November 17, 2016
The Forgotten Concentration Camp
"Nobody knows about Ravensbrück at all. Nobody ever wanted to know from the moment we came back." Journalist and author Sarah Helm reconstructs the history of the only Nazi concentration camp for women.
(Previously: 1, 2, 3)
Grandma Texts Wrong Teen for Thanksgiving, Now They'll Eat Together
A teenager from Arizona will be breaking bread with strangers this Thanksgiving after someone's Grandma invited him via wrong text message... "I said, 'Hey, why not ask for a plate since the offer was still there,'" Jamal said.
The woman answered, "Of course you can. That's what grandmas do ... feed everyone."
Sand's End
“Did these writers...not think about the implications of their words?”
Prominent Authors Face Backlash Over Letter to UBC Over Steven Galloway Firing [Toronto Star] “A rift in Canada’s literary community has deepened after dozens of prominent authors called for an independent investigation into the University of British Columbia’s firing of Steven Galloway. Joseph Boyden wrote and circulated an open letter [UBC Accountable], signed by Margaret Atwood, Yann Martel and others, which raised concerns the university’s process to investigate “serious allegations” against Galloway was secretive and unfair. Galloway, who was chairman of the school’s creative writing program, was fired in June. The letter has sparked an online backlash, with former students who say they witnessed misconduct by Galloway and outside observers expressing concerns it would silence and intimidate complainants.” [more inside]
Did you notice the bear?
Evgeni, Michail and Semyon
"In 2001, Belgian police called curators at one of London’s top museums and told them that two J.M.W. Turner paintings valued at $35 million had been recovered in a sting operation. Lost since 1994, the Tate Gallery scrambled to get a professional down to Antwerp to see them.
Sitting at home in Berlin a few days later, Evgeni Posin was reading an article in the newspaper about two men arrested for trying to pass off the Turners as original. He knew immediately the paintings were fakes. How? Because he and his two brothers had painted them."
Evgeni Posin works with his two brothers Michail and Semyon in Berlin. They are originally from Russia. The three are the first family of Art Forgery. [more inside]
Evgeni Posin works with his two brothers Michail and Semyon in Berlin. They are originally from Russia. The three are the first family of Art Forgery. [more inside]
The Age of Pain
In one respect, today’s emotional politics is the inverse of the 1960s. Back then, people were coming to define themselves by their pleasures: their sexual desires, consumer preferences, lifestyle choices. Today, many are coming to define themselves by their pains: past traumas, mental illnesses and chronic health conditions ... One culprit always stands out in public discussion of these trends: digital technology.In The Age of Pain, New Statesman (15 November 2016), Will Davies (Goldsmith's, University of London) discusses the politics of pain and its intersection with digital technologies.
Life in the Plague Years
"On the first of December, three decades after the disease first hit the city, the New York City AIDS Memorial will open at ground zero of the epidemic — St. Vincent’s hospital in Greenwich Village, now closed, where patients once flooded the rooms and spilled out into the surrounding corridors, turning the genteel facility very suddenly into a kind of war zone. All told, more than 100,000 New York men, women, and children have died of AIDS, and the memorial is built in their names. But it reminds us, too, as all memorials do, of how much has already been forgotten."
The American Thanksgiving
Fifteen families share with the New York Times their traditional Thanksgiving dishes. Recipes for all are collected here.
United Airlines: here to make flying more unpleasant than it already is
Beastie Boys + Daft Punk = Daft Science
Daft Science. Toronto producer Coins (bandcamp; facebook; twitter) made an album of Beastie Boys remixes using only Daft Punk samples. All eight resulting tracks are stream- or downloadable for free. (via Dancing Astronaut)
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