Morning Coffee (6/29/16)

Lewandowski loses $1.2 million book deal There's a lot to unpack here beyond the obvious. Was that a deliberate West Wing homage in the supposed book's title?? And has anything ever been Trumpier than this insistence that Lewandowski would never use a lit agent???

Jamelle Bouie on how Sanders's ongoing refusal to endorse Clinton is now turning to work against him: "He’ll still matter to the shape and direction of the Democratic National Convention, but he could have had a larger, more visible role. Bernie Sanders had his shot, and he threw it away."

Leaders of ‘Brexit’ Campaign, Having Won, Turn to Managing Expectations

A good reminder: Brexit is David Cameron’s fault

This piece about Corbyn is good but also I just love the headline: Labour’s Love’s Lost

Important: Trump promised millions to charity. We found less than $10,000 over 7 years.

Related: True: Fact-checking a single Donald Trump speech required 12 AP writers

Is Elizabeth Warren Really the Best Choice for Vice President? (No! The Senate is important!)

Amber Heard And The Narratives Of Domestic Violence

This is terrifying and I cannot imagine making it through: Lost at Sea on the Brink of the Second World War

Whoa: NASA Will Light a Fire Inside the Cygnus Cargo Spacecraft

Morning Coffee (6/28/16)

Me elsewhere: At Insatiable Booksluts I reviewed a book I really wanted to like but REALLY didn't.

YAY SOME GOOD NEWS: Pro-choice advocates just won the biggest Supreme Court abortion case in decades

Jamelle Bouie being smart and calming, as usual: Embattled Whiteness Gave Us Brexit. It Won’t Give Us President Trump.

I'm kind of glad France and Germany aren't making this easy.

I've seen some questions about what's going on with Labour, so here's a useful explainer, plus I just like the word "omnishambles".

How That Idiot Nigel Farage Outsmarted the Political Elite

Bernie Sanders Has a Lot of Nerve

ALSO: The Sanders Campaign Tried to Rig Caucus Tiebreakers With Double-Sided Coins

WHAT: Why is Team Trump asking liberal Scottish politicians for donations?

I DO like that recent events mean everyone's interviewing Chris Hayes.

Welp: World’s Most Loyal V.C. Says Theranos Critics Are Just Haters

Morning Coffee (6/27/16)

Me elsewhere: The week's TV news!

A Detailed Guide to How the “Dump Trump” Movement Could Actually Dump Trump at the Convention

The Onion, SUPPOSEDLY: Trump’s Potential VP Picks

Nihilist Ted, Back to the Back Bench

Social Media Superfandom and the Murder of Christina Grimmie

US incarceration is 5 to 10 times higher than that of other NATO countries

Whoa: Orthodox Churches’ Council, Centuries in Making, Falters as Russia Exits

As someone who has been in the position of trying to figure out how to get immediate help for someone across the country, I was happy to see this: Facebook Offers Tools for Those Who Fear a Friend May Be Suicidal

I'm pretty much Team Paramount here.

Hah: Don’t Date a Guy Who Tells You He Works on Broad City

Every Meal In Great Expectations, Ranked In Order Of How Upsetting It Is

Morning Coffee (6/26/16)

Some important stuff got a bit overlooked this week because of the sit-in and then Brexit, but: Colombia and Farc rebels reach agreement on bilateral ceasefire !!!!

And: A Supreme Court tie all but kills Obama’s plans to protect millions of immigrants

So when is Spain annexing Gibraltar?

The Most Overrated Intellect In Washington (Paul Ryan. It's Paul Ryan.)

Interesting: The Great Trump Tax Mysteries: Is He Hiding Loopholes, Errors, or Something More Serious?

Maharashtra State in India Grants Jews Minority Status

Kinda great: Scottish Grindr users on the EU referendum

Oh: House blocks amendment by Republican who said the Tubman $20 is “racist” and “sexist"

There's a lot going on in the New Yorker piece on UnREAL.

Huh, interesting: How much is Shakespeare worth in 2016?

Morning Coffee (6/25/16)

How To Make Sense Of The Brexit Turmoil

This was written before the final call (and before Cameron resigned) but June Thomas has a good overview of what this means for various political parties.

Especially in a referendum, your. Vote. Matters. The Best of British “Leave” Voters Realizing They’ve Made a Huge Mistake

Slate has a ton of Brexit coverage from different angles and you can find it here.

Of COURSE he did: Bernie Sanders Walks Back Pledge to Vote For Hillary Clinton

C-Span, Gun Control and a Protest Made for Streaming

2016: People burned after deliberately walking across hot coals.

Barnes & Noble’s New Comeback Plan: Alcohol-Serving Restaurants OKAY. (I appreciate stories about Barnes & Noble in trouble because it's great justification to go buy books.)

This longread about Disney brides is fascinating even if you don't have particular interest in Disney weddings, as I do not.

“Elizabeth, Carrying a Laundry Basket, Enters”: How TV Writers Deal With Pregnant Actresses

Morning Coffee (6/24/16)

Well. Let's take a brief break from Happy Friday to say ENGLAND, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? As usual, I suggest following coverage from The Guardian and the BBC. I'll link you to any particularly good pieces about the fallout in the coming days.

Okay, now we probably all NEED some Happy Friday...

