Here’s why the VFX world of the movies is so extremely broken.

Color-blind casting is supposed to create a fantasy world for a broader set of audiences. But it comes with its own problems. See also: “Does colonialism exist in Bridgerton’s world?”

The wonderful Gabrielle Bellot considers Netflix’s Sandman.

Conspiracy theories about celebrity pregnancies are unalloyed misogyny.

The CEO who (allegedly) raised everyone’s salary to $70,000 is an abuser, and he has been known to be one for quite some time. Please stop RTing his content!

What makes a dumpling a dumpling? (Challenge: Read this story without achieving semantic satiation on the word “dumpling.”)

“[She] sometimes converses like she has a tiny Bachelor producer in her brain” is the funniest description I can imagine. Anyway, here is a compassionate and smart profile of Meghan Markle!

I am obsessed with this London Underground-style map of the human body.

Why have US universities let themselves become pipelines to Lockheed Martin and similar defense contractors?

JK Rowling has uh. has written a new book. of sorts.

How Normal Gossip (a newish favorite podcast of mine!) gets made.

Masiyaleti Mbewe considers the state of African millennial fiction — though tragically without mentioning the very millennial (in my opinion) The Eternal Audience of One.

Charlie Warzel reflects on the mistake that led to him being Twitter’s main character for a day, and considers what we can learn from it.

Add this to the list of Scientology’s abuses: It relies on a steady stream of immigrant labor that it acquires by cheating the R1 visa system and abusing immigrant workers.

One of my favorite genres of article is “THIS SYSTEM IS TOTALLY UNREGULATED.” For your consideration today: dog training.

“Hollow moral leadership upheld by a spectacle of extravagant, ill-gotten wealth has enabled Britons to remain proud of rather than reflective about empire and its destructive impact today.”

“The Queen is not entitled to your grief.” Ayan Artan, a Somali-British writer, considers the marketing effort on behalf of the monarchy to conceal and erase the damage of British imperialism.

“People like Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder who has gone all in on The Rings of Power, have more wealth than they could possibly use in a single lifetime, and in many respects more power than any king could ever have dreamed of; the rest of us face rising rents, inflation, and a gig economy that affords few protections when we get sick or injured.” On the new crop of fantasy TV shows.

Chinelo Okparanto considers the ethics and aesthetics of writing across racial identities.

Sarah Weinman reflects on Serial and all that it did and didn’t do.

Tips and tricks to run a good book club.

It’s always a cause for celebration when Lamar Giles has a new book out! He has a new book out AND he’s writing about social horror, yay!

Scaachi Coul is terrific as ever on the downfall of the Wife Guy. Linda Holmes on audience entitlement re: same.

This is superb TikTok journalism and I think Kady Ruth Ashcraft for doing it.

“The Very Online never leave: they hate it here but they’re never anywhere else.” On the digital afterlife of my beloved Constantine Cavafy.

So-called “secret menus” that go viral on TikTok are making the lives of fast food workers hell.

Hell of a kicker on this piece about how India’s movie industry has been affected by the rise of Hindu nationalism.

Maori polar explorers!

Happy weekend, friends!

The post It’s Scary How Many Links There Are: A Links Round-Up appeared first on Reading the End.

The pandemic will end. Ed Yong, savior of cogent COVID explanations, lays out the path to normalcy, and considers what our new normal will look like. (link)

“Customers affect a demeanor of antagonistic helplessness.” PHEW this whole article about what it’s like to work retail at a time when everyone is being The Worst is very good, but this one line just about did me in. (link)

Here is why every woman in all of TV has the exact same hair. (link)

“You know how little girls dream of their weddings? I dreamt of houses.” Sandra Cisneros on finding a room of her own. (link)

Nylah Burton interviews Laura Blackett and Eve Gleichman on the dystopian world of their new workplace novel, The Very Nice Box. (link)

Lesley Anne Warren remembers Clue. (link)

On the people and companies that are trying to make travel less racist. (link)

“Who is to blame in this transaction: the lone shopper who purchased hundreds of dollars worth of clothes, or the billion-dollar retailer?” How Gen Z shops. (link)

Music critic Craig Jenkins sees no end in sight for homophobia in hip-hop. (link)

The central theme of Howl’s Moving Castle is unappreciated labor. Also it slaps. (link)

Midnight’s Borders, by Suchitra Vijayan, has been one of my favorite nonfiction books of the year. Here’s its author getting interviewed over at The Rumpus. (link)

“Does Lenù like Lila?” On the friendship plot and how it could be better. (link)

“Here is what it is: no force on earth will keep a writer’s preoccupations out of their fiction. You are not necessarily looking for them, but you find them every time.” A new Patricia Lockwood review is always cause for rejoicing. (link)

Why the devil do grocery stores still have an ethnic food aisle? (link)

“You can make a lot of money in diversity being abstract.” WHEW. On the DEI industry. (link)

This weekend, I am planning to do many, many tasks! If that doesn’t work out, I will at least spend time with my nephew, who is one of my favorite people on earth. I have two puzzles for him to play with and a new copy of Chutes and Ladders and a bed that goes up and down and a typewriter. All the ingredients for a fun time!

The post It’s Friday the 13th But We’re Not Doomed: A Links Round-Up appeared first on Reading the End.

The internet is not a shared space of equality. It’s as segregated as the real world.

US vs UK book covers of 2018.

Years of poaching and loss of habitat have led to aggressive behavior in elephants. (An older article that was on Longform.org and was so fascinating I had to share.)

A line about limping in The Good Place last season really threw me, so I was glad to see this piece on disability in the afterlife.

CBS’s company culture is reflected in the rash of sexual harassment claims they face, but also in the stories they choose to tell.

“This is how all bad relationships should end. Just: Helicopter. Credits. No contact with civilians.” On Buffy’s break-up with Riley Finn. (This is, incidentally, how my relationship with George W. Bush ended. I cannot recommend it highly enough.)

These are Alyssa Cole’s best romances of 2018.

I am fascinated by this deep dive into glitter production. Please read it and then share your hypotheses about which industry buys the most glitter. Toothpaste is so far the best theory I’ve heard.

A black Jewish woman responds to Alice Walker’s anti-Semitism.

Here’s what it’s like to be a cable guy (while queer and female).

Jamilah King on the black lives lost at Jonestown — and the archivists who have dedicated their lives to making sure those lives are not forgotten.

The Tournament of Books shortlist has been announced!

“This concludes the last thing I’ll ever write about Kevin Spacey or Louis C.K., until they’re sentenced in courts of law, or I have to write their obituaries.” I mostly link to women writing about sexual harassers, but eh, I’ll make one exception because I love this kicker.

I was hoping Angelica Jade Bastien (one of my fave critics working right now) would tackle Surviving R Kelly, and she has! Aisha Harris has a thoughtful take on some of the reasons R Kelly has escaped consequences for his actions. And Morgan Jerkins explores the manipulation of teenage fans.

One of my favorite things about Ask a Manager is how she’s bringing together the advice community. Here’s an excellent roundtable of Ask a Manager, Dear Prudence, Captain Awkward, Care and Feeding, Dr. Nerdlove, and Ask a Clean Person, all talking about the world of giving advice.

Happy weekend! I got such a sweet hug this morning!

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