I thought we’d start this week’s links round-up with something heartening: An article about why the AskHistorians subreddit bans Holocaust denial on their platform.

Here’s what’s been happening with the programming at WorldCon. For heaven’s sake. Mary Robinette Kowal and a team of other cool people have stepped in to help fix it.

If you can get through how much R. Kelly makes your skin crawl, Hannah Giorgis has a wonderfully thoughtful take on his new (vile) song and all the wrongs he thinks he’s suffered.

Welp this Buzzfeed piece about sex positivity and working in a sex toys shop broke my heart.

An authoritative ranking of all the secret siblings on CW shows. Luckily they rank One Tree Hill number one, as any other decision would invalidate the whole ranking.

Uncanny Magazine is Kickstarting a fifth year, now with stretch goals to cover launching a vid channel! I love Uncanny Magazine, which has the shiniest special issues ever, so definitely consider kicking in.

Therese Marie Mailhot makes a point about the world “civilized” as adjective vs verb that I absolutely love, in this piece about marginalized groups and the demand for courtesy.

The Queer Eye reboot may be the cure for toxic masculinity. (It’s not.) It’s the porn of emotional labor.

Here’s a story about how a high school teacher took advantage of her student — and why we need better ways to talk about teachers and students.

Why is nothing wheelchair accessible in science fiction? Ace Ratcliff investigates.

How women get punished for society’s fears about children’s independence.

I hope y’all all have a wonderful and amazing weekend! Stay cool, and happy August!

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Roxane Gay on Confederate and why she doesn’t want it. I’m going to share this one quote because it’s really good:

It is curious that time and again, when people create alternate histories, they are largely replicating a history we already know, and intimately. They are replicating histories where whiteness thrives and people of color remain oppressed.

I’ll never not want to post links about Tom Stoppard and how great he is. And like, if his best work is behind him, that seems FINE because he is EIGHTY.

In addition to every other goddamn thing, Trump is dicking up the book industry for all of us.

A roundtable discussion of black SFF authors and the ways the industry shuts them out.

What is an independent bookseller’s responsibility to Hillbilly Elegy?

Bronx native Noelle Santos is opening a bookstore in the Bronx, which since 2016 hasn’t had any general interest bookstores in the entire borough. Noelle Santos is my hero.

The Frick (a museum I have never been in GASP GASP I know I always meant to go but so far I have not been) is working on a new project that would create lil books to go along with their artistic masterpieces. Hilary Mantel, among others, has signed on to participate.

I am usually crabby as hell about depictions of child protective services, but I think this NYTimes piece manages a critique of its practices in a way that doesn’t elide some of the problems child protective services caseworkers face.

Someone on the internet is a genius, part eleven thousand.

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“We are not in a golden age of nuance”: A really remarkably good review of Marvel’s Civil War, from Linda Holmes at NPR’s Monkeysee.

We really do seem to talk about trigger warnings more than encounter them, don’t we? Laurie Penny responds to Stephen Fry’s outburst of rage re: trigger warnings.¹

Why white people tend to be so terrible about discussing race, and what to do about it.

Okay, I resisted reading this story about a guy adopting a dog in Skyrim, but that was nuts and this story is amazing.

Negotiating a raise while a woman: Advice from McSweeney’s.

Richard Sherman goes undercover as a Lyft driver.

This goddamn election: A frustrated op-ed by Lindy West.

Eurovision is going to be broadcast and streamed in the US for the first time ever, dear God it is all my dreams coming true.

Regarding Asian Americans, representation, and the #whitewashedOUT hashtag.

A thoughtful editorial from Kirkus editor Vicky Smith on identifying character race in reviews.

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What to do if you are white and straight and cis and male and not all the stories are about you anymore (Star Wars spoilers included herein).

“More as heroines than damsels”: How Disney gave their Princess dolls business to Hasbro.

Nichole Chung on microaggressions and the certainty that you are the only person who can make sure everyone at the table keeps having a nice time.

New York Magazine has been one of my favorite places for pop culture writing since time immemorial, but my God they have been crushing it in 2016. This piece by Sulagna Misra about how “internet boyfriends” get created is so m.f. good.

Mismatched communication styles and Hanlon’s Razor (I don’t necessarily agree with everything in this article, but I think it’s at least interesting).

Jenny, are you tired yet of reading about people escaping from cults? NO NEVER.

A detailed look at the publication process, and how it might be shortened for George R. R. Martin’s doorstopper The Winds of Winter.

Here’s something I just found out about this instant because the book I read about the Comoros was thirty years old because nobody writes about the Comoros: The United Arab Emirates bought a whole bunch of Comoran citizenships to bestow upon members of a stateless ethnic group living within their borders. Because this world makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

The Telegraph has helpfully compiled an extensive article about how to do heists, but also, why you shouldn’t bother.

I ride hard for Paterson Joseph, as you’ll know if you were around me when David Tennant announced his departure from Doctor Who. I still think he’d be an amazing Doctor, NOT THAT Steven Moffat would ever remotely consider hiring him for that gig cause he’s a jerk. Anyway, Joseph is now doing a one-man show about Ignatius Sancho that sounds awesome. Way to goddamn go, Paterson Joseph.

The post I Read a Book about the Comoros and Didn’t Tell You: A Links Round-Up appeared first on Reading the End.

Kate Elliott discusses female friendships on television at The Book Smugglers, and recommends some forthcoming fantasy books, thus lengthening my TBR list for 2015 even further. Seriously, my 2015 list is out of control. I need help.

An article on Pamela Colman Smith, the wonderful artist of the classic Tarot deck. Hers is the only Tarot deck I will condescend to use. Others are beautiful, but Pamela Colman Smith’s has all the symbolism.

Rembert Browne of Grantland and Joel Anderson of BuzzFeed had an excellent conversation in December about the movie Selma and its parallels with protests of today. They have a ton of great things to say about oppression and how it reverberates into today, and in particular about the behavior a historically oppressive group should display to the historically oppressed.

The digital revolution is going to make film preservation a bitch to keep up. New York reports.

Elizabeth Minkel has become one of my favorite writers about fan culture, and here she is at The New Statesman being brilliant about writers and fanfic.

Obviously there are problems here, but this animation of a dad and his five-year-old discussing the Leia slave costume in Star Wars is nevertheless SO CUTE. (I am less sad that she wants to keep wearing this outfit than I am that she plans to be rescued.)

An article about the financial problems of open access journals. Cause really. I work in publishing. It costs money to create these things, and it is uncool to make submitting scholars pay for it. (Or in other words, I don’t know what the answer is.)

Laurie Penny on nerd entitlement.

Here is Nicole Kidman telling Jimmy Fallon a version of a story that he absolutely did not expect. It’s the best.

This is going to have a very niche appeal, but you guys: The Bachelor is back, and I don’t know if I’ve told you, but I am addicted to recaps of The Bachelor. This year (maybe all years! have I been missing out on this all along??), the incomparable Lily Sparks is recapping. I anticipate a glorious season.

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