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.

Secondly, I decided to do a links round-up post today, of bookish and nerdy and feminist stuff that interested me this week. I always love link round-ups, and this week I got jealous enough to make one of my own.

In honor of the release of Marvel’s weirdest movie yet, Guardians of the Galaxy, I give you two conflicting reads on sexism in that film, one from Alyssa Rosenberg (formerly of ThinkProgress, now writing for the Washington Post) and one from Clare, The Literary Omnivore.

The Los Angeles Times suggests some important things to keep in mind when you read Amazon’s statements about ebook pricing. The short version is that production costs are the smallest of the costs that go into making a book. The article doesn’t say this, but please also note that Amazon evidently thinks the work it puts into distributing the ebook is 85% as valuable as the work an author puts in to write it and an entire publishing house to make it. I have some feelings about that, Amazon.

This Roxane Gay post on Tumblr about shopping while black will infuriate but not surprise you.

The always wonderful Anne Helen Peterson makes the moral case for watching Outlander. Thanks, imaginary internet friend Anne Helen Peterson! I do not have Cinemax but I will totally watch it when it shows up on one of the streaming services I possess. Also, I bet five dollars that everyone will write off Outlander for being fluff, while Game of Thrones goes on to have as many seasons as it wants. Go ahead, bet me.

In case you’ve been on the fence about reading Mary Robinette Kowal, can I remind you that she puts the Doctor into her books? And then can I point you to her recent blog post about hiring an Antiguan and Barbudan writer, Joanne Hillhouse, to fix her Antiguan Creole English dialogue? Joanne Hillhouse writers about the experiences here. This just fills my heart with bunnies and rainbows.

Over at Tor.com, Ada Palmer inquires whether Thor (who as a Marvel property belongs to Disney) can now be considered a Disney princess.

Anne Thériault of The Toast sings the praises of Anne Boleyn and ranks Henry VIII’s wives in order from best to worst. I’m with her every step of the way, except that I’m giving last place to Catherine Parr, who evidently helped her second husband sexually assault a teenage Elizabeth I. Gross, Catherine Parr.

And last but not at all least, something stupendously cool for you to listen to: A sound map of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, by sound artist John Kannenberg.

The post Things in my week that were awesome appeared first on Reading the End.