I’ve finally gone and joined a book club, and the book we’re reading is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and it’s every bit as heartbreaking as you’d expect — lapse after lapse of medical ethics, multigenerational trauma, all the inequalities of American society laid bare. And the author keeps inserting herself into the story in a way that just underscores the shortcomings of every well-meaning white liberal endeavor. It’s kind of a slog.
Anyway, here are some links.
Callbacks
The other week I mentioned the Burger King Angry Meals… Lauren Oyler has a more in-depth analysis of the phenomenon of advertising that admits that life is terrible so you might as well consume these terrible products to go with it. The article is titled “This Is What it Sounds Like When Brands Cry.”
I also wrote about the temptation to identify yourself so strongly with your job that you’re uncertain who you are without it. Again in the Times, there’s a more thorough set of guidelines to how to address that issue. And of course, because nothing is complete without the Times making a condescending visit to a midwestern white male manufacturing worker who voted for fascists, a profile of a white male manufacturing worker wondering who he is without his job.
Also, because I can’t resist dunking on David Brooks: David Brooks Decries Incivility Of Modern Plumbing After Tripping On Feet And Falling Headfirst Into Toilet.
Heartwarming Capitalist Dystopia
SO HEARTWARMING! When this little boy’s family couldn’t afford lifesaving surgery his local Home Depot gave him a free shovel and drove him out to the desert to dig his own grave — pixelatedboat aka “mr tweets” (@pixelatedboat) May 30, 2019
Semantics
minor 2019 semantic nit: now that all the fascists have come out of hiding, we should use that term “cryptofascists” just for fascists who also happen to own Bitcoin — welcome to dot 🏳️🌈 (@WelcomeToDot) May 28, 2019
Mainstream Republicans
Records prove clearly what we already kind of knew: Republican operatives are trying to fiddle the census to increase the electoral power of white people.
Not a drill: natural gas is now “molecules of freedom.” This is from the BBC. I am not making this up.
Elizabeth Warren is the Hermione Granger of this Timeline
Mueller: Did ANYONE do the reading assignment?
Warren: [raises hand]
Mueller: Anyone OTHER than Elizabeth? — Valerie Aurora (@vaurorapub) May 29, 2019
Cultivating Joy
These very round seals.
A neural net tries to name cats.
A very smol … dog? buffalo? Tiny thing anyway. Very cute.
Frog & Toad x NWA is the hot new streetwear collab of the season. Yes, it’s available in baby sizes.
Secretly Ironic 