I enjoyed Elaine Castillo’s first novel, America Is Not the Heart (in part because of my conviction that she has written fanfiction in her life; this is based on nothing), and I am ravenously excited to read her new book of literary criticism, How to Read Now. I will put the relevant link first so that y’all can share my excitement. Here are the links!
“My issue with how we read is as much an existential grievance as it is a labor dispute.” Elaine Castillo addresses the foundation of white supremacy in the literary world, making me VERY excited to read her book.
This is an absolutely bananas story about a criminology professor whose life, uh, takes a turn.
On authors who cross categories.
It’s hard to keep track of all the shit the Supreme Court is currently doing, but ONE of the things they’re doing is decimating the rights of Native nations.
Carmen Maria Machado discusses the Jumi Bello plagiarism thing and considers a better path forward for writers and writing programs.
Here’s why there’s a shortage of peer reviewers, tenure committee members, and journal editors.
How ASL is changing in the digital age.
Really excited to learn that the Department of Education cannot tell the people who owe it money for student loans how much they’ve paid off, how much is left to pay, and what the interest rate is. Super normal stuff.
The mutant metaphor: A new generation is falling in love with the X-Men via queer communities online.
Look, YES I am obsessed with reading about the new book about Go Ask Alice, but NO I am not going to read it probably because tbh I feel like I have gotten everything I need from the media coverage of the book. Anyway, here is Casey Cep.
“Nichelle Nichols gave us the future – what we make of it is up to us.”
I loved this interview with the actresses of Yellowjackets.
Mohsin Hamid’s latest novel was inspired by the growing tendency to sort everyone into buckets of like-me and not-like-me.
Biden’s commission on how to fix the Supreme Court has finished its work, and the report has some interesting and helpful ideas.
In case you’ve missed the updates on the S&S / Random Penguin merger, John Maher is doing yeoman’s work in live-tweeting the trial. You can also check out the New York Times explainer and the Vanity Fair explainer. Also, Amazon is playing a silent role in this trial.
Money diaries: How prison inmates make money and what they spend it on. (Surprise, it’s horrifying.)
Many stars of Twitch and other video services have had to learn how to live with stalkers and harassers.
It’s great that Beyonce and Lizzo changed their offensive lyrics; but why are we so stingy with second chances and benefits of the doubt when it comes to Black women artists?
The New York Times has a handy explainer of why restaurant prices are soaring.
The Good Little Pig and the trend of bathos in contemporary literature.
“Yuval Harari is what I call a ‘science populist.’… [His] errors are numerous and substantial.”
Tressie McMillan Cottom considers the beloved-by-conservatives TV show Yellowstone.
Happy Friday, friends!