January 13, 2017
“The indie musician Mitski Miyawaki, who has earned praise for exceptional control over her singing voice, said that she, too, is often unpleasantly surprised by her speaking voice, which she perceives as ‘lower, more commanding,’ than it sounds to others.” Ever wonder why your voice sounds different (and probably better) inside your head? It turns out you have two pathways to hear your voice, and one makes it deeper and richer. / New York Times
Think shoveling your driveway is a pain? Here’s how they clear the cables on British Columbia’s Port Mann Bridge, one of the world’s largest cable stay suspension bridges. / Wikipedia
“Time and again, Chait sends out stick figures—liberalism, Marxism, political correctness, conservatism—to do battle while he provides snarky commentary from the sidelines.” Jonathan Chait’s former ideological home (several owners removed, of course) makes the case against his failing brand of centrism. / The New Republic
No one expected a lilywhite Trump administration, but the allegations of favors for influence continue to pile up. —Trump tweeted an enthusiastic endorsement of LL Bean, which the AP then tied to an illegally large super PAC donation from company heiress Linda Bean. / Twitter, Associated Press
Children play differently around the world / TMN
A supremely qualified female candidate for the highest office in the land loses her election to an outsider male candidate with little to no experience in governance: This didn’t just happen in the States, it happened all over the world. / The Washington Post
Rex Tillerson’s ExxonMobil is a powerful, private, unfathomably wealthy cult built around personalities like Tillerson’s—“ruthless, self-isolating and inscrutable…priggish Presbyterian deacons,” per Steve Coll’s reporting. / thepenguinpress.com
As if her story weren’t tragic and fascinating enough, here’s an illuminating secret history of Marilyn Monroe’s skirt-raising scene from The Seven Year Itch. / The New York Times
Mike Pompeo stands by the program even though in his Senate confirmation hearing he admitted it would be illegal. / districtsentinel.com
“The fundamental principle must be this: things ought to be nice, and if they are not nice, then they are not leftist....The reason Marie Antoinette needed beheading was not that she wished cake on the poor, but that she never actually gave them any.” An op-ed for the weekend: Let the right keep austerity. A successful left will throw better parties. / Current Affairs
It’s Friday the 13th, and a whole bunch of people hopped on a flight numbered 666—on a plane that’s 13 years old—destined for HEL. / Buzzfeed