Garbage in, garbage out: A really straightforward and helpful look at the ways algorithms become biased.

Jia Tolentino is one of my all-time faves, and this is a piece about The Westing Game, so I am about as happy as it is possible for a person to be.

Remember that thing where Sherrilyn Kenyon said her husband was poisoning her? Lila Shapiro has been reporting it ever since, and here, at last, is the story. IT IS SOMETHING.

Holidaygoers do not need to be protected from the violent history of empire in the places they visit.

Nothing on House Hunters is real (but we kinda already knew that, right?).

“Everyone, Jensen said, seemed to be constantly posting about how they were horny and how they wanted to die.” MORE JIA TOLENTINO, this time about the trend of demanding that celebrities kill us.

Here’s how to live in a country where 1/5 of its residents want you gone.

Never stop reading Angelica Jade Bastien’s appreciations of Keanu Reeves. Never do it.

“Very little, if anything, about the cruelty of the internet commentariat is specific to YA.” On diversity critiques on YA Twitter.

I’m sorry to have another article about how women’s rage and women’s suffering never ever ever starts to matter, but this is your article about the most recent in a string of rape accusations against the sitting president. https://www.damemagazine.com/2019/06/25/womens-anger-was-supposed-to-be-a-reckoning-why-isnt-it/

Emily Nussbaum has some great thoughts on what makes TV different than other art in terms of intimacy with the audience.

A terrific interview with Jackie Sibblies Drury, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and author of Fairview. (Especially when she talks about how fucking weird Yale is.)

Julia Carpenter writes about the harassment romance novelists face online.

Happy weekend!

The post The Westing Game and Other Matters: A Links Round-Up appeared first on Reading the End.

It’s the year of our Lord 2017, and we are just now publishing the first translation of the Odyssey by a woman. (Buy it! The physical book is really beautiful!)

Angelica Jade Bastien on Now Voyager

I never don’t click on articles about the medieval historians trying to fend off Nazis. (Poor medieval historians! They really do not want Nazis at their luau.)

Men elevate foods; women ruin them. (It’s about gender bias, but not sexual assault. Yay?)

An excellently stern rebuttal to Francine Prose’s stupid piece in the New York Review of Books. I do not like Francine Prose.

Thor: Ragnarok, a movie I loved, is nevertheless fairly muddled as to its message about Empire. Noah Berlatsky unpacks some of that. But see also Gavia Baker-Whitelaw.

“Write because they are cutting out our tongues.” This piece is not about sexual assault, but it is about totalitarianism in the Philippines.

And then here are the links that are about sexual assault (partly or entirely). If you’re only going to read one of these, pick the first one. It’s real good.

How sexual harassment stories are like ghost stories, a horrifyingly accurate analysis by Jess Zimmerman.

The author of a new book about college football (FSU in particular) says scandal follows “where the excessive devotion is.” Shitdamn that’s a good point.

Alexander Chee on Kevin Spacey’s glib, yucky “coming-out” and what it says about his attitude toward the gay community.

Nobody needs to give a shit about Louie CK’s artistic legacy.

Have a great weekend! Chill outside if the weather is nice where you are! Cuddle up with a blanket and some hot cocoa if not!

The post Just Gonna Split These Down the Middle: A Links Round-Up appeared first on Reading the End.

Stacia Brown on the racial prism, saying some super true truths about New Haven, CT, where I lived for a few months.

On teaching diverse literature.

A round-up of reactions to the utter madness of Rachel Dolezal, of which my favorite is the Guardian article by Meredith Talusan. Plus one more from Jamilah Lemieux.

For real, though, authors: Don’t respond to negative reviews of your book. It’s entertaining for me but very very embarrassing for you. Think of Anne Rice.

There was this whole thing where the Mary Sue posted an idiotic article about romance novels, and all the romance authors got cross and it was magical. Subsequently.

Billy Crudup is starring in a forthcoming movie about the Stanford Prison Experiment. I am fascinated by that experiment, but not sure I can tolerate watching it unfold on screen, despite my well-documented love for Billy Crudup(‘s work). Anyway, The New Yorker talks about what the Stanford experiment really means.

In response to those folks who think Tim Hunt has been feminist witchhunted.

Interesting: An analysis of what sales numbers mean for indie comics (which includes all of Image’s titles) (wonderful Image!).

“The Year I Couldn’t Even Steal a Goddamn Snowglobe”: the Harry Potter books from Voldemort’s perspective.

I don’t have a link for this, but just wanted to add at the end here that I am so saddened and angry about the murders in Charleston this week. I’d like to think that this tragedy would lead to real conversations across partisan lines about the social patterns of racism in America that this event fits into. But I know that won’t happen. I just wish that it could. I wish that in moments of tragedy, it were possible to set aside the urge to dog-whistle the shittiest constituencies, and instead talk seriously about the complex issues in play here and how we can make them better.

And since I don’t want to end on a really sad note, even though this has been a really sad week, here is a puppy in a boot. It will not fix America’s problems around racism and sexism and violence, but hopefully it will make you smile.

The post I FEEL GLUM: A links round-up appeared first on Reading the End.

Terry Crews on misogyny and toxic masculinity. Apparently this dude also works to prevent human trafficking. Yay for allies.

Some thoughts on Islamophobia in dystopian fiction.

Not sure of your language when you’re talking about race / sexuality / disability / whatever? The Conscious Style Guide is here to help, rounding up links that explain why you shouldn’t say that, what to say instead, and generally how not to be a dick accidentally.

A reminder that these exceptionally gorgeous coloring books for grown-ups exist. My sister has one, and I plan on stealing it from her at some point and coloring a page myself. I promise I will make my page pretty.

On lightening up women of color in comics (gross).

Emily Nussbaum being awesome about Kimmy Schmidt and the stories TV tells about rape survivors and PTSD. Also, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt was originally called Tooken, and that is awesome, even though I get why they changed it.

An interview with the lady who writes Guy in Your MFA and Dystopian YA.

Emily Asher-Perrin on criticism and anger in fandom.

The Firefly theme song is not the best theme song there has ever been. Except when Jesse Martin and two other people from The Flash do a beautifully harmonized cover of it to thank Joss Whedon for contributing to their Kickstarter for a short musical film about a family hiding from slavery in the 1850s, which incidentally also sounds super great.

Some awesome bloggers created the Socratic Salon this month, which will be an all-spoilers space to discuss books in-depth. The five ladies who created it will have conversations among themselves, and other readers are encouraged to engage with them and each other in the comments. Yay!

The post As usual, I need more internet: A links round-up appeared first on Reading the End.