Morning Coffee (11/1/17)

Bernie Sanders stated that attacks on women and non-white people and LGBT people aren't things that matter to "ordinary Americans", in case you still weren't sure where THAT jerk thinks you stand.

20 of America's top political scientists gathered to discuss our democracy. They're scared.

My West Wing

This is important: I've decided to tell you guys a story about piracy.

ALSO IMPORTANT: Some of the SiriusXM holiday stations start today!

Native American Secrets Lie Buried in Huge Shell Mounds

Archaeologists Discover Trove of Cuneiform Tablets in Northern Iraq

Perfect: Honest Unsubscribe Options

The “Science” Behind “Geostorm”, the Newest Weather-Fueled Doomsday Flick

Aw: Not so nasty: dinosaurs liked to snuggle up and socialise

Morning Coffee (7/2/17)

The Time I Got Recruited to Collude with the Russians

Welp: CBS News: No Staff Members Left In Science Division Of White House Office

This is SO COOL: What Happens Just Before Show Time at the Met Opera, in 12 Rooms You’ll Never See

Good for her: Gillian Anderson calls out 'X-Files' for next season's all-male writing staff

Feud: Olivia de Havilland v. Ryan Murphy

Ooh! Milk Bar Is Planning a Boston-Area Location

I really have no arguments here: ‘West Wing’ Characters Ranked By How Likely They Would Be To Catch Bigfoot

Ooh: The Remains of an Ancient ‘Skull Cult’ Have Been Found

Huh, I had no idea: A Pittsburgh Church Holds the Greatest Collection of Relics Outside of the Vatican

How an Organic Chemist Invented the Bone-Shaped Dog Treat

Morning Coffee (6/28/17)

This is amazing: A Time magazine with Trump on the cover hangs in his golf clubs. It’s fake.

Poll: Other Countries Hate Trump Even More Than We Do

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Trump lawyer's firm steered millions in donations to family members, files show

Turkey's Writers Face Yet More Trials

This is terrible: The Anti-Vaccination Movement Is Working with the Nation of Islam to Scare Black Families

The inside story of how TMZ quietly became America’s most potent pro-Trump media outlet

Okay, some good news! Canadian army officer is first female infantry officer to command Queen's Guard

Whoa: “Thing” now has a new definition in the Oxford English Dictionary, thanks to “The West Wing”

!! Dinosaurs’ sensitive snouts enabled courtship ‘face stroking’, study suggests

Interesting: Amazon mines sales data for Harry Potter trends

What??? Oreo Is Making Candy Canes

Morning Coffee (9/22/16)

Happy fall! Finally!

Me elsewhere: Pilot thoughts on This Is Us and The Good Place.

Hillary Clinton: My Plan for Helping America’s Poor

Joss Whedon and friends really want you to vote.

Confirmed: Trump campaign is controlling every word of prominent CNN commentator (Also, of COURSE Lewandowski's company is called Green Monster Consulting. Of course.)

!! ‘The West Wing’ Cast to Campaign for Hillary Clinton

The true cost of mass incarceration exceeds $1 trillion

This is a headline I genuinely never thought I'd see: Dalai Lama does impression of Donald Trump

I haven't seen new show Notorious yet - it premieres tonight - but I love a good bad review and this one is great.

What do with think of the new Anne of Green Gables trailer? I'm a little skeptical but it's not as bad as I feared! And I'm all in on Martin Sheen as Matthew, obviously.

I don't know why anyone's talking about Brangelina when obviously this is the only celebrity news that matters this week: Christopher Darden Finally Admits That He and Marcia Clark Were ‘More Than Just Friends’

Sad White Person movies don’t get much better than Manchester by the Sea

Morning Coffee (8/2/16)

Me elsewhere: Your TV news for the week.

What It Was Like to See Hillary Clinton Make History

Hillary Is Poised to Make the ‘Impossible Possible’ — for Herself and for Women in America

‘Stronger Together’ and ‘I Am Your Voice’ — How the Nominees’ Convention Speeches Compare

"Forget about running a country, would you trust Donald Trump to even babysit a cashew? Are you 100% confident that if you gave Melania Trump a Starbucks order, she’d come back with actual coffee instead of a picture of someone drinking coffee?"

