Monday Medley

What we read during Kimye’s wedding…

• A powerful case for reparations from Ta-Nehisi Coates.

• In a review of Glenn Greenwald’s new book No Place to Hide, Michael Kinsley essentially endorsed prior restraint, saying that the government ought to decide what newspapers get to publish. That opinion, of course, flies in the face of Supreme Court precedent and most beliefs about what journalism entails.

• Where do most immigrants come from?

• On Bob Dylan fans.

• A hilarious Netflix glitch mashed up movie plot summaries.

• The comic influences of Anthony Jesenik.

• Ralph Nader on the legacy of 1930s conservatism.

Monday Medley

What we read while learning about quad strains…

• The Atlantic‘s David Freedman writes what we’d describe as a screed against Michael Pollan and his fellow foodies, which is then countered by said foodies.

• David Roth with a powerfully revealing story on Kenny Anderson.

• In defense of Sex and the City.

• Remembering Jessica Ghawi, the sports journalist killed in Aurora last summer.

• The lost art of keeping score at a baseball game.

• In other baseball news, some interesting reactions to the Ryan Braun suspension.

• On Aaron Hernandez and football’s media culture.

Monday Medley

What we read while getting used to writing “2013”…

• New Year’s around the world.

• A New Year’s Resolution from Norm Macdonald.

• West Virginia is finally being put on the map.

• Adrian Lamo tries to explain himself.

• As Lance Armstrong contemplates a confession, just how altruistic is LiveStrong?

• The 20th anniversary of one of the greatest playoff games in NFL history.

• Alan Sepinwall talks about his new book and the crucial episodes in the last decade of television.

• An unconventional example of criminal justice.

• Some thoughts on Quentin Tarantino’s revisionary history.

• George Saunders has ended the race for best book of 2013.

• Nobody does obituaries like The Economist, and this one, on British speaking clock Brian Cobby, shows why.

• This week in oral histories (two!): A look back at Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay”, plus an oral history of Good Will Hunting.

• The coolest iPhone case that doesn’t really work.

• Bill Wyman exposes the myth that Michael Jackson has sold “a billion” records.

• Matt Taibbi revisits the bailout over four years later.

• The best lede of the week, and it’s not even close.

Monday Medley

What we read while Peyton Manning’s head stayed on…

http://www.hulu.com/watch/398955?playlist_id=1031

• NPI’s thoughts go out to Brandon McCarthy, a good pitcher and a great Tweeter, who got hit with a line drive. He’s still in serious condition, but keeps making us laugh.

• The Atlantic breaks down where Bill Clinton improvised in his DNC speech.

• Vikings punter Chris Kluwe offers an amazing response to a Maryland state senator’s idiotic letter opposing an NFLer’s support of gay marriage.

• Mitch Hurwitz talks about bringing back Arrested Development.

• The Awl tries to solve a murder.

• D.T. Max’s biography of David Foster Wallace came out last month (read an excerpt). Max has been discussing certain documents he reviewed in the course of writing, including DFW’s childhood writing and his first pitch letter. Meanwhile, at least one prominent author hates Wallace, and someone who edited both of them says he knows why.

• Vince Gilligan discusses the finale of Breaking Bad. Someone on the Internet estimates how much cash Walter White actually had.

• Speaking of the drug war, here’s an excellent piece on the use/abuse of confidential informants by the police.

• Ten heartbreaking moments from The Simpsons.

• Art Modell died. Joe Posnanski, a native of Cleveland, offered his thoughts, which were more generous than some other Clevelanders. Posnanski also weighed in on the Strasburg decision.

• An interesting look at the parallels between Kristen Stewart and the “war on women.”

Monday Medley

What we read while hiding safely in a midnight showing of Ice Age 3…

• Friday’s tragedy in Aurora, CO has the town and the rest of the country mourning. One of the victims narrowly avoided a similar tragedy just over a month ago. The shooting has also reawakened the debate on gun control. As NYC Mayor Bloomberg said: “Expressing sympathy is nice…but somebody has to do something about this.” James Fallows says that more shootings are a certainty–Will Wilkinson even wonders why we don’t see more of them. Of course, the odds of anything really changing are small.

• Antonin Scalia and his working relationship with Bryan Garner, the subject of David Foster Wallace’s famous essay on English usage.

