Morning Coffee (7/24/19)

As Adam Serwer wrote, the cruelty is the point: Trump administration proposed rule would cut 3 million people from food stamps

Human rights groups lead chorus of alarm over new Trump administration commission

Of course: Trump sues House panel, NY to protect state tax returns

Bill Wehrum, an Architect of E.P.A. Rollbacks, Faces New Ethics Inquiry

Behind the Scenes of the House Democrats’ Twitter War

“Likability” ratings in a recent New Hampshire poll show just how tough female candidates have it

Amy Wax, “national conservatism,” and the dark dream of a whiter America

FaceApp Is Everyone’s Problem

New Taylor song!!!

Mitchell Feigenbaum, Physicist, Dies at 74; He Made Sense of Chaos

Morning Coffee (6/14/19)

Time for Friday happy links! With some LATE-BREAKING HAPPY NEWS: Taylor's got a new single out, wherever you listen to such things! (And a new album in August.)

!!! ‘Orphan Black’ Storyline Continues With Tatiana Maslany Voicing New Audio Series for Serial Box

Ooh, Frozen II trailer!

The Times has a new puzzle game called Tiles and WARNING: very addictive.

SO CUTE: Tiny Prince Louis Makes His Trooping The Colour Debut…

The three original seasons of Veronica Mars will be on Hulu on July 1st if you want to catch up or rewatch before the new season!

I'm saving this to watch over the weekend but YAY: Sesame Street: Tiny Desk Concert

The Muppet Movie is coming back to theaters for its 40th anniversary

Ooh: FOR ALL MANKIND: Apple TV+ Reveals First Trailer for Alternate Reality NASA Drama

Once Threatened, Europe’s Night Trains Rebound

These Are the Craziest Milkshakes in Every State

Morning Coffee (6/3/19)

Me elsewhere: TV news for the week.

Evil: U.S. is using unreliable dental exams to hold teen migrants in adult detention

Twitter Takes Down Accounts of China Dissidents Ahead of Tiananmen Anniversary

Of course: Trump Administration Lifts Ethanol-Fuel Ban That Was Meant to Cut Smog

Boeing Built Deadly Assumptions Into 737 Max, Blind to a Late Design Change

Transportation Secretary Failed to Sever Financial Ties to Construction Company (Also relevant here that she's MARRIED TO MITCH MCCONNELL.)

What Republicans And Democrats Are Doing In The States Where They Have Total Power

This is horrifying: A New York teacher made black students act as slaves in mock auctions

I'm so glad this is working out better than it originally looked: It Looked As Though Millions Of Babies Would Miss Out On A Lifesaving Vaccine

GOOD FOR HER: Taylor Swift Urges Passage of Pro-LGBTQ Equality Act: ‘I Reject the President’s Stance’

Found: 20,000-Year-Old Seawater From the Ice Age

Morning Coffee (5/10/19)

Time for some Friday happy links!

Meet Baby Sussex: Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor

I would try this: Dole Is Releasing a New Smoothie Bowl That Tastes Just Like Dole Whip

...and this: Wendy's Has New Frosty Sundaes Loaded With Cookies and Ghirardelli Chocolate

Lesbian Superhero Drama 'Batwoman,' 'Riverdale' Spinoff, 'Nancy Drew' Ordered to Series at The CW

Taylor Swift's Denim Jacket Pins: The Complete Guide You Didn't Know You Needed

Ooh: Colin Firth To Star In John Madden WWII Story ‘Operation Mincemeat’; FilmNation, Cross City & CAA Launch Sales — Cannes

I don't really even go here but I love puns and themed parties so: Game of Groans: Pun-tastic Recipes for Your GoT Watch Party

Rachel has great recs: Summer Reading Megalist

15 Delicious Cocktails to Drink With Your Mom on Mother’s Day

Pick 6 Cookies and We’ll Tell You Which May New Release to Read

Morning Coffee (5/3/19)

Time for Friday happy links!

VERONICA MARS TRAILER. I can't wait.

Ooh: Presidential Production: Barack and Michelle Obama Announce New Netflix Slate, Including a Frederick Douglass Biopic

This is a great profile of Chasten Buttigieg.

SO CUTE: Princess Charlotte’s Fourth Birthday is (Almost) Here, and We Have New Pics

I want to watch pretty much everything in the PBS summer slate.

