For some reason, it feels like all of my links are along the theme “untenable situation is untenable.” I am not sure why, except I guess we are all feeling exceptionally untenable about life these days. I read a New York Times article (link) about how we’ve all hit a wall, quarantine-wise, which seems accurate to my own experience and that of my friends-and-relations. If you’ve got anything that’s making you happy in quarantine, hit me up and let me know what that thing is! (My happy things are Indian food and Harrow the Ninth.) Anyway, on to the links!
A brief history of Mexican comics. (link)
Hafez divination helps to get Nilo Tabrizy through quarantine. (link)
Black fans are holding K-pop accountable for racism and appropriation. (link)
Clueless remains our best Jane Austen adaptation. (link)
The independent bookstore industry must grapple with its racism and complicity in white supremacy. (link)
True crime is going to have to change. It can’t just be about and for white people. (link)
Do you think you have a book idea? Here’s the first question you need to ask yourself (and where to go from there). (link)
“Sensitivity readers … are a piecemeal fix in an industry that continues to push minority voices to the margins.” (link)
A psychologist rates Brendan Leonard’s stress coping strategies. I felt extremely come-atted from the very first one, but there’s a strategy on his list about to-do lists that broke into my house and punched me in the face, and frankly how dare it. (link)
Alaya Dawn Johnson grappled with the racist history of noir in order to write a noir world that centers Black experiences. (link)
The new Netflix show Indian Matchmaking glosses over the hard facts of caste among Indian families. (link)
How should we cope with the constant moral shifts in the people we admire? (link)
Chefs shouldn’t rule like kings. Collaboration and support, not abuse and single vision, should govern restaurant kitchens. (link)
I hope you will be able to have some peace and quiet this weekend, or some non-scary excitement if that’s what you desire! Remember that everyone is struggling, so you are not alone and do not need to feel guilty for not being at the top of your game.