HAHAHAHA: Bernie Fans Abandoned DNC Protest Because ‘Microaggressions’ Made Them Cry

How Obama’s election sparked the white racial panic that’s powering Trump

The research is clear: electing more women changes how government works

Is Watching Gymnastics Worse Than Being an NFL Fan? (Everything is terrible!)

Good for her: The Political Passion of Eva Longoria

God bless Mallory Ortberg: Things I Believe Would Be True Of Me This Week If I Had Watched The Entire Series Run Of The West Wing Instead Of Just The Pilot On Three Separate, Non-Consecutive Occasions

Morning Coffee (7/25/16)

Me elsewhere: The week's TV news.

I woke to news of another nightclub shooting in Florida and I don't even know what to say at this point.

The "most damaging" DNC emails say the DNC was working against Sanders because . . . of course it was? He was trying to bring them down. Why would they be on his side? I find the whole conversation about this very frustrating - it feels like a lot of people think the DNC is part of the government or something, rather than a private organization that is literally only there to try to get actual Democrats elected.

"Johnson said he understood that the American people would expect him to be a substance-free Commander-in-Chief. 'As President, I will not indulge in anything,' Johnson vowed, as if he were J.F.K. promising not to take directions from the Pope."

Milo Yiannopoulos Does Not Deserve Twitter

Michael Caine has officially changed his name to Michael Caine, because apparently airport security got too annoying.

Here's our first look at the U.S.S. Discovery, from the new show Star Trek: Discovery.

Interesting: When Did the Media Turn Against Taylor Swift? (I am Team Taylor Controlling Her Own Narrative; I don't care to what extent it's "real".)

Celine Dion owns and wears a $900 Titanic sweatshirt, which somehow makes me feel better about the world.

A Brief History of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ‘West Wing’ Obsession

Okay, let's start Monday with Prince George's birthday pictures.

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 (3/25/16)

Happy Friday! (As usual, my Friday links are positive/light/funny/cute; we'll return to the usual misery tomorrow.)

If you are a Patreon backer! You should have gotten my March update yesterday, complete with a survey on what content you'd like to see here.

ICYMI, my thoughts on Tana French's Faithful Place.

It's Friday: Let's watch President Obama dance the tango. (He did well enough that I wonder if someone prepped him a bit, just in case this situation came up on this trip to Argentina.)

It's Friday: Let's ogle Prince Harry with a beard and a hat and an adorable baby in Nepal.

It's Friday: Let's watch the Hamilton cast do one of their songs as a scene from The West Wing IN THE WHITE HOUSE.

It's Friday: Go look at my friends' adorable new puppy. (I envy Nicole Cliffe her daily dog pictures in her link roundups on The Toast - do you read those? You should - but not enough to actually get a dog, so.)

I pretty much want one of everything from the new Liberty London line for Uniqlo.

This is just PERFECT and hilarious: Debilitating illnesses in literature, ranked

If you need an ego boost, this Which Jewish Woman Writer Are You? quiz gives GREAT results. I'm Dorothy Parker! My friends all seem to be Nora Ephron or Judy Blume! There is no downside here!

Ooh, a new Cole Porter musical may be headed to Broadway!

If you're watching The People vs. O.J. Simpson (and you should be!) check out this interview with the production designer and set decorator.

Keep Track of Every Mission Throughout the Solar System with This Handy Map (It's also GORGEOUS.)

I would have LOVED AltSchool as a kid.

This is so cool: How Gallaudet University’s Architects Are Redefining Deaf Space

Morning Coffee (3/18/16)

Happy Friday! Time for our weekly break from current events. Here are some links that (I hope) won't make you want to cry.

Josh Malina is doing a West Wing podcast!

The new Florence Foster Jenkins movie looks like tons of fun, but it's also interesting that we're making this into a brave story of following your dreams rather than "rich lady buys the reality she wants."

This review of And Then There Were None (which is worth a watch) made some very interesting points and made me curious to read the book.

TRUE: Tagalongs, the Most Underrated Girl Scout Cookie, Deserve Better

Neat: The Real-World Locations of 14 Sci-Fi Dystopias

Marijane Meaker: The Most Important Lesbian Writer You've Never Heard Of

I always love interviews with Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (of Go Fug Yourself and The Royal We).