Aw: A Stray Dog Joined a 140-mile Race in the Sahara (and Stayed to Get His Medal)

This video of Taylor Swift meeting her new kitten is adorable.

A Violent Splash of Magma That May Have Made the Moon

Genetic History Debunks Legend Of Blue Cheese Origin

Italians try to crack Leonardo da Vinci DNA code with lock of hair

Morning Coffee (4/12/19)

Wow, this week was very long. But time for some Friday happy links!

Katie Bouman: the 29-year-old whose work led to first black hole photo

I AM SO EXCITED: Get An Exclusive First Look At ‘Royal Holiday’ By Jasmine Guillory

I LOVE THIS BOOK: Amazon Studios, Berlanti Productions Win Casey McQuiston Novel ‘Red White & Royal Blue’

Good for her: …Ready for It? Taylor Swift Donates $113,000 to Tennessee LGBTQ Group

It's based on the sequel so this headline is a little misleading, but yay! 'Love, Simon' TV Series a Go at Disney+

Kate McKinnon to Play Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes for Hulu

This is amazing: Watch the Game of Thrones Intro, but With 3,000 Oreos

Aww: Great British Baking Show contestants had a mini reunion over the weekend for a fellow baker's wedding

Hahaha: Word Problems Harder to Solve Than the Real-Life Failures That Inspired Them

In case you need some menu inspiration: 9 Easter Brunch Recipes for Easy Entertaining

Afternoon Tea (3/8/19)

Here's a great piece by and about women running the Iditarod: Cool Runnings

The Olympics Are Over, but Tessa Virtue Is Just Getting Started

Stacey Abrams, Star Trek Nerd, Is Traveling at Warp Speed

Taylor Swift is delightful, don't @ me: 30 Things I Learned Before Turning 30

A History of the American Public Library

Morning Coffee (12/14/18)

FRIDAY HAPPY LINKS.

!!! Get a first look at Netflix's Carmen Sandiego animated series

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Here's When the Mr. Rogers Documentary 'Won't You Be My Neighbor?' Premieres on HBO (and PBS!)

Ooh, Taylor Swift's Reputation tour movie will be on Netflix on New Year's Eve!

Tegan and Sara are writing a memoir!

Olympic figure skater Eric Radford is starting a gorgeous music career

This sounds great! Announcing IF IT MAKES YOU HAPPY by Claire Kann!

Have a Gouda Time: There is a cheese theme park in South Korea with cheese wheel buildings and it’s just as glorious as it sounds

Fug Nation Loves Super Cozy Jammies!

Time-wasting quiz of the day: Which Dewey Decimal Number Are You?

Okay, one more: Which Ice Dance Team Should You Check Out?

Morning Coffee (10/9/18)

The world has just over a decade to get climate change under control, U.N. scientists say

We women can be anything. But can we be angry?

Investigation at Yale Law School

Romania Conservatives Wanted Voters to Limit Definition of ‘Family.’ They Failed.

In Spain’s ‘Stolen-Babies’ Scandal, Doctor Escapes Punishment

Russia-Ukraine Tensions Set Up the Biggest Christian Schism Since 1054

Well this is delightful: ‘A betrayal beyond words’: The far right melts down over Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Democrats

The World Needs More Female Superheroes, BBC America Study Says

Deep in Human DNA, a Gift From the Neanderthals

Olivia De Havilland Takes ‘Feud’ Feud With FX & Ryan Murphy To Supreme Court

Morning Coffee (7/21/18)

Michael Cohen Secretly Taped Trump Discussing Payment to Playboy Model

Trump to Invite Putin to Washington, Blindsiding His Intelligence Chief

From the Start, Trump Has Muddied a Clear Message: Putin Interfered

The Midwest eases its Trump swoon and flirts again with Democratic candidates

Of course: Law That Saved the Bald Eagle Could Be Vastly Reworked

Once partners, ‘Game Change’ authors feuding over their shattered franchise

Alexander the Great hopes dashed as massive black coffin in Alexandria turns out to contain mummified family

Two men charged with stealing more than $8 million in rare books from Carnegie Library

WHAT: Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson, James Corden, Ian McKellen to Star in 'Cats' Movie Adaptation

Interesting: Germany Ends Pre-Orders for Games Without Set Release Date

Afternoon Tea (7/12/18)

Taylor Swift in conversation with Pattie Boyd is everything I've always wanted.

