A researcher decided to do neurofeedback experiments on indigenous children. Like, recently. We never learn anything, I s2g.

Should rich people be allowed to do science? PERHAPS NOT.

How classics fans (may) get funneled into alt-right content on the platform previously known as Twitter.

Andrea Long Chu on Rachel Cusk.

A fascinating read about the lasting legacy of trauma.

The original actors for The Avengers have gone back and dubbed it all into Lakota! How absolutely fucking cool!

A Canadian writer grapples with the lessons she learned from Alice Munro, and the lessons she learned from learning that Alice Munro protected a child sex abuser over her own daughter.

Also Neil Gaiman. Y’all, I’m tired.

The main reason I continue to resist TikTok is because I know it would get me like this and I do not want to be got.

Whither relationships in TV shows.

Drew Magary tried out a Cybertruck, and I’m moved to hear that everyone hates you when you drive a Cybertruck.

There will never be another Game of Thrones; or, the death of journalism.

Kenyan protestors have found inspiration in Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”

Happy Friday, friends! What have y’all been reading lately?

The post Remember when I used to do link round-ups? appeared first on Reading the End.

Here’s the definitive update on the indie romance writer who faked her own death. It is, perhaps not unexpectedly, a pretty sad story.

On the resemblance of dinner to a magic show.

There’s a growing conspiracy theory on the right about asexuality. Unsurprisingly, it has its roots in anti-transness and white supremacy.

How travel influencers use their white privilege to make their money.

This is an article about people who own super-yachts. I hate everyone in this bar. All of them, without exception. As one of the people quoted in the article jokes, it really HAS made me want to bring back the guillotine.

What it’s like to go to Antarctica on your honeymoon.

A review of Spare by someone who doesn’t give a damn about the royal family.

Pamela Paul wrote about American Dirt, for some reason. Here’s some edits for her piece.

The marvelous Gina Apostol explains the unexplainable José Rizal, and it is just as delightful as you’d expect.

“We’ve come to think of art–all art–as commercial goods that warrant this calculation of the ‘Moral Nutrition Facts‘ to ensure we’re not feeding anything ‘bad’ to our brains.”

Extreme content warning for sexually violent content, but this article on rape and child sexual abuse in Amish communities is really important.

How gig workers have become care workers.

When women gain financial or reproductive independence, backlash always follows. That’s where we’re at now.

LitHub has their giant list of books to look forward to in 2023. GO NUTS.

“‘People are stupid’ is the gateway drug to a lot of worse ideas.”

“This is like The Purge, if The Purge was solely about committing crimes against North American marsupials.” For five days a year in North Carolina, you can do anything you want to possums.

W h e n will there be justice for Gina Prince-Bythewood. ANSWER ME THAT.

Is there an end in sight to the New York Times trans panic? A massive group of NYT contributors wrote an open letter to the newspaper requesting more journalistic integrity when reporting on trans issues. The next day, the New York Times published an opinion piece by (again, inevitably) Pamela Paul entitled “In Defense of JK Rowling.” So like, yeah. No end in sight, I guess.

This article on Justin Roiland of Rick and Morty includes a quote from someone who describes his behavior as “the eccentricity of a genius weirdo.” Ha ha I hate it here.

The always-excellent Wesley Lowery talks about the racial reckoning that never came.

There is an enormous battle going on about How To Botanical Garden Correctly. I love this shit.

Stitch discusses the power of collective grief in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

What happens to our online presence after we die? The Archive of Our Own can point the way for other sites.

Speaking of the archive, they’ve introduced new muting and blocking functions, which is great!

“RICO charges have become a go-to strategy for taking down hip-hop artists.” (This is the first of a two-part article about crime, gentrification, and Cop City in Atlanta, so make sure to click through!)

I will DIE MAD about Sleepy Hollow. Here’s a look back at a buddy cop supernatural procedural that should have run for fifteen seasons, and how the showrunners did Nicole Beharie so, so wrong.

Dang, Pablo Neruda was poisoned?

“Bring back the oil paintings that fuck.” A history of the clinch cover on romance novels.

Andrea Long Chu’s reviews are always a good read, and here’s the latest, on the new HBO adaptation of The Last of Us.

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is… a win for creative freedom? (Seriously, though, it is.)

As a closer, I recommend subscribing to this newly launched queer epistolary romance, which you can get in installments in your inbox!

The post Lies, Conspiracies, and Scandalous Emails: A Links Round-Up appeared first on Reading the End.

