Morning Coffee (7/6/17)

‘Scarred and broken’: children escaping Isis in Mosul suffer waking nightmares

WHAT A SHOCK: White House gender pay gap more than triples under Trump

Months of Russia controversy leaves Trump ‘boxed in’ ahead of Putin meeting

The Media’s Unacceptable Silence on the Republican Health Care Bill

What happens to America if Justice Kennedy retires

This was quite something: NPR’s tweet of Declaration Of Independence angers Trump supporters

Tchaikovsky Hated The ‘1812 Overture,’ Which Sucks Because He Also Wrote It

Oh interesting: Tolkien Estate and Warner Bros. Settle Lawsuit Over Licensing

Ooh: British Museum to bring back Reading Room as part of revamp

Ha, poor kid: Sophie Turner Says She Found Out About Oral Sex From Her Game of Thrones Scripts

Morning Coffee (10/21/16)

I think we all need some Happy Friday links this week.

SUCH good news: Gugu Mbatha-Raw Joins Ava DuVernay’s ‘A Wrinkle in Time’

Ooh: JRR Tolkien's Middle-earth love story to be published next year

This is very cool: Using Math to Repair a 650-Year-Old Masterpiece

This piece about the new Taylor Swift coffee table book (which is on my Christmas list, obviously) gets at a lot of what I like about her.

Aww, look at this baby elephant trying to save her trainer. (Everyone's fine.)

Ha: What This Big-Ass, Twitter-Powered Metronome Is Doing in Downtown Austin

I'm not that into these particular Gilmore Girls posters, but hey, new Gilmore Girls posters!

This Chart Reveals Which ‘Hamilton’ Character You Are At Work

Hygge – a soothing balm for the traumas of 2016

A Brief History of the Haunted House

Morning Coffee (8/23/16)

Manafort's man in Kiev

Very interesting, from Max Read: Did I Kill Gawker?

Update from Brian Beutler: I Started the “Economic Anxiety” Joke about Trump—and It’s Gone Too Far Now

Your compelling longread for today: Dee Dee Wanted Her Daughter To Be Sick, Gypsy Wanted Her Mom To Be Murdered

Wow: China staff fined for not liking boss's Weibo posts

"I am sorry, Gandalf doesn’t do weddings." Amazing.

This is so cool: My 20-Year Quest To Find Carmen Sandiego

Huh: Do You Eat Like a Republican or a Democrat?

Some people should not be allowed to name children.

How Czech Wine Got Its Terroir Back

Morning Coffee (1/21/16)

ICYMI: Yesterday's Oscar Project post was on Brooklyn, which I liked quite a lot.

Wait: The Grand Jury in the Tamir Rice Case Did Not Take a Vote on Charges (Reading the various updates since I first saw this story yesterday, it's unclear what actually happened, but I think it's important to be aware of anyway.)

My friend Chris is in a new comedy web series called Ride With Me and as of this writing I have not had a chance to watch it yet but Chris is great and YOU should watch it.

And my friend Jack went to the lesser-known candidates' forum this week and it was apparently quite something.

On to real candidates: "Look, let’s get this out there once and for all: It’s not that I don’t think Bernie can win, it’s that I don’t want him to."

Why Bernie Sanders is fighting with Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Campaign

Is the Bernie Sanders Surge Real?

What a time to be alive: Rand Paul calls Donald Trump 'Gollum'

Whoa, look at this: Prehistoric Massacre Hints at War Among Hunter-Gatherers

New planet?!?! (I still miss Pluto.)

This is amazing: The Illegitimacy of Aragorn’s Claim to the Throne (Note: I have read Lord of the Rings but am not enough of a buff to know if everything in that piece is accurate; I just loved the writing.)

Morning Coffee (8/26/15)

Heh: Christie Says "Pushy" Granite Staters Don't Like to Wait for Answers He thinks New Hampshire is pushy? HE'S FROM NEW JERSEY.

Reporter: Do you write all your tweets?
Trump: People are shocked at how smart I am.
Reporter: Do you type your own tweets?
Trump: Thank you.

Eee! My friend Susan Adrian's new book Nutcracked has been officially announced. It's about Christmas AND ballet AND magic, and I read an earlier draft and loved it. Don't worry, I'll remind you when it comes out.

I am so curious to see how Colbert's new show shapes up.

Interesting: Connecticut to Require All 11th Graders to Take the SAT It's not mentioned much in the story, but I'd hope this would make it more likely for some underprivileged students to consider college, since the SAT will now be free and something all students take, rather than a separate thing that must be sought out and purchased.

Hear, hear: Can Walton Goggins Just Be in Everything, Please?

UM: "At one point, the Beatles asked Stanley Kubrick to direct them in “The Lord of the Rings.” John, Paul, George and Ringo would respectively play Gollum, Frodo, Galdalf [sic] and Sam."

Great House Therapy: Marilla and Matthew’s God-Fearing Avonlea Orphan Sanctuary

Morning Coffee (12/18/13)

Ronnie Biggs, the "Great Train Robber," has died.

ALERT: Prince Harry grows beard; hangs out with Alexander Skarsgard.

As my friend Holly remarked, this is a lot of hot dudes on one charity calendar.

Pivot - a television station that I apparently actually do get - is airing Buffy and Veronica Mars reruns starting in January.

John Dickerson tears apart the false choice between recording moments and living them.

Why I Am Not Coming in to Work Today

If you haven't seen it yet, the Sesame Street Lord of the Rings parody is cute.

And this Lego Rivendell is just amazing.