Speaking of, let's talk Breton shirts.

I'm glad someone is finally looking into The Vast Bay Leaf Conspiracy.

Heh: Scenes From Iconic Films Hastily Rewritten So That They Pass the Bechdel Test

Oh, Scotland. Some of these are not names at all.

Perfect: Great House Therapy: Mistress Mary’s Melancholic Manor and Secret Outdoor Space

Morning Coffee (1/7/16)

ICYMI, there's now a way you can support these posts by signing up as a patron (so delightfully old Europe-sounding, no?) - as little as a dollar a month. Click here for details! (I'll probably put this notice at the top of posts for a while.)

And a big THANK YOU to Sara M., my first patron!

These New Year's Eve attacks on women in Cologne are so horrifying and worrisome in 15 different ways - obviously the attacks themselves, but also the ways they're being used as "evidence" against Germany's refugee policies.

Useful context: An expert on right-wing terrorism explains the militia movement behind the Oregon takeover

Oh. Good. Gary Johnson. Just what the world needs right now.

The Sudden But Well-Deserved Fall of Rahm Emanuel (My main takeaways here: a. my weird vague fondness for Emanuel is almost entirely Josh Lyman-based and I should get over that, and b. I really need to read Rick Perlstein's books. I think I own TWO of them.)

Lest we forget: Megyn Kelly Is a Horrible Person

Oh, Carly. Way too transparent.

This is amazing: Facebook made its own Android app crash on purpose to test user loyalty

How “true crime” went from guilty pleasure to high culture

Related: I haven't watched Making a Murderer yet so I only skimmed this, but in case you are interested: The damning evidence against Steven Avery that Making A Murderer ignored

"The Reuben is good, for some reason."

(My boring Senor Frog's story: My dad and I once went to one in the Bahamas because it was literally the only place we could find that was open before noon and we needed somewhere to sit and spread out our map to figure out a walking route. I had some sort of terrible bright green drink at 11:45am. Obviously the place was full of drunk people already. WE JUST WANTED TO FIND THE ART MUSEUM. [The art museum was closed. Every single place we tried to go that day was closed except, I think, the pirate museum. Somewhere I have a picture of a pirate holding the sock I was knitting because that was back when we were all making everyone take pictures holding partially knitted socks.])

Morning Coffee (4/3/15)

My normal cheerful "Happy Friday!" seems a bit weird on Good Friday, but here are your happy Friday links:

EXCITING BREAKING NEWS (really, like ten minutes ago): Deanna Raybourn's awesome Lady Julia mysteries have been optioned for British TV. I LOVE THESE BOOKS. I AM BESIDE MYSELF. LET'S FANTASY CAST.

Awesome: JOURNEY Drummer To Donate $10,000 To Replace Instruments Lost In Oregon High School Fire

BuzzFeed interviewed Kermit the Frog and it was great. Thing I had never considered: the Kermit/Piggy ship name.

The X-Files Could Have Ended With a West Wing Crossover?!?!?!

The Audobon Society is taking on Jonathan Franzen and it's basically the best thing ever.

You can 3D print Paul McCartney!!!!! The best part is that this is OFFICIAL.

Perfect: Excerpts from the April 2015 Vogue, Presented Without Commentary

Maps pretty.

Songs From A Tom Waits Album Where No One Gets Drunk At A Diner

Morning Coffee (1/21/15)

Need some State of the Union coverage? Vox has a ton.

It was a big day for Classic Alice yesterday too, so I encourage you to check it out even more than I already was. (And Save Alice!)

Big Block of Cheese Day Is Back, and It's Feta Than Ever Groan.

Important: Happy Penguin Awareness Day! Don't knit them any more sweaters.

Hey, movies, don't blow up bookstores.

9 questions about Nickelodeon slime you were too embarrassed to ask

How the Oreo Was Invented

Women Listening To Men Play Music At Them In Western Art History

Morning Coffee (11/14/14)

Happy Friday!

Today in Christmas ads that made me cry: Sainsbury's. (It's set in 1914. I'm sure you can guess where this is going.)

Eeee, Netflix UK is making a giant epic drama about Elizabeth II's reign. I am beside myself.

