Sunday, December 1, 2013

Sunday morning roundup: something for everyone


Friedman reminds us that there's an Arab world outside of the most recent conflict zones, and it's changing (partly) in response.

The oil boom brings crime to the plains.


Another perspective on the humanities.

Fascinating interview with Emily Matchar about the new domesticity. She makes a few great points, one being that DIY-ing is a way of opting out of, i.e., going beyond, the only choices provided by what's available off-the-shelf. And what seems like over-the-top is relative; I can attest that baking bread is really quite simple, and what you make is mostly so much better than what you can buy, especially at a reasonable price. Same goes for hummus. But I can appreciate that someone who's less comfortable with cooking and/or baking would rather just buy that stuff, just as I've learned to just buy home repair/improvement services, where others can DIY it.

Evan Rachel Wood speaks truth to power.

My favorite part of this excellent interview with James Baldwin may be where he talks about secondary characters: they have more freedom, but they still have to be factored into the equilibrium.

My favorite part of this article about Dave Eggars' and Mimi Lok's narrative project is, "empathy is the highest form of critical thinking."

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