I've got all the Kamala profiles you need right here
In this week's edition: sweatpants, cornhole, the DaVinci Code, cats in Tupperware, and the aforementioned profiles of Kamala Harris
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What a week, friends, WHAT a week. QAnon reached new heights; the TikTok battle reached new lows; and we in the United (debatable?) States finally have a Democratic pick for vice president. And yet I, despite this wealth of very timely material, find myself instead clicking into every *single* review of Ariel Sabar’s new book Veritas. It’s about the debunked gospel of Jesus’ wife. Remember that news cycle?? I’m not religious, but always here for some good DaVinci Code-style academic drama. Plus, these comfortably abstract discussions on the “nature of truth” and “construction of reality” are really the only type I’m up for right now…
If you read anything this weekend
This trio of profiles on Kamala Harris. I have also devoured Kamala content this week, and can reasonably assert these three are the best. First: a 2007 profile of the then-DA from San Francisco magazine, interesting in part for the author’s *overt* obsession with Harris’ femininity and appearance. (Dear Lord, please tell me something’s changed since then.) Second: the big Emily Bazelon treatment from 2016, when Harris was California AG. Third: Robin Givhan, writing last year on Harris’ college years at Howard University.
This colorful post-mortem on the fashion industry. TL;DR: It was in brutal shape long before we started living in sweatpants and Ts. The depth of that dysfunction makes a fun read, however, especially for those of us whose familiarity with high fashion began & ended with the Devil Wears Prada. (I laughed out LOUD when this author implies a $95 T-shirt is somehow downmarket or lowbrow.) [NYT mag]
This thoughtful reconsideration of the viral video that seemed to show BLM protesters storming a church. I feel like this has become Anne Helen Petersen’s 2020 specialty: pulling back the curtain on viral moments that Twitter took way out of context. In this case, the church (“church”) in question was actually the project of a locally infamous minister who preached that God cursed Black Americans. [Buzzfeed]
This deep dive on the fall of Google’s big Toronto project, which was supposed to revolutionize cities as we know them. “Objections ranged from fears of Orwellian surveillance to Canadians’ general skepticism of the American culture of exceptionalism.” Valid! [OneZero]
And now for something completely different
Postscripts
Kind of obsessed with these Malaysian cakes; also, this delightful cornhole analyst. The economics of speakeasy gyms. The return of Anonymous. An excerpt from Lyz Lenz’s new book on pregnancy. An analysis of Kamala’s Wikipedia edits. Since tomorrow is my birthday, I’m happy to learn that 31 is the new 27.
How social justice slideshows took over Instagram. How Covid “long-haulers” are studying themselves. Last but not least: a little light reading from Nature on the future course of the pandemic. (I found this really clarifying, myself!)
Sharing is caring
Nate Rogers has written many pieces I really like — most recently, the above referenced essay on Folklore, cottagecore & related aesthetics — but selfishly, this tweet is probably the piece that I like best. THANK YOU to Nate & everyone else who has shared this newsletter. Until next week!
— Caitlin