November 30, 2016
Approximately 204 million pounds of turkey were expected to be discarded this Thanksgiving, which could cost the country’s sanitation departments up to $293 million. / foodandwine.com
To accompany your Wednesday morning beverages, if reading about the fate of journalism under Trump appeals to your mood. (If not, here’s a fun story about taking voice lessons in Hollywood.) / story.californiasunday.com
1. “Steve Bannon’s media rehabilitation shows the press is surrendering without a fight” / Salon
2. “Protecting Journalism From Donald Trump” / The New Yorker
3. “Trump Floats Jail, Loss of Citizenship for U.S. Flag Burners” / Bloomberg
4. “If Trump Tweets It, Is It News? A Quandary for the News Media” / The New York Times
5. “Words Matter. We Must Protect Them” / publishersweekly.com
“Saunas are such an integral part of Estonian war-making that the ideal aspen and pine interiors and heavy, volcanic hot stones are shipped in specially from the Baltics.” Headline of the day: “Estonian Troops Have Never Fought a Cold War—Thanks to Pop-Up Saunas.” / Wall Street Journal
According to the International Federation of Professional Footballers, 45 percent of professional soccer players make less than $1,000 per month. / Bloomberg
A selection of new art to peruse and read about, or actually see if you’re in Miami this week. / The Creators Project
When the president-elect brags about fake wins on Twitter—like claiming he prevented a Ford plant from going to Mexico—it’s a good thing. / Vox
An increasing number of African elephants are being born without tusks. Why? For decades, poachers have consistently targeted animals with the best ivory. / The Independent
A very short film about David Cerny’s twitchy 2014 monument to Franz Kafka’s head—more relevant in the Trump era than ever before. / The Guardian
Journalist Barrett Brown was released from a Texas federal prison yesterday after serving over four years behind bars. / The Daily Dot
“We live in a sort of silly cultural hell where the columns are composed by Thomas Friedman, the novels are written by Jonathan Franzen, the debate is framed by CNN, and the fact-checking is done by no one.” Barrett Brown did not enjoy receiving Jonathan Franzen novels while he was in prison. / The Intercept
Barrett Brown’s “review of arts and letters and prison” column, first published by D Magazine and then the Intercept, is one of the very best inside-prison looks at the horrors of the criminal justice system. / www3.dmagazine.com, The Intercept
“You have to remember, we’re the Freemasons. Only, we’ve got a sense of humor. You have to wield power with a sense of humor. Otherwise you become the FBI.” A profile of Brown pre-arrest, when he was still known (paradoxically) as the “spokesman for Anonymous.” The piece shows what a intrepid, dangerous force Brown could be against authority. / D Magazine
One of the activities that earned Brown such a harsh sentence was his series of “threats” made against FBI agent Robert Smith, which he did while going through withdrawal and unwisely posted to YouTube. / Rolling Stone
The Postmedia and Torstar companies are shedding jobs like crazy under pressure from private equity owners, so Trudeau’s Department of Canadian Heritage is opening the conversation as to whether media is a public good. / niemanlab.org
“Growing up in the aughts, ‘random’ became a go-to label for anything and everything that felt both of the moment and decidedly outside of it. Whereas much of the decade prior framed the more sideways among us as outcast and sidelined, there was, slowly but surely, a radical embrace of weirdness happening across many fronts.” Somewhere between pastiche and wonder exists “random,” an internet-aided generational aesthetic formed in the crucible of post-911 incomprehension to keep anxiety in abeyance. / LA Review of Books