October 4, 2016
Tim Burton is right about one thing in his explanation of yet another lilywhite cast: tokenism isn’t the solution to Hollywood’s representation problem. / bustle.com
“When Charlotte-Mecklenburg eliminated race as a factor in student assignment, it not only meant less diverse schools; it also created a feedback loop that made the problem worse.” The loss of busing leads to “academic genocide for low-income children” at Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools, a drastic reversal from the 1980s, when the city served as a case study for successful integration. / New Yorker
Nine-year-old Zianna Oliphant implored the Charlotte City Council to figure out a way to treat black people better. “I’ve come here today to talk about how I feel, and I feel like that we are treated differently than other people,” she entreated before breaking down in tears. / YouTube
According to a new Pew Research Center poll, the number of Americans who support the death penalty is now at its lowest point in more than four decades. / Pew Research Center
“This is a book about what happens when certain casually held attitudes about women are taken to their logical conclusions.” Three decades of patriarchy later, Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale is hardly speculative or fiction. / The Establishment
According to science, based on our calendar of holidays, your body weight will reach an annual low this week or next, then you’ll get fatter. / nejm.org, The New York Times
“Bill Clinton passed NAFTA so that Hillary Clinton could run against it.” Why do left-wing governments sometimes support policies which harm their constituents? / Marginal Revolution
According to a piece by Helena Fitzgerald, the studied carelessness of “boyfriend clothes” in women’s fashion is yet “another version of a bespoke suit you can’t afford.” / racked.com
The British pound falls to a three-year low against the Euro after Theresa May makes public the timetable for starting Brexit negotiations. / BBC
“There are drugs from your neighborhood coming to my neighborhood and I’m going to keep coming back until it stops.” The opioid disaster, specifically fentanyl, spreads to the Midwest. / Wall Street Journal
An experienced outdoorsman goes hiking in Montana, gets attacked by a grizzly bear and survives—only to get attacked again 10 minutes later. / GearJunkie
Two big names on what it’s like to do jobs that seem small at first glance: Shonda Rhimes scoops ice cream at Baskin-Robbins, Nicholson Baker survives the tedium of substitute teaching. / The New Yorker, The New York Times
“We regard ourselves as dull, but not boring.” A short documentary about the Dull Men’s Club, where being very ordinary is celebrated. / dullmensclub.com
For only the second time in the pageant’s six decades, an Afro-Brazilian won the Miss Brasil title. / latintimes.com
“It felt like we’d been out-Asianed by those who adopted traditions that my family had shed long ago.” In a visit to a San Francisco public bath, an Asian-American family can only throw their hands up, told they aren’t good enough for the culture they’ve long been stigmatized for practicing. / Catapult