Weekend Reading

  • The women of the Moonlite Bunny Ranch brothel answer your questions about working as legal prostitutes
    In August, two Quartz reporters, Allison Schrager, who’s also an economist, and Siyi Chen, a video journalist traveled to Carson City, Nevada to visit the famed Moonlite Bunny Ranch Brothel.
    How do you break the stigma around sex workers? By talking to them.
  • I Used to Be a Human Being
    I was sitting in a large meditation hall in a converted novitiate in central Massachusetts when I reached into my pocket for my iPhone. A woman in the front of the room gamely held a basket in front of her, beaming beneficently, like a priest with a collection plate.
    Turn off your smart phone for a weekend. Lock it away. Give the key to a friend. Or… find the middle ground (ain’t it always the way!)
  • The Road Ahead
    I am in my 100th year. When I was born in 1916 in Amsterdam, New York, Woodrow Wilson was our president. My parents, who could not speak or write English, were emigrants from Russia.
    Kirk Douglas (yes, yes, he is Spartacus) writes. I hope those voting in the US read and absorb.
  • Middle-aged man threatened by successful young woman
    For most people, managing to be so derogatory and so misogynistic in just 126 words would be quite a feat. But not for The Sun columnist Rod Liddle, or, as I refer to him, Little Rod (no explanation needed).
    An exquisitely crafted takedown of a luddite. Read, share, amplify.
  • Dancing Naked in Public
    If the contemporary art world seems like a place of pretension, status-seeking, and giant checks being paid through Larry Gagosian and David Zwirner, then it’s the critic Jerry Saltz who may be the last hope of bringing us all back down to earth.
    “Modern Art is Rubbish” is a statement in and of itself (also a pretty decent album) but should all art challenge? What is the role of art anyway?
  • Avert Your Eyes
    This year marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of Hitler’s invasion of Soviet Russia, the largest military confrontation in the history of our species.
    De-sensitised? Over-stimulated? Weary of the world? Who is drawing the line these days (and if it’s down to us, how the hell do we manage to do that).
  • It costs Apple about a third as much to make an iPhone 7 as it charges you
    The cheapest iPhone 7 retails for $649, but new research suggests it costs Apple roughly $225 to build one. Market research firm IHS Markit recently took apart the iPhone 7 to price out all of the individual parts that go into building the phone.
    Only linking this one so I can write the following comment. Ehhhh capitalism much? Thank you.
  • Stupefied
    Each summer, thousands of the best and brightest graduates join the workforce. Their well-above-average raw intelligence will have been carefully crafted through years at the world’s best universities.
    Think you are smart? Don’t worry, the company you work for will dumb you down soon enough (if I’m a reflection of recent working experiences… wow I’m thicker than 3 short planks!)
  • High Hitler: how Nazi drug abuse steered the course of history
    German writer Norman Ohler’s astonishing account of methamphetamine addiction in the Third Reich changes what we know about the second world war.
    No comment needed really.
  • LGBTQ and Other “Diverse” Books Lead Banned Books List
    “Diversity” may be a buzzword in enlightened literary circles (so much so that certain writers feel oppressed by the very idea) but diverse books — especially those with LGBT, with emphasis on the T, content — are among the most frequently challenged books, according to the American Library
    Spoiler: That damn 50 shades book is there but NOT because it’s BLOODY AWFUL!
  • ‘Galactic Tick Day’ Celebrates Sun’s Trip Around the Galaxy
    Every time the Earth makes one complete loop around the sun, humans celebrate the journey with some kind of New Year’s holiday. So why won’t we celebrate every time our solar system completes one loop around the center of the galaxy?
    Another link posted just so I can write the following; A galactic tick sounds like something we need a gigantic can of bug spray for!
  • Facebook and Google: most powerful and secretive empires we’ve ever known
    We need better language to describe the technology companies that control the digital worlds in which we speak, play and live Google and Facebook have conveyed nearly all of us to this page, and just about every other idea or expression we’ll encounter today.
    First person to mention Apple wins a prize!
  • How Pop Culture Tells Women to Shut Up
    Sady Doyle’s new book, Trainwreck, explores the many ways the U.S. (and its media, and its paparazzi, and its Donald Trump) continue to demean the ladyfolk.
    Read, absorb, amplify. To all the women I know, please never ever shut up (you are all way more smarterer than I is!)
  • This Old-Ass Commodore 64 Is Still Being Used to Run an Auto Shop in Poland
    Hell yeah. We need to learn a lesson about needless consumerism from this auto repair shop in Gdansk, Poland. Because it still uses a Commodore 64 to run its operations. Yes, the same Commodore 64 released 34 years ago that clocked in at 1 MHz and had 64 kilobytes of RAM.
    Impressive!
  • ReflexLOLogy: Inside the Groan-Inducing World of Pun Competitions
    From the moment he spoke, I knew I was screwed. On the surface, the guy wasn’t particularly fearsome—pudgy, late thirties, polo shirt, plaid shorts, baseball cap, dad sneakers—but he looked completely at ease.
    Puns, the lowest and best form of wit.
  • On How to Disagree
    We live in a world saturated with disagreement.
    One of those, common sense advice things that needs to be repeated. Often.