Akwaeke Emezi talks to Elle about their latest book title, ghosts, and getting plot ideas from their dreams.

Thailand is a premiere destination for gender-conforming surgery — a sign that the rest of the world’s healthcare systems are badly broken for trans people.

What is the future of academia, read through the lens of “quit lit”?

“Governmental fiat had the power to turn fable into fact.” The story of the Chagossians, their quest to return home, and the imperial powers arrayed against them.

Malala Yousafzai likes Ms. Marvel.

Sometimes, now and then, I am just very much in the mood for a really good pan of a book.

Elaine Hsieh Chou has had enough of the trope of Asian women in films being nonexistent, slutty, or both. (Her book Disorientation is excellent btw! A rare satire that I enjoyed!)

“I am frightened by my own affection toward Sox.” On the new Lightyear movie, which is pretty good, and the IP dystopia we currently live in, which is real real bad.

Vilissa Thompson on Lizzo’s use and correction of an ableist slur, and how the response to her erased Black disabled people.

Navigating the red carpet as a wheelchair user is an exhausting nightmare.

Thanks to BookTok for getting me more books with sprayed edges. Appreciated.

On resorts.

From all I know of her, Lisa Lucas is a tremendous person, and I loved this article about her work and the broader work of making publishing more inclusive.

This is a story about poop. Well, IBS. Well, bodies.

Here’s what happens during a craniotomy.

Naomi Kanaka explains why literary fiction refuses to write about the labor and financial side of things.

“break my back like a glowstick daddy” Katy Waldman on Kaitlyn Tiffany’s new book about One Direction fandom (which I loved).

Young children explain why their preferred shape of chicken nugget is the best one.

I really enjoyed RRR and was super grateful to this newsletter (the author of which ALSO loved the movie) for unpacking its shortcomings around caste and nationalism.

Here’s what’s going on with the weird fake texts you may be receiving now.

Becca Tilley was nervous about coming out to all of Bachelor Nation. She’s been very touched by the reception she’s gotten.

This is a story about feral peacocks in a Canadian town. Some people are like “yay, feral peacocks!” and other people are like “omg something has to be done about these feral peacocks.”

One big reason your groceries are so expensive? The ocean freight industry is engaged in crazy-making systems of obstruction and price-gouging against truckers.

Marina Warner talks about the work of fairy tales and the work of memoir (and the role of cruelty in each).

I loved this story about the Future Library.

Long live the food-themed romance novel.

Have a glorious weekend, friends. I wish you very much swimming and lots of good books.

The post Not Quite the Millions Book Preview Yet: A Links Round-Up appeared first on Reading the End.

HERE IT IS. (link)

“I doubt Joanna Gaines had ‘Build a Personal Brand Empire Increasingly Reliant on Data Scraping’ on any of her five year plans.” A story of a home renovation show nightmare, and the increasingly surveillance-based world of personal brands. (link)

“Not everything the internet treats as ambiguous actually is. Texts generally do contain evidence that certain interpretations are more valid than others.” (link)

Why are all the TV shows and movies an indeterminate browny-gray these days? (link)

“It feels very much like we’re paying for our freedom — like they have left us to die and are selling us back the right to live.” The cost of at-home COVID tests is a significant financial burden that falls heaviest on poor and disabled people. (link)

This review of Hanya Yanagihara’s latest novel contains many spoilers for A Little Life (and cw discussions of suicide, self-harm, and abuse), and it puts its finger exactly on many of the things I found objectionable about that book, and probably this new one too. (link) (As a caveat, I don’t think it’s appropriate to try to police whether an author is sufficiently queer or sufficiently traumatized to write about queerness and trauma, and I find it very gross that interviewers have asked Yanagihara invasive questions about these things.)

The evolution of book-finding and place-finding. (link)

Joss Whedon’s impact on TV is massive; but his legacy is kind of a mess. (link) He also gave an interview to Vulture, which someone ought to have stopped him from doing but I’m glad they didn’t because he sure says a lot of things. (link)

Elmo vs Rocco and the dubious pleasures of being an adult watching children’s programming. (link)

“We are know-it-alls because we are responsible for knowing everything.” On scams and our constant efforts to avoid them. (link)

How do children’s books address slavery? And what needs to change? (link)

The Gilded Age is really good. On the other hand, how many shows about the adventures of jerky white people does HBO really need? (link)

I loooove to see the Black women of country music get their flowers. (link)

Here is a legitimately sweet and nice interview with the creator of Wordle. (link)

What book previews have you enjoyed so far in 2022? Have you read any 2022 books yet? Are there particular ones you’re dying to get your paws on? I haven’t gone on a proper Netgalley requesting spree in a while, and I definitely oughtn’t do that now, but it is still quite possible that I will.

