These are just some motherfucking snails inside some motherfucking dollhouses.

Why casting Nagini as an Asian woman is so offensive.

Ron Charles considers whether we still need Banned Books Week, and reaches no real conclusion.

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, a writer I adore, talks about Howard Zinn and why it matters that his work was essentially and fundamentally collaborative.

I can’t wait to read Rebecca Traister’s latest book, Good and Mad. Here’s everything she was reading while she wrote it.

I typically click straight out of articles that bewail how easy it is to “cancel” somebody, but Wesley Morris has a lot of interesting, thoughtful things to say about art and morality. He also, in my opinion, missed some nuance — as people who complain about cancellation culture often do. Vulture put on a terrific round-table of responses from critics, including another forever-fave of mine, Angelica Jade Bastien. Their conversation helped me to understand something I believe but have been struggling to articulate about artistic disagreement.

What your favorite Shakespeare play says about you.

Roxane Gay reflects on the Kavanaugh hearing and harassers who claim themselves as the victims.

How to tell a good made-up language from a bad one.

Reese Witherspoon peddles a version of Southern femininity that isn’t available to everyone.

Here is a (very spoilery) superb appreciation of Practical Magic, my favorite Halloween movie.

Happy weekend!

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Kelly Marie Tran in Buzzfeed. Kelly Marie Tran in EW. Kelly Marie Tran sorting Star Wars characters into Hogwarts houses, an activity she’s so pumped to do. And lest we forget, here’s John Boyega’s last-year enthusiasm for her, bless his heart.

Okay, good. We are all happy now, about Kelly Marie Tran. Now back to dismantling the patriarchy. (PS Kelly Marie Tran being in Star Wars is also dismantling the patriarchy, thanks Kelly Marie Tran, we owe you.)

“Many men will absorb the lessons of late 2017 to be not about the threat they’ve posed to women but about the threat that women pose to them.” Rebecca Traister on all this sexual assault business.

Love this interview with Roxane Gay.

Comedians have to get over themselves, says Drew Magary. And he attacks that awful trope of shitty, offensive comedians being truth-tellers, THANK CHRIST.

How Get Out inspired a UCLA course on horror and racism. Get Out is a movie I have seen, and it is very frightening and has lots of creepy, clever little Easter eggs for, like, critical race theory nerds. (I’m kidding.) (Sort of.)

The movie was better: AV Club has a round-up of movies that out-awesomed the books they were based on. I ardently cosign The Princess Bride in particular.

The New York Times published a puff piece about how nice and normal Nazis can be. This is only surprising to people who don’t realize how normal racism has always been.

A NOAH’S ARK REPLICA. I have nothing further to add. It is a REPLICA of Noah’s ARK that you can VISIT AND TOUR.

What would make Matt Lauer’s apology less infuriating?

20 Authors I Don’t Have to Read Because I Dated Men for Years. Bahahah this is gold and not just because she calls Kurt Vonnegut the manic pixie dream girl of American literature.

There was this mind-numbingly stupid article at Slate about how this one lady ended up marrying her boss so we better watch out lest the #MeToo moment GO TOO FAR. Here is a good response.

Happy weekend! Go watch the Star Wars trailer a dozen more times. You’ve earned it.

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