• Speaking of Justices, some interesting memoranda from Chief Justice Roberts’s days in the Reagan administration (more than one involve Michael Jackson).

• Quite the interactive graphic detailing the use of stop-and-frisks in NYC.

• BuzzFeed offers the best response to a McSweeney’s parody ever.

• The weird relationship between Chris Christie and Bruce Springsteen.

• How much money is actually kept in offshore bank accounts?

• The use of drones… in North Dakota.

• On the implications of the A/B test.

Monday Medley

What we read while trying to find Ann Romney a job…

• The Trayvon Martin case took another turn last week, as George Zimmerman was arrested and charged with second degree murder. Meanwhile, a teacher in Michigan was fired for teaching the issue. And a little background on “Stand Your Ground” laws.

• Jonathan Franzen bashes the comma-then construction.

• Deadspin’s Drew Magary veers away from sports to detail the premature birth of his child.

• The Department of Justice sued Apple and several e-book publishers for price fixing in violation of federal Antitrust laws: here is a review of some key excerpts from the complaint. Amazon, of course, is thrilled.

• The Atlantic got more headlines with its cover story on Facebook and loneliness — “How Facebook and Twitter Are Saving and/or Wrecking the World” are easily marketable these days — we enjoyed their profile of video game innovator Jonathan Blow a tad more.

• Do drones make it too easy for America to wage war? There are already more wars than most Americans can keep track of…

• How liberals have turned their backs on Bradley Manning.

• Will Wilkinson and Bryan Caplan debate whether political/ideological labels are IQ-draining. Meanwhile, Will Wilkinson is (gradually) changing his career.

• Ashley Judd offers a scathing indictment of the media’s dissection of her face.

• Now that Rick Santorum has dropped out, making Mitt Romney’s nomination all but official, it’s time for the really important question about the 2012 election: Does it even matter?

• Ever want to live in an Ikea? How about a town owned and developed by Ikea?

• Matt Taibbi is no fan of President Obama’s JOBS Act.

• When even “good” schools fail to prepare students for college.

• When people cared about fonts.

• Has the NYPD turned on Commissioner Ray Kelly?

• A real love story…

• These animals aren’t mad, just disappointed.

Monday Medley

What we read while Mega Millions disproved rational choice theory…

http://www.hulu.com/watch/317266/portlandia-mixologist-part-2

• John Calipari won his showdown with Rick Pitino, the ex-Wildcat coach and Calipari’s former mentor. Of course, the Louisville-Kentucky rivalry predates those coaches. Chuck Klosterman, meanwhile, fears what a Kentucky championship could mean for college basketball’s future. John Gasaway ain’t buying it.

• It was a rough week for fans of President Obama’s health care law, as the oral arguments at the Supreme Court did not bode well for the individual mandate, which puts the entire bill in jeopardy. Molly Ball of The Atlantic and Jonathan Chait at New York are already wondering what will happen if the bill gets struck down. Orin Kerr opines on the individual mandate oral argument. Meanwhile, health care keeps getting more and more expensive, with few solutions in sight.

• Speaking of The Atlantic, its Facebook timeline now stretches back into the 19th century.

• Splitsider remembers the greatest April Fools’ Day joke of them all.

• How did the Daily Mail become England’s biggest paper?

• Senator Rand Paul, fresh off blocking more needless drug laws, blocked a bill ramping up sanctions on Iran.

• Who killed last summer’s debt deal?

• Someone speaks up about fraternity hazing at Dartmouth. We’re just glad to see a prominent university other than Duke come under fire for once.

• A Marxist analysis of modern capitalism. And speaking of modern capitalism: An underage prostitution ring, brought to you by Goldman Sachs.

• Is there a separate legal system in America for Muslims? It certainly seems that way sometimes, based on what people pay attention to.

• Kurt Vonnegut’s response to the burning of his books.

• Two interesting looks at copyright law: A story on Apple’s war with Android, and a look at how copyrights kill books.

• Speaking of Android: Is it an Android phone or a condom?

• Tyler Cowen reports on remembering e-books compared to paper books.

Monday Medley

What we read while putting away our hoodies and Skittles…

• It’s been a week since the day that shook the world: The revelation of “A” on Pretty Little Liars, in an episode that broke social media records. The cast discussed their favorite “A” moments, while Morgan Glennon discussed the show’s feminism.

