trophy Boyfriend

Let's go to Northern Ireland. Or watch Game of Thrones. One of those goals is probably more attainable than the other.

Texts from Samuel Coleridge

Morning Coffee (5/5/16)

Me elsewhere: Doctor Thorne is coming to Amazon and Wednesday's Daily Read.

This is soothing: Bernie Sanders fans may not love Hillary Clinton. But they won't vote for Donald Trump.

So is this: Donald Trump Isn’t Going to Be President

We need to keep talking about white supremacists and Donald Trump.

Fascinating: Chinese Feminism’s Long Journey Takes Two Paths at Bookstores

Andrew Jackson’s Adopted Indian Son

Wow: Big Ben to Fall Silent During Renovation

Allison Janney did a White House press briefing!!!

I don't actually have much interest in getting "a thousand likes" on my food Instagrams but this piece has some good food photography pointers in general.

Vladimir Putin Tells F1's Nico Rosberg Good Job, 'If You Can Call It A Job' Oh, Putin.

I can't believe Timothy Parker still has a job.

I've never seen Ghostbusters and I don't recall ever drinking Ecto Cooler but somehow the news that it's coming back made me say "Aw, yay!"

Morning Coffee (5/4/16)

Me elsewhere: I liked the idea of Houdini & Doyle but the actual show was pretty bad. Also, Branagh on Wallander and Tuesday's Daily Read.

Donald Trump Will Be the Republican Nominee for President. Don’t Ever Get Used to It.

"New data on the emotional engagement and effectiveness of different campaign messages suggests that it’s far easier to drive down support for Mr. Trump by highlighting the derogatory things he has said about women than it is to drive up support for Mrs. Clinton by talking about her as a strong woman."

Not that it mitigates the horror of destruction, of course, but this is neat: Palmyra Arch Replica Is Unveiled in Trafalgar Square in London

What You Need to Know About Britain’s Raging Anti-Semitism Scandal

Leicester City’s Impossible, Anomalous Championship

Obama's "Trudge up the Hill" joke wasn't really about Hillary. It was a Bernie Sanders dig.

I got into Hamilton just late enough that the first printing of the book was sold out. (I have it on order. It'll come eventually. Not like there aren't hundreds of other books in my apartment waiting to be read.)

The Forgotten Lessons of the American Eugenics Movement

Best headline ever? China Bans Rich Kids From Reality TV to Avoid Embarrassing State, Parents

The Men Who Email Me

Morning Coffee (5/3/16)

Me elsewhere: Your TV news for the week, and Monday's Daily Read.

Leicester City!!!

Important: Justin Trudeau and Prince Harry Join Forces for Second Historic Hotness Summit (I just noticed The Cut's tag for Trudeau posts is "Trudeaun't Go Breaking My Heart" and that is GREAT.)

Actually important: This Is What a Republican Attack on Bernie Sanders Would Look Like

This is horrifying: Oklahoma court: oral sex is not rape if victim is unconscious from drinking

Well. Obviously there's no way THIS will end terribly: The 'Uber for cops' app lets you summon authorities for 'suspicious people'

Yesterday afternoon I was thinking "I wish Vox would tell me what's going on with this Bitcoin thing" RIGHT AS this popped up in my RSS reader.

A Satanist Explains Why Ted Cruz Is Not, in Fact, Lucifer

Held Back: The Decades of Unfairness Behind the Women’s Soccer Pay Dispute

Heh: Little Scamp Causes Full Minute of Dead Air on NPR on Take Your Child to Work Day

Happy (belated) birthday, Princess Charlotte!! That is one cute kid.

Morning Coffee (5/2/16)

(I am... hopefully no longer traveling by now, but if everything went according to schedule, I got home very very late last night, so I wrote this one in advance too to make this Monday morning a little easier. Back to timely links tomorrow!)

Brazil Impeachment Debate Hinges on a Thorny Legal Question

I am SHOCKED AND APPALLED by the idea that Prince did not leave a will and I hope that by the time you're reading this post it will have turned out that his sister is mistaken or lying.

Re-examining Monica, Marcia, Tonya and Anita, the ‘scandalous’ women of the ’90s

I am embarrassed that I didn't know Carol Kaye's name until I read this.

Whoa: 400-year-old dress found in shipwreck sheds light on plot to pawn crown jewels

Speaking of the crown jewels, questions like this are so complex. I mean, obviously colonialism is terrible and India should have their diamond, but it's completely understandable that the British are pretty attached to it too at this point.

This profile of Johnny, Tara, and Johnny-and-Tara is pretty great.

A Cut of Reality: What I Learned While Writing Reality TV

Obviously library books need to be weeded! Do people seriously not know this is a normal thing that happens in all public libraries??

"Oh The Surface Looks Good But Guess What’s Underneath It: The Worst Things, But I Bet You Didn’t Notice Because You’re A Real Surface-Looker, You Are

I’m Rich And Mean And Getting Some Iced Tea With A Table Full Of Real Bitches

We Should Be Happy But Aren’t, Isn’t That Interesting"

Morning Coffee (5/1/16)

(I'm traveling, so this post was written in advance. So if it doesn't seem to take recent news or events into account... that's why.)

Because we don't have enough to worry about: Race for Latest Class of Nuclear Arms Threatens to Revive Cold War

Latvia Wants to Ban Face Veils, for All 3 Women Who Wear Them

Why next year is going to be a disaster for Paul Ryan's presidential dreams

This unicode consortium drama is actually pretty interesting but the story also made me realize how much we DO need a salad emoji, so I'm part of the problem.

I sincerely do not believe that what the world needs now is an Andrew Wakefield movie.

I tend to think Shakespeare theories are nonsense, but Derek Jacobi and Mark Rylance are so delightful they're almost convincing me here. (I mean. Cadfael and Thomas Cromwell could probably convince me of anything.)

It's the 400th anniversary of Cervantes's death, too, but he's getting way less attention.

The BBC ran a delightfully serious story on investigating lost socks.

The Onion but TOO REAL: Nation Relieved Insufferable Little ‘Game Of Thrones’ Fans Don’t Have Book To Lord Over Them This Season

How To Respond When You Suspect Someone Is Flirting With You