Afternoon Tea (8/2/19)

Look at this great article about my friend Sara! A First for Broadway: The Trombonists of KING KONG

HRH The Duchess of Sussex Interviews Michelle Obama In The September Issue

The Artisanal Gelato Makers Of Mozambique

Rainbows, Frogs, Dogs And 'The Muppet Movie' Soundtrack At 40

See the poetry of England and Wales in an interactive map.

Afternoon Tea (7/26/19)

A Peculiarly Dutch Summer Rite: Children Let Loose in the Night Woods

Honestly, this sold me, I'm going to try it: The Best Classical Music Streaming Service Is Idagio

Five Women Who Made the Moon Landing Possible

Peru celebrates Inca sun festival: Inti Raymi – in pictures

This is so neat: An Interactive Map of Odysseus’ 10-Year Journey in Homer’s Odyssey

Afternoon Tea (1/11/19)

This roundtable was a DELIGHT: Here's What It's Really Like To Be An Internet Advice Columnist

Off the chart: the big comeback of paper maps

The Most Anticipated Crime Books of 2019: Part 1

A Changeling in My Own Skin

A Brief History of Cheddar Cheese

Afternoon Tea (10/4/18)

How Do You Take a Picture of a Black Hole? With a Telescope as Big as the Earth

This is fascinating and I can't wait to read her book: Nicole Chung on the Complexities, and Joys, of Transracial Adoption

Vladimir Nabokov's Other Favorite Crime

The new Discovering Music resource on the British Library site is really cool.

Wizards, Moomins and pirates: the magic and mystery of literary maps

Afternoon Tea (6/29/18)

The Tumblr bloggers building a canon of asexual history

Spying Doesn’t Pay — Unless You’re Really Good At It

One Crime Novel for Every Country in the World Cup

America’s First Female Mapmaker

Interview with A Mongolian Cheesemaker

Morning Coffee (5/20/18)

This story about claiming Dreamers are gang-affiliated in order to deport them is unsurprising but completely horrifying.

Justice Department and F.B.I. Are Investigating Cambridge Analytica

Somehow this actual story is even more alarming than the headline makes it sound: Bill Gates Had to Explain to Donald Trump the Difference Between HIV and HPV

Trump personally pushed postmaster general to double rates on Amazon, other firms

Can Boring Win in 2020? (I WISH.)

Let's take a break for this amazing headline: Hotel Chocolat fires new salvo at Waitrose in chocolate war

Harry and Meghan’s New Titles are Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and there's some interesting history there.

I love today's Abraham Ortelius Google doodle.

Today in Oscar Bait Mad Libs: Leonardo DiCaprio Teaming Up With Steven Spielberg On Ulysses S. Grant Biopic

Lisbeth Salander Returns in 'The Girl Who Danced With Death' Comic

Afternoon Tea (2/2/18)

In case you don't want to do any more work this Friday, here's a juicy true crime longread: Dead Wake

I LOVE maps in books: Charting the Geography of Classic Literature

LET'S GO: In Iceland, There’s a Word for an Ice Cream Road Trip. Here’s Where to Ísbíltúr This Winter

Around the World in 14,000 ‘Do Not Disturb’ Signs

End your Friday afternoon with a whole bunch of pictures of Animals on the Playing Field.

Morning Coffee (1/29/18)

Me elsewhere: TV news for the week.

Alexei Navalny detained at anti-Putin protest in Moscow

Shocker: Republicans Show Little Urgency on Legislation to Protect Mueller

Uh, this seems not great: Fitness tracking app Strava gives away location of secret US army bases

Wow, good: Ireland Prime Minister Says He Will Campaign to Repeal Abortion Ban

Camels banned from Saudi beauty contest over Botox

I didn't watch the Grammys but I saw this headline when I woke up and aw, yay: Carrie Fisher wins Grammy posthumously

Yeah, YOU'D THINK: Nielsen Social Content Ratings Will Now Include Instagram

I was skeptical of this whole enterprise but then I saw TONY KUSHNER is involved?! Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner’s ‘West Side Story’ Is Casting

The Death of Stalin looks fun. (Er, you know what I mean.)