Fascinating: The Obsessive Search for the Tasmanian Tiger

Madeleine Albright: ‘The things that are happening are genuinely, seriously bad’

Borderlands Noir

Struggle for a Lighthouse: The Raids to Destroy the Boston Light

Morning Coffee (4/12/18)

Raid on Trump’s Lawyer Sought Records on ‘Access Hollywood’ Tape

Paul Ryan's Awful Legacy

Bank of America to Stop Financing Makers of Military-Style Guns

What We Know And Don’t Know About Election Hacking

In a New Cold War With Russia, Balkans Become a Testing Ground

And a different kind of raid: European Authorities Raid Offices of 21st Century Fox Unit

The biggest Jewish gay “conversion therapy” organization has been operating in secret after US courts shut it down

I see some flaws in this plan: Man tries to woo Taylor Swift by robbing bank and throwing loot over her fence

WHAT OH NO: NECCO-Mania: Fans Stock Up On Chalky Wafers In Case Candy Company Folds

Ooh: ‘Bobby Kennedy For President’ Trailer: Netflix Docuseries Details Dashed Dream

In defense of just letting yourself like things sometimes

Taylor Swift has a new album out. You may have heard.

More to the point, you may have seen the million Hot Takes by Very Cool People about how Swift is evil for wanting to make money from her work and her image. How carefully constructing the product that she's selling - by which I mean both her album and her public persona - makes her, somehow, a bad person. How with everything else going on in the world, apparently what we should be worrying about is appropriately punishing a woman who dares to write song lyrics about a man who wrote song lyrics about her.

I don't think Taylor Swift is A PERFECT PERSON or anything - tip: life gets much easier when you stop expecting anyone to be perfect - but I'm a fan. I enjoy both her music and her determination to control her own narrative. And I have all the counterarguments and refutations ready to go, about how male and female lyricists are held to crazily different standards (because men NEVER write songs about their love lives, right????), about how it's wrong to support a system in general and castigate one person for operating profitably within it, about how I like her because she's calculating. But honestly? I just don't want to.

In another world, I can absolutely see myself writing a defense of Swift much longer than any of you would actually want to read, and finding that pretty satisfying. In this world, we are pretty busy defending statements like "Nazis are bad" and "30-year-olds shouldn't date high schoolers" and "People who have never been members of a political party shouldn't be given control of it", so I just don't have the energy. And so I'm giving myself the gift of not reading any of the Hot Takes this time, of scrolling past all the tweets from my friends about how Taylor is evil and her fans are stupid. Sure. Fine. Whatever.

I'm giving myself the gift of just listening to Reputation over and over in my car, letting myself be amused and comforted and inspired by the lyrics, singing along because it's fun and God knows we need some fun right now. And it's okay. The world will not end because I decide to sit out the argument this time. Take some time to just like something that makes you happy. It will be good for you.

(For more content, join me on Patreon!)

Morning Coffee (11/3/17)

Time for some happy Friday links.

New Taylor!!

Tom Hughes is making a spy movie with Judi Dench and I'm into everything about this.

Your Friday probably needs a Channing Tatum dance break. (I just finally saw Magic Mike XXL so I am particularly into Channing Tatum dance breaks right now.)

In other late night TV news, Kelly Clarkson sang "Since U Been Gone" backwards and it's amazing.

Aw: NICU Nurse Spends Months Knitting Adorable Halloween Costumes for Preemies

I assume you saw Justin Trudeau as Superman but just in case.

I loved the book so I'm so excited for this! Love, Simon: Your first look at 2018's major studio gay teen romance

Reddit's crowdsourced playlist of beautiful songs is a thing that is not on fire and will not hurt you

!! We went to the McDonald's owned by the Queen — and it's one of the poshest we've ever seen

I think we all need some Cute Pets on Bookstagram.

Morning Coffee (9/4/17)

Me elsewhere: TV news for the week.

This is terrible: Trump has decided to end DACA, with 6-month delay

How to Get Away With Murder in Small-Town India

A taxonomy of American far-right hate groups

Good for him: Pepe the Frog Cartoonist Stops Distribution of Children’s Book

Beer-Brewing Monks Are Helping Rebuild Earthquake-Devastated Town In Italy

Okay, some happy news: new royal baby on the way!!