Ooh: Clinton Library wins 'West Wing' scripts

How love and integrity made Welcome to Night Vale a massive success

My friend Laura accidentally baked 404 gingerbread men. Trust me, you want to read this.

Caveat: My parents are very good at understanding/learning about my various jobs. That said, I have run into all of these with other people in my life: 22 Things That Happen When Your Parents Don’t Understand Your Job

This is a great Q&A with Taylor Swift.

The Rise Of The 'Lumbersexual' (I am in favor.)

Video Games Set During The Protestant Wars Of Reformation That I Wish Existed

Morning Coffee (5/27/14)

Today's Google doodle: Rachel Carson.

Pick-Up Artist Site On Mass Shooting: ‘More People Will Die Unless You Give Men Sexual Options’

50 pols urge Redskins name change

Whoa: FBI: Confirmed Sightings of Missing Boston Artwork

Still Paying for the Civil War

David Schwimmer Helped Solve an East Village Crime

Meet the man who spent a year and a half of his life explaining the best episode of the West Wing ever made

Knitters, here's an app you may want to see.

Morning Coffee (5/21/14)

Make sure you check out today's Mary Anning Google doodle.

Ex-Players Sue NFL Over Use of Painkillers

There was another terrible article about romance novels going around yesterday and I'm not going to bother linking to it, but you should read Alyssa Rosenberg's response to men who are upset that women read romance, and also my friend Holly's tweets on the subject.

I Wanna Marry Harry premiered last night and was TERRIBLE, as you'd expect, but the A.V. Club review is worth a read.

Author Jennifer Weiner has some interesting thoughts on book blurbs.

West Wing fans, make sure you check out this site devoted to "Seventeen People."

Susie from Insatiable Booksluts has a nice guide to How to Write a Book Review.

"Have you ever received an email from an important man over the age of forty? They’re tremendous."

Morning Coffee (5/14/14)

My cousin wrote this Open Letter to Anti-Vaxxers from the perspective of an autistic adult and it's amazing and you should read it.

What's So Scary About Smart Girls?

Teen Girl Ejected From Prom Because Horny Dads Can't Stop Staring

The New York Times's new cooking site is very pretty.

The Origins of "Privilege"

This West Wing oral history is fascinating.

America's real racism problem doesn't look like Donald Sterling

Powerful Modern Curses

Morning Coffee (4/16/14)

Good for them: First Women Move To Army Platoon Artillery Jobs

This piece about a 13-year-old Mongolian eagle huntress is amazing.

I'm so glad The Toast is doing well.

I think there's a lot to be said for killing comment sections.

Hot Topic now has Veronica Mars stuff, and I really want this Mars Investigations shirt.

Shut Up About "Clickbait"

10 More Novels That Could Fuel the Teen-Movie Comeback

Which The West Wing character are you? (Josh, apparently.)

Morning Coffee (3/17/14)

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Today's Google Doodle is cute.

Awesome: Gender-specific books demean all our children. So the Independent on Sunday will no longer review anything marketed to exclude either sex.

Here's a fun look at This American Life in Veronica Mars.

And a discussion of the technology in the movie's mystery.

This behind-the-scenes picture from Bones is ridiculously cute.

'Enlisted' Creator Opens Up About Life, Death and Friday's PTSD Episode

Jed Bartlet won The Wire's best fictional president bracket, as he should have.

I love these parody letters from Chris Kimball.

Morning Coffee (3/14/14)

I saw the Veronica Mars movie last night. Here is my one-sentence review. It is only spoilery in that if you know what I wanted from the movie (in general, not any one area), my reaction basically tells you whether the movie provided what I wanted.

This is fascinating and completely non-spoilery, if you need something to pass the time before watching the movie: 'Veronica Mars' Costume Designer Salvador Perez Reveals Style Secrets From Original Series

Also, these imagined Veronica Mars book covers are amazing.

I'm sorry, I promise the rest of these are NOT about Veronica Mars.

Memories From the Set: Bradley Whitford Talks Stints on West Wing, ER, Frasier and More

The Exquisite Wistfulness of 19th-Century Vegetarian Personal Ads

Report: Only 20 Minutes Until Introverted Man Gets To Leave Party

Dirtbag Romeo and Juliet

Which Gilmore Girls Guy Is Your Soulmate? (I got Logan. I'll allow it.)