April 12, 2017
“With Trump’s election, civil society and democratic forces in Egypt and elsewhere have really lost something.” / BuzzFeed News
Just days after they met in DC, China’s Xi Jinping urges Trump on a call to please calm down about North Korea. / Reuters
“I will never forgive you for what you did. I will explain to you everything tomorrow. Don’t waste my time, please. Are we going to spend the whole day talking about this stupid film?” There are too few Peter Hessler articles in this world, so when a new one appears we celebrate. This week, Hessler learns Arabic in Egypt during the fallout of the Arab Spring. / The New Yorker
Despite a warning from the supreme leader, Iran’s Ahmadinejad decides to run for president, surprising everybody. / The Guardian
How to diagnose a controversial tweet: at least a two-to-one ratio of replies to likes/retweets. / Esquire
After a run of misfortune, a Korean-Japanese conglomerate finds succor in Goethe’s “Sorrows of Young Werther.” / Wall Street Journal
In addition to the Peter Hessler article quoted below, some interesting things: / The New Yorker
1. “How to Write TV in the Age of Trump: Showrunners Reveal All,” New York Times / The New York Times
2. “Sha-shokudo: A New Public Eatery in Tokyo Inspired by Office Cafeterias,” Spoon & Tamago / spoon-tamago.com
3. Speaking of Japan, artist James Curran is in Tokyo, and he’s making GIFs every day. / Twitter
4. “This Age of Wonkery,” David Brooks / The New York Times
5. “State Death, War Declarations, and Battle Deaths: A Conversation with Tanisha Fazal,” Council on Foreign Relations / blogs.cfr.org
Why young men continue to sign up for the French Foreign Legion: romance, violence, and a French passport. / Aeon
“Art is my weapon.” Turkish artist Ekin Onat exposes police brutality for the Venice Biennale. / The Guardian
On view at New York’s Japan Society, “A Third Gender” explores the Edo period’s sexually ambidextrous behavior. / Japan Society
Composed of liquid plastic, brass wire, and a wooden scaffold, Casey Curran’s “Bequeath these Seeds” crawls with a simulacra of life. / caseycurran.com
Fragments, geometry, and chopped up color fields in some very appealing portraits by Lui Ferreyra. / Lui Ferreyra