And more new Taylor Swift!

Huh, interesting: Dr. Phil Video Leads to Novel Copyright Decision Involving Woman Alleging False Imprisonment

Ancient Romans Were Using Lead Pipes Earlier Than We Thought

Morning Coffee (8/28/17)

Me elsewhere: TV news for the week!

Joe Biden: 'We Are Living Through a Battle for the Soul of This Nation'

"Specifically, if the Sanders-Trump voters in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania had voted for Clinton, or even stayed home on Election Day, those states would have swung to Clinton."

What Makes a Terrorist?

Welp: Trump's cybersecurity advisors resign en masse

These quieter stories are very important: Is Anybody Home at HUD?

Wheee, new Taylor Swift video!

Shakespeare or Shakespear? That is the question surrounding USC's new statue in $700-million USC Village

Ooh: It's Snowing on Mars at Night, Research Suggests

Go Behind the Glass of Churchill’s Underground War Rooms

Morning Coffee (8/25/17)

Time for Friday happy links! Make sure you come back this afternoon for TWO posts, including the return of Friday afternoon links. I've got a doozy for you.

NEW TAYLOR SWIFT SINGLE. I love it.

Eee, trailer for Strike, new show based on J.K. Rowling's mystery novels!

Whoa: Antares: astronomers capture best ever image of a star’s surface and atmosphere

I'm always so relieved when an author I like doesn't say anything terrible in her By the Book interview, and Louise Penny's is great.

Look at my friend Holly's elf ears in the New York Times!

Penguins Filmed Their Own Videos of Antarctica, and the Footage Is Incredible

YES I DO: 15 Next-Level Ice Cream Sandwiches You Need in Your Life

Netflix’s Latest Hit Series Is a Boring, Soothing Japanese Reality Show. I'm in.

Beatles Monuments in Unexpected Places

I have read bachelorette party instruction letters that sound JUST LIKE THIS: Tips for Emily’s Low-Key Destination Bachelorette! PLEASE READ

Morning Coffee (8/24/17)

Aaaah new Taylor album title and date!

A State Department science envoy resigns in a letter that spells out IMPEACH

"Who could have predicted it? Anyone, really."

This is interesting and such good work: With teamwork and hustle, Toledo Blade dominated after Charlottesville attack

A Running List of Confederate Monuments Removed Across the Country

And! Six Flags replaces Confederate flag with American flag

Ha: Crown Prince of Denmark banned from entering Australian pub due to not carrying I.D.

Ooh, Marcia Clark is making a TV show! I'm in.

X-Ray Reveals Ancient Roman Portrait Covered in Mt. Vesuvius Ash

Lotta goat news out of England recently: A 'murder' mystery with a toxic twist ... and pygmy goats

Morning Coffee (8/22/17)

Trump Settles on Afghan Strategy Expected to Raise Troop Levels

This Missile Could Reach California. But Can North Korea Use It With a Nuclear Weapon?

Despicable: Pediatricians say Florida hurt sick kids to help big GOP donors

Down the Breitbart Hole

People Seem To Be Creating Fake Accounts Of White Women To Push Anti-Feminist And Racist Agendas

White nationalists are flocking to genetic ancestry tests. Some don’t like what they find

Yes, this week could absolutely use some new Taylor Swift music.

Frozen musical: First look at the stars in costume

Whoa: ITV Reveals Plans for Mini-Theme Park in London

I'm pretty excited about Saoirse Ronan as Mary, Queen of Scots.

Morning Coffee (8/12/17)

March of white supremacists at University of Virginia ends in skirmishes

Good: Active-duty military members sue Trump over transgender ban

Well. White House adviser says people should stop criticizing white supremacists so much

The Political Payoff of Making Whites Feel Like a Minority

Why Do We Call White House Happenings “Palace Intrigue”? The Intriguing Explanation.

Taylor Swift did a really good job at not letting her assaulter blame his actions on her at her trial this week.

I am watching the first Liverpool match of the season RIGHT NOW and I'm so happy: Looking Ahead to the English Premier League’s Game of Thrones

Interesting: China’s Pretty Boys Find a New Gig: Propaganda Films

Prehistoric Brits Ate People and Then Turned Their Bones Into Art

Books in America are full of swear words: the more recent, the more profane