Ooh, here's a summer reading guide from Vox's Constance Grady.

Roanoke news!! 400-Year-Old Artifacts Uncovered At First English Settlement In The New World

Mac 'n Cheetos?!?!

Love this: A Mary Anne with Kristy Rising: On the Enduring Legacy of the Baby-Sitters Club Books

Progress! Barbie Gets a Game Developer Job

Best 'Game of Thrones' Character for Each State in America

Someone please make this Hamilton Super Nintendo game a reality

Whoa, Impressify is fun. (Basically it lets you turn your pictures into an Impressionist-style graphic.)

!! A 22-pound lump of butter from 2,000 years ago has been discovered in Ireland

Let's talk about curly hair products at Go Fug Yourself.

How To Tell If You Are In A Regency-Era Novel Written After The End Of The Regency

Morning Coffee (6/23/16)

This House sit-in is wild; I woke up and turned on CSPAN and it's STILL GOING. Wow. Here's a primer on what's going on and why it's so unusual.

And here's the Guardian live blog.

Also, the Brexit vote is happening right now. Please hydrate, political junkies. Here's the Guardian live blog for THAT.

I do think things like this sit-in and Murphy's filibuster are useful for forcing the conversation, but this is an important point: For any actual change, we need to have fewer Republicans in Congress.

And Matt Yglesias makes good points here: Why House Democrats are eager to force votes on doomed gun control bills

Whatever you think of these specific issues, the fact that it's been covered via streaming video from the Congresspeople's own phones is worth noting. (Because the majority controls the TV cameras and turned them off.)

Donald Trump’s Clinton attack speech reveals just how little he understands the world

“Mad, conceited, learned beyond their sex”: Female Philosophers of the Early Modern Era

Ooh: More Treasures Recovered from Antikythera Wreck

I've been trying some things out of my comfort zone so I loved this from Hanna Rosin: Screw Mastery

Morning Coffee (6/22/16)

Donald Trump accused of raping 13-year-old in federal lawsuit

The Weird Story Behind The Trump Campaign’s $35,000 Payment To ‘Draper Sterling’

And Slate went and knocked on the door to see what was happening.

The Trump Campaign Raised Less Money in May Than the Veronica Mars Movie Kickstarter

This is great: Clinton’s new line on Trump’s business career: “He’s Mitt Romney but bad at his job”

Horrifying: "Daniel Stolzfus, the girl’s father, told police he gave their daughter to Kaplan after 'researching the legality of the exchange on the internet.'"

‘UnREAL’s’ exposé of ‘The Bachelor’ is the most politically dangerous show on TV

Aging Japanese Women Find a Resigned Solace in South Korea

Vladimir Putin Backs $4 Billion Theme Park The Magical World of Russia I... want to go there?

Frankenstein, the Baroness, and the Climate Refugees of 1816

Morning Coffee (6/21/16)

Well. Corey Lewandowski is out. And FEC filings show that Trump has basically no money. And I feel like this campaign has been crazy enough that we actually don't have a firm grasp on what this all might mean, but... it can't be good, right?

Meanwhile: The Mystifying Triumph of Hope Hicks, Donald Trump’s Right-Hand Woman (She is FASCINATING.)

MEANWHILE: Last year, no candidate got more negative media coverage than Hillary Clinton

I'm glad someone thought to hire Rick Perlstein to cover this election. (Also here.)

I am puzzled that I'd never heard of LaCroix before this Vox piece - I pay attention to seltzer and food trends AND TV writers! - and/but now I want to try it because I'm very suggestible. Looks like it's not in any of the normal grocery stores around here, but maybe Target or Whole Foods.

What Did Internet Troll Chuck Johnson Know About Peter Thiel’s Secret War on Gawker?

!!! By the Way, Anthony Kiedis Saved a Baby’s Life During Carpool Karaoke

India and Nepal in Not-Very-Enlightened Spat Over Buddha’s Childhood Home

This was going around but in case you hadn't seen it, it really is a crazy story: The Married Woman Who Kept Her Lover in the Attic

PERFECT: "Now, if Elizabeth Warren and Jill Stein and Michelle Obama make a new Ghostbusters in a hypothetical four or eight years from now, I could get behind that idea. That vague notion that wouldn’t hold up under any scrutiny for a variety of reasons is CLEARLY a better option than this new Ghostbusters movie made by competent people that’s seemingly ready to be shown any minute now."

Morning Coffee (6/20/16)

Me elsewhere: TV news for the week!

Interesting and important: What Obama Actually Thinks About Radical Islam

Major companies decline to fund 2016 GOP convention

"'Brock’s arrest wasn’t surprising to anyone on the team,' one woman told the magazine."

The Democratic Primary Wasn’t Rigged

My friend Robin Wasserman wrote this and it's beautiful and you should also read her new book, Girls on Fire: What It’s Like To Write About Your Best Friend’s Death

UnReal Gets Real About Gender Politics in the Workplace

This is important and doesn't get talked about enough: The Families That Can't Afford Summer

I've never seen any Kardashian shows but this profile of Kim is fascinating anyway.

This piece on translation will make you want to go read a bunch of Russian things.

Perfect: Vape Aficionado‘s Guide to Finding a Token Lady-Writer