Also, look. If you read one link from this links round-up, I beg that it will be the Joss Whedon profile in Vulture. It’s just… so damning. There are so many lines in it that made me shriek, not in a good way, and while it’s not necessarily telling you anything you didn’t already know about Joss Whedon’s mindset and behavior as a boss, it’s still fascinating to read it all in one place. My only caveat is that the writer barely challenges Whedon on his racism towards Ray Fisher, either in what she quotes him as saying or when she’s talking about the incident. Which doesn’t seem like a coincidence! In a piece that rebuts moooooost of what Whedon is saying.

The post THE MILLIONS BOOK PREVIEW: A Links Round-Up appeared first on Reading the End.

A profile of Lindy West, on the occasion of the release of Shrill.

How the internet is helping to preserve critically endangered languages.

What is society really nostalgic for, when it talks about “going back” to an era of healthy, home-cooked meals?

The reality TV industry isn’t providing adequate mental health care to its participants. That needs to change.

This article about classic party fiction is good but the fact that it doesn’t include the party scene from Mary Renault’s The Charioteer makes me question its leadership.

I am constantly forgetting who Bret Easton Ellis is, but that didn’t make this review of his latest book any less satisfying.

On 10 Things I Hate about You.

Here’s a list of the best bookstores in each state in the US.

If you want to read new SFF in the month of April, Book Marks has you covered.

FASCinating piece on using fashion to solve cold cases.

Want to know what’s been happening with racism in the romance industry? The Guardian‘s got you!

And now, on to the readathon!

The post IT IS READATHON DAY, but also, A Links Round-Up appeared first on Reading the End.

A personal account from a former teaching assistant to Avital Ronell, the NYU professor accused of harassment.

The brilliant Carol Anderson recommends books about democracy and its challenges.

Okay, maybe — MAYBE — I will consume this Sherlock Holmes property. MAYBE.

Design a spaceship: Some instructions.

Over at the Book Smugglers, Foz Meadows reminds us to critique the critics when we’re talking about problematic elements in media.

Constance Grady goes in on redemption narratives for men in Hollywood, versus women. Guess who gets the benefit of the doubt.

I absolutely love this piece about the jokes comedians regret making. The people who aren’t white dudes generally have more interesting, thoughtful things to say.

Deadspin and Jezebel understand how hard this time is, and they have accordingly switched out their editors. Two Jezebel writers attend a football game, and a Deadspin writer covers a fashion show.

Why the Serena Williams thing was so viscerally upsetting for black women.

I don’t know what this partnership between Sony and the owners of The Ripped Bodice but I am ALL ABOUT IT.

I just adore this piece about how authors dress their characters — with accompanying fashion images!

Want to know how Crazy Rich Asians managed to look so, like, crazy rich? The Wrap has you covered!

How to fart when sharing a bed.

Here’s some measurements and statistics about how stupid and useless the pockets in women’s clothes are WHEN WE EVEN GET TO HAVE THEM.

Women retell myths from classical antiquity: a top ten list.

Is social psychology in a replication crisis? Professionals differ on the answer.

What women really want from Jian Ghomeshi. Also: a conversation with the editor who decided to run the Jian Ghomeshi piece, in which Isaac Chotiner gives no quarter to bullshit, and which I believe led to the editor being fired/resigning. Also: Rebecca Solnit on the tradition that men are objective and women are subjective. Also: Mo Ryan on abusive men rewriting their stories (badly). Megan Garber on the question of (vis-a-vis Kavanaugh) whether sexual assault is Just How Things Are. Jia Tolentino on dudes being not very sorry at all. Also Lili Loofbourow on Kavanaugh because Jesus Christ this fucking week.

Are we in a romcom renaissance? God I hope so.

Willa Paskin reviews (with spoilers) the show Forever, and gets into some of the reasons I find it frustrating when the whole marketing push for a thing is KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THIS THING GOING IN or it will be COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY RUINT.

Everything you know about obesity is wrong.

Have a great weekend! Cuddle up with blankets and gin and good friends, as I will be doing.

The post More Harassment Links than I Would Prefer: A Links Round-Up appeared first on Reading the End.