I Am an Expert on Starbuck's Around the Country
I travel a lot for work, and sometimes I think the only knowledge I've acquired is this: I know the best Starbuck's to duck in for a quick wifi session in many, many cities. It's not a bad skill to have.
What I'm Writing:
This piece on a woman's journey through trauma, prison, and sobriety.
What I'm Reading:
Missing Jon Stewart during an election that seems to be designed for his version of The Daily Show. On Bernie Sanders and the failure of the liberal imagination to account for racial inequity. Oh Hillary Clinton's misunderstanding of Reconstruction. The New York Times and missing the story in Flint. Running for president while female. Science breaks down RBF. What Making a Murderer got wrong. The real-life drag queen who inspired Ursula the Sea Witch from The Little Mermaid. The Olympian and DIY Scientist who share a mutated gene. Who Pays Writers? Answer: Nobody, at least not on time. Never forget that R. Kelly is an unrepentant pedophile. On Sarah Palin's fascinating English. Ted Cruz's Karl Rove. On the best pollster in politics (except she was wrong in Iowa.)
This deserves it's own spot: This sociologist, Matthew Desmond, is working on a book about evictions and, as far as I can tell, he's the only one who's actually gathered numbers and investigated it. It's really important work. A preview in The New Yorker.
Yet, I think if you read this on Alice Goffman, you will agree with me that a lot of sociology is in trouble as a discipline.
Books I'm Reading:
Under the Banner of Heaven, after putting it off for years. It's not exactly what I thought it was, but it remains such a great title for a book.
What I'm Listening To:
The second episode of The Rise of Charm City, a really great public radio project. The people I wrote about in this story were on StoryCorps on Morning Edition today.
What I'm Recommending:
Everything is better when it's cooked in cast iron.
Cute Animal Picture of the Week:
This picture is a little hard to see, but I'm glad they're finally friends.
