Happy Friday! It’s time for another link list.
This week I’ve been mostly reading, getting back into personal projects, and holiday planning.
What’s new with you?
–– ON ROBOTNIC.CO ––
It’s been a long time since I made a video, but I came back.
Win a copy of my book, Fan Phenomena: The Hunger Games! I’m giving away 3 copies.
–– ARTS & CULTURE ––
The coiner of the oft-used critical film term Manic Pixie Dream Girl is over it. The best and delightfully, appropriately meta response via MetaFilter:
“Now that Manic Pixie Dream Girl has helped Nathan Rabin to complete his own character development arc, he’s ready to dump it and move on.”
& in related… The Reason People Hate Katherine Heigel:
“In development meetings, there’s a tacit agreement that a male ‘no’ carries more weight than a female ‘yes.’ Why should studios risk selling guys on a romantic comedy when they can rely on guys selling their girlfriends on Transformers?”
& from Jezebel’s Erin Gloria Ryan: “studios essentially asked a bunch of dudes what they thought women wanted and then got frustrated and blamed the audience when those dudes weren’t right.”
& in related results: Hollywood’s Having a Bad Summer Because They Only Cater to Young Dudes. Duh!
In unrelated, this weekend I’m going to the exhibition of the Robben Island Bible: a book of Shakespeare’s complete works, which was disguised as a religious text and smuggled into Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was a prisoner. Pretty cool, huh?
>A fantastic NPR profile of Roxane Gay: ‘Bad Feminist,’ Real Person.
–– DIGITAL ––
This week’s newsletter recommendation: Links I would gchat you if we were friends by Caitlin Dewey. It’s daily!
Also, a podcast recommendation. I just listened to Dan Savage on Death, Sex & Money from WNYC. It’s as intriguing and discomforting as it sounds and I love Anna Sale’s style and warmth already.
This week I hit the holy podcast trifecta: simultaneously unlistened-to episodes of Hello Internet, Call Your Girlfriend, and You Must Remember This.
Saving Us From Ourselves: The Anti-Clickbait Movement. Thank fuck for the backlash. While I avoid moralising and “surprising” headlines as a matter of course, opening articles that bear no resemblance to their headlines is still one of the perils of the internet today.
–– &c. ––
10 Words Every Girl Should Learn – to counter being constantly interrupted by men. This happens to me on a daily basis. I struggle with it even in my family. Reading this made me angry, but also made me realise it’s not just my “wee voice“. My husband is trying to be more mindful of this too.
I always wondered why we never see one side of the moon. Here’s the explanation in an exclamation-filled article: The Two Faces of the Moon.
What have you been reading this week?