The map for Maureen Johnson's Truly Devious is SO GORGEOUS. I want to hang it on my wall or embroider it on a tapestry or SOMETHING.

Morning Coffee (1/26/18)

This week seemed very long. Time for some happy Friday links!

ICYMI: my Oscar Project post on Wonder.

GOOD: Octavia Spencer Says Jessica Chastain Helped Her Get a Significant Pay Raise on Their New Film

This is EXTREMELY EXCITING but I'm disappointed there's not a Meg doll too: A Wrinkle in Time getting its own Barbie dolls

Your Friday morning may need Dylan O'Brien frolicking with puppies. I don't know your life.

While we're talking about actors and puppies: Tom Hardy Has Been Helping To Rehome Dogs That Were Found Abandoned In A Park

Ooh: These Two Favorite Skincare Brands Are Now Available At Target

Who is your Good Place moral soul mate? (I got Chidi but obviously don't deserve him.)

I'm wary of the new Muppet Babies but aw, penguin!

These Vibrant Maps Reveal the World’s Hidden Geographies

Whoa: New Etsy shop will build a detailed Lego model of your home

Watch the Wondrous Costco Pizza Sauce Dispenser in Action

Afternoon Tea (12/8/17)

Heh: 20 Authors I Don’t Have to Read Because I’ve Dated Men for 16 Years

Napoleon was the Best General Ever, and the Math Proves it.

What Archaeologists and Historians Are Finding About the Heroine of a Beloved Young Adult Novel

How to Put a Fake Island on the Map

Science! Cheap fizz or luxury champagne: can you hear the difference?

Morning Coffee (11/20/17)

I'm traveling and compiled and scheduled this post in advance, so WHO KNOWS what's actually going on in the world by now. Back on Tuesday!

Eric Holder's Battle Against Gerrymandering

Canada Moves Closer to Gender Equity for Indigenous Women

Why Is Allergan Partnering with the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe?

This is very good advice heading into the holidays: Don't Win Arguments, Win Elections

Also useful going into the holidays: 8 Weekender Bags to Make You Look More Put Together

SCANDAL: Spelling Trouble: Did a Scrabble Champion Cheat?

From Owls IPA to Huddersfield’s Hat Trick: football clubs join the craft beer revolution

Ha: The “phantom reference:” How a made-up article got almost 400 citations

Conservationists Give New Life to 350-Year-Old Map of Australia

YEP: From 'Will & Grace' to 'NCIS,' Comfort TV Reigns Supreme

Afternoon Tea (8/2/17)

This is perfect: Please Forgive Us at Blue Apron for This Week’s Meals. We’ve Been Having a Tough Time Lately

Oh cool: A Very Modern Map of Britain’s Ancient Roman Roads

Dear Match Book: Give Me Fictional Family Sagas, the Longer the Better

Frozen in time: the miraculous gold rush movies buried under the Yukon ice

The Fascinating, Regal History Behind Britain’s Swans

Afternoon Tea (7/20/17)

IMPORTANT: I Know How to Push the Button for the Elevator

When Progress Ebbs: Career Women at the Turn of the 20th Century

“From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler,” Fifty Years Later

Mapping Dante’s Inferno, One Circle of Hell at a Time

When 1980s Satanic Panic Targeted Procter & Gamble

Afternoon Tea (7/19/17)

Cool: More Than Bread: Sourdough As a Window Into The Microbiome

Why Are We So Unwilling to Take Sylvia Plath at Her Word?

Where the Cocktail Party Came From (A Waugh pops up in that story, of course.)