• Will the Democrats remove civil liberties from the 2012 platforms after Obama has spent four years dismantling them? Meanwhile, Michael Tomasky doesn’t think Obama should announce support for gay marriage until after he gets re-elected.

• This week in oral histories: Vanity Fair looks back at The Sopranos.

• Gizmodo wonders if Google has reached the point where it can’t follow its original slogan.

• Support our atheist troops! Speaking of atheism, Sam Harris wonders why more liberals won’t call Islam on its bullshit.

• Metacritic has 50 films to look forward to in 2012, which is basically like The Dark Knight Rises and 49 other films.

• A look at Craig James’ weird campaign for Senate in Texas.

• If you’re not already sick of hearing about Mad Men‘s return, here’s a video of the women of the cast singing (kind of). Also, a look at the double standard fans apply to Don and Betty.

• Should we tax the obese?

• Apropos of nothing, the short story that inspired Rear Window.

• Happy Birthday to the interrobang! We wish we could have phrased that sentence so that it could have reasonably been punctuated with an interrobang.

• Newt Gingrich or Kanye West?

Monday Medley

What we read while Adele gave acceptance speeches… 

• In case you missed it, Austin Rivers beat UNC with a buzzer-beating three last week. Yeah, it was awesome. Shane Ryan, of Seth Curry Saves Duke and Grantland, broke down the evening’s greatness. In other Duke-related news, Deadspin discovered Cook Out.

• With Whitney Houston’s passing, it’s a fitting time to look back at her life, from her early rise, to her mega-fame in the early ’90s, and even her tabloid-fueling relationship with Bobby Brown. Patrick Bateman, for one, will surely miss her…

• What happened to the antiwar movement? Conor Friedersdorf suggests that secret wars have killed it.

• James Fallows breaks down Obama’s presidency in a giant piece for The Atlantic. (If you don’t have time, just read the last line.)

• The Washington Post takes on the adult single life. Speaking of single adults, Justice Sotomayor resolved a trespass/property dispute on Sesame Street.

• Josh isn’t the only one against the (solo) lecture.

• It may seem like blasphemy, but Will Leitch presents a pretty compelling case against Gus Johnson.

• Sasha Pasulka wonders why punching women in the face is okay if you’re really good at singing.

• Finally, someone says what we’re all thinking: Chipotle is the Apple of Mexican fast-casual dining!

• How not to write about female musicians.

• The Internet has finally put its two favorite NBC shows together in a Tumblr!

• Apparently 90% of people don’t know about Ctrl+F searches.

Monday Medley

What we read while they got really excited for the Pro Bowl in Cairo…

http://www.hulu.com/watch/211054/saturday-night-live-jesse-eisenberg-monologue#s-p2-sr-i1

• Man, how about that Pro Bowl?! Almost makes Super Bowl Sunday look anticlimactic, huh? Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders has been helping the hype over at Hulu, where he has been counting down the 10 Greatest Super Bowls of All Time. Meanwhile, Ben McGrath wonders if football has a future, Rohan Cruyff takes a different approach to pace in the NBA, and The Atlantic puts forth another curious (in a bad way) offering with James Parker’s amateur exploration of SportsCenter.

• We just discovered Bob Bender’s Press Box Daily, which is a must-read for those interested in sports broadcasting. Bender breaks down the calls of games’ biggest plays from various announcing crews earnestly and articulately–providing video and audio along the way. Some highlights include his ode to the music of WFAN and his analysis of what makes Kevin Harlan such a good radio announcer.

• Bill Keller, editor of The New York Times, breaks down the papers dealings with WikiLeaks and Julian Assange last year. Assange, predictably, comes off a little weird.

• Bryan Caplan (who is now on Twitter) argues that there’s a difference between formal and informal Rand.

• A dead spot on a tennis court. Strange.

• It’s been 17 years since this very sad interview Rolling Stone interview with Kurt Cobain, in which he declared that he’d “never been happier in his life” less than three months before killing himself.

• Atul Gawande does more excellent reporting about the cost of health care.

• President Obama has shaken up his staff, presumably to help Win the Future.

• The Mets may carry on the Civil Rights Movement legacy.

• Kevin Smith is really just a fat, male Sarah Palin…

• …and speaking of Sarah Palin, Louis C.K. talks about his infamous tweets about the former V.P. candidate (man, comedians love making sex jokes about her), among other things, in this interview with HitFix.