March 20, 2017
Caste-consciousness divides a burgeoning Delhi music scene. / Bandcamp
“[That era] is over.” John Waters declares Midnight Movies, like his Pink Flamingos, dead. / Vanity Fair
Burying their cattle, ranchers call wildfires in Kansas, Oklahoma, and the Texas panhandle their Hurricane Katrina. / New York Times
TMN’s Rosecrans Baldwin is sent high up in the Alps to figure out how Roger Federer is suddenly so resurgent. / GQ
“I am well aware that I am not well-schooled enough to appreciate this novel.” The opening round closes with a controversial opinion, as Judge Pamela Ribon struggles with a book outside her wheelhouse, so to speak. / The Tournament of Books
“Okay, here it is. Yep, I’m seeing what you’re referring to. ‘My bitch outta town, so I’m with her sis.’ Now, I’m not—I can’t concede that I even wrote that. I don’t have a memory of writing it... Do I have fingers?” Sean Spicer gets dumped. / The Slot
In emails ordered released by the DOJ by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch enthusiastically reacts to the news that “voter fraud” activist and propagandist Hans von Spakovsky will be appointed to the FEC by Bush. / judiciary.senate.gov, The New York Times, The Nation
“From somewhere, to elsewhere,” photographs that illustrate Tokyo’s lonelier moments. / Yota Yoshida
“I remember before he played his 200th show at Blueberry Hill [on Jan. 15, 2014], he joked about how we’d celebrate the next 200. And, well, I almost wouldn’t put it past him.” St. Louis businessman Joe Edwards—the owner of the Blueberry Hill venue, where Chuck Berry has played since the ’70s—remembers his old friend in recent interviews. / St. Louis
Tech investors tend to shun products by and for women; e.g., the case of Ida Tin’s period-tracking app. / The New Yorker
Five start-ups currently serve elderly Indians who need to rent “grandchildren” for help. / Quartz
“Rape in the Syrian conflict has not been an opportunistic or isolated crime but a part of the government’s repression policy.” A new report finds the Syrian government uses sexual violence as an official form of control. / Syria Deeply
Pressed by media to admit Trump’s wiretapping claims are bogus, Sean Spicer held on to two shreds of credibility. / Gizmodo
Florida judge heinously pardons guards who boiled schizophrenic black man in prison shower. / Miami New Times
A recording of Edward Gorey recalling when he bought (and lost) a mummy’s head. Drawn and animated posthumously by Gorey himself. / YouTube
Kingsnakes out-constrict other snakes, even stronger or bigger ones, by using better form. / The Atlantic
Scientists plan to release genetically-modified mosquitoes into malaria-affliced Burkina Faso in hopes of one day erasing the disease. / Scientific American
Fanfiction texts average 154 adverbs. Winners of major literary awards only clock in at 114. / LitHub