Jerry Brown, Daughters, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Writing, Tiresias
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The Last Days Of Jerry Brown
Andy Kroll | California Sunday | 18th March 2018
“Brown turns 80 in April. First elected in 1974 at the age of 36, he was one of the youngest governors in California’s history; today, he holds the distinction of being its oldest. His face, thicker now, has lost its boyishness, and there is a scar on his nose from a procedure he had to remove a cancerous growth. His gaze, though, remains unchanged, by turns puckish and withering. Written off in his youth as a New Age dilettante, Brown now finds himself the wise man of American politics” (6,000 words)
The Piercing
Joyanna Priest | Hip Mama | 19th March 2018
What do you do when the school calls to say your daughter is planning to commit suicide? You go to your daughter — and it only gets worse. “My daughter was silent in the car when I told her I loved her. At the last stoplight, the rage burst out of her: ‘I hate you! You’re the worst mother ever! Who wouldn’t want to kill themselves? At least other people know they’re bad parents! You think you’re good! I hate you!’ When I tried to reach for her, she pressed herself against the door” (1,530 words)
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Unmasked
Julie Burchill | New Statesman | 19th March 2018
Thoroughly enjoyable review of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s memoirs. “The image of the lonely little boy creating a toy theatre based on the London Palladium, then becoming the man who owns the actual London Palladium, is the stuff of beautiful theatre; far more magical than anything he has actually staged. I found myself pleasantly surprised by this book, but having said that, I’ll be swerving the next one. Life’s too short to take a liking to people whose work you loathe” (1,100 words)
On Writer’s Block
Ray Bradbury et al | Paris Review | 19th March 2018
Remedies from twelve writers. Ray Bradbury recommends gin. Jim Harrison says, get in your car and go for a long drive. The best advice, for my money, comes from Janet Malcolm. “I’m definitely more a cabinetmaker than a tormented artist. Not that writing comes easy. I don’t know about cabinetmakers, but I often get stuck. Then I get sleepy and have to lie down. Or I make myself leave the house—walking sometimes produces a solution. The problem is usually one of logic or point of view” (1,150 words)
Tiresias On Female Pleasure
Tara Mulder | Eidolon | 19th March 2018
The example of the mythical Greek transsexual Tiresias stands as a powerful precursor to the contemporary debate about gender fluidity. “The story of Tiresias tells us that people have been trying to figure out what pleasure feels like for the opposite sex for a very long time. It also tells us that the mechanisms of patriarchy have been interested, for a very long time, in perpetuating the claim that women experience significantly more pleasure than men during sex” (2,900 words)
Video of the day A Selfish Argument For Making the World Better
What to expect:
Kurzgesagt explains by means of animation the case for effective altruism (7’14”)
Thought for the day
Every great advance in knowledge has involved the rejection of authority
Thomas Henry Huxley
Podcast of the day Hey | Allusionist
Linguist Helen Zaltzman talks to Andrea Silenzi about the pick-up lines used on dating apps
(23m 11s)