The Revival of John Quincy Adams

Take a Stroll Through Jane Austen’s England With This Interactive Map

Afternoon Tea (7/18/17)

This is amazing: The American Experience in 737 Novels

Huh, cool: Resurrecting Ancient Wines That Can Survive Climate Change

Buried in Beads 4,000 Years Ago, This Chiefly Family Lives Again

I promise this is more interesting than it sounds: What the Enron E-mails Say About Us

The Hidden Rules of the Puritan Fashion Police

Afternoon Tea (6/9/17)

Madame Bovary’s Wedding Cake

Fascinating trajectory: The Gospel According to Glennon

Cheap Thrills, Private Dicks, and Desperate Dames From the Heyday of Pulp Fiction

The Mysteries of a Rare, 18th-Century Native American Map

Why St Nicholas works wonders for Russians

Afternoon Tea (4/17/17)

A Death in the Winelands

Young Kenyans are murdering elderly relatives they claim are witches, but it really has nothing to do with magical beliefs

Young and pregnant in Sierra Leone

The 15th-Century Monk Who Crowdsourced a Map of the World

America's first nation

Hee: Is Your Home Safe From John Tyler? No, It Is Not.

Morning Coffee (3/16/17)

The good news: Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Latest Travel Ban Nationwide

The bad news: Donald Trump Budget Slashes Funds for E.P.A. and State Department, as well as public eduction and HUD, and cutting funding entirely for Meals on Wheels and other programs for the poor, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts, and more.

What a surprise: Neil Gorsuch Has Web of Ties to Secretive Billionaire

Ugh: Trump Admin May Let States Impose Medicaid Work Requirements

Donald Trump's tax plan would've nearly wiped out his 2005 tax burden

The GOP plan for Obamacare could kill more people each year than gun homicides

What the White House’s obsession with Andrew Jackson means for the world

Netherlands Considers a New Relationship to Muslims With Coming Election (Obviously the elections have happened, now, but it's still an interesting read.)

Boooo: Women's Retailer Modcloth To Be Bought By Jet.Com, Which Is Owned By Walmart

!!! Why This Court Decision Hinged on the Oxford Comma

I have so many questions: Design the cover for Dan Brown's next mystery

Cool: Soviet Military Mapping of the Cold War Era

Morning Coffee (2/3/17)

It's Friday. Let's have some happy links.

Clinton's writing a book!

Biden's launching a foundation!

Aw: The story behind the viral photo of Muslim and Jewish children protesting at O'Hare

FINALLY. 19th-century female artist finally gets credit for works attributed to men

!! Westminster Dog Show to allow cats, even though “dog” is in the name

Ooh: Your Favorite TV Shows Brought To Life With Amazing 3D Floor Plans

Literary wine labels are great/terrible because then I just... pick by the label.

TOO REAL: 5 Absolutely Incredible Books By Female Authors That He’ll Say He Just Couldn’t Get Into

5 Groundhogs to Watch (Besides Punxsatawney Phil)

The Stunning Early Infographics and Maps of the 1800s

Some more history for Taboo viewers: The East India Company and Nootka Sound

Nights on ice in Sweden's Arctic wonderland

Morning Coffee (1/29/17)

Trump's ban on some U.S. entries sparks confusion and protest worldwide, and legal rebukes at home

Judge Blocks Trump Order on Refugees Amid Chaos and Outcry Worldwide

Uh... Mystery death of ex-KGB chief linked to MI6 spy's dossier on Donald Trump

Also: Russians Charged With Treason Worked in Office Linked to Election Hacking

Trump pressured Park Service to find proof for his claims about inauguration crowd

We Are Running Out of Ways to Say That President Trump Is a Dangerous, Delusional Lunatic

The Media Failed to Prepare Americans for the Trump Whiplash

Meanwhile: Hundreds of neo-Nazis have 'gone underground' in Germany — and experts are worried they're creating new right-wing terrorist groups

I really need to read this already: The Handmaid’s Tale is a handbook for surviving oppressive systems

Identity Issues Don’t Distract From Economic Issues — They Are Economic Issues

The Milky Way's Most Distant Stars May Be Stolen Goods

In 1562 Map-Makers Thought America Was Full of Mermaids, Giants, and Dragons