Morning Coffee (5/7/14)

Update: New Kidnapping Reported in Nigeria as U.S. Offers Help

Shocker: It's like universal health care helps people's health.

I have to figure out how to work an evening podcast into my routine, but I'm excited about Mike Pesca's new The Gist at Slate.

Well, this is awesome: The College of Arms has published rules for The Arms of Individuals in Same-Sex Marriages.

Huh: Monica Lewinsky is doing a Vanity Fair exclusive.

John Green in Cosmo: Can You Get Too Old for YA Novels? (No.)

Terrible news: One in five beers sold in America is a Bud Light

If You Knew Anne of the Island IRL

Morning Coffee (5/6/14)

Chasing Death Camp Guards With New Tools

Most of What You Think You Know About Sex Trafficking Isn’t True

Huh. Pemberley Digital's next project: Frankenstein M.D.

The Bechdel test is fine just the way it is

Is It Fair To Call A Band A Sellout? (Hint: No.)

I am also so over book guilt.

10 Great Authors Who Disowned Their Own Books

5 Well-Intentioned Phrases That Have Been Ruined by Assholes

Morning Coffee (5/5/14)

I periodically forget that the Free State Project people are still around, being annoying and terrible.

Important: Changed Life of the Poor: Better Off, but Far Behind

Why Has the Pentagon Turned Into a Robot When Asked to Explain Its Trans Ban?

Think what you may of "Blurred Lines" in general, but this video of Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, and James McAvoy dancing to it is PURE MAGIC.

I don't understand these people who want to stay in New Hampshire and leave Connecticut.

Will fear of TV cancellations become a thing of the past?

Beyond net neutrality: The new battle for the future of the internet

Hee: PEI to bolster tourism with 300 ft Anne of Green Gables Roller Coaster (Warning: satire.)

Truth: Cider Is Fucking Awesome. End of Story.

Morning Coffee (5/2/14)

Happy Friday! Finally!

This Isn’t Just About Star Wars: The 5 Dumbest Arguments Against Gender Diversity

I only care about the NFL schedule to the extent that it affects The Good Wife, and yet this piece on how the schedule was made was completely fascinating.

How TV networks REALLY pick which pilots become series

Nifty: 22 Books You Should Read Now, Based On Your Childhood Favorites

I don't watch much reality TV but I will absolutely watch Lifetime's new convent show.

Go Emma Stone!

A People’s Most Beautiful list you don’t have to feel awful about

The French used to love taking baby names from US TV shows

The Onion: Woman A Leading Authority On What Shouldn’t Be In Poor People’s Grocery Carts

How Much Do You Hate People? (Spoiler: a lot. I hate people a lot.)

Morning Coffee (5/1/14)

How is it May? I don't understand.

Local note: Tonight is the Hippo's annual charity taco tour in Manchester.

If you missed this as it broke last night, there are more Rob Ford recordings and he's taking a leave of absence.

This New Yorker piece on the kidnapped Nigerian girls is a good overview, and make sure you read this update too.

How Fox News Shoved Shepard Smith Back Into The Closet

Oh, Joyce Carol Oates, no.

How Donald Sterling Violated The NBA's Unspoken Social Contract

"If you kill a person, you're a murderer. If you steal, no one would hesitate to call you a thief. But in America, when you force yourself on someone sexually, some people will jump through flaming hoops not to call you a rapist."

Why the gender gap in children’s allowances matters

"But an internal military document that a Navy official inadvertently e-mailed to a Washington Post editor . . ."

Morning Coffee (4/30/14)

If you missed this as it was happening last night: There was a terrible botched execution in Oklahoma.

This was written before the news of Sterling's punishment yesterday, but Jamelle Bouie's take is worth a read.

Here's a good explanation of yesterday's Supreme Court cell phone privacy stuff.

Dear New York Times, don't publish stolen things.

Hey Star Wars -- Where the Hell Are the Women?

Interesting: The story behind the Bundy quote

Ikea is making vegetarian meatballs! Yay!

I'd rather my light bulbs not record and tweet things, thanks.

Wow: Ladies’ Home Journal to End 130-Year Run as Regular Magazine

Flaws Only A Protagonist Could Have

Morning Coffee (4/29/14)

Fox is doing a live televised production of Grease, and . . . this could be great or terrible or hilarrible, depending on the casting.

Whoa, they restored A Hard Day's Night and it will be in theaters in July. Wonder if it'll be nearby?

Gene Demby is always worth a read: What Exactly Qualifies As 'Racist,' Anyway?

I'm still on the library waiting list for the Piketty book, so this Matt Yglesias piece was useful.

The Cheerleaders Rise Up

Well done, Slate: London Human Rights Lawyer Amal Alamuddin Is Engaged

Men who use nicknames for women to win fights are creepy, sexist and dumb

What a linguist found when she analyzed the opening credits to 50 TV shows

Hee: Mom Packs Encouraging Note in Own Lunch

Morning Coffee (4/28/14)

Inside human trafficking: don't call it 'modern day slavery' – fix it already

Wife of Foursquare CEO wore fake bib at Boston Marathon, report says

My fair city: The Totally Absurd, Amazing Story of How Running Over Some Ducks at 15 mph Brought Down a New Hampshire Politician and Police Commissioner

I'm still a bit skeptical of Gracepoint (the U.S. remake of Broadchurch) but these cast photos certainly look right.

Go Cosmo: Jill Filipovic is a good hire.

Again: Happy World Penguin Day! Don't knit them any more sweaters.

Whoa: Transfixing 3D Paper Patterns by Maud Vantours

"President Bartlet, Politics, Puritans, Libertarians." Fair enough.

Hilarious: 2048: Gaius Baltar's Fragile Emotions Edition (Those of you who insist the picture versions are easier than the number version baffle me, though.)

Lines From Go Ask Alice That, In Hindsight, Should Have Tipped Me Off That This Was Not A True Story

Book Recommendation: King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild

King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild
Houghton Mifflin, 1999
(Goodreads, Amazon)

I happened upon this at the library while looking for more recent African history, but it provided good background and, more importantly, was a fascinating and horrifying story in its own right. I only knew the barest outlines of this section of the Congo's history, and Hochschild did a good job of weaving a lot of important information into a compelling narrative. And given the timing, reading this this week, I couldn't help but be struck by the way that Leopold's and others' justifications for colonialism, forced labor, and mass murder are being echoed almost verbatim by Cliven Bundy.

Morning Coffee (4/25/14)

Happy Friday!

The final episodes of The Killing will premiere on Netflix on August 1st!

Happiness Study Says Library Trips Are As Good As A Pay Raise (They needed a study?)

The CBC has spoken: Anne Shirley is Canada's most iconic character

The baseball fandom statistics here and here are fascinating.

In Defense of Explaining Things

I can't quite figure out what to think about cat cafes.

This memo about potential Gone with the Wind screenwriters is great.

What's the Difference Between English, Irish, and Scottish Breakfast Teas? Interesting!

How To Tell If You Are In A Charles Dickens Novel

How Much of a Perfectionist Are You? (Very, very much.)