I mean, look, guys. At least Elon Musk lost thirteen billion dollars yesterday. Is that money fake? Yes. Will he probably get it all back pretty quickly? Yes. Is money made up? Y E S. Nevertheless, I am basking in his suffering. And like, the $13 billion dollars is actually probably more impactful, but what feels more satisfying to me is that he’s paying for Stephen King and LeBron James to have blue check marks they don’t want. That is just. That’s. It’s like, my guy, you don’t have to keep inventing new Ls to take. You could just do what all the other rich idiots do, which is get in fights about where your yacht is going to be berthed to show off how long it is. That would probably be more fun for you, my guy!
I’ve been meaning to do this links round-up for approximately ten thousand years, so some of these links are a little older. You know what? Who cares! They’re still terrific!
Resy won the reservation wars. Here’s how.
“Despite the Black-film streaming guides that proliferated on the internet during last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, the streamers themselves have been ill-equipped to fully articulate the wealth of important Black titles that are available.” The Black Film Archive is here to help.
While we’re on the subject of Black cinema, Slate and NPR have teamed up for a very cool project called The New Black Film Canon.
“Sudden, dramatic hair changes, she says, ‘are a big part of who I am.'” A profile of the lady who invented at-home rape kits, and how, uh, that’s all going.
Eurgh, the world is a hellscape, including TikTok.
This is a fascinating story about Black journalists who were hired to train Nigerian reporters in the 1980s.
A really stellar breakdown on SFF world-building, by TV writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach.
“Vitriol is a precious resource. Spend it wisely.” Steven Hyden contemplates the decline of the negative review. (He’s talking about music but I suspect it applies to other spheres too.)
“The hardest stunt I ever pulled off.” Stunt people are so cool.
This is a fascinating article about transnational corporate espionage.
Oscars-related things I am mad about: Jamie Lee Curtis winning over Angela Bassett or Stephanie Hsu. The Whale.
On the trope (ongoing!) of the disabled villain.
It has made me SO happy to witness Abbott Elementary come for the throat of charter schools.
A woman from Leicestershire devoted her energy to trolling Madeleine McCann’s parents on Twitter. When her involvement in the online harassment came out, she killed herself. Now her son is trying to find meaning (for himself and others) in her life and death.
Swarm dehumanizes Black women.
FINALLY, a deep dive on whump fic!!
The always-wonderful Linda Codega takes us inside the dysfunctional, sexist, unsafe offices of Wyrmwood Gaming.
Dara Horn asks if the focus on Holocaust education is, paradoxically, making anti-Semitism worse.
“There was a woman who was Irish, which was not her job, but, my God, she was good at it; she owns a pug who apparently is a successful working actor, which was also not her job.” Caity Weaver went on a package tour for millennials trying to make friends.
And Lauren Oyler went on a GOOP cruise. My cup runneth over.
Have a wonderful weekend, friends! Or if you do not have a wonderful weekend because the world is dumb and bad, at least know that you have not lost thirteen billion dollars in a single day. Yay!