Selections From My Virtual Library: December 2014

Well, this is my very last Virtual Library post as it's now December. I've read lots, but never enough. Here's this month's picks.

The Atlantic
For the Love of Stuff
How Sexism Stifles Creativity
When Helping Rape Victims Hurts a College’s Reputation
When Chicago Tortured
What's Tylenol Doing to Our Minds?
Coming to Terms With My Father's Racism
'Shipping' and the Enduring Appeal of Rooting for Love
Adjusting College Rankings for Rape

NPR
Mexican Megafarms Supplying U.S. Market Are Rife With Labor Abuses
5 Interrogation Methods The CIA Used On Terrorism Suspects
WWII By The Books: The Pocket-Size Editions That Kept Soldiers Reading
Bound By A Plantation, Two Georgians Remember A Special Christmas
Serial Host Sarah Koenig Says She Set Out To Report, Not Exonerate
Preserving American Roots Music Begins With Keeping The Lights On
After Year Of Atheism, Former Pastor: 'I Don't Think God Exists'

Rookie
How to Write About Real People
Whatever You Like

McSweeney's
Product Review: The Invisible Backpack of White Privilege From L.L. Bean
A Farewell to Hemnes: Ernest Hemingway Assembles an Ikea Daybed Frame with Three Drawers

The New Yorker
The Unidentified Queen of Torture

The New York Times
Why Colleges Haven't Stopped Binge Drinking

Selections From My Virtual Library: June/July 2014

I am officially a slacker. During finals in June, I completely fell off my reading schedule. And once I began teaching again with Golden Apple, life was made of lesson plans and excessive carb consumption. But, I have still cultivated plenty to read even if it is heavy on the July side. Again, italicized articles are my top recommendations.

NPR

Life After 'Life': Aging Inmates Struggle For Redemption
The One Thing Obama Didn't Say About Student Loan Repayment
Why NYC Is Afraid Of Free Lunch For All
A Campus Dilemma: Sure, 'No' Means 'No,' But Exactly What Means 'Yes'?
Is Collecting Animals For Science A Noble Mission Or A Threat?
Tackling Sexual Assault On Campus With Comedy
What We Talk About When We Talk About Violence In Chicago
The Good Listener: Has The Term 'Indie Rock' Lost All Meaning?

The New Yorker

The Teen Whisperer
Ghosts in the Stacks
Literature and Life
The Black Market for Dinosaurs
Why Students Aren't Fighting Forever 21
Wrong Answer
Lisa Elmaleh’s Folk Portraits

The Atlantic

The Morbid Fascination With the Death of the Humanities
The Elusive Specificity of Reparations
Ta-Nehisi Coates on Not Knowing How Much You Don't Know
On Teen Sexting: Same Sexism, Different Technology
How Cities Use Design to Drive Homeless People Away
The Sociology of Sorry
Why Kids Care More About Achievement Than Helping Others
Millennials' Political Views Don't Make Any Sense
What's in a Name? Everything.
Where Confiscated Wildlife Ends Up
Don't Write for the Barbarians

Medium

We Killed the Music Industry
Wikipedia Mining Algorithm Reveals The Most Influential People In 35 Centuries Of Human History
Creative People Say No

BBC

The many faces of British poverty in France
Pablo Escobar’s hippos: A growing problem

The New York Times

What Writers Can Learn From ‘Goodnight Moon’

McSweeney's

Lost Scenes From Generic Hipster Indie Romance Films Found in 2076 During a Museum Restoration of an Old Macbook Air And Subsequently Adapted For the Stage During Heritage Week at a Camp for 7th and 8th Graders Later That Summer.

Words To Make Your Poetry Legit

Selections from my Virtual Library: March 2014

This is the third installment of my virtual library, a year-long project to expand my personal literacy and knowledge base. This past month I haven't been as disciplined with my reading, so there is a slight lessening of sources.

Rookie:

The Art of Waiting: A great piece on why we all need stop fearing the artistic process.

The Atlantic:

Redlining for the 21st Century: Though redlining seems like a thing of the past, the age of the Internet has brought it back. A warning to all apartment shoppers.

International Women's Day: Mothers and Daughters: A great photo essay that looks at educational desires of mothers and daughters.

In Grief, Try Personal Rituals: All I have to say about this piece is that it's important.

The Toxins That Threaten Our Brain: Absolutely terrifying. Even though it's a very lengthy read, it's very much worth it because we are exposed to so many neurotoxins every day.

The Over-Protected Kid: Essentially, we need to let kids mess around more and this crazy, awesome playground accomplishes that in a safe, constructive manner.

Another Bloomberg Editor Explains Why He Has Resigned, Over Its China Coverage: If, in fact, Bloomberg is avoiding certain stories because of fear of losing sales in China, it would be a huge strike against them. This is an incredibly messy issue that should have some interesting developments to watch.

Star Wars and the 4 Ways Science Fiction Handles Race: I haven't read very much about this issue, but it's definitely something to look at in the coming years of new releases.

New York Times:

Casting Shadows on a Fanciful World: My token Wes Anderson article of the month. I love the photo slideshow of the miniatures in this and the quotes from Dafoe and Fiennes.

The New Yorker:

Sacred and Profane: I have mixed feelings about Malcolm Gladwell, but I am fascinated with religious radicals, especially in contemporary society.

Yes, Book Editors Edit: In short, editors deserve respect and are an important part of the writing and publishing processes.

A.V. Club:

The Bleak State of American Fiction: This is directly connected to the above link as it delves more into the actually contents of the argument. Yes, fiction is still valuable, but as the public we need to voice that opinion. 

NPR:

The '60s Are Gone, But Psychedelic Research Trip Continues: Ah yes, the opening scenes of Pineapple Express continue.

How The Cost Of College Went From Affordable To Sky-High: Any college student or soon-to-be college student should be required to read this. 

What Do Jay Z And Shakespeare Have In Common? Swagger: I love any and all modern connections to my main man Shakes.

In The Face Of Disaster, Pritzker Winner Shigeru Ban Designs Solutions: I think architecture is fascinating, and this piece would interest anyone that likes art, design, structure, or problem-solving.

Listening To The Echoes Of Creation: This is so over my head, but it is something I hope I can understand at some point in the near future.

In Arizona, Citizens Keep Close Eye On Immigration Checkpoint: Citizens monitoring their own government, very interesting.

Slate:

This Is What Finding Love Online Looks Like: Another photo essay that captures more than one generation's use of online dating sites.

What’s the Best Way to Execute Someone?: There are so many issues with the death penalty, but this is one of the most alarming.

McSweeney's:

Kafka's Joke Book: Kafka is my homeboy.

Medium:

Two Approaches to Watch in Remedial Education Innovation: Remedial courses in the college world are important and Florida's law is somewhat terrifying whereas California's law makes much more sense in my mind.

Palm Reading For Millenials: A fun little cartoon that a lot of my friends and I can relate to.

How to never forget anything ever again: I still really want to be someone that can recite a bunch of quotes offhand, general statistics, even just specific names. This seems like an easy and fun way to start on that goal.

BBC:

Why climate change is bad news for India tea producers: As an avid tea drinker, this upsets me.

Black Death skeletons unearthed by Crossrail project: Wouldn't be so cool if these were the bones that have the original strain?!

The radical readers of San Francisco: The Beat Generation is one of my favorite literary movements, and I think it is so great that City Lights has expanded so much.