At Wired, Amy Wallace reports on the controversy at the Hugo Awards, which has been plagued by accusations by a faction of mostly white male authors who call themselves “Puppies” and argue that storytelling has taken a backseat to identity politics.
Quotes
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Yogurt for the Soul: Grace Talusan on Cultured Milk as Her Personal Salve
Over at The Butter, Grace Talusan has published this moving essay about becoming obsessed with making yogurt from scratch–while on a Fulbright Scholarship in her native Manila–as a way to distract herself from feeling helpless in the face of poor children she came upon who were living in horrible conditions, plus her own infertility and […]
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Cloak-and-Dagger in America’s Cornfields
In Li’s luggage, [FBI] agents found two large Pop Weaver microwave popcorn boxes. Buried under the bags of unpopped snack kernels were roughly 300 tiny manila envelopes, all cryptically numbered—2155, 2403, 20362. Inside each envelope was a single corn seed. In Ye’s luggage, agents found more corn seeds hidden amid his clothes, each one individually […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Helen Gurley Brown’s Nemeses (and Collected Papers)
There is a fantastic piece on legendary Cosmopolitan editor Helen Gurley Brown and her legacy (or more specifically, who owns Brown’s legacy) in today’s New York Times. Katherine Rosman unpacks the financial and cultural battle over Brown’s estate with nuanced, careful reporting, but she also doesn’t sacrifice any of the heightened details you’d expect from a Helen Gurley […]
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The Nature of a Narrative Line
September 17 Annie Dillard talks about how the narrative line has been devalued by modern physics. The narrative line to me is like a Mexican mural: flattened in perspective so all is present; cramped by detail, erotic, various, the flat depth held up in the imagination, its transience, and impermanence nakedly apparent. The narrative does […]
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China’s Booming Domestic Wine Industry
Although eighty-three percent of the wine China drinks is produced domestically, and baijiu grain alcohol is still its favorite alcohol, that’s changing. China is now the world’s fifth largest wine producer. In The California Sunday Magazine, Amy Qin writes about the changing taste of Chinese drinkers, and profiles Ma Qingyun, one producer who is helping […]
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How Suicide Girls Has Thrived For 14 Years
Don’t call them alternative: Missy Suicide carved out a niche online for “the sexiest, smartest, most dangerous collection of outsider women in the world.”
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Stephen Colbert on How All Late-Night Shows Are ‘Chopped’
GQ magazine interviews Stephen Colbert, who compares making a late-night show to the Food Network show ‘Chopped.’
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes, Unapologetic Women
Jenny Diski Remembers Doris Lessing: Why Can’t People Be Sensible?
Jenny Diski remembers Doris Lessing’s unemotional approach to motherhood and life.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
The Responsibility of Being Both a Reporter and an Army Veteran
Veteran status cuts both ways. Because I’m an army veteran, other vets often tell me things they wouldn’t tell those who haven’t served. It is a privilege to be given this confidence, and yet I’m filled with an overwhelming obligation to get their stories right. Although I’m a longtime reporter, writing